Life Support: Escape to the Country by Nicki Edwards

finished. There’s a full-time farm manager and a caretaker employed to keep the property operational.”
    Emma’s mind swam with all this information. Lleyton had bought a property and she knew nothing about it? How many more secrets had he taken with him to the grave?
    “Substantial?” she repeated, quoting Andrew. “What does that even mean? And why did he leave it to me? I know nothing about farms. Besides, I can’t move back to Birrangulla. Melbourne is my home now. My job is here. My friends are here. I don’t want, and nor do I need, some farmhouse in the country.”
    Andrew nudged the keys closer to her and gave her a small smile. “I’ve seen the photos. You’ll want this house.”
    Emma had heard enough. She pushed her chair back from the desk. “So from the grave he still speaks and I have to keep his secrets,” she muttered. “It’s so unfair.” She banged her hand on the desk. Andrew looked up, startled.
    The sharp sting of tears surprised her. She hadn’t cried properly since the funeral and the last place she wanted to cry was in her husband’s lover’s office.
    “I’m sorry,” Andrew said softly.
    “It’s not your fault,” she replied, “but you have to admit, this is crazy. I was the one who asked for a divorce. Surely Lleyton would have wanted the will to be changed, but he died before he had a chance. It hardly seems fair that I should take the house. The insurance money will be more than enough for me to buy a nice place here in Melbourne and invest the rest. Then I can start my life again.”
    Andrew spun in his chair and stared out across the overcast skies that formed the backdrop of the city skyline. She followed his gaze.
    Finally she spoke to his back. “I don’t get it, Andrew. Why did Lleyton buy a farm in Birrangulla? He hated it up there. The only times he ever went there after he finished university was to visit my parents. And that was only when I dragged him.”
    Andrew swiveled in his chair to face her again. He loosened his tie and undid his top button, sliding his finger around the collar of his shirt. “It’s not easy for me to have to tell you this, but you know what Lleyton was like. He always acted on impulse. Last year he used part of his inheritance and bought Lexton Downs. He purchased it over the internet without ever seeing it, as a gift for you. I didn’t know anything about it until afterward.” Andrew’s eyes bored into hers. “Lleyton loved you, Emma, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep his secret from you much longer. He wanted to be sure that he had properly looked after you when you went your separate ways, so he bought you a house. It was always yours regardless of what happened.”
    Understanding hit. “He was going to ask me for a divorce?” Emma asked in astonishment.
    Andrew found something fascinating in the wood grain of his desk. “Probably. Yes. One day. Soon,” he mumbled.
    Emma sank back in her chair and in stunned silence watched the clouds float past through the thick tinted glass window. In the distance a container ship was being tugged out through the channel and cars, as small as children’s toys, crossed each way on the Westgate Bridge. Outside, the world was still going on, but in this corner suite it felt like her life had just become gridlocked.
    “He was going to leave me for you, so he bought me a house,” she said finally, as the realization of three wasted years sank in. “Can I sell it?”
    “Yes of course you can, but believe me, once you’ve seen the property, you’ll be more than happy to move back to Birrangulla.”
    “Is there a catch?”
    “No. No catch.” Andrew fiddled with the knot of his tie again.
    She found that hard to believe. “But I was the one who asked for the divorce first. It doesn’t seem right to take it.”
    “It’s either you take it and live in it, or …”
    “Or what?” she prompted.
    Andrew’s Adam’s apple bobbed twice, fast. “Or Winston and Mary-Margaret will