by Magan Vernon
“At least you know exactly what you want and make sure that people know it.”
He happily moaned, his tail thwapping against the grass.
“Dogs have an uncanny way of doing that, don’t they?”
I winced as Father’s booming voice hit my ears.
Giving Ponce one last pat, I slowly stood up but kept my eyes on the dog as he ran alongside some of the bigger Pyrs.
“Animals do whatever they can to survive,” I replied.
I automatically knew he was right beside me, not just because I could see his impeccably shined Prada loafers and tailored trousers, but because of his mere presence that always made people take notice whenever he was in a room.
I always imagined that someday I would have that.
That every head would turn and just notice me like the air had changed.
I’d done a good job at pissing off quite a few people when I went into any room, that was for sure. And I’d done everything I could to make sure everyone took notice when I was around. I wasn’t just my father’s shadow.
But now, as I stood next to him, instead of feeling like the most prominent man in the room, it was as if all of the air had been sucked out of me. I was just the boy standing next to his father, not wanting to hear what he had to say.
He was probably there to chide me on the way I talked to Mother, but I meant everything I said.
She couldn’t treat Natalie or anyone like that. Not in my home.
Even if Natalie did take the money for her mum, it wasn’t about her getting that payoff.
It was the fact that she didn’t tell me.
That she didn’t say a bloody word when we’d spent the entire night together.
True, there hadn’t been much talking, except for moans of pleasure, but before we even started, she could have stopped me. She could have told me what Mother had offered her.
But she didn’t. She was just going to let me believe that everything was moving forward in whatever our relationship was.
She was just going to bed me then leave without another word.
Now it was as if there were a massive crack in my chest where her head had been. My heart was split open where she’d punched it with her admission.
A voice in the back of my head tried to whisper that none of this was her fault. It was all Mother’s. Father cleared his throat beside me, bringing me back to the current moment.
He pointed at the field where Ponce and the other rescues ran alongside the Great Pyrenees, frolicking in the field and taking turns jumping on one another. “The new dogs seem to be getting along well with the Pyrs, don’t they?”
“They are. They’ve adapted very well,” I replied with no emotion.
I wasn’t in the mood for small talk; whatever he was going to say, he just needed to get it over with, so we could move on and I could be alone.
“You know, your mother means well.”
Here it comes.
My heart had already shut down, and my brain was close to it. But I was too defeated to even fight back at his tone.
“She thinks she does.” I sighed.
He nodded solemnly.
That was when I truly saw my father in a new light.
A really new light that was beating down on him from the late morning sun.
His hair that was always a dark blond, now streaked with gray. And a new line of dark circles resting below his eyes.
It was as if all the years had finally taken a toll on him, and I’d been so enamored with the man and concerned about ignoring my mother to notice.
“True, she may not always have her mind in the right place, but she has only ever followed what she’s been told her whole life. Descending from English nobility then marrying a family with a hidden Scottish heritage. She just wants to make sure everything goes smoothly for everyone. Sometimes she just has a funny way of making that happen.”
“She paid off Natalie so she’d leave the manor. Did she tell you that? And that Natalie didn’t object? Took it and was ready to leave without telling me a bloody thing,” I pushed, shoving my hands in my pockets.
“Are you upset more about your mother’s actions or the curator’s?”
“Both, I guess.”
And there it bloody was. Everything that I’d tried to keep buried in my own head jabbed the final razor blade down my throat to tear up everything in my chest.
I didn’t want to continue this conversation. I didn’t want to face what he was going to tell me. Yet, to add insult to injury, he kept going.
“The rescues knew nothing else than what they’d been given… And now they’re milling right along with the Pyrs that have been here all of their lives because an adoption paper you and the property manager filled out made it so.”
“More or less.” I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, seeing a flash of sympathy cross his face as he nodded.
“I know we don’t talk about your great-great-grandfather, Arran, but do you know why he gave great-great-grandmother Mairi his English home of Webley?” Father asked.
Why another history lesson? Of all the bloody punches to the gut, this had to be the biggest. Making me think of Natalie and all the little tidbits she’d told me of the home, explaining each detail with fascination.
My heart was already shredded, and I wasn’t even sure she’d left the property yet.
I could have recited that bit of family history in my sleep. “Because they had an awful falling-out, but at that time divorces were frowned upon, so she took Great-Grandfather Dom and they went to Webley.”
“Technically you’re right, but technically you have only half the story.”
I laughed, but there was no humor to it, the guttural sound lodging in my throat. “What’s the other half?”
A small smile crossed his lips as he looked at the sky. “Mairi didn’t have a drop of royal or noble blood in her. So, to keep her title and out of scandal, he gave her Webley. Because if she owned that particular parcel of land under manorial law, she’d be considered a lady.”
I dropped my hands, blinking slowly.
What was he saying?
My heart thumped hard against my chest as it slowly came to life. As if there were a flicker of hope.
“You’ll always be a lord by blood. You never needed the manor, son. And as much as your mother thinks she can control that, we both know that you’re always going to do what’s best for you. Not just for the Webley name. And I know you’ll always do what’s right by the town and Aunt Sarah.”
I wanted him to tell me exactly what he wanted. To spell it out.
But he would never do that.
And now I had to dig through my hazy brain and try to figure out the right thing to do.
With a nod of his head, Father excused himself back to the main house.
I looked up at the sky, the clouds darkening in the distance, signaling a summer storm.
In my primary school days I remembered a literature teacher telling us that whenever there was rain in a book or movie it meant a sign of change.
Blinking hard, I gazed at the clouds, remembering that first day that Natalie arrived with me at the manor.
How it hadn’t rained a day since then, even though England was notorious for its torrential downpours.
It was as if the weather were trying to tell me that it was time for a change. That I needed to do something if I wanted to keep Natalie here.
If she even wanted to stay, that is.
Walking toward the house, I tried to rack my brain for what to say. How the hell I’d approach the subject.
Before I could finish my train of thought or come up with a real solution, I found Cecily sitting in the conservatory, her eyes widening as I approached.
Like Mother, my little sister was always dressed well, no matter what the time o
f day. Sitting straight with her legs crossed at her ankles, she looked like every bit of her noble title with her jacquard print dress that went below her knee and her blonde hair swept up in some intricate bun that her maids probably spent hours trying to get just right.
I nodded my head toward her but didn’t say a word, continuing to make my way through the room and to the open doors that led to the rest of the manor.
I shoved my hands in my pockets, not inviting any more conversation. But of course that didn’t stop my sister.
Her heels clicked on the marble floor. “Gavin, wait.”
I had no reason to be angry with my sister, but my neck still stiffened when I heard her words as if they’d struck a chord I didn’t know existed.
Slowly I turned toward her, watching as she glided across the room with her head down.
Was she coming to apologize for Mother? Did she know what happened?
Did it even matter?
“Yes?” I asked.
“I, um, well, I heard what happened this morning with Mother and Natalie,” she half muttered, half whispered.
She didn’t have anything to do with Mother’s outburst, so why the bloody hell was she acting like it?
“Yes. Unfortunate that had to happen, but if you’ll excuse me, I have to see to something.”
Cecily let out a deep sigh. “Gavin, I’m sorry.”
I shook my head, taking a step closer, my curiosity outweighing my other thoughts.
“It’s not your fault Mother did that or that Natalie would even accept her offer.”
Her shoulders slumped as she looked up at me with what seemed like tears brimming behind her long eyelashes. “Natalie is a sweet girl, and I saw the way she looked at you and the way you looked at her, and I was helping…”
I stood straight, my hands clenching at my sides as my stomach dropped. “What do you mean, you were helping?”
She looked down so I took another step closer, fury surging as a million thoughts raced through my mind. “You were helping with what?”
She finally looked up with a sniffle, running her fingers along her side-swept bangs. “Remember when we went to see the dogs? You and Hugh were off talking while Natalie and I were petting some of the puppies.”
“I do,” I said carefully, waiting for the blow as I dug my thumb into the palm of my clenched fist.
“Well, I may have said some things to Natalie.”
“What kind of things?” I demanded, trying to keep my cool, but now that everything had erupted, I had no time for bullshite and needed her to spit it out.
“She had some little crush on you, and I needed to squash it. But that was before you two danced together and I saw the chemistry. Hell, I think everyone in the room did.”
“What. Did. You. Say. To. Her?” I managed through clenched teeth.
Sure, it wasn’t my sister’s fault, and she was probably just trying to defend me. But bloody hell, I was a grown man, and I didn’t need all these people meddling in who I wanted to be with.
“I told her that you weren’t a forever type of guy, at least not for her. You know, since she isn’t nobility and Mother would never let that happen. And I guess it snowballed from there.”
I shook my head, raking my hands through my hair as I let out a deep breath, stepping back.
“Gavin, I didn’t know there was something real there. I’m sorry.” She put her hand out, those tears still brimming with sincerity in her eyes.
I should have exploded on my sister.
I wanted to scream at anyone who would listen and tell them to stay the hell out of my life.
But when I looked at her pleading eyes, there was no way I could yell at her.
“Cecily, I know you meant well—”
“Do you love Natalie?” she asked bluntly.
I blinked hard as I tried to bring myself back to reality. “Why would you ask that?”
She rolled her eyes. “I already feel like an absolute sod for what I did, but I want to know, do you love her?”
I swallowed hard, trying to rack my brain for a response. “I’ve never been in love, Cecily.”
“Look, you can give me the bullshit diplomatic answer all you want, but I’ve seen the way you look at her. The way you defended her in front of that jackarse.”
My heart beat even faster as the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
Did I love this woman?
And if so, how the hell could I forgive her?
Cecily shook her head. “Look, I know Mother had her reasons for wanting her out. I also know that maybe Natalie didn’t even mean to take the money. Mother probably just deposited it with a flick of the wrist. Who knows, maybe Natalie was even trying to return it?”
“Natalie’s mum had cancer, and she’s been drowning in medical debt. It’s the reason she took this job.” My voice thickened as I remembered her lying in my arms, the tears streaming down her face as she heard the news of her mum’s cancer possibly coming back.
Cecily blinked hard as her face went pale. “If Mother, or hell, you or Hugh needed money for something, I’d take it in a heartbeat. No questions asked. Don’t you think you’d do the same?”
I swallowed hard, trying to push my emotions down. “Aye. You’re my family.”
“So, could you blame Natalie for doing the same? If that was the case? Did you even ask her about it?”
I shoved my hands through my hair, leaning my head back as I stared at the ceiling. Knowing the answer to that.
Slowly I closed my eyes then opened them again, focusing on the ceiling fresco that depicted a man and a woman walking through a field of irises.
I never thought much about the history of this castle until Natalie walked in, and now that I had, I had begun to see it in a new light.
That was when a lightbulb went off. A new spark.
One that drummed in my chest, making everything seem clear for the first time all day.
“Make sure to stall Natalie so she doesn’t leave, and don’t tell Mother where I’ve gone,” I barked before quickly heading toward the door.
“What? Where are you going?” Cecily called after me.
“I’ll be back soon. Just stall, please.”
…
“Hugh, is Natalie there? She’s not answering my messages,” I barked into the car’s Bluetooth as the rain pelted the glass in front of me.
Cecily wasn’t answering her phone, and I didn’t want to try calling the staff to tip off Mother. If she even knew what I was thinking, or that I just left the solicitor’s office, she’d raise holy hell.
“She’s not here.”
“What?” I yelled over the water assaulting my car.
“She left, Gavin. Her stuff’s gone and someone drove her to the train station. I’m not sure how long ago that was.”
I groaned in frustration, gripping the steering wheel tightly.
I had a plan.
Everything was set in place so I could talk to her and figure out the truth of the matter.
Now it was too bloody late for that.
“Bollocks,” I gritted.
“There’s also another thing she left. Meredith gave it to me before Mother could see it.”
“What’s that?”
“A personal check. A large one.”
My entire body stiffened as I stared at the Bluetooth like it would have the answers.
She was going to return the money.
She had nothing and yet was still going to give it all back.
My skin crawled as I thought about her writing it out.
And how much of an arse I was to just push her away.
“Thank you for telling me, Hugh,” I said tightly, my heart now banging so hard against my chest, I had to suck in a deep breath to try to slow it.
I did
n’t say goodbye as I hung up the phone and slammed my fist against the steering wheel.
“Bugger.”
As I drove back toward the winding road to the manor, I caught sight of a train in the distance.
If the thing was even moving, it would be going at a snail’s pace.
Unless…
I slammed the car into reverse, doing a complete about-face as the rain roared around me.
As fast as the weather would allow, I sped back into town, barreling down the old streets toward the train station.
The rain was now a full-on downpour, and the only thing I could see were the lights from different store windows and the large one above the train station.
I parked my car, barely shutting the door before I ran onto the platform.
My shirt and pants were soaked to my skin, weighing me down, but I couldn’t focus on that. I was now running on sheer will and adrenaline.
There wasn’t a single soul left at the station. I ran back and forth along the platform looking for somebody, anybody who might have seen a beautiful redhead.
Stopping near one of the platforms, I sighed, leaning against the brick wall as I pushed my wet hair out of my face.
I couldn’t let this happen. I couldn’t let her get away.
I’d fly all the way to North Carolina if I had to.
My body chilled to the bone as I tried to count my breaths. Raking my head for my next move.
But what the bloody hell could I do?
I opened my eyes, scanning what I could see of the storefronts facing the station. That’s when I found that familiar neon sign.
Not caring about the water sloshing in my shoes, I sped across the cobblestone path then opened the large door to the pub, taking in the scent of whiskey and fried food.
The place was packed, as usual, with others drenched from the rain.
I had to scan a few times before I spotted her in a small booth in the corner.
Her head was down, but I would have known that halo of red hair anywhere.
Just that one look had my heart beating faster. My once-chilled body now boomed with a new heat. A new need.
“Natalie,” I bellowed, my voice echoing through the room and causing a few heads to turn in my direction.
