Winter Wishes by Ruth Saberton Read Free Book Online

family.
    “Well? It must be one of you. Nobody else knows the banking passwords.”
    “Don’t look at me,” grumbled Issie, looking wounded. “Bet it was Zak. He’s always flying off somewhere.”
    “Or Symon?” suggested Nick. “Perhaps he has some business there? Or maybe it’s a mistake?”
    With shaking hands, Alice shut the laptop. “Zak and Symon have their own business accounts, though. And this doesn’t look much like an error to me. The transaction was made this morning. I’ve checked the account twice, and over a thousand pounds has gone to British Airways. It can only be one of the family.”
    “Maybe the account’s been hacked?” Jimmy Tremaine offered quickly. “Personal details get hacked all the time, don’t they?”
    His mother fixed him with a knowing look.
    “Do they, Jim? How very convenient.”
    “And what’s that supposed to mean exactly, Ma?” demanded Jimmy Tremaine. The tall story he’d been telling Summer about how he’d ridden a horse from Paris to Istanbul had halted mid-canter and he was looking unusually flustered.
    “Shall I go?” Jules offered, awkward at finding herself flung into the midst of a Tremaine family crisis. She didn’t know Danny’s father particularly well, but she’d picked up enough from Alice and other family members to realise that he might be charming and a good raconteur but was also totally feckless. Jake was driven to distraction by his father using the boatyard like his own personal playground, and Alice had often hinted that she was considering whether or not she trusted him to manage the property when she was gone. He was fun and good-natured and his family loved him dearly, but Jimmy drove them crazy.
    It was no secret whom Issie and Zak took after…
    “No, no need to leave. There’s nothing here we wouldn’t say to you,” Danny said to Jules. He squeezed her shoulder and her heart did a forward roll at the heat of his fingers through her shirt. “Besides, you’re practically one of the family.”
    Ashley winked at Jules. “Careful, Vicar. I’m not sure that’s always such a good thing!”
    Mo whacked him with a dog-eared copy of Horse & Hound . “Too late now, Carstairs. Unless you want me to divorce you and take half of your evil empire?”
    “If you’ll put on a leather Princess Leia style bikini and wear your hair in Chelsea buns for me I’ll gladly give you all of my evil empire,” Ashley drawled. There was a gleam in his eye as he grinned at his wife, and Jules could almost see the electricity crackle between them. “Hmm, know what, Red? That would actually be worth losing all my fortune to see!”
    Issie made a puking gesture while Nick rolled his eyes and Danny laughed – but even Ashley’s joking couldn’t ease the atmosphere completely. Alice was still scowling at the laptop and Jimmy couldn’t have looked guiltier if he’d sauntered through the kitchen in full burglar costume with a bag marked “swag”over his shoulder.
    “So what’s the problem, Ma?” he asked.
    Alice sighed. “You know exactly what , Jimmy Tremaine. Small withdrawals here and there. Not usually enough to make too much of a difference, and I never normally say anything – but do you really think I don’t notice? I may be old but I haven’t gone gaga yet, you know! I can still cope with basic mathematics.”
    Jake stepped forward and laid a calming hand on Alice’s shaking one. “Let’s take it one step at a time, Gran. Nick’s right: it’s probably a mistake. If you show me the details we can probably trace who made the transfer.”
    “Oh, it’s no mistake. Is it, Jim?” Her mouth set in a thin line, Alice looked across the table at her son.
    Jimmy Tremaine pulled a wounded face. “I love the way you assume I’m to blame. I’m not the only person in this room who can access that account.” His eyes slid from one child to another. “Am I? It could be anyone here.”
    “Did you take it, Dad?” Jake asked quietly. His