He shifted his hips and pulled something out of his back pocket. It was a pale blue envelope.
‘And there was this,’ he said, handing it to her.
She stared at it for a moment. Her name was written in small, neat handwriting. Her father’s handwriting.
Josh stood up. ‘I’ll leave you to read it,’ he said.
Sophie watched him go, feeling numb and sick at the same time. She turned the envelope over in her hands, not knowing what to do, excited that her dad had left something for her, yet terrified of what it might contain. Steeling herself, she tore it open and pulled out a letter.
My darling Sophie,
So you’ve found your castle. You were always such a clever girl, I knew you would. You have always been so much more resourceful, brilliant and beautiful than you ever knew. Now you’ve discovered it, never forget it. Never doubt yourself. Be the best person you can be, because Sophie, I know you are capable of anything. Maybe you realise that too now. I hope so.
If I haven’t given this letter to you personally, then I fear it means that I’ll be off sailing Iona in the sky. I knew there were risks, so I’m sorry if I disappointed you and your mother, but hopefully my business transaction with Michael might make up for it. Or perhaps it will disappoint you more. That’s why I left the clues for you to follow, so that you could do with the certificate what you will. It represents a $100 million fund, the money we siphoned from Michael’s main investment pot – what we called our ‘rainy day fund’. If it’s in your hands, I guess it means it’s raining for Mike too. So it’s up to you now. Keep it and be richer than you ever dreamt you could be, return it to Miriam Asner who knows nothing of this money, or hand it over to the government. Perhaps you will want to do a little of all three.
Don’t judge me for what I have done with Michael. For many years I felt a failure. I was never good enough for your mother, she made that pretty clear. But there are no excuses. Michael gave me an opportunity to help him. I had the choice to turn it down, but as our money was in his investment fund, a Ponzi scheme as it turned out, I took it.
Either way, the castle is yours, just as I always promised you. Every penny it took to buy it was legitimately earned over forty years, saving and investing. I don’t expect you to live in it. But keep it. Be inspired by it. Come and write the poems and the stories I know are inside of you. Find someone you want to share your life with and enjoy it together.
I love you always.
Dad x
Sophie gulped and folded the letter carefully back into the envelope. She closed her eyes and let a thousand emotions pinwheel around her.
She felt Josh come up behind her, threading his arms about her waist and kissing her neck.
‘I love you, Sophie Ellis,’ he whispered into her ear, and she leant back against him, feeling his strength, his warmth. Feeling at home. She opened her eyes and she could see more clearly now. There was no point looking towards the past. There was no place for regrets. There was just the future. She turned round, grabbed his hands and kissed him back.
‘I love you too,’ she said. It was the only thing that mattered.