Page 6 of The Spanish Daughter (The Lost Daughters #5)

5

PRESENT DAY

Rose held Jessica as her friend wrapped her arms around her, engulfing her in a long hug as they stood near her departure gate. They’d managed to get flights that left Heathrow within ninety minutes of each other, which meant they’d been able to go through security together and have dinner at the airport, before it was time to say goodbye.

‘I’ll see you in five days,’ Jessica said, taking a step back but keeping both hands on Rose’s shoulders. ‘I can’t wait to show you around New York.’

Rose smiled, hating how emotional she felt at saying goodbye to Jessica. She’d managed to not feel alone while she was staying, but saying farewell was even harder than expected. She wished they were boarding a plane together.

‘Thank you for being here. I don’t know how you just managed to drop everything to?—’

‘Tell me you wouldn’t do the same if the shoe was on the other foot,’ Jessica interrupted.

Rose sighed. ‘You know I would. But still, I know it can’t have been easy, especially with the girls.’

‘Well then stop thanking me. I did what any friend would do,’ Jessica said, picking up her carry-on bag and taking a step back. ‘Remember to text me as soon as you land, and send over any documents you want Ryan to cast an eye over.’

Rose nodded.

‘But most of all, enjoy it,’ Jessica said. ‘It’s not every day you get to travel to a beautiful country and uncover family secrets. It’s going to be great.’

Jessica finally turned away and walked to the gate, looking back before heading down the air bridge and blowing her a kiss one last time. Rose watched until she disappeared completely and then went in search of coffee. She felt as if she’d barely slept for weeks, and she was hoping that another shot of caffeine would at least keep her going until her flight boarded.

After she’d ordered, she reached into her bag and took out the little box she’d brought with her. Rose opened it, reaching for the now-familiar piece of silk and rubbing it between her forefinger and thumb, wondering whether to show the clues to the lawyer or not when she arrived.

Just have the meeting, see what he has to say, and take it hour by hour, day by day , she said inside her head, giving herself a little pep talk. You can do this, Rose. This is what Mum would have wanted .

Almost fifteen hours later, Rose wheeled her suitcase through the doors into the arrivals area of the airport, still bleary-eyed from sleeping for half the flight.

A man with a whiteboard held high caught her eye, and she stopped when she saw that his sign had ROSE BELLAMY written in capitals across it. She’d expected to catch a taxi to the lawyer’s offices, but it seemed a car had been sent for her instead.

‘ Hola ,’ Rose said, saying one of the only Spanish words she knew as she stood in front of the man.

‘You are Rose?’ he asked, in heavily accented English.

‘I am,’ she said. ‘I wasn’t expecting a driver.’

He nodded enthusiastically and lifted her bag from her shoulder, despite her protests at how heavy it was, and took her suitcase from her other hand, wheeling it ahead of him.

‘Let me,’ he said, smiling and gesturing that she follow him. ‘Please, come.’

She was going to apologise and tell him that she’d had to pack for a few weeks away from home, but decided better of it and just followed him instead. She figured she wasn’t the only person he’d chauffeured who’d overpacked.

When they stepped outside, Rose was surprised at how different the air felt in Argentina. It was hot, but not stiflingly so, but it just smelt more… alive . Her skin felt almost immediately moist and she was breathing differently, and there just seemed to be a different kind of energy around her than at home.

‘Have you read tourist guides about Buenos Aires?’ the driver asked, as he bundled her things into his car and opened the rear passenger door for her.

‘Ahh, no, not really. This was an unexpected trip, so I didn’t have long to plan.’

He ran around and got into the driver’s seat, starting the car and pulling out into the slow-moving traffic. ‘Everything you read will tell you that it’s dangerous here, but it’s not. The only thing that’s true in the tourist guides is when they say we’re the Paris of South America.’

She smiled as she looked out of the window. ‘I hadn’t heard that one.’ The Paris of South America . It had a nice ring to it, and she hoped it was true.

‘Are you taking me directly to the office?’ she asked.

‘No, I’ve been asked to take you to the Santiago estate,’ he said. ‘It’s a forty-five-minute drive from the city.’

Rose startled. ‘I had arranged to meet the lawyer at his office,’ she said. ‘I think it’s best if you just take me there. Please give me a moment to find the address.’

‘No,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘I work for Mr Gonzalez, and he told me that his instructions had changed. He will be waiting for you at the property.’

Rose took her phone from her bag, feeling a little uncomfortable and wondering whether she’d been naive in getting into a car with a driver just because he knew her name. She was in a foreign country heading out of Buenos Aires, to meet someone she didn’t know, in a car with a total stranger. She closed her eyes and tried to clear her head, but opened them when her phone vibrated in her hand, telling her she had a message.

Hey! Safely at home. Hope you’ve landed. Text me xx

Rose quickly typed a message back to Jessica, before sitting up a little straighter and deciding to watch the scenery as it whizzed past, to at least get a feeling for where she was if anything did happen. But she knew what Jessica would tell her if she was there: don’t overthink everything, just have your wits about you and don’t panic.

Which was precisely what she was doing when she found the address to the Santiago property and entered it into Google Maps so she could check they were going where her driver said they were. She had no reason not to trust him, he’d been perfectly polite to her after all, but she also had no reason to trust him, either.

Just over forty minutes later, and with her phone back in her bag after she’d realised that he was most definitely taking her directly to the Santiago estate, Rose had to stop her jaw from falling open. They were entering a long driveway that was flanked by fields on each side, and she admired the endless trees and the wooden railings that seemed to go on for miles. Up ahead, she could see a large Spanish-style house with a terracotta roof, familiar to her from the photos she’d seen online, and farther out to the right there was a set of low-slung buildings that were harder to make out.

Her door was opened almost immediately when the car stopped, and the man who’d opened it took a step back, waiting for her to get out. When she did, he held out his hand and gave her a wide smile.

‘ Senorita Rose,’ he said, gently shaking her hand and placing his other hand over it, as if he was already familiar with her. ‘It’s such a pleasure to finally meet you. We spoke on the phone. I am Luis Gonzalez.’

She nodded, put immediately at ease by his warm manner. ‘It’s very nice to meet you, too.’ Rose wasn’t sure why he’d said finally when they hadn’t even been in communication with each other for longer than a week, but he seemed even more friendly than he had been on the phone.

‘Welcome to the Santiago estate,’ he said, holding his arm wide and gesturing around. ‘I am honoured to be the one to show the property to you for the first time. It’s one of the largest private estates in Buenos Aires, and one of the largest polo farms in all of Argentina. It was once home to more than a hundred and fifty polo ponies.’

Rose felt as if she were about to wilt under the sun, and yet the lawyer didn’t have so much as a bead of sweat on his forehead, despite wearing a suit. She gently dabbed her upper lip with her finger. Her tourist guide had said springtime wouldn’t be too hot, but compared to London it was positively tropical and she wasn’t used to it.

The lawyer seemed unworried by her silence, or if he was, he was excellent at hiding it.

‘Rose, your great-grandmother was represented by my law firm for over seventy years,’ he continued. ‘First by my grandfather, then my father and then me. So you see, it was very important to me to fulfil her wishes upon her death, especially when these documents had been filed so many decades ago in preparation for this day. They were sealed and held in my office until her passing.’

‘I just, well, this all seems like a dream to me,’ Rose said, turning and looking around, taking in the surroundings, seeing horses grazing in a nearby field. ‘I’m finding it very hard to believe that I have a connection to this land—to any of the things you’ve told me, if I’m honest. It has certainly all come as a complete surprise.’

He smiled as if he understood, but she was certain that he didn’t. He couldn’t possibly understand how she felt after the upheaval she’d experienced over the past year.

‘Your great-grandmother was a very private woman,’ he said. ‘She was fiercely independent, and she knew her mind right up until the end. There is no disputing that your grandmother was the rightful heiress to this estate, then your mother, and now you. Senora Santiago had watched your grandmother from afar for many years, and it was always her intention to leave everything to her when she passed away. It’s only sad that you never had the chance to meet her.’

Rose followed him as he began to walk, trying to process what he was telling her. She could barely imagine that this woman, the owner of the beautiful property she was standing on, had been watching her family from afar as he’d described. With such resources at her disposal, why hadn’t she come forward and tried to make contact with them? Or perhaps the question was, how had she not come forward? Rose didn’t have children of her own, but she couldn’t conceive of staying hidden from her own biological child for all those years, if she’d known where she was.

‘There are no other relatives who will lay claim to the estate?’ Rose found herself asking. ‘No one else who might be expecting to inherit the Santiago property?’

Luis shrugged. ‘If there are, we will represent you and make sure they go away. Our client was very firm in her instructions, and she was of sound mind when we drew up her will. You, your mother or your grandmother were to inherit it all, with smaller provisions made for her staff and friends.’

Rose stopped when they rounded a corner and came to the other side of the house. There was an expansive paved courtyard with an enormous wooden table set below an overgrown pergola, with ten chairs placed around it, and a large swimming pool that made her want to dive in. She could already visualise the long summer lunches and relaxed afternoons that it must have played host to, and it made her yearn to have her mother or grandmother with her, so they were seeing it, too. Even the way a green vine with tiny white flowers crept over the pergola was magical.

‘This property has been in the Santiago family for well over a hundred years,’ he said, his voice soft now as he came to stand beside her. ‘And whether you want to be or not, you are a Santiago, too. The blood of this family, of this land, runs in your veins, and I believe that after spending time here, you will feel the connection. It’s what Valentina would have wanted, for you to belong here.’

When Rose turned and met his gaze, she could see that he meant every word, that it wasn’t simply a rehearsed speech said to make her feel better.

‘Unfortunately, I know nothing about Argentina or horses or polo…’ Rose began, her voice trailing off as she tried but failed to explain how out of her depth she felt.

But the lawyer only grinned. ‘You have heard of Nacho Figueras, yes?’ he asked.

‘Nacho who?’ she asked, having no idea who or what he was talking about.

‘Never mind,’ he said with a laugh. ‘You will have polo fever like the rest of us before you know it. Our firm will take you as our guest to the Argentine Open while you’re here, and you will see for yourself why we are obsessed with the sport, why the love of polo spread across the pampas so easily when it was first played here.’

Rose nodded politely, feeling foolish as she realised whom he’d been referring to. Nacho Figueras was the gorgeous polo player Jessica had been googling back in London. ‘I’m only planning on staying for a couple of days, but I do appreciate the invitation. It would have been lovely.’

The lawyer frowned. ‘But that is not anywhere near long enough. And you have a property to care for now, a name to uphold, you have?—’

‘You’re expecting me to stay?’ Rose asked, unable to hide the surprise in her tone. ‘For longer than it takes us to settle any paperwork? Is that a condition of the inheritance?’

‘Look around you, senorita . See the land you are standing on, open your eyes to what has been preserved for you. Who would inherit a property such as this and not stay to enjoy it?’ Luis paused. ‘This is home to you now. This, this is where you belong.’

Rose nodded politely, not wanting to offend him, but as beautiful as the estate was, it wasn’t home to her. Home was the flat she’d shared with her mum in London; home was the city of her birth, where she’d spent her whole life up until now. Home was…she turned her face away, not wanting him to see her tears.

Home was with you, Mum.

‘ Senorita ?’

Rose quickly brushed away her tears and turned back to the lawyer. ‘What am I expected to do next?’ she asked. ‘There must be some formalities to attend to.’

‘I would like to give you some time to look around the property for yourself, so that I can answer any questions you might have, and then I will accompany you back to the city so we can sign the requisite paperwork in my office. We have arranged a hotel for you to stay in tonight, but you can return here once everything is settled.’

‘Oh, I can arrange my own accommodation, I?—’

‘Everything is taken care of,’ he assured her, and she presumed that he understood her hesitation, because he was quick to allay her worries. ‘ Senora Santiago made certain that there was a plan in place for every eventuality, so you don’t need to worry about anything. She’d been planning this for decades.’

‘She had?’

‘Yes, she had. She was determined to ensure her family inherited her estate, and that there were no roadblocks to seeing that her wishes were followed.’

‘You said I could take a look around before we go?’ Rose asked, surprised at how meticulously everything had been organised and needing a moment with her own thoughts.

‘Of course. I’ll be here should you have any questions.’

Rose thanked him and then began to walk. She wanted to look inside the house, but it felt too personal somehow to walk inside, especially when none of this felt real to her yet, so instead she walked towards the other buildings she’d seen when they’d first arrived. It didn’t take long for her to realise they were stables, and she passed a few horses who blinked back at her, their noble heads over the half-doors, looking at her as if she was the most exciting thing they’d seen all day. She resisted the urge to go over and pat one of them, not even knowing how to approach a horse, and instead stood back and admired them. Despite Jessica telling her they were like oversized dogs, she wasn’t convinced.

Rose took her phone from her pocket then, needing to hear her friend’s voice. Jessica answered on the second ring.

‘Tell me it’s all real and you’re a bona fide heiress,’ she said.

‘Oh, it’s real,’ Rose replied, keeping her voice low even though she was certain there was no one around. Although she presumed that there must be groundspeople employed to work on the property, to look after the horses and keep it all so well maintained. ‘I’m at the estate now.’

‘Is it as amazing in real life as it looked in the photos? Or has it become run-down since? I had horrible thoughts that it might be in a complete state of disrepair and need millions spent on it.’

‘I don’t even know how to describe it, Jess. It’s like something from another world,’ Rose told her. ‘It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to, but it’s like there’s been some mistake. I mean, it doesn’t seem real. It’s easily as stunning as the images online.’

‘Send me some photos, and stop saying that it’s not real, because it is,’ Jessica said, before groaning. ‘I’m so sorry but I have to go, I’m heading into a meeting. Can we talk later?’

‘Before you go…’

There was silence on the other end of the line as Jessica waited.

‘Thanks for making me come here. I would never have booked that flight if you hadn’t pushed me, and then I never would have seen this place with my own eyes.’ This place that feels magical, it’s so stunning .

‘You’re welcome. Talk soon.’

Rose put the phone back in her pocket, but before she turned to walk away from the stables, she saw someone tall with broad shoulders, wearing a large cowboy-style hat, leading a horse beside him. She watched until she couldn’t see him anymore, wondering who he might be as she heard the lawyer call out her name from afar.

‘I saw a man by the stables just now,’ Rose said when she got back to him. ‘Does he work here?’

‘That will be Benjamin. He was sponsored by Senora Santiago, and you’ll see him coming and going most days, until the end of the season anyway. After that, you will have to decide whether or not you share your great-grandmother’s love of polo. She wasn’t afraid to spend her money on what she loved, and there are many people hoping you will continue her traditions.’

Rose followed him to his car, noticing that her bag was waiting for her in the passenger seat.

‘Luis, do you have any idea how Valentina came to leave her child, my grandmother, at a place called Hope’s House in London? Do you know anything about her younger years?’

Luis met her gaze over the roof of the car and shook his head, before speaking earnestly. ‘No, senorita , I don’t. It has always been a mystery to me how she came to be estranged from her daughter, or that she even had a daughter at all, but we respected Senora Santiago too much to ever ask. If I’m honest, I fear that her secrets have died with her.’

Rose nodded and looked back at the property, her eyes slowly roving across the landscape, taking in the towering trees in the distance that she guessed had stood for even longer than the Santiago family had owned the land. And she had the most overwhelming sense that perhaps whatever secrets her great-grandmother had, had not been taken with her to her grave, but were in fact waiting to be discovered. Why else would she have left her estate to a daughter and granddaughter who’d been kept hidden for so many decades?

‘ Senorita Rose?’

She turned, already deciding that she would come back the following morning to at least look around, or try to find the man she’d glimpsed by the stables to see what he knew. She had three days until her flight to New York, and she would need to make the most of it.

There’s no harm in trying to find out more while I’m here.

Rose sat in the car and reached for the little box in her bag, wrapping her fingers around it as she tried to understand how all this had come about, how a woman who cared enough to look from afar and leave a little box of clues behind had stayed hidden for so long instead of just coming forward.

‘This place, it will find its way into your soul,’ the lawyer said, as he turned the car around. ‘I have a feeling that you won’t want to leave now that you’re here.’

Rose stared at the trees in the distance, at the perfect wooden fences and endless acres of grass, and she had the distinct feeling that he was right. Part of her couldn’t wait to return in the morning. But the other part was terrified that she might fall in love with the property and never want to leave.