Chapter 26 #3
Ella bounced on her seat. “And one of the bathrooms is in. And the plumbing for the kitchen!”
William stared. “Ye did that?”
“In two days. Ally came back all fired up, but we’d all had the same idea. It’s taken ye so long to get that place watertight it seemed a waste to wait another month to start the next phase.”
They’d worked on his home. Oh God. I found William’s hand under the table, right at the same second he sought mine.
“We helped,” Mathilda’s son told us. Lennox. I remembered his name. “It was a family effort.”
“Can’t wait to see it,” William replied, choked.
“You need a place of your own,” Mathilda said. She dabbed at her mouth with a cloth. It was only then that I noticed how pale the woman was. “Particularly if you’ll both be living there. It’s one thing you camping out without heating or plumbing, Wasp, but you can’t expect your fiancé—”
Ella gaped, waving a hand. “Back the truck up. You two are engaged? When did that happen? Why did nobody think to mention this to me?”
I winced. “Last night, I told a roomful of politicians that I was marrying someone other than who they were expecting me to say.”
“I’m still holding out for a proper proposal.” William flashed me a wolfish grin that went straight to my heart.
I squeezed his fingers tight. “I’ll bear that in mind.”
We shared a moment, just watching each other. Here, in the huge, solid castle, surrounded by his family, we had breathing space. But there was so much else to consider.
Ella heaved a sigh. “I really need those details of what’s gone on in the last few days.”
“Aye.” Callum stabbed the remaining bites of food on his plate then pushed it aside. “We’ve been talking this afternoon, but with the two of ye asleep, there are gaps in our plans.”
I felt it then, the sort of love that came with a real family.
And for the first time, I didn’t feel like an outsider.
In as succinct a way possible, I laid my tawdry family history on the line. As I spoke, William added his own take, and soon everyone was up to speed.
“There are two main problems,” I concluded. “Dad has nothing on me. I don’t have anything. No job he can destroy. No money he can take or reputation he can ruin. He might still find a way to carry out his threats against Charity, even with the press attention. But William, he can hurt.”
“Fuck him. I don’t care.” William scrubbed his hands over his face. “I’d already screwed up my own career. I punched my subject then walked out of the job. Any hope I had of staying with that agency is long gone.”
“I’m sorry,” I uttered, the loss of his dream a hard pill to swallow.
He shrugged a shoulder. “I wouldnae change a thing. This past couple of weeks has been the most fun I’ve ever had.”
“What do you think your dad will do next?” Ella asked me.
“That’s the thing. I’m not sure he’ll carry out his threats at all.” The news Terence had given me flashed into my mind. “His driver told me something which I haven’t even processed.”
Everyone leaned in.
“Dad’s been attending a private healthcare clinic in the past month.”
“What for?” William stroked his thumb over my hand.
“His heart. Terence said Dad has been diagnosed with advanced coronary heart disease. I looked up the treatment, and do you know what he needs to do most? What the doctors have ordered for fear of him dropping down dead?”
Every face around the table waited on my words.
I felt like laughing.
“Reduce stress.”
With dinner cleared away, I took the opportunity to waylay Beth. She turned her bright eyes on me, bobbing her head when I asked her for a minute. We took refuge in the room the McRae’s called the den, and I warmed up to saying my piece.
Beth took a seat on a green sofa, and I paced.
“I know it was years ago, but I’ve never forgiven myself for the way I treated you and your husband.”
Beth waved a hand. “I know what you’re going to say, but when I look back at that, I see a young woman of, what were you, eighteen? So young, and trying to get something she desperately wanted. I guess now it was your aunt’s healthcare.”
I lowered my gaze. “It was.”
She grabbed me on my next pass and brought me to sit next to her. “In a weird way, you did me a favour that day. You forced me to acknowledge what I felt for James. Our lives together started there. Neither of us blame you for anything.”
A weight lifted from my shoulders. “Really?”
“Yep.” Beth reached out and wrapped me in a hug. “Stop beating yourself up. You’re part of the family now, and we don’t hold grudges.”
A knock came at the door. Mathilda peered in. “Taylor? Wasp is chomping at the bit to go see the crofthouse. Are you ready?”
I eyed her and made a decision. Out of all the trouble I’d brought, maybe I could do some good, too. “Actually, if you have a moment, I’ll tell him to go on ahead and I’ll catch him up. I have a proposal for you,” I said.
Mathilda gave me an interested look, and I readied myself to outline my plan.
I’d never liked Taylor Vandenberg, but that’s because I didn’t know her. I’d begun to love myself and now I intended to be the best I could. In all things. Including getting myself a job.