A small smile crossed her lips as she shook her head. “Madison, you didn’t do anything wrong. I mean, granted, we’re going to have to tell Mom about the dropping-out thing, and your ass is enrolling back in school here ASAP, but with Jacob, that’s not your place. And I think Gavin had a feeling that’s what he was here for.”
I glanced at the large door behind us that led to the bedroom. Was Gavin in there still sleeping? Or was he already in the library or his office, talking with a million lawyers about this Rodrick guy and the odd duck of Webley?
“But I brought him here. I made it worse.”
“Honey, you didn’t do anything wrong. You just fell for a guy that wasn’t totally honest with you.”
“I didn’t fall for him,” I muttered.
She rolled her eyes. “Please. I’ve known you all your life. You love that Scottish odd duck.”
A chill rang through my neck. “I don’t love him. I don’t even know him, and what I do know of him is anything but honest.”
“There’s a lot more to his story than I think any of us realize. A lot to the family history that I’ve just skimmed the surface of.”
I swallowed hard, thinking about our conversation the night before. “He says his great-grandfather is really sick.”
She nodded. “I heard that from Gavin. That’s why Jacob came instead of the older gentleman. Let me tell you, Gavin and I had a long talk about why he even invited him.”
“So you didn’t know?”
She smiled, shaking her head. “I knew he wanted to. I told him his mom would have a shit fit, but I can’t say I didn’t like seeing her a little off her game when Jacob introduced himself.”
“Okay, yeah, that was kind of funny.” I laughed, but there wasn’t any humor to it. My chest still felt like it was burning inside of me.
“But Gavin and I talked about the family history. I obviously didn’t study law, but we both knew that he might try something. That’s why the family solicitor has been around, and Gavin even tried to get me to just go down to his office and get us married legally and get everything transferred to me, so Jacob couldn’t claim anything. Though, now that I think about that, I don’t even know if that would have worked, either.”
“Really?”
She nodded. “I told him that Jacob would do the right thing. If the way he looked at you said anything, I knew he was a good guy.”
I scoffed, trying to ignore the feeling of warmth gathering low in my belly. “Just because the guy wanted to screw me didn’t mean he wouldn’t screw the family.”
She pushed a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “You’d be surprised what a man will do when he cares about someone.”
“But would a guy care enough to just change his plans like that? I mean, this is like a villain origin story.”
She laughed, shaking her head. “I don’t think there’s a villain in this story.”
I hoped so. For all our sakes.
“Now, do you want me to go with you back to your room so you don’t have to confront him yourself?” she asked, doing a once over of my outfit. “Or are you going to have breakfast in that?”
I sighed, sitting up. “No. I hope he’s gone, though. Can’t you have some guards or security make sure he never comes back?”
She pursed her lips. “If you really want to, I can, but I don’t think that’s the best strategy here.”
“I…I don’t think I can see him right now, Nat.”
She nodded. “Okay. Then you can borrow something of mine, and I’ll send someone to check in your room.”
“Thanks, Natalie.”
“That’s what sisters are for.”
Chapter Sixteen
Jacob
I should have locked my phone.
Or never sent that shite to Blair and handled things myself.
Now it was too late. The odd duck of the family had fucked up again.
I let out a breath and kept wandering around the town of Webley, my suitcase trailing behind me as I waited for some local constable to pick me and throw me into the local jail so I couldn’t stop the wedding.
I’d been surprised a horde of guards hadn’t chased me out of the manor or come looking for me as soon as I’d put my clothes back on. But there had been no one as I’d hurriedly packed and called a taxi to bring me to the train station.
Except I couldn’t make myself leave.
Perhaps some jail time would’ve been better since, as I walked past the little shops, each little thing kept reminding me of what I really fucked up. From seeing a flash of auburn hair in a window to a whiff of fresh sugar from the bakery. All of it brought Madison back to the forefront of my mind.
Shite.
I didn’t want it to happen like this.
If I would have stopped thinking with my cock, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. I should have told her everything the moment she’d been in my arms. I could have explained everything, but I hadn’t been thinking.
All I’d had in my mind was Blair’s hushed tone, telling me about Great-Grandfather. The man who’d helped raise me, who’d welcomed me back home after each of my failures. The patriarch of our family was dying, and I wasn’t there.
Even knowing I was doing what he wanted—restoring the MacWebley name—my chest panged. I should go home.
I looked up just in time to miss a baker pulling a large cart full of small pink boxes out of the shop. “Sorry, sir.”
“Oh, no, my fault. Do you need some help with that?” I grabbed the wheel, pulling it out of a wedge in the cobblestone.
“Thank you, sir. Wouldn’t want these to topple before getting them to the manor.”
I froze at his words.
“Everything okay? Anything slip?” the man asked, checking over the boxes, all still in their little perfect place.
“No. Fine. Just didn’t think the manor would be ordering from a local bakery.”
He smiled as he pulled the cart, and I followed. “Lord Gavin wanted to make sure all of the local shops were involved.”
“Really?” I asked, not sure I heard his words right. Were they all comping him? Why would he even do that?
“Ah, him and Lady Natalie have been coming in for tastings here and then they go right next door to the florist, each time making sure to buy the local sweets to bring back for the workers at the manor.”
“That sounds lovely.” I tried to keep my tone neutral, but I had a hard time believing my cousin who never smiled would do something like that.
I helped get the cart the rest of the way over the cobblestone until he was at the big white van.
“Thank you for your help, sir. Sorry, I didn’t get your name, but maybe I’ll see you at the wedding this weekend.”
Doubt that.
“Maybe.”
He laughed. “Whole town is open to go on the property. I don’t know if I’m more excited to see the actual manor or the dogs myself.”
My ears perked up.
Surely, I couldn’t have heard him right.
The entire town was invited for a noble wedding?
“Sorry, I’m not from around here. But did they post a bulletin or something and let everyone know it was an open wedding?”
The man laughed again, shaking his head as he started loading up the boxes. “Social media. Personal invitations to everyone in the shops. You name it and Lord Gavin has done it. I don’t say this just because he hired us, but he and Lady Natalie have done so much more for this town than any of us thought possible.”
My throat rang dry and I couldn’t speak, so I only nodded before waving and heading back in the other direction.
Webley was a Cotswold fairytale town with its little shops and cobblestone streets. So many times, I’d Googled the place and always held such contempt with how perfect it seemed. Looking in the window of the
floral shop, at least half a dozen ladies ran around, laughing as they put together arrangements of white roses.
Wedding flowers?
Was the baker telling the truth?
Leaning against the brick of a building, I parked my suitcase and pulled out my phone. I still hadn’t responded to Blair, but I glazed over her messages, leaving them on read, before I pulled up my browser. One search for Webley, England, and a few of the usual social media sites popped up.
I didn’t remember those being there a year ago.
Before Natalie had come to curate the manor.
Now there were dozens of posts from the historical society with photos of the different rooms. And even more recent photos of dog groomers coming in to prep the animals for the big day or local tailors measuring Lord Gavin and Lord Edwin for their suits.
Shite.
The man was right.
My cousin and his bride were sharing their day not just with nobility and family, but with the whole town. After an entire life of hearing how selfish and peacock-like the English side of our family was, I couldn’t believe it. But pictures spoke a thousand words, and these told a different story than what I’d been told.
I should have stopped there, yet when I swiped my thumb down the screen, a flash of auburn caught my eye.
Right there on the page was a photo of Madison and me in the stables.
They must have had a photographer following the wedding party guests.
Normally I would be right pissed about someone doing that, but as I stared closer, I realized it was the only photo I had of her. Of us. We both appeared so bloody happy as we stood in front of the horse.
My hand was on hers as we brushed over the horse’s snout.
That smile. The one that could light up an entire room.
And it was directed right at my own blasted smile.
Lady Natalie’s sister, Madison, and her date, Laird Lachlan MacWebley III of MacWebley, Scotland, cousin of the groom, enjoying the horses as they prepare for wedding festivities.
My eyes widened as I read over the small paragraph again and again.
They mentioned who I was?
They weren’t hiding me?
My chest ached as I leaned my head back against the cool brick wall.
Madison.
Gavin had said as much during our talk on the veranda. He didn’t want Madison hurt, because it would hurt Natalie and their mom, and this was his family now. Or would be officially in a couple days.
I let my head fall back against the brick wall.
How could I have made such a mess?
I put my phone back in my pocket and felt the edge of something inside. I pulled it and found the solicitor’s card.
No going back now.
There was a meeting I needed to have.
Webley was relatively small, so it didn’t take long to find Rodrick’s office right next door to the local post. But it was as if my feet were stuck in wet cement and I was glued to the spot right in front of the florist across the street.
People walked in front of me, smiling and talking like they didn’t have a care in the world.
This was Webley, England. It really was like a darn fairytale town.
As if Blair knew she could burst my bubble, my phone rang, her face on the screen.
Shite.
I blew out a breath.
I guessed I couldn’t ignore her forever.
Sliding my phone unlocked, I put it to my ear as I pushed off the wall and started walking again toward my original destination.
“Finally. Where the hell have you been?” she hissed.
“Been busy. Your little texts got to Madison, and I have a feeling soon I’ll have a horde of guards coming after me as the odd duck cousin trying to take over the manor.”
“Oh.”
I groaned. “Really? That’s all you have to say to that?”
“Well, kind of true, isn’t it? Did she really think you were something more? Is that what you were telling her? Jacob…”
My free hand clenched at my side. “It was more.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Blair, I care about Madison. This family. This town. Natalie really has done so much for it and her family…”
“Hold up.” Her words were clipped. “You spend not even a week with some random girl and now you think that the Webleys are angels? Have you forgotten about our past? What we’ve been through?”
I swallowed hard. “No. Of course I haven’t.”
“What was Great-Grandfather supposed to do? Just walk up to the manor himself and say, ‘Hello, I need some help, I know you’ve refused to help in the past, but can you do us a solid?’”
“I’m not saying that.”
She huffed. “He’s awake now. Why don’t you call him and tell him all of this, huh? See if he’ll have the same reaction or tell you to keep living your bloody fairytale.”
My breath caught in my throat.
“He’s awake?”
Her tone softened as she sighed. “Yes. He is. You can call his line and either he or a nurse should answer. Maybe that’ll be the best thing. Talk to the man who this affects the most.”
“I think I will,” I said with as much gruff as my dry throat could muster.
“I’ll talk to you later.”
“Bye, Blair.”
I hung up then stared at the screen for a few more beats.
Did I want to give the man another darn stroke?
Maybe I should talk to the family solicitor first.
Wheeling my suitcase behind me, I pushed open the large door, a small bell ringing overhead. The whole place smelled like oiled wood and fresh tea. It was smaller than I thought, with a main lobby area no bigger than the solar back at the manor, filled floor-to-ceiling with books and only a small desk in the middle.
Perched behind it was an older woman with horn-rimmed glasses who looked up from her computer with a cheery smile. “Hello, how can I help you today?”
Clearing my throat, I approached the desk, glancing at the two open doors on each side of her, wondering if the Webleys already had a jump on me and were sitting in waiting.
“Yes, um, I’m here to see Rodrick.”
“Did you have an appointment?”
I swallowed hard. “No, but—”
“Jacob, I had a feeling you’d be here,” a voice boomed from the open doorway.
Rodrick stood there with his hands wrapped around a coffee cup, reading glasses perched on his nose. Instead of the three-piece suit he’d worn the night before, he was dressed more casually today, with the sleeves rolled up on his dress shirt and a pair of plain blue trousers.
But he was smiling.
So maybe it wasn’t all bad that he’d known I was coming.
And I didn’t see any big guards in suits behind him.
I forced my own smile, putting my hand out as I approached the door. “Good to see you again.”
After we shook hands, he motioned his free hand. “Come on into my office.”
I nodded, my heart beating so hard, I could feel it down to my knees as I followed him.
Like the main room, this one was filled with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, but after he closed the door behind us, I noticed the touches of a much younger man. Like the basketball hoop behind the door and random sweet wrappers milling with the papers on his large oak desk.
“Have a seat.” He ushered to one of the wingback leather chairs as he went behind his desk. “Already heard from your sister pretty early. She’s a talker.”
“You can say that.”
He pushed his glasses up his nose as his eyes bore into me. “I know what she thinks I can do. And you know who I am to the Webley family.”
It was as if all the warm air had been whooshed out of th
e room and a chill crept through, leaving goose bumps all down my arms.
“Yes, I’m aware.”
“There are a lot of legal terms I could go through, but I think your biggest question is about what the MacWebleys can claim with Webley Manor?”
Wasn’t that what I’d come here for?
Shouldn’t I have been jumping up and down on the chair with excitement?
My chest seized, and all I could do was nod.
Something else was still nagging at the back of my brain. Something I just couldn’t figure out as my mind played tug of war with my thoughts.
“I’m not here to hurt anybody. Especially not the Webley family or Madison’s.” Her name slipped easily off my tongue.
And I meant it. Every damn word of it.
He folded his hands together on the table. “So, what are you here for then, Jacob? If you did try to file paperwork, you know that could play out in the British courts for years. I can tell you the information I have, but I’m the Webley family lawyer and would not represent you. Nor could I in good faith tell you it’s the brightest idea.”
“Then what are you telling me?”
He knocked his hand on the desk then shuffled a few papers. “There is another way to make it right for everyone. Gavin and I spoke about it at length, but he didn’t think you’d accept the terms.”
He pushed the papers in front of me, and I read over the fine print. A few words jumping out to me. “I…I don’t know about all of this. What would this mean?”
He nodded, not letting me finish my sentence. “This would be a way for the MacWebleys and Webleys to both inherit what they should have all of those years ago, and if what I’m reading about your family is correct, it would help them financially as well.”
I scanned the contract, my eyes darting to certain paragraphs.
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