by Mary Birk
“Thank you. Just make sure all my other affairs are in order so she and Michael are provided for properly.”
“The will you made when you were married still covers Lady Anne, and of course, any children. That’s never been changed.”
“Then you don’t have to stay unless you like.” He looked out the window and frowned. “But the weather looks beastly. You may not get out. Gregory’s probably not thrilled at you being gone right after Christmas.”
“Some of his family are visiting, and they had lots of plans. I don’t think I can get back today anyway. I almost didn’t get here this morning, the roads were that bad. Your mother’s invited me to stay the night. As long as I was coming out here, I set up a meeting with your father and mother. Now you have an heir, we have some paperwork to complete. I’ll meet with Lady Flora while I’m here, as well.” Stone smiled. “Handy of you to have so many of my clients here together.”
Reid laughed. “Happy to be of service.” He gestured to the plate. “I’d better get this to my starving wife.” He pushed open the door to go back into the kitchen. “I’ll see you at luncheon, then?”
“Certainly. Is it all right with you if I go check out your birds? I haven’t seen the golden eagle yet.”
“The Falcon House is locked, but there are keys in the library desk. Help yourself. Later, if I can, I’ll go with you. But feel free to go on out and see them when you want. I may be tied up for a while.” Reid grinned, thinking about Anne’s separate bedroom edict. “Or at least I hope to be.”
Chapter 40
MEG LEFT the kitchen where her sister was being waited upon attentively by her besotted husband. After Terrence had left the room to get Anne’s breakfast, Anne told her that she and the baby would be going to Glasgow with Terrence. She whispered that she’d tell Meg more later. Her sister’s every nerve ending was focused on her husband and his imminent return, like a nesting bird waiting for her mate. There was no way to talk to her right now.
What a relief this would be to all of them, though. Her mother and Jeanne were even now on their way down to breakfast, Meg knew, so she’d be able to let them know and they could stop worrying too. Yesterday had been awful.
Anne, shaken after the visit from Miranda, had called the solicitor to get him to come early, asked Meg to transfer money to her account to cover the check for the legal fees, and then let their mother put her to bed. Meg had never seen her sister look so despondent. Even throughout the months of her pregnancy when Terrence never communicated with her, Anne always seemed to have an unwavering conviction he loved her, and that if the child was his, he would come back to her. Everything she did had been premised on that belief and on getting ready to be with him again. But yesterday she had given up.
They had taken the baby in and out of Anne’s room the rest of the day and into the night for her to feed him, letting Anne sleep in between feedings. But when Meg took him in to her sister the last time, Anne was awake, her eyes staring at nothing, filled with a grief that broke Meg’s heart. Meg had crawled into bed with her sister and held her while Anne cried inconsolably.
This morning, after helping Anne try to hide the damage with make-up before the meeting with the lawyer, Meg had tried to keep Michael happy as long as possible, but that child had no use for a bottle. Even though Anne had fed the little guy before she dressed, he’d definitely let Meg know he wanted to nurse again. When the bottle wouldn’t suffice, she went to the library to find her sister. Not finding Anne there or in any of the other rooms around it, she decided to try the kitchen, and much to Michael’s and her relief, the woman of the baby’s dreams was there, and he was instantly comforted by their reunion. That bond between the mother and child was incredible.
Meg brushed away the all too familiar stab of longing for a child of her own. Looking around the dining room, she noticed a man with glasses reading a newspaper. She got a plate and started to dish herself some food. He looked up at her, his face friendly.
“Hi, I’m Meg.” She sat down with her plate and glass of juice. “I think we met briefly at the christening.”
“Jeremy Stone. I’m the family’s solicitor.”
“I’m Terrence’s sister-in-law. One of them, at least.” This must be the man Anne met with this morning.
“I remember.”
“I’m the one that traveled here with Anne and the baby.”
“Good journey?”
She nodded. “Lovely.” Pointing to the window, she said, “I love snow.”
“Me too, I confess. I’m staying the night, though, because of the roads.”
She speared a piece of fruit, then nodded toward the kitchen. “Looks like maybe you didn’t need to come.”
He smiled. “I have a couple of other meetings here today, so not a dead loss. I count that one a win, anyway.”
As much as Meg would have loved more details about what had happened, she knew better than to ask a lawyer what had gone on with someone else’s business, so she changed the subject. “What town are you in?”
“Inverness.”
“I haven’t seen Inverness, just the airport, but so far, I love Scotland. It’s just so, I don’t know, so perfect. I like it much more than California.”
She heard a laugh from the other side of the room.
John Stirling was sitting in an upholstered chair by the window reading the paper and drinking coffee. “If you can say that this time of year, you should be a Scot.”
She put up her hand in a little wave. “I didn’t see you there. Maybe I should.”
The door to the dining room opened and Rafe Kensington came in. Rafe greeted Meg politely and then focused on the other man at the table. “Jeremy, what are you doing here?”
The lawyer stood up and went to shake Rafe’s hand. “Just a few meetings.”
“With the Reids?”
Surely, he wouldn’t mention he was asked out here to get the annulment papers signed to end Anne and Terrence’s marriage, Meg thought. And he didn’t. “Oh, you know, the usual.”
Rafe, filling his plate with food, glanced over at the lawyer. “You’re meeting with Flora?”
“As long as I’m here, I might as well. And with any other of my clients that might show up here. Especially as it appears I’m snowed in.”
“She’s generally not up until midday.”
“I planned on meeting with her after luncheon.”
“That should work, then.”
The dining room door opened and Miranda Greene came in. She briefly greeted her stepfather, then turned to the other man, smiling. “Jeremy, good to see you.” Her cheeks were flushed with excitement, and Meg didn’t have to work very hard to figure out the reason. Miranda had made it clear to Anne she knew about the annulment plans. Now she must think the solicitor’s presence meant she was that much closer to having an open field for Terrence. Well, she had a rude awakening coming.
Meg poured herself some coffee, and nodded a greeting to Miranda, who, typically, barely acknowledged her.
“I thought you weren’t coming until Monday, Jeremy.” Miranda filled her coffee cup, stirring in cream and sugar.
“Change of plans. How are you doing?”
“Better and better.” Miranda smiled, and Meg started to feel a little sorry for her. The woman had no idea what kind of competition she had been facing. Anne and Terrence were like two sides of a forest fire. In the course of coming together again, everything in the middle would get burned, the good and the bad. In this case, unfortunately, Andrew, a dear man, would be a casualty, and for good or bad, so would Miranda.
Miranda cast a glance at Meg, who quickly pretended to be reading a nearby newspaper, before directing another question to Jeremy Stone. “You’ve met with Terrence, then?”
The obnoxious woman was so eager she couldn’t hold herself back, even with Anne’s own sister in the room. Meg decided the woman deserved what was coming to her.
Rafe Kensington didn’t seem interested in Miranda’s conversati
on with the lawyer, but quickly put together a small plate of food and left the room.
Jeremy took a sip of his coffee. “Mmm.” His reply wasn’t clearly either an assent or dissent to Miranda’s question. “Did you have a good Christmas?”
But Miranda refused to be distracted. “Where is he? Do you know?”
Meg decided to be helpful. “He was just in the kitchen a few minutes ago.” Then she got up and went over to the sideboard to get some more eggs, while Miranda tore out of the room towards the kitchen, still holding her coffee cup. Meg slid her eyes over to Stone, and she could see from his amused glance he sympathized with the mischief Meg hadn’t been able to, or hadn’t chosen to, resist.
Meg smiled, a little embarrassed. “I just couldn’t help myself.”
“I expect it’s been trying, having her so obviously after your sister’s husband.”
“True.” She was surprised at his frankness. “You’re not as closemouthed as I thought you were.”
“Oh, generally. But she’s not my client.”
“I hope she doesn’t cause too much of a scene. But they might as well get it out of the way.” There was a crash of china in the kitchen, but Meg went on eating her breakfast, raising her eyebrows only slightly. “Great food they have here.”
Stone laughed. “Yes, they do.”
Dianne and Rick came in, followed by Jeanne and her children and Irene. Then, as if a floodgate had been opened, almost everyone else came in at the same time, including Pippa and Thomas and their brood, George Greene, Lance Kensington, and Darryl Duggan. Finally, Krystal and Rodney came in holding hands.
Rodney went over to Jeremy Stone. “You’re early.”
Stone nodded. “Good thing. This weather may not have let me get in later.”
Meg turned as her mother came over to give her a hug before going up to the buffet. Jeanne helped her children get their breakfast, then herded them to the table. Once they were all seated in the midst of what had started to seem like enemy territory, her mother leaned over to her. “How’s everything with our poor girl? She still hasn’t come back upstairs—and where’s Michael?”
Meg smiled, glad to be the bearer of good news after so many months filled with stress and worry for Anne. She kept her voice down so the others in the room couldn’t hear.
“Poor girl, nothing. I’m not sure exactly what happened, but suffice it to say the two of them appear to be together, and Michael’s with them. Terrence was worshipping her in the kitchen last I saw. And she was letting him. She’s moving to Glasgow with him.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.” Her mother heaved a breath. “Those two. For heaven’s sake. Why they put each other and us through this again and again, I just don’t understand.”
Jeanne popped some toast into her mouth. “I knew it. He’s been pawing around here like a bull ready to charge the whole time we’ve been here. And there’s only one reason a bull does that to a female.” She wiped her mouth with her napkin. “They’ll be back in bed soon.”
Their mother gave Jeanne an incredulous look and whispered. “Surely it can’t be that simple.”
“For them it is. There was no other way it could turn out. She came to get him back, and whether she actually realizes it or not, at some level I think she knew he wasn’t going to let her and that baby go live with Andrew. I don’t think she expected it to be this hard, but she has the advantage of being all that man wants in the world.” She grinned. “I’ve always said the two of them need an interpreter to deal with each other, but I’m getting pretty good at it.”
Meg laughed, then felt a hand on her arm and looked up.
John Stirling handed her a card. “Take this—in case you’re interested in working on the project I mentioned last night. We’ll be starting it sometime this summer.”
“Thanks.” Meg explained to the rest of her family, “John’s selling off the production part of his oil company and concentrating on remediation and reclamation.”
“I’m leaving this morning, but I hope you ladies enjoy your visit to Scotland.” He lowered his voice. “It appears we have peace in paradise again. So perhaps you’ll have occasion to be back and I’ll see all of you again.”
Watching him leave, Jeanne gave a low whistle. “Wow. That man carries an incredible voltage, doesn’t he?”
Meg smiled. “According to Anne, if you name a beautiful woman in Britain or the continent, he’s most likely slept with her.”
Irene took a drink of her coffee. “How could they resist him?”
Meg frowned. “How can he leave? I thought the roads were closed.”
Jeanne pointed to the window and an approaching helicopter. It just barely hovered over the snow and a ladder dropped down. John Stirling, wearing high brown leather boots and with a bag slung over his shoulders, waded out to meet it.
*****
Reid almost collided with his father as he left the library where he’d met with Miranda in an attempt to calm her down. “Dad, do you have a moment?”
“Certainly.” The Earl smiled. “I understand you have some good news.”
“This house appears to have an incredibly fast and invisible communications system.”
“Indeed. So it’s true?”
“Aye.” Reid nodded. “But I need to talk to you about something else.”
“Of course.”
“You’ve heard I’m looking into Broderick Pooley’s murder?”
“Yes.”
“I found Haney and Pippa’s name on a guest list he’d put together for a museum event he was sponsoring. Haney told me Pooley was actually Pippa’s contact, one she’d made on your behalf. That you were looking for a financial investment person, and she got his name and the recommendation from Miranda. I confess to being completely at sea as to what’s going on. I asked Pippa, but she said I needed to ask you.”
The Earl nodded. “I remember. Pippa recommended we not use him.”
“Since when do you go to Pippa for that kind of advice?”
His father smiled. “Truth be told, Terrence, I’ve not been happy with my relationship with my daughters. Darby is prickly with me, for reasons too complicated to go into right now. She’s been keeping her distance, so there is nothing I can do about that relationship at present, so I’ll have to leave that for another day.”
“That’s not just your fault. Darby bears a lot of the blame.”
The Earl shrugged, went on. “On the other hand, Pippa is not as confident as she should be, partly, I think, because she didn’t feel I had confidence in her. I have been trying to demonstrate that I do have confidence in her, and she’s been remarkably responsive to that confidence. She makes good decisions, and backs them with excellent analysis.”
“She’s always been quick.”
“Yes, she has. I decided to ask for her help with regard to a modest investment, and she got the recommendation, investigated the proposed investment and pronounced it unsound. She’s invested the funds elsewhere, but I know she continued to get calls from Pooley to see if she’d be interested in future investment opportunities.”
“Pippa was right. That investment went to hell.”
“So I heard. I made sure to let her know how valuable her advice had been. But the real value for me is she’s now much more confident about her ideas and criticisms—and we are much better friends.”
“I’m impressed.”
“You can never stop learning how to better handle the people you love. Or maybe never stop changing to better be handled by the people you love. Whichever way it is, it works.”
Chapter 41
THE COUNTESS CAME into the drawing room, looking down at her slim watch. “Miranda, I’m concerned about your mother. She’s not usually late. Do you know what’s delaying her?”
As usual, Reid thought, though his mother appeared the epitome of casual French elegance, she ran the household with German precision.
Miranda, sitting with her brother in one of the conversation areas of the drawin
g room, a glass of sherry in her hand, barely raised her head. “I’m sure she’ll be down soon.”
“Would you please do me the favor of checking on her?”
“I’d rather not. She doesn’t like to be rushed, and I’m sure that’s what she’ll think I’m doing.”
The Countess raised an eyebrow in subtle reproach, a reproach Miranda either ignored or didn’t appreciate.
Reid wished fervently the snow storm would end and the roads would be cleared so Miranda could leave. Being forced to be near her, knowing how she felt about him and about Anne, was damned uncomfortable.
The Countess waved a hand. “She won’t get mad at me. It’s my luncheon she’s holding up.” Then to Reid, she said, “Chérie, I’m going to go see what’s keeping Flora. She must be having trouble with her dress or something.” Reid knew his mother well enough to know she was fuming at Miranda’s refusal to help but wouldn’t deign to show it.
“I’d be happy to go, if you like,” he said, although he didn’t want to leave Miranda in the same room with his wife without him there. He didn’t want to chance the woman upsetting Anne again. He still couldn’t believe the things Miranda had said to Anne. He’d racked his brain for anything he’d done to give Miranda the impression he had any intentions toward her, but had come back empty.
“She wouldn’t want a man coming in if she’s still dressing. I’ll go. You see to Anne and Michael. I’ll check on Flora.”
Reid needed no further encouragement and was soon holding Michael in his arms. The baby, awake now, was looking around at lights and faces in a bewildered way. Reid detached himself from the others and took his son around the room while he talked to him. His eyes turned to where his wife sat talking to his sister, with her own sisters and mother around her. They were busy planning Anne’s move to Glasgow. He listened as Anne talked with Pippa.
“A cook? For just the three of us? Michael doesn’t even eat anything but milk yet, and I do know how to cook.”
Pippa shrugged. “For now you could probably get by with someone who does both cooking and light housekeeping, but you’ll definitely need help. You can have cleaners come in to do the heavy bits. You know, like once a week. It’s a big house.”