The realtor quickly agreed and began making calls and checking listings on his tablet.
“Will!” Liz hissed. “What on earth are you doing?”
“What? I told you this will keep Jacqueline busy, and more importantly, out of our flat. If you don’t find anything, you spent a few hours looking at property,” he reasoned.
“And if I do find something?”
“Buy it.” He shrugged. “I told you you should start building your investment portfolio. Property is great for retirement planning—especially at your age. By the time you retire it should have gone up significantly in value and the rents will bring in a nice monthly allowance.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
She raised a brow. “I could think of a few reasons. And one glaring one.”
“We’ll work out the details later, Liz. It’ll be all right.”
She shook her head and went to look at the house more closely. She knew absolutely nothing about renovation but if she was going to be pretending to be into it for the next few days, she thought she should get started.
The brownstone really did have a lot of potential, she decided. There was a large bay window in the kitchen that she could imagine putting a window seat in and another in the living room overlooking the street. There was a terrace in the back, though no real yard. The basement ceiling was low and would probably never be anything other than storage, but that was at a premium in New York, so she considered it an asset. The attic could possibly be turned into something. I can’t believe I’m actually considering this.
“What do you think, Elizabeth?” Jacqueline asked.
“I haven’t made up my mind yet.”
“It certainly has plenty of potential, and the neighborhood is good. Would you want to sell it or let it out?”
“We haven’t decided that yet, Jackie,” William interjected. “There’s a flat a few blocks over. Shall we?”
Jacqueline nodded and led the way out the door, clearly satisfied and in her element.
“Isn’t she tired or jetlagged or something?” Liz whispered to Will.
“Bottomless. Pit,” he whispered back dramatically.
Liz stifled a laugh and got into the car, determined to enjoy this for what it was: A grown man running scared from his baby sister.
**
Friday was spent much as Thursday had been, but instead of looking at property all afternoon, they looked all day. Elizabeth learned to handle Jacqueline relatively quickly, but she still found herself being steamrolled when she let her guard down. Jacqueline wasn’t bad, not really. She was polite and even kind sometimes, like when suggesting a wall be removed and a header put in to support the ceiling, then patiently explaining what a header was. Elizabeth was thoroughly impressed with her knowledge of building structure and wondered if she’d gone to school for architecture. But she wasn’t very warm, and she was still a Harper who clearly enjoyed getting her own way. By three o’clock, Elizabeth was exhausted from standing her ground and suggested they head back to prepare for the family dinner that evening.
The remainder of Harper’s family had flown in from England and Texas earlier that day or the night before. They were resting at their hotels and apartments and would all meet up for dinner at eight. Elizabeth was beyond nervous. She had agonized over what to wear and in a fit of desperation, hired a personal shopper at Saks. The end result was classy and refined but still modern. Her navy dress was modest enough with a boat neck and full knee-length skirt, but still youthful with a belted waist and sleeveless bodice. She wore simple make-up, but the navy made her green eyes stand out and her skin look creamy.
“You look great. You ready?” Harper asked as he stepped into the hall and shrugged on his suit coat.
“Yeah, I think so. Do you think I’ll need a sweater?”
“No, my aunt usually keeps the house warm.”
She nodded and followed him silently out the door, down the elevator, and into the car that was driving them to his family’s home on the Upper East Side. She silently reviewed the names he’d given her. Jacqueline and Albert she’d met the day before, and while they weren’t great friends, she at least felt some level of comfort around her husband’s sister. Albert was just like Will had described him: intelligent but lazy, a dreamer who lacked vision, a trust fund baby who liked a comfortable life and couldn’t be bothered with talking to those of lesser intelligence or income. He was quiet but occasionally made extremely witty observations, and Liz thought she could come to like him well enough and enjoy his conversation, but respecting him would be a little harder.
Now they were headed to Alistair and Julia’s townhouse. Several extended family members would be there. Her head was spinning as she tried to remember everyone’s names. Will didn’t have any pictures of anyone; he’d told her all the albums were at the family apartment and it was locked up and under sheets. Liz decided digging through it all just so she could put a name with an old photo seemed like too much trouble and an unnecessary invasion of William and Jacqueline’s privacy.
“Here we are,” Will said.
She looked out the window at the opulent building and took a deep breath.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
“You’ll be fine. It’s just one dinner. And Calvin’s always a safe port in a storm if you need one.”
“Thanks.”
The door was opened by a butler in a dark suit and Liz’s anxiety immediately went up a few notches.
“Is that Harper?” boomed a man’s deep voice.
“Yes, Uncle, we’re here.”
They stepped into a living room decorated to the hilt in creams and pale peaches, where soft classical musical played in the background, accented by the tinkle of crystal. Elizabeth quickly took in the room full of people. The men were in light dress pants and sport coats, no ties, while the women were in soft pastel dresses in flowy fabrics, daintily perched on the edges of pale sofas and chairs like aristocratic birds on high wires. Liz looked down at her navy dress and sighed internally. Strike one, Lizzy. At least it’s chiffon, she thought.
Alistair Covington was a few inches shorter than William, though most men were, with thinning grey hair cropped close to his head. He looked to be in his early sixties and was deeply tanned with bright blue eyes, similar to William’s in color but without her husband’s long lashes. Liz thought he was still a handsome man and he seemed pleasant enough. So far.
Julia Covington had obviously been a beautiful woman in her younger years. At sixty-one, she still turned heads, albeit with the help of a skilled surgeon. She had a long, lean frame with a slender waist shown off by a narrow pink belt. Her dress was cream-colored sleeveless chiffon, showing off her toned arms. Two-inch heels displayed the thinnest ankles Elizabeth had ever seen. This woman was clearly no stranger to the gym. Liz surreptitiously felt her own upper arms and squeezed Will’s hand a little tighter.
“Aunt Julia, Uncle Alistair, this is my wife, Elizabeth. Elizabeth, my aunt and uncle.” Harper performed the introductions with confidence and restraint, his accent more pronounced than it usually was, his back impossibly straight.
Elizabeth said hello and thanked them for hosting this evening and for coming such a long way for their reception.
“Nice to meet you, Elizabeth,” Alistair said. His voice was medium pitch and didn’t sound hostile, but neither was it welcoming.
“Yes, it’s nice to finally meet you,” added Julia. “Come meet the family.”
She took Elizabeth’s arm and began to lead her away. Elizabeth smiled and followed, Will giving her hand an encouraging squeeze just before she let go. Julia began the introductions.
“Jacqueline you know, and her husband Albert DeWitt.” The couple nodded and Julia continued around the room. “This is my eldest son Theodore and his wife Caroline.” Theodore shook her hand, smiled politely and said it was nice to meet her. Caroline attempted
to get up from the chair she was seated in, but struggled in her heavily pregnant state.
“Oh, please, don’t get up!” Elizabeth gestured to Caroline and smiled. “When are you due?”
“Five more weeks, or so they tell me!” Caroline smiled and rubbed her belly. She had warm caramel eyes and honey colored hair, with cheeks flushed from the heat only she was feeling. “It’s so nice to meet you, Elizabeth. If the reception had been any later in the summer, I don’t think I could have made it.”
“We appreciate you making the effort to come,” Elizabeth said. “It can’t be easy to travel this late in your pregnancy.”
Caroline smiled and looked like she’d say more, but Julia took Elizabeth by the arm and led her to the next guest.
“This is my daughter Cecelia and her husband Robert Hayes.”
Cecelia was bubbly and sweet with wide blue eyes and a creamy complexion, her hair a golden halo of soft curls. Altogether, she reminded Elizabeth of a glass of champagne. She immediately insisted Elizabeth call her Cece because Cecelia was such a mouthful. Her husband only nodded and said it was nice to meet her. After the introduction, Cece settled next to Caroline. Elizabeth thought she might be able to be friends with the two of them eventually.
Julia continued with her parade around the room. Elizabeth met three cousins of Harper’s mother and their husbands. The three sisters ranged in age from fifty-five to sixty-five and each had the same sky-blue eyes half the room seemed to possess. They congratulated Elizabeth and welcomed her to the family while speaking over each other constantly and left Elizabeth feeling confused and slightly overwhelmed.
Next was a small cluster of brunettes, a clear minority in this room, obviously discussing business. Julia authoritatively interrupted and introduced Elizabeth, who was surprised to hear an American accent speaking back to her.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Elizabeth. We need more Americans in the family!” laughed one of the young men.
“You’re only half American, Benjamin,” Julia said exasperatedly.
The easy-going young man smiled at Elizabeth and winked, then added, “I have to apologize for my sister Annabelle. She wanted to be here, but she’s due any day now and we were all too nervous to let her travel.”
“Of course. William told me she was expecting her first child. Please tell her we understand completely and wish her a safe delivery.”
“I will. Have you met my brother Jake?” He gestured to a man of about thirty-five on his right. They were both roughly six feet tall with dark Harper hair and big Texas smiles. Jake shook her hand and introduced her to his wife Joanna who suddenly appeared at his side, a lovely woman with dark red hair styled in large rolling curls and an even bigger smile. Her drawl, while not very Virginian, was comforting to Elizabeth who, after living in New York for five years, welcomed any kind of accent that originated south of the Mason-Dixon line.
Jake in turn introduced her to his younger sisters Margaret, whom everyone called Maggie, and Dorothy, whom everyone called Molly for some unfathomable reason. Maggie was there with her husband Michael (also red-haired and a cousin to Joanna), and Molly was single without any desire to change that any time soon. Elizabeth liked them, though they were a bit eccentric and clearly had more money than they knew what to do with.
Elizabeth tried to hold in her laughter at Julia’s clear disapproval of these particular members of the family who weren’t actually related to her. Rich they may have been, stylish they most certainly were, but Julia Montrose Covington, daughter of the Earl of Camden and wife of the Earl of Maeburn, found them a bit too American for her taste.
Julia nodded in what was a clear dismissal and led Elizabeth to the group their husbands were in. Harper quickly stepped next to Elizabeth and took over the introductions.
“This is Jonathon Greaves, my second cousin on my mother’s side,”
Elizabeth smiled and the light-haired man returned it politely.
“And this is my cousin I was telling you about: Calvin Covington.”
Elizabeth shook Calvin’s hand who then surprised her by leaning in and kissing her cheek, clearly enjoying the surprise his gesture had on everyone in their circle.
“Elizabeth, it’s lovely to finally meet you. William has told me all about you.”
Harper was about to interject when Elizabeth responded, “Don’t worry, it can’t possibly all be true.”
Alistair laughed as did Calvin, and Julia smiled as much as her recent procedures would allow her.
“William, are any more of your Harper relatives coming for the reception?” asked Julia.
“Uncle John and Aunt Helen are coming up from Houston in the morning, just for the weekend, and Aunt Rebecca and Sophie are coming from Edinburgh; they arrive late tonight. Everyone else is stuck in Scotland for the moment, I believe.”
“Ah,” responded Julia, who made it sound like an entire sentence. “Shall we eat?”
Dinner was unremarkable in the sense that nothing too embarrassing, interesting, or fantastic happened. However, it was terribly entertaining to Elizabeth who had to hide her smile more than once behind her napkin. Julia insisted on calling everyone by their full names, regardless of what they preferred. Thus Jake became Jacob, Maggie became Margaret, and Molly became Dorothy. After correcting her twice to no avail, Molly simply quit responding to Julia.
By the end of the night, Elizabeth learned that Jake was the typical eldest child of a large family: responsible, leader-like, and well-respected. Benjamin, or Ben as he preferred to be called, was carefree and charming, always on the lookout for the next pretty face and willing to flirt with anything in a skirt, a fact made clear when he slipped into conversation that “everything is bigger in Texas” with a suggestive look and a wink. She choked slightly on her chardonnay but recovered admirably.
Calvin was not too terribly different from Ben in essentials, but where Ben was charming in an open, relaxed, cowboy-esque sort of way, Calvin was blue-blooded through and through. Charming, but more distant, eloquent, but less familiar, easy, but less obvious. The two got along famously and were overheard making plans to go out after dinner, something Elizabeth was sure would be memorable for the ladies of New York. After all, how often did one meet an English aristocrat and a charming cowboy in the same night?
Maggie was mild and sweet and Molly was clearly the black sheep of the family. Joanna was nice but a little bit loud, like her hair, and Maggie’s husband (she couldn’t remember if his name was Michael or Mark) hardly spoke at all. The older women kept to themselves throughout dinner, and William, his uncle Alistair, and the blonde cousin that she couldn’t remember the name of spent the entire evening discussing stocks and world economies.
Cece was bubbly and endearing and listened patiently to Jacqueline’s stories of renovation on her hotel while Albert occasionally chimed in a satirical word or two. Caroline looked like she was ready to go to sleep any moment, or pass out from the heat. Her husband Theodore was alternately solicitous and oblivious. Elizabeth came to the conclusion that he cared for his wife’s comfort, but didn’t really know what he ought to do.
While the Texas family seemed to like her—though Liz couldn’t really be sure because she had a feeling they were like that with everyone—she got a decidedly cold vibe from several of the Covingtons. They were all polite and perfectly civil, but not overly kind or welcoming.
Theodore was in the civil category until the end of the evening. Elizabeth won him over when he left the main gathering and went into a small, out-of-the-way living room, looking for his wife, and found Elizabeth helping Caroline prop her rapidly swelling feet on a stool. She then carefully undid the straps of Caroline’s shoes and placed them on the floor next to the chair. He watched as Elizabeth patiently poured her a glass of water, brought her a pillow for her aching back, and finally sat on the stool next to Caroline’s poor water-logged ankles and began to stroke from her feet up towards her calves, helping to drain the water.
“O
h, Elizabeth, I know I shouldn’t let you do this since we’ve only just met, but it feels so lovely I can’t make myself ask you to stop!”
Elizabeth only laughed as Caroline leaned her head back and closed her eyes, clearly exhausted.
“Think nothing of it. My cousin Mary’s feet used to get absolutely huge, especially in the summer. I’d do this for her and it always helped bring down the swelling.”
“Thank your cousin Mary for me for teaching you such a wonderful technique. I think this is the first time I’ve felt truly relaxed since we arrived.”
Elizabeth smiled and Caroline practically purred, which only endeared her to Elizabeth more. She had been the most real and warm person the entire evening, and Elizabeth was grateful for her company and Caroline’s obvious efforts to make her feel welcome in this new family.
“Would you like to have lunch tomorrow? There’s a little café downtown I’d like to show you if you’re available,” Elizabeth asked impulsively.
“Won’t you be preparing for the reception?” Caroline asked sleepily.
“It’s not until eight and I’ve done all I can at this point.”
“Well then, yes, I’d love to! Thank you for the invitation.” Caroline smiled happily, clearly delighted with being asked. Elizabeth couldn’t help but reciprocate.
“I’ll pick you up here at noon. That should give us plenty of time to get back and dressed for the party. Now, we just need to teach that husband of yours how to do this and you’ll be set!”
Caroline laughed with her and the next thing Elizabeth knew, there was a pair of large masculine hands on Caroline’s other leg, mimicking Elizabeth’s motions.
“Like this?” Theodore asked.
“Yes. Keep the pressure steady, but not too heavy.” Elizabeth answered quietly.
She felt a little self-conscious at her forward actions with someone who was a virtual stranger, but Theodore only looked at Caroline’s lovely, tired face until his wife whispered, “Thank you, Teddy.”
Elizabeth said goodnight and kissed Caroline’s forehead, telling her she would see her the next day and left to find William.
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