“Hey, you!” he smiled back at her.
“Hey yourself! You look dapper!”
“I was in a meeting almost all morning.” He turned the phone around so she could see where he was standing. “I thought you might like a sneak preview of the work already in progress.”
After a moment, she asked, “Niall, doesn’t the order to stop working include work being done in the garden?”
He turned the phone back around. “No. Apparently my mother doesn’t mind having the garden enhanced and updated. It’s what’s planned for the house itself that has her tied up in knots.”
“I’m really sorry all this is happening. I imagine if it were some place other than your ancestral home, you might just have pulled your funding and moved on.”
“Yes. But sometimes withdrawing is the best offense. Usually, when people see money slipping between their fingers, they come to their senses pretty quickly.”
Her face showed her concern and he loved her for it. He had to find a way to be with her sooner than the six months it would take to finish the work, once the arbitration was complete. He was confident that he would win, but he knew the blow to his mother’s pride would be tremendous.
“Sometimes, when I’m not furious with her, I wish I understood why Mother is being so stubborn about this. It’s not exactly rocket science that any improvements to the castle will bring in greater revenue. I don’t understand her objection to more money in her bank account.”
Willa Mae sighed. He understood her feelings. “Anyway, the rose garden looks lovely. I’m sure a lot of people will be happy to contribute to its preservation.”
He studied her face as she spoke, and saw the lines of weariness deepening. “How close to Penn Station are you?”
“We’ll be there in another couple of hours.”
“I’ll call you later. Be safe, love.”
Feeling much calmer, he went indoors, wishing he could enjoy the beauty of his home without feeling the frustrations of having his plans mired in paperwork. He would prepare for this arbitration in the same way he prepared for major deals. He sent his solicitor an email, made a few phone calls, and then did some research. When the date was set for the arbitration, he would know everything there was to know about historic estate preservation in the village, what the statutes were, what precedents were set for this case to be heard, and what decisions had been handed.
It wasn’t that Niall didn’t trust his solicitors. He had a great team, and they earned their way with him. But he never liked to be in the dark, and this was one reason that he had earned a reputation within and outside his family as a shark. He was tough and didn’t allow personal feelings to enter into his business decisions. In fact, truth be told, he never allowed personal feelings to interfere at all. He had long ago decided that emotions weren’t worth the trouble of entertaining them, especially once he became almost a pariah in his own household. If his family had a hard time accepting him, then he would show them that he didn’t need them to succeed and move ahead in the world. He had done just that, over and over even in the years before he had become a legal adult.
A sound made him look up from the document he was reading. His mother stood in the doorway, her face pinched, her eyes suspiciously red. Niall watched her warily…he had never seen his mother cry, not even at her husband’s funeral. She had been stoic, cold, aloof, so much so that no one wanted to approach her. She hadn’t looked anything like a grieving widow might reasonably be expected to look, so her appearance now was puzzling to him. He eyed her suspiciously. At this point, he didn’t think anything was beneath his mother to try and halt the renovations.
“Mother?”
“Have you received the writ from the village board?” she began without preamble.
“I have.”
She waited, as though she expected him to say something more. When he remained silent, she continued. “You forced me to it, Niall. You refuse to accept that this house was not meant to become just another bed and breakfast. This is a castle with a fine heritage. It should be treated with the respect it serves, the respect it is due. All you want to do is turn it into another hotel for obnoxious people to spend their money as though they’re doing us a favor. We’re the ones doing them a favor by having this place here to begin with.”
Niall studied his mother. She sounded irrational, like a petulant child with no access to reason when her favorite toy has been taken from her. It struck him suddenly that he had not really been observing his mother, but had only been reacting to her behavior, which had been erratic, to say the least. What if there was something wrong with her? While she had never been a particularly warm woman, even when her children were small, she hadn’t been so egregiously unreasonable, either.
“Mother,” he began, deciding to test the waters, “when was the last time you saw your GP?”
“I’m not ill, Niall! Why should I spend good money to have some quack tell me what I already know? I’m perfectly fine. No need for a doctor.”
Niall hated that he had to do this, but he knew in her current frame of mind nothing but force would get her to do what he now realized she needed to do.
“Why don’t I make arrangements for Dr. Sutherland to come round? He’d be more than happy to make a house call for you.”
His mother glared at him angrily. “There is nothing wrong with me, and no reason for anyone to waste time coming out here.”
He was careful to remove all expression from his face as he made the statement that he knew would force her to comply. “I think you’re being very irrational without just cause, and I believe that means there’s something wrong with you. If you refuse to see Dr. Sutherland and to follow his recommendations, I’ll be forced to bring this matter before the arbitrators. Do you think they’ll allow any case brought by a woman who might be mentally or emotionally impaired to take up the court’s time?”
“How dare you impugn my good name with such a vile accusation!”
Niall watched as she drew herself up haughtily, like a queen over her country. “I haven’t accused you of anything, Mother. I have said that you’re not yourself. You’ve never behaved like this before. I’m concerned that you have been unwell for some time,” like five years, he thought, “and have gone untreated.”
“There’s nothing wrong with me!”
Her voice remained strident with denial, but Niall noticed that her eyes grew uncertain and then, to his utter astonishment, they filled inexplicably with tears. His unease, and truth be told his guilt, grew. He stood up, but before he could move towards her, she turned sharply and walked away. Niall sighed. He wondered whether or not his siblings had even noticed that their mother’s behavior had been growing more and more erratic. They lived with her…he didn’t, though he knew that that was no excuse for not knowing.
He called the family physician and made arrangements for him to come out to the castle the next day, and then waited for his brother and sister to return. When they did, he called them into his study.
“It’s almost time for dinner. What’s so important it can’t wait?” As usual, Angus was as pompous as ever.
“Have either of you noticed anything unusual in Mother’s behavior?”
Niall watched their faces. Nothing registered on Angus’s face, which didn’t surprise him at all, since his brother was the most self-absorbed person he had ever met. Alison, however, looked…uncertain. He waited.
“What do you mean by unusual?’ she asked eventually.
He sighed. “What do you think you’ve noticed, Alison?”
His sister bit her lip, looking at Angus as though for guidance. Seeing none forthcoming, she plunged in. “Well, in the last few months or so I’ve noticed she’s become very…shrill. It’s usually when she’s under a great deal of strain, but I thought it odd because Mama never cracked when we were younger.”
“What sort of stress do you mean?” Niall needed as much information as he could get before the doctor arrived, so he had symptoms
to describe.
“Well, this whole castle business for one thing. Every time it’s mentioned, she seems to go just a little round the bend. I’m surprised you haven’t noticed that, Angus!”
She turned to look at her brother, whose gaze remained empty of awareness. “I don’t think a raised voice is an unusual thing for someone who feels threatened, do you?” he asked defensively, eventually recognizing that he might have missed something important. “In any case, what does it matter if she’s been a little louder than usual? You’re threatening our home. This is where she has lived since she was a lass of twenty-four. How else do you expect her to react?”
“Did it ever occur to you that perhaps our mother is unwell?”
Niall let the question sit for a long moment in the stunned silence that followed it, and then he dismissed them. “I’ve asked Dr. Sutherland to come out tomorrow. You both need to be here to hear what he has to say once he’s finished with his examination. He’ll arrive in time for lunch. Don’t be late.”
He stayed where he was, standing by his desk, until they walked out, and then he slumped against it. His mind raced with all the things that could possibly be wrong with his mother, and with how this discovery changed everything. He wished he could feel better about it, but he didn’t. He just felt defeated. He needed Willa Mae. She was better at this than he would ever be, because she cared and she had made him learn to care.
He called her, readying the words he would say to persuade her to come to him, and to stay.
Chapter Fifteen: Happy Beginnings
Willa Mae saw Niall before he saw her. He was standing in almost the exact same spot as he had been the first time he had come to get her, more than two months earlier. They hadn’t seen each other for two weeks. The night when she had got his call, she could hear the guilt he tried to disguise in a clinical discussion of what he thought might be wrong with his mother but she could tell he was upset.
“I know that this is a lot to ask, Willa Mae, but I would like it if you were here with me for this. It will have to become part of the proceedings, unless Mother can be persuaded to withdraw her plea. “
“I’m so sorry, Niall. I’ll be out of the country for the next two weeks, and I won’t be available to come before then, but I’ll ask Jill if the next big project can be shifted to someone else.”
“I will speak to her if you need me to,” he’d offered, but Willa Mae had refused.
“I’ve got this,” she’d told him.
She knew what she had to do. This job would be her last with Creative Legacies, unless Jill was prepared to keep her on as a consultant. Her place was with Niall now. He had called her because he wanted her, not as his property developer but as his lover, as his woman. They hadn’t said the words…it wouldn’t have been appropriate then. But they both knew that what had begun with a kiss at the top of the stairs two months ago was more than either was prepared to surrender.
Willa Mae smiled as he turned and saw her. The answering smile lit up his whole face, and the dimples she loved so much sank into his cheeks. She wanted to do the movie thing and drop her bags to run to him, but she kept hold of her luggage and walked the rest of the way, though by the time they stood in front of each other, she was shaking like a leaf in a gale. He reached out to cup her cheek.
“Thank you for coming, Willa Mae,” he said, and leaned in to kiss her.
She kissed him back, slowly sliding away from his mouth to say, “I’m glad you called me.”
He held out his arm and she took it, and he took her suitcase from her rolling it along to his SUV. He threw it in the back seat, along with her carry-on, and then turned to where she stood by the passenger side waiting.
“I have missed you, sweetheart,” he said, and pulled her into his arms fully this time before planting a voracious kiss on her lips. She opened for him, letting him have whatever it was he seemed to need from her mouth, and giving him back everything she had to give.
They stayed locked together like that, arms wrapped around each other until they needed to fill their lungs with air. Then he leaned his forehead against hers, panting heavily.
“How is your mother?” she asked, leaning away to look into his eyes.
“As well as can be expected, given the shock of the diagnosis. She’s just begun the course of treatments the doctor prescribed, and is seeing a neurologist in another week.”
He helped her into the car, and as they drove off he said, “Don’t expect too much change in her demeanor towards you, though. She is still my mother, and some things are ingrained, having little to do with her illness.”
Willa Mae understood. She was here for Niall, and that would have to suffice.
“What time is the hearing tomorrow?”
“Nine. You don’t have to be there if you’d rather not,” he added. “It could get ugly.”
Willa Mae sighed. “I don’t understand why your mother is still going through with this. Doesn’t she know she won’t win?”
“She’s irrational as well as aggressive…when she’s not morose and depressed. It seems that having been told she has Alzheimer’s has somehow freed her to let go, and everything she had been hiding from all of us before is coming out now. It’s been difficult, to say the least.”
“I can’t even imagine how you must be feeling.”
She reached over and placed her hand on his where he was resting it on the gear shift. He turned his hand so he could hold hers, and squeezed it gently.
“How are Angus and Alison taking it?”
He heaved a heavy sigh. “Alison is dealing with a great deal of guilt. I’d say she has grown up a lot in the last two weeks. Angus lives in denial. I know it’s just fear, but it irks me. He’s a man acting like a child.”
“That’s a very sexist thing to say,” Willa Mae teased.
Niall smiled. “So, your idol has feet of clay. Better you know it now, before…”
He squeezed her hand again, but didn’t finish his sentence, and Willa Mae didn’t push him. They would come to talk about their lives after the hearing was over. The rest of the ride was made in comfortable silence, and when they arrived at the castle, Andrews was once again waiting for them.
“How does he always know exactly when you’re going to get here? Does he have some kind of sixth sense or something?”
Niall laughed. “You’ll have to ask him yourself, I’m afraid.”
Andrews greeted her like a long-lost relative. “Ah, Ms. Jamison, welcome back! It is good to see you! Bannock Castle hasn’t been the same since you left.”
Willa Mae laughed. “I think you’re exaggerating, Andrews, but thanks for the very warm welcome!”
“I would venture to say that insofar as it pertains to Mr. Niall, I speak no more than the truth, ma’am.”
She had no answer for that, but Niall grinned and said, “Stop giving away all my secrets, Andrews and take Willa Mae’s things up to her suite, please. We’ll be in the study.”
“I’ll have the tray brought there, Mr. Niall.”
Andrews nodded politely at Willa Mae and walked behind them into the castle, leaving them at the stairs to do his boss’s bidding. Willa Mae followed Niall into his study, and as soon as he shut the door, he hauled her up against him.
“Welcome home, mo ghràdh! I am so glad you’re here.”
His kisses overwhelmed her, overpowered her, and she melted against him like candle wax under flames. A discreet knock at the door had then stumbling apart, and she walked away to stand by the window, leaving Niall to deal with whoever was at the door. She heard low voices in conversation but didn’t turn around, needing to cool the fever his kisses has awakened.
“Willa Mae, come and have some tea.”
Niall’s voice sounded strained, and when she turned, she saw the reason standing just behind him, an angry glare directed at her. Angus Drummond was not happy to see her, but she didn’t care. Because the look in Niall’s eyes said she was all that mattered to him. She went to him, si
tting where he indicated and accepting the cup he offered her.
“Thank you,” she said, directing a piercing smile his way. Then she looked over at Angus and took a slow sip of the hot liquid in the cup before saying coolly, “Good afternoon to you, too.”
Niall laughed, which made Angus’s glare even darker. He made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snarl, turned on his heel and left.
“Oh dear, he’s not happy with you at all, is he?”
“He demanded to know what you were doing here, and when I told him, he was incensed.” Niall took a long swallow from his cup and added, “But then, he’s always incensed these days. I think he sees his days of freeloading coming to an end, and he’s running scared.”
Scottish Swag Page 17
