Willa Mae sighed. Reminders of her parents only served to point out how lonely she was, that she hadn’t even been able to find someone she could have chemistry with…until Niall, who lived a world away, and whose family would no doubt hate her. They already disliked her for what she was doing with him to make the property viable. As an in-law? She couldn’t see it.
“Whatever’s going on behind those eyelids of yours needs to stop right this second. Give that boy a call and tell him I said hello.” She closed her eyes for a moment, and then said, “Help me lay down. It’s way past my bedtime.”
Willa Mae took Niall’s room for the night. There was nothing in it to indicate that he had ever been there. The housekeeping staff had come and cleaned, and had changed the sheets. All she had of him was the tee shirt he had let her sleep in the night before he left. She went to get it now, and lay in the middle of the bed, huddled around a big pillow, wishing he was with her. She tossed and turned, trying to shut her brain off, trying to relax her tense muscles. Nothing worked. It seemed like it was going to be another sleepless night, and this time she didn’t have anyone to wear her out so she could sleep. She missed him.
Maybe Grannie was right. Maybe she should call him, just to say hello. Maybe he was missing her as much as she was missing him. She took her cell phone off the nightstand and searched for his number. She had saved it after he had called her to say he was home. Checking on the time, she saw that it was six in the morning in Scotland. He would be awake by now.
She pressed the Call button and waited, listening as the distinctive British ring tone sounded in her ear.
“Sweetheart, good morning!”
His voice made her warm all over. “Good morning, Niall. I hope I didn’t wake you.”
She could hear the smile in his voice when he answered her. “You did not. But I have to wonder why you’re up so late.”
She knew he was waiting for an answer, but she couldn’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t give away the secret she was so desperate to keep from him. Finally, she settled on a half truth.
“I was talking to Grannie,” she said. “She says hello.”
“You kept your grandmother up until the wee hours of the morning?” He sounded scandalized.
“No. She went to bed a couple of hours ago. But I couldn’t sleep…”
Niall inhaled deeply, and Willa Mae could almost see the wicked smile that deepened the dimples in his cheeks.
“I miss you too, sweetheart,” he told her. “And I wish I could be there to put you to sleep again.”
She changed the subject before she said something stupid like “I love you.” She didn’t want to spoil things between them with precipitous declarations of love that would probably end up being untrue, no matter what Grannie said.
“So, how is everything going now?”
“I’ve decided to go ahead with the renovation. Nothing can begin until Fergus and his team arrive, and they’re finishing out a job in the islands. Between now and then, I’ve told my family and the village board that they’ll need to sort out whatever hearings they wish to hold. I’ve told them I’ll override all their decisions if they don’t line up with mine. And I’ve told them I’ll take them to court if they keep pushing me.”
“I take it that they wouldn’t want that?”
“No, they wouldn’t. Aside from the fact that my family doesn’t have enough funds to pay a solicitor, the litigation would be tied up in court for a while. The estate would be making zero euros, and I would withdraw further financial backing until a decision is made. I would be the only one winning.”
“Would you really do that to your mother, Niall?”
A small pause told her she had probably asked the wrong question. She waited, though, not willing to apologize for asking what she thought was a perfectly reasonable question. She had issues with her parents, too, but she would never deliberately hurt them because they aggravated her.
“Nothing that would happen to my family would be of my doing,” he replied eventually. His voice had a decided chill in it this time. “I’ve made my position clear, and when it comes out in court that I am the one holding the estate together, and keeping them from relative homelessness, I don’t think anyone will fault me for ending the charity. My mother will be fine. She can set up house in a small senior citizens’ apartment. My siblings will have to do what every other self-respecting young person does…go out and look for work. I am not their parent. I don’t owe them anything.”
Willa Mae felt like a rebuked child standing in front of an angry parent. She knew she had caused the change in his tone, and now she didn’t know what to do to fix it. She should never have started a conversation about business. This whole debacle was her fault.
“I have to go now. I have an early meeting in Perth. Please say hello to your grandmother for me.”
“I will.” Willa Mae kept all emotion from her voice. “Have a good day.”
“Thank you. Get some sleep.”
He rang off without waiting and Willa Mae threw the phone across the bed angrily. Why had she done that? They had been having a perfectly civil conversation, and then she had shot herself in the foot and made him angry enough to leave only a few minutes after telling her he missed her. She lay back, so upset with herself that she couldn’t even summon the respite of tears. Closing her eyes, she lay still and waited and prayed for sleep to come. Tomorrow, she would see about changing her return date. She needed to be busy, and staying in Florida was only going to drive her crazy. Time to get back to work.
Chapter Fourteen: A Shocking Discovery
The meeting with his solicitors had taken up most of the morning. Niall now had in his possession every document he would need to present to a judge in the event that his family made him take them to court. It was a bitter thing to have to do, and after his conversation with Willa Mae earlier in the day, the last thing he wanted to do. But he was a businessman, and the estate needed to be made into a viable and successful business. That could only happen if it was earning its keep, so to speak. He was all for preserving family traditions, but only if they resulted in the greater good for more people.
He didn’t care about pomp and circumstance. He never had. That was why he had always fallen afoul of his mother. It was why he had never gotten along with his siblings. It was why the other members of his extended family had taken to calling him the rebel when he was still quite young. It was why he was the unofficial black sheep of the family.
Thanking his solicitor, Niall made his way down to his car, and drove away without knowing really where he was going. He didn’t want to go back to the castle just yet. The work on the gardens would begin in another day, and he was looking forward to seeing how it would progress. For the moment, there was nothing else to do on the project. Maybe he could go to California to oversee the acquisition of that prime acreage that he was thinking of developing into a luxury condominium complex. That would definitely keep him busy for a few days. Maybe he could advance the timetable on the Mexican resort.
He mulled over the options he had for keeping himself busy, just so he wouldn’t have to think about the woman he loved. He sighed. It had taken him all of a day after he flew back to Scotland to admit to himself that what he was feeling for Willa Mae Jamison was nothing less than love. He wanted her with him, in his bed, in his home, in his life. Right this second, he was angry with her for trying to make him feel guilty about his business decisions, but none of it stopped him from wanting her with a soul-deep ache. She was the only woman of his acquaintance who had made him dream of sleeping in her arms without taking her body.
Of course, he loved making love to her. She was so responsive, so passionate, and so open to him that it made his knees weak. Her desire for him matched his for her…she wanted him with a kind of desperation. Her kisses were like sweet wine to his palate, and her soft, warm body was his haven. He turned off and found himself headed toward the pond where they had had their first meal alone togethe
r. He drove to a shaded spot and parked, sitting there and watching the people scattered around. A few were trying to fish in the pond, and one or two strolled hand in hand around it. There were picnickers, dog walkers, and a couple of mamas with baby carriages.
What would it be like to have a woman willing to bear his children? He had never thought about having children of his own before this, but now the thought of Willa Mae large with his child fired his blood. He wondered what any child of theirs would look like as he sat there daydreaming. He’d like all his babies to be dusky-skinned like their mama, with full lips and beautiful smiles, and a sharp, biting wit.
“Slumming, your lordship?”
The familiar voice broke into his musings, and he turned his head to frown at his sister and brother.
“No more so than you both are,” he said, turning away again to gaze out over the pond.
“Can we talk?”
Niall turned to look at his brother. “What do you want?”
“This renovation is going to happen no matter what we say, isn’t it?”
Niall did his best to keep irritation out of his tone. “It’s what I’ve said from the beginning. Why do you care now?”
“There’s something you’re not telling us, Niall,” Angus said. “Something big. Mother has been trying to find out what it is and hasn’t succeeded. What is it? You can tell us.”
Niall chuckled sardonically. “And why would I do something so foolish?” he demanded. “Neither of you has enough backbone to stand by an independent decision for the good of the estate. Bannock Castle means nothing to you except as a way to boost your status in the community.”
“That’s an unkind thing to say,” Alison chimed in.
“But true nevertheless. Sorry if the truth offends your delicate sensibilities,” he sneered. “I’ve no time for foolishness any longer. You both should know better than to still be riding on Mother’s coat tails. Her funds won’t always be able to sustain you. When it begins to dry up, she will have to cut you both off. What will you do when she’s gone, eh? Whatever’s left of her funds will be evenly distributed between the two of you, but it won’t be enough for you to live on for any great length of time. Do you plan to live off the mercy of the state after that source dries up?”
“Why do you always have to bring it back to money, Niall? Is everything about money to you?” Alison was furious.
“Everything is about money, Alison! Have either of you ever stopped to ask yourself how the estate manages to meet all its bills, pay the skeleton staff, and feed and clothe you every month of every year?” He saw their answers in their blank stares. “I didn’t think so. Perhaps you should start doing that now.”
He switched on the ignition. He still didn’t know what their agenda was in approaching him, but he had had enough of them and the conversation. “I’m off.”
He pulled away, leaving them standing in the shade of the tree watching him drive off. He had never been as bone idle as either of the two still standing beneath the tree when he turned back onto the road. Despite his mother’s objections, he had done some volunteer service in the local hospital, and had worked as an intern for four different real estate and property management companies by the time he was twenty-two. He had learned the business from the inside out, from the upside down, backwards and forwards. He had never sat on his hands and waited for someone to find him a job, or expected anyone to give him a handout. He had never wanted to be coddled. He had wanted to learn the hard way, so that he could become the best at what he did; and now that he was, he was through pretending that he had any patience for his siblings’ laziness.
Over the next few days, the gardeners began working on making the gardens worthy of people’s pennies. The suggested donation for visiting in the gardens was one euro. He wanted to run a few ideas for making more revenue from the gardens by Willa Mae, but he couldn’t very well leave now, when things were at this critical stage. There was really no further reason for her to come to Scotland, so he would not see her again until after the project was completed. He could always email, and they could certainly talk on the phone, but no further physical meetings were necessary.
Andrews met him as he parked, and something about the man’s air told Niall that there was more trouble brewing.
“What’s happening now, Andrews?”
“The news from the village is that the Countess has managed to rally some members of the village board to have you served with a writ, Mr. Niall. I imagine that this is what is in this envelope.”
He handed Niall an unopened envelope from the village court and read the decree. It ordered him to cease and desist all contracted actions on the castle until the case was brought before the court for arbitration. The Countess of Ayesthorpe was seeking legal preservation of the castle’s heritage under local historic building codes. Until the courts ruled in the case, Niall and Creative Legacies were no longer allowed to continue the work.
He tightened his jaw. He would not respond as he was expected to do. If the family wanted a fight, they would get one. His mother had played her last hand. She had no money of her own to fight the renovations in court, but the village did, and as it was presented, she would have no need to retain a solicitor to get her dirty work done. She was showing once again how little she thought of the people whom she expected to pay her homage because of her title and social standing.
He needed Willa Mae to remind him that he was better than he felt in that moment. He thanked Andrews and handed him the keys. Then he wandered around to the side of the house where the rose garden beds were being refurbished and strolled between them, letting the beauty and fragrance soothe him. No doubt his siblings had known what their mother had done, and wanted to gauge his mood. He would beat them at their own game.
Pulling his cellphone from his pocket, he dialed Willa Mae’s number hoping that she was awake. It was nine in the morning where she was. The call went to voice mail. He didn’t leave a message; he’d try again in an hour. The phone rang almost as soon as he hung up. It was Willa Mae.
“Niall? Is everything okay?”
Her evident concern for him melted away the last of his anger at her. “No, but I’m glad you called back. I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“I’m on the train. I didn’t really sleep last night.”
“Why have you cut your vacation short?”
He knew the answer, but he wanted her to say the words. The last time they had talked, he had said them to her, before their little spat.
“Why do you think?” she asked grumpily and he chuckled.
“I don’t know, do I? I need you to tell me.” He would never tire of teasing her.
“I miss you, okay? And after the way our last conversation ended, I couldn’t handle being alone. I needed to get back to work so I’d be too busy to mope.”
“I wish I could be there with you but I need to be here. Mother has managed to get the construction mired in court proceedings. So now I can’t move ahead with the work until we meet with an arbitrator.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’ll beat them at their own game.”
“What do you need from us on this end?”
“Nothing. I’ll call you as soon as I know when the court date is.”
“I’ll let Jill know.”
The conversation was stilted. There was more they wanted to say to each other, more they needed to say, but neither seemed to know how to get the words out. Niall forgot the anger he felt toward his mother. He forgot the frustration over the delay in his plans. He just wanted to be walking in the rose garden with Willa Mae. So he told her,
“I’m walking in the rose garden. It’s coming along really nicely. And I wish you were here with me.”
“Awww! That’s very sweet of you, your lordship.”
Evidently, she liked to tease him, too. He smiled. “You’re very brave with an ocean between us. But we won’t always be apart, sweetheart. Just remember that.”
He l
et her delighted laugh warm him, and soothe the tension in his shoulders.
“I don’t think I’ll need to come back to Scotland, Niall. I’m sure you’ll sort out this situation, and once the renovations are complete, you’ll be ready for business.”
“Would you come back if I invited you? As my guest?”
“Yes, of course I would. Maybe when you have your grand re-opening. I’m sure Jill wouldn’t mind paying for my stay.”
“I’ll pay for your stay. You’ll be my guest. So, we have a date…kind of.” He chuckled. “More info to follow.”
“I look forward to hearing from you.”
“May I see you for a moment, sweetheart?”
He didn’t want the call to end, but he would let her go if he could see her. It was times like these that he blessed the technology that allowed him to see the people he was talking to despite the distance between them. Almost as soon as she nodded he sent the request, and when her face popped up on his screen, his heart surged in his chest. She looked tired, but her smile still lit up her whole face.
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