Life's What You Make It: Love's Great Adventure Book 1

by Troutman, Theresa

  “That’s not true,” she fought back. “I have done nothing of the sort.”

  “I don’t want to hear it!” he yelled. “I’ve always acquiesced to you. This time I’m going to fight because I hate you and I hate Irons Electronics.”

  “You never complained while you were spending my money.”

  “You can keep your sodding money. I don’t want it,” he shot back.

  She ignored all that he said and grilled him again. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you in school?”

  He shook his head in disgust. Of course she had no idea of Nanny’s passing—not that she would care if she knew. Nanny was just a hired governess, after all. He didn’t want to tell her. Losing Nanny was too private; it was too painful. Tess was the only one who understood what he was going through.

  “I’m waiting for an answer,” she chimed in, snapping him back to reality.

  “She’s dead, and I came to scatter her ashes. Are you happy now?”

  “Who died?”

  “Nanny.”

  “But how can that be? Henry Cummings didn’t inform me.”

  “I asked him not to inform you. I knew what Nanny wanted. You never did.”

  “You have no right to speak to me like that, Sebastian.”

  “I have nothing else to say to you,” he replied, turning to leave the room.

  “Sebastian, if you walk out that door you will never be welcomed back into this family,” she said, giving him the final ultimatum.

  He knew it was coming and he welcomed it. “I don’t need your family,” he spat back. “You don’t even like me. I’m just an unwanted reminder of your failed marriage and philandering husband. All I’ve ever been to you is someone to carry on the family name and tradition. I’m in love with Tess. She’s all I need.”

  “What could you possibly know about love?” she asked with a shrill and cruel laugh. Lady Lily Irons was standing before him, judging him, demeaning him. “You’re only eighteen years old.”

  His eyes met hers. “Nanny taught me all about love. I don’t think you even know the meaning of the word.” He turned on his heel and walked out of the room with his head held high.

  “That whore upstairs will be your undoing!” she exclaimed. “You’ll come crawling back, begging for my forgiveness.” He was already halfway up the stairs, heading to his salvation. Lily’s words simply rolled off his back.

  Sebastian walked back into his room with a smile on his face. He was finally free. Any trepidation about the future was washed away by the fact that he no longer felt confined by his mother and her rules. Sebastian would find his own way in the world, just as Nanny had wished for him. He could ask Henry and Alice to help him, teach him how to run a household and balance a budget. For as long as he could remember, it felt as if a heavy steel anvil sat upon his chest. Now that the pressure was gone and he could finally breathe.

  He found Tess fidgeting on the edge of his bed, fully dressed and expecting the worst. She stood up and he wrapped his arms around her.

  “It’s over.”

  She pulled back and looked at him with concern in her eyes. “Who won?”

  “Are you packed? We need to go now,” he told Tess. “I’ll explain everything in the car.”

  “What happened to your face?” Tess exclaimed, noticing the red mark on his cheek.

  “It’s nothing.” He brushed off the question. “Let’s go.”

  Tess collected the few things strewn about the room and threw them in her bag. Sebastian buttoned his shirt and tucked it into his jeans, put on a black leather belt, and grabbed his suit coat. He placed his remaining toiletries in his bag and looked at his room one last time.

  “Are you sure you have everything you need?” Tess inquired, standing beside him.

  “Everything I need is right here,” he replied, squeezing her hand.

  In the course of four days he had lost his beloved Nanny, traveled between two continents, inherited a million pounds, made love to his beautiful girlfriend, laid Nanny to rest, and been disowned by his birth mother. It would have been the perfect plot for one of Nanny’s romance novels, but Sebastian couldn’t have made up this story if he tried.

  He guided the rental car out of the driveway and pointed it away from the bad memories as they set course toward London. “What happened to your face?” Tess asked as the color began to fade from his cheek.

  “Lily slapped me when I antagonized her. She disowned me. I’m glad it’s over. I’m very happy never to have to see her again,” Sebastian admitted.

  “Disowned! Are you okay?”

  “Tess, it’s out of my hands. We’ll deal with the fallout when we get back,” he said, trying to reassure her. “I may be disowned, but at least I have Nanny’s money to fall back on. I’m not destitute.”

  “Technically, you can live off the interest. You don’t actually get access to all the money until you’re twenty-five.”

  “Yes, darling.” He turned to her briefly and winked.

  “Don’t patronize me. This is serious. Can you please be serious for once?”

  “What are you upset about? I’m the one who just got kicked out of my family?”

  “Exactly! What will we do now?”

  “Considering we just left the castle fifteen minutes ago, I haven’t had time to formulate a plan. We can fly back to America early, I suppose,” Sebastian offered. He hadn’t given any thought to where they would go other than putting as many miles as possible between them and the castle.

  Tess took a deep breath. She wasn’t helping the situation by hounding him for answers. She tried a new tactic: “I’ve got an idea. Let’s go back to the hotel. We have a few days before we have to leave. Show me what you love about London.”

  Sebastian pulled off to the side of the road and bounced along the gravel and ruts until the car came to a complete stop. He turned off the ignition, quickly unbuckled his seatbelt, and turned to her. In one graceful movement he leaned over the gear shift and kissed her with great intensity.

  “Wow, what was that for?” Tess sighed, after finally coming up for air.

  “You are absolutely amazing. You always know exactly what to say to make me feel better,” he beamed.

  “Well, it seems a perfect waste to go back early. Furthermore, your mother did interrupt us and I was hoping we could pick that up again,” she admitted, only slightly embarrassed by her newfound desire for Sebastian.

  He kissed her again. “My God, I will throw you in the backseat of this car and make love to you right now if you keep talking like that,” he whispered.

  “That would be very interesting—not to mention illegal and cliché. I think we better get back on the road or I might take you up on it.”

  They pulled into The Savoy an hour later. The neon green art deco sign was a welcome sight. Sebastian left the car running for the valet to park it. He took Tess’ hand and led her up the steps. The concierge greeted them. “Welcome back, Mr. Irons.”

  Sebastian nodded his head in acknowledgment and continued to the front desk. “Three nights, please,” he said, pulling the billfold out of his breast pocket and offering his American Express card.

  “Superior or suite?” the clerk inquired.

  “Superior will be fine.” He was doing his best to be thriftier. ‘Thrifty’ to Sebastian was to pay three hundred pounds a night for a room instead of seven hundred and fifty.

  The clerk ran the card through to preauthorize it. He frowned and discreetly leaned over the counter. “I’m sorry, sir, the card has been declined,” he announced in a low voice.

  Of course it had been declined: Lily was serious when she said she would cut him off completely. He wondered if he would even have a home to return to in Pennsylvania. “Here, use this one.” Sebastian handed over the Barclays credit card that was linked to his own bank account. The card was processed without issue and soon Sebastian held the shiny brass key for room 501 in his hand. The bellman joined them with their bags. The three of them rode
the lift to the fifth floor in silence.

  After entering their room, Sebastian handed him five pounds as a tip. The bellman bowed and closed the door behind him.

  “I have to call Henry and Alice. If she canceled the credit card, it won’t be long before she changes the locks on the house and I find myself homeless,” he told Tess as he sat down at the desk and pulled the phone toward him.

  “She wouldn’t do that, would she?”

  “Yes, she would.” He picked up the receiver and dialed home.

  “Hello?”

  “Henry, it’s Sebastian.”

  “I’m glad you called. What’s happening there? We just had a call from a real estate agent asking to take a tour of the house tomorrow?”

  “Have you heard from Lily yet?”

  “No.”

  “You will be soon. I’ve been disowned. I won’t be surprised if she fires you and changes the locks by the time I return,” he explained. “I didn’t mean to put your jobs in jeopardy, Henry. I’m very sorry if I caused you any pain.”

  “You don’t have to apologize,” Henry insisted. “Lady Irons hasn’t even called me. You don’t know what will happen.”

  “Can you ring a mover and see if they can come out today and pack up my room and Nanny’s? Have them put it in storage until I get possession of the condo. I can settle the bill when I get home.”

  “I’ll take care of it right away,” Henry reassured him.

  “If it all goes wrong, call me back at The Savoy—we’re in room 501—or leave a message with Mrs. Hamilton. We’ll be back in Philly Friday evening, just like you booked the original tickets.”

  “I’ll be waiting at the airport for you.”

  “Goodbye, Henry, and thank you for everything.” He put the receiver back into the cradle and stretched his back and neck.

  Tess sat perched on the edge of the bed. “We need to talk about this. We need a plan.” There was an edge to her voice. “What will you do if we get home and you really don’t have a place to live anymore?”

  “We only have three more months of school. I can rent an apartment or get a hotel room.”

  “You can stay at my house,” she offered.

  Sebastian sat down next to her. “I love you for offering, but I don’t think it’s a very good idea. Your mother may like me, but I doubt she’ll allow me to sleep in your bed every night. And honestly, it will just be too hard to be so close to you and not be able to be with you like that.” He changed the subject. “Now, you wanted to see what I love about London, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “First, I love The Savoy—they have the most amazingly comfortable beds,” he explained, shifting his weight to lie on his back, pulling her with him.

  Tess stared at him with disbelief. “You just lost your family and you’re thinking about sex?”

  “It’s more like I just gained my freedom and I’m thinking about sex,” he corrected. “Weren’t you the one who told me you wanted to resume where we left off?”

  She slowly smiled and leaned in to kiss him.

  The sun was beginning to set when they roused to shower and dress for an evening out. Sebastian was taking her to his favorite pub, The Coal Hole, for a pie and pint. After that they would be off to the Gielgud Theatre to take in a West End play. It was a lovely night, so they decided to walk to the pub as it was only a few blocks away.

  Sebastian opened the heavy wooden door to The Coal Hole and Tess stepped inside. The ceiling was high with heavy black beams. Medieval banners hung from the walls; below the beams was a beautiful marble frieze of wistful maidens picking vines. Beside the long bar, in a corner, was a magnificent fireplace decorated with a rustic wooden mantel. They grabbed a small table in the corner of the room near the fireplace.

  A buxom server walked over straightaway to greet them. “Sebastian, I haven’t seen you in months! How are you?” she asked, genuinely happy to see him.

  “Siobhan, it’s good to see you, too. I want to introduce you to my girl, Tess Hamilton. I’ve been studying abroad this year. This is my first time back in ten months.”

  “What can I get for you?”

  “Tess will have a meat pie and Diet Coke. I’ll have fish ‘n’ chips and a pint.”

  “Coming right up,” Siobhan said and then headed for the bar.

  The drinks were brought to the table. Sebastian took a long swallow of his draft.

  Tess’ eyes were roaming the room as she took it all in. “This is what I always imagined a London pub to be,” she observed. “What a great place.”

  “I’m glad you like it. Wait until you taste the food.”

  Siobhan placed their plates on the table and Sebastian waited for Tess to take a bite of her meat pie. “Well, what do you think?” he was eager to know her thoughts on the British favorite.

  She broke into the flakey crust with her fork, spearing a bit of potato and meat. The thick gravy dripped back onto her plate as she put it in her mouth. The bold flavors swirled around as she chewed it. She nodded with a smile. “It’s good.”

  He reached for the malt vinegar bottle and splashed it over his fish and chips. Sebastian took a bite and smiled as if he were in heaven. “Oh, how I missed this. This is amazing. You have to try it.” He put a chip on his fork and fed it to Tess. “Don’t worry, I won’t make you try the fish.” Sebastian knew she refused to eat it.

  She grimaced as she chewed the fried potato. “You put a lot vinegar on it!”

  “I know, it’s brilliant, isn’t it?”

  After the play, they walked along The Strand, back to their hotel. “I had a great time tonight. I forgot how much fun this could be,” Sebastian admitted, putting his arm around her and leaning down to kiss the top of her head.

  “I enjoyed my quintessential London night out. I’m glad you shared the places you love with me.”

  “I can’t wait for you see what I have planned for tomorrow.”

  * * *

  They lay in bed between the soft sheets, the duvet rumpled on the floor. Tess was gently running her hand up and down Sebastian’s chest. “You’re fantastic, you know that?” she said.

  “No, I’m not. I’m terribly flawed, but you love me anyway.” The light from the street lamps filtered in through the sheer curtains and lit his grinning face.

  “What happened back at the castle between you and Lily? You never really went into detail.”

  “I did the exact same thing my father had done before me. She found me in bed with you, just like she found him in bed with another woman all those years ago. I think she put so much attention on me taking over Irons Electronics so I would turn out to be more like her and less like him. That didn’t happen, of course. She said if I walked out on her, I was never welcomed back into the family. So I walked out.”

  “You’re okay with that?”

  “Yes. The moment I made that decision, I felt such relief. It’s like I hadn’t been able to breathe for years, and then there was this clarity and the weight was lifted. I don’t know how else to describe it.”

  “Won’t you miss your brother and sisters?”

  “I was never really close to anyone but Sigourney. I can still see her in New York.”

  “I could never be as calm as you are right now, if I were in your position,” Tess admitted.

  “What can I do?” He shrugged. “It’s a big relief to be out from under her thumb. God bless Nanny. Without her, I’d be penniless—and I assure you I wouldn’t be so calm.”

  “What was that address you gave the lawyer the other day? Then you said something to Henry about a condo. I meant to ask you about it earlier, but you distracted me.”

  The time was finally right to tell her about the condo. “Remember how you were worried about the living expenses at NYU?”

  “Yes,” she said nervously.

  “Well, I started looking at the numbers for two people to attend NYU for four years. When I saw the total and shared it with Nanny, she suggested I take that money we would
have spent on temporary housing and buy something instead.” He waited a long moment, trying to judge her reaction.

  She mulled over what he said and finally said, “You bought a house?”

  “Actually, a condo—with two bedrooms,” he quickly added. “Move in with me. You’d have to have a roommate in the dorms anyway. Why not have a roommate who you already know and love?”

  She was shocked. He had put so much thought and action into this while she had just been stressing over it. “Can I talk to my mom before I give you my answer?”

  “She’s on board,” Sebastian informed Tess.

  “What? You talked to her about this!”

  “Yes. I wanted her to know how much I care about you and that I would always be there for you. She was happy to know you wouldn’t be alone in New York City. She thought it was a good idea.”

  “That’s what you two were talking about in the kitchen when you were quoting whatever dead poet it was.” The clues were there and she only just realized it.

  “Yes, and the dead guy was Tennyson,” he corrected her with a smirk. “You don’t have to give me an answer right now about living together, but I hope you will seriously consider it.”

  “I can’t believe you waited this long to tell me! That happened weeks ago.”

  “I was going to tell you that next day, but Penny showed up unexpectedly.” He tried to defend his actions.

  “And the ensuing weeks after that?”

  “The time never seemed right. I guess I was too afraid you would say no, and I wasn’t prepared for that let-down.”

  “I wish you wouldn’t keep things from me, Sebastian—especially not now.”

  “You’re right. But it is rather ironic coming from you when I had to beg you to tell me how you felt about me.” With that he let the conversation drop, and she was more than grateful. She needed some time to digest this.

  * * *

  The next morning Sebastian escorted Tess through the mazes of underground subway tunnels known as the Tube. They ended up at Pimlico Station and walked a few blocks to the Tate Gallery, one of Sebastian’s favorite museums in London.