Chapter Nineteen
“WANT TO tell me where I’m going?” Roadkill stared through the windshield.
Hashtag snickered. “You need to trust her. She’s giving you clear directions, isn’t she?” He was as curious as Roadkill—he just wasn’t about to show it.
“What he said. I won’t steer you wrong.” Eve had been a little bouncy all morning, and while he might not have known her all that long, he knew enough to get the feeling she was hiding something.
Not that she’d given anything away in her thoughts, which made him all the more certain she was blocking them.
What are you up to?
“I’m amazed you got Horvan to okay this trip to… wherever. You must’ve caught him on a good day.” Roadkill frowned. “We must be nearly there. We’ve been driving for over an hour.”
“Not far now. When you see Tesco’s, look out on your left for Stockbridge Drive shortly after.”
“What’s Tesco’s?” Hashtag inquired. It still gave him the shivers to drive on the left.
“It’s a supermarket.” Eve pointed. “There it is. Now watch out for the turn.”
Roadkill smiled. “Got it.” He turned off the main road, and they were on a narrow lane, a fence to one side and open fields lined with trees to the other.
Hashtag caught sight of a white sign. “National Trust: Gawthorpe.” He gasped. “Why didn’t you just say we were going to visit Gawthorpe Hall? I assumed you’d want to do that while we were in the neighborhood.”
Eve laughed. “I hate to break it to you, but for Brits, a drive of one hour and—” She checked her phone. “—thirty minutes is not ‘in the neighborhood.’ You know the main difference between the US and the UK?”
“They can’t speak English properly?” Roadkill quipped. Eve smacked him on the arm, and he gave her a mock glare. “Hey! Don’t hit the driver!”
“I was about to say, in the UK, a hundred miles seems like a long way, and in the US, a hundred years feels like a long time. ”
The fields gave way to trees on both sides, and Hashtag chuckled. “Well, you could always ask the owner of these woods for permission to chop down some trees if the fuel gets too expensive.”
Eve coughed. “That would be me.”
He gaped. “This is all part of the estate?”
She laughed. “I told you it has forty acres, right? Do you know how much land that is?” Then she straightened. “Turn left into the parking lot.”
Roadkill did as instructed and then drove into a space. He switched off the engine, and they got out. “Where now? I don’t see anything.”
Eve led them back onto the lane, then pointed ahead of them. “This takes you straight to the Hall, but I want your first view to be the best, so follow me.”
They walked with her along the tree-covered drive, and then she took a path to the right. “This brings us out at the far end of the lawn. Now, don’t look to the left until I tell you, okay?”
Roadkill chuckled. “This is like a mystery tour.”
Hashtag was dying to take a peek, but he knew this was important to Eve. At last they came to a halt.
“Okay, boys. Now you can turn to the left.”
He turned—and gasped.
“It was impressive online, but now I see it in real life….”
Hashtag was officially blown away.
Gawthorpe Hall was a square stone-built edifice with a four-sided tower rising from its center.
It was three stories high, topped with an intricately carved rampart.
The main door sat in a portico, with four steps leading up to it and stone pillars on either side.
A curved, gravel-covered driveway cut into the lawn, and Hashtag could imagine carriages driving up to the front of the house and footmen opening doors and helping richly-dressed ladies out of them.
“How old did you say this place was?” Roadkill sounded awed, not that Hashtag could blame him for that.
“It’s Elizabethan,” Eve reminded them. “On the other side, there’s a beautiful garden laid out in a semicircle, overlooking the River Calder.”
“Eve, it’s… it’s awesome.” Hashtag climbed the flight of stone steps that led up to the vast front lawn. “Okay, I was crap at history in high school, but Elizabethan… as in Elizabeth the first? Early sixteen hundreds?”
She nodded. “It was originally a tower, but it was developed into an Elizabethan mansion round about then, yes. Then in the eighteen fifties, it was redesigned.” She cocked her head. “Have either of you seen that TV show, Downton Abbey ?”
Hashtag beamed. “I loved it.”
“Well, the architect who designed Highclere Castle, where it was set, was also the one who worked on Gawthorpe. He did the Houses of Parliament too.” She widened her eyes. “And I told you that too. Is this going to be a thing, you two not listening to a word I say?”
“We heard you,” Hashtag remonstrated. “But hearing is one thing—finding yourself confronted with a piece of history is something else.”
“What he said.” Roadkill shook his head. “This blows my mind.”
She grinned. “Wait until you see the inside.”
Walking through the wide wooden front door, set into beige-colored stone, through an archway hung with richly tapestried curtains, gave Hashtag a thrill.
“You get the full tour,” Eve told them before taking them through a long gallery with varnished floorboards and a molded ceiling.
Paintings hung every few feet, covering wallpaper decorated with a rich brocade, and on either side were chairs, tables, chests, all of them made from a dark glossy wood that spoke of centuries of use.
Every room was a revelation, from the dining room with its huge stone fireplace and chandeliers over the table, its upper minstrels gallery on which was mounted a stag’s head, the winding staircase at the corner of the Hall, its worn stone steps recording the passage of time, ending in a balcony from which Hashtag stared down at the linen-fold wood panels and the tiled floor with its intricate design.
“I don’t know what to say,” he said at last.
“Do you like it?”
He laughed. “Are you kidding? It’s amazing.”
“How many bedrooms does this place have?” Roadkill asked.
“I don’t know. I never counted them.” Eve cocked her head. “Would you like to see the master bedroom?”
“Lead the way.”
Eve took them along the hallway, Hashtag and Roadkill following, their steps slower.
“Do you believe this?” Roadkill muttered. “I feel like freakin’ royalty just walking up those stairs.”
“Up the stairs? How about through the front door?” They went into the bedroom, and Hashtag let out a gasp. “Oh my fucking God. ”
The bed looked as if it belonged in Buckingham Palace.
It was made of the same dark glossy wood Hashtag had seen in the long gallery, covered in ornate carvings, its four posts supporting the roof of the bed with its sculpted edges.
Deep cream and floral curtains framed the headboard that went all the way to the ceiling.
A padded footstool sat on the warm rug next to the bed, clearly to help its occupant gain access.
“You couldn’t sleep in a bed like that,” he remonstrated.
“Why not?” Eve’s eyes sparkled. “We could give it a try.”
“Okay, can we be serious for a minute?” Roadkill stared at the opulent room. “You said once that you’d have been happy to burn this place to the ground, because of its associations with your grandfather and his support of the Gerans.”
“Yeah, I did. I’ve changed my mind.” Eve sat on the couch at the foot of the bed. “There’s so much space. Most of it was taken up with servants in Grandfather’s day. I think they outnumbered the family three to one. Way too much space for the three of us.”
Hashtag blinked. “You want us to live here? I thought the county had it on a lease.”
“They do, and it’s about to expire. And as for living here….” Eve wrung her hands. “I don’t know, all right? I need time to process all this.”
Hashtag had waited long enough. “What is it you’re not telling us?”
EVE SWALLOWED. “I’ve had an interesting offer.” She’d been meaning to bring it up ever since Richard had taken her aside. She should have told them right away, and God knew blocking them had been pure torture, but she wasn’t sure how she felt.
This seemed like the perfect time.
“Told us what right away?” Roadkill demanded.
“I would never ask you to stop doing what you’re doing, okay? You’re both awesome, and—”
“Eve, if you don’t spit it out, we may have to kill you,” Hashtag teased.
She snorted. “You could try.” Then she let out a sigh. “How would you feel about… working for another leader? In another country?”
“You’re talking about here, aren’t you?” Roadkill locked gazes with her. “In Lancashire? ”
She nodded. “Richard Deveraux spoke with me this morning. He asked if I would join his teams. Actually, he wants me to lead a team.” Eve grinned.
“Apparently my ability to remain cool under pressure during my visit to Theron impressed him. I told him having you two in my head was what gave me the edge. He said I could have whomever I wanted on my team. I’d like for it to be you—if you want.
I mean, there’s no AC, but could you live here? ”
“Can we think about it?” Roadkill quipped. She gasped, and he laughed, grabbing her and spinning her around in his arms until she was dizzy. “Silly woman. Wherever you are, that’s home.”
“Besides, aren’t Horvan and Aelryn joining forces permanently?” Hashtag reminded her. “And Richard is one of Aelryn’s leaders, right? So we’d still see the gang from time to time.”
“The gang?” She smiled. “They’re your family.”
Roadkill glanced from Eve to Hashtag, then back to Eve. “Then I guess we’re moving.”
Hashtag shrugged. “Okay by me.” He grinned. “Besides, you know how much I fucking love that accent. I may even end up sounding like a Brit. Well, that or Dick Van Dyke.”
“Hey, I always thought his accent was spot on,” Roadkill remarked.
Eve wanted to dance, she felt so fucking light .
“Thank you. And at least we won’t have to worry about a roof over our heads.” She gestured to the bed. “We still have time to try it out.” Then she beamed. “Except what I really want to do is hightail it back to Leighton Hall and give Richard the good news.”
Hashtag smiled. “Then that’s what we’ll do.”
“There’s one more thing.” She squared her shoulders. “Neither of you get to leave this room alive until you’ve given me some very important information.”
“Such as?” Roadkill gave her a quizzical glance.
Eve narrowed her gaze. “I want to know your real names.”
They laughed.
Hashtag took hold of her hand. “Delighted to meet you, Eve. I’m Donal Phillips.”
Roadkill took her other hand. “And I’m Hiroshi Ogawa.”
Eve smiled. “I love your names.” She pulled her hands free and looped her arms around their necks. “Now kiss me.”
“Bossy woman,” Roadkill murmured as he leaned in .
“What he said,” Hashtag added before all their lips met in a sweet kiss.
You know you wouldn’t have me any other way.
Their chuckles were all the answer Eve required.
“Now I’ll show you the rest,” she said when they parted.
Hashtag blinked. “Wait—there’s more? And what happened to hightailing it back to Leighton Hall to see Richard?”
She rolled her eyes. “I think we’ve got time for a quick tour.
There are lots of outbuildings, and if you go out the front door and follow the driveway to the left, you’ll come to a walled part of the estate.
It used to be the stables, and there’s a huge grassy area with stone buildings along two sides.
It hasn’t been used for that purpose for years, of course.
” She smiled. “If you’d both thought the Hall too grand to live in, I was going to suggest that we convert the stables into something cozy for us. ”
“I wouldn’t say it’s too grand,” Roadkill mused. “But we’d rattle around like peas in a pod, it’s so big. Maybe we could live in one wing?”
“Can I see the gardens?” Hashtag asked.
Eve smiled and took his hand. She led them out of the Hall through a side door, and his first thought was that the front of the Hall was far prettier than the rear.
A low gray stone wall followed the curve of the semicircular flower beds, urns sitting atop the wall at regular intervals.
The beds were laid out in the shape of a flower, its petals open, containing a mix of yellow-leaved shrubs and purple lavender.
Roadkill inclined his head toward the wall. “I can hear the river.”
Eve sighed. “This was always my favorite place when I was a little girl. I loved that I could hear the running water from my bedroom whenever I came to visit Grandfather.” She smirked. “Which was probably why I had to run to the bathroom a lot.”
Hashtag put his arms around her. “You feel better about the place now, don’t you?”
She gave him a warm smile. “Yeah, I do. And I think that’s down to you two.”
They’d helped her see the Hall with fresh eyes.
“So now how about we drive back to Leighton Hall and give Richard the good news?” Roadkill suggested.
“Sounds good to me.”
“Can we stop off on the way there?” Hashtag inquired .
“Sure. Is there someplace particular you want to go?” When he didn’t reply right away, Eve gave him a quizzical glance. “Hey, we can go anywhere you like.”
Hashtag bit his lip. “Can we go to Tesco’s?”
It was Eve’s turn to blink. “Of course, but why?”
He shrugged. “I wanted to see what an English supermarket is like, that’s all.”
Roadkill snorted. “And the rest. I know what you’re after.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said with a huff.
“Yeah, right.” Roadkill grinned at Eve. “You might as well know this now. He’s a chocoholic, and he hasn’t had a fix for days.”
Eve let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank God I’m not the only one.” She linked arms with them. “Come on. Let’s go shopping.”
As they walked along the lane to the parking lot, Eve felt happier than she’d been in a long time.
I was worrying about nothing.
They like the idea.
Even better, she’d brought up the possibility of having kids, and they hadn’t balked. That plan might have to go on the back burner until she felt the time was right, but she had no doubt they’d make great dads.
This is so strange.
And yet it was a good strange. All her life, she’d been searching for a place where she belonged.
At first it was with her family, though they’d seen her as nothing more than a housewife.
The Gerans saw her first and foremost as a female, but once she’d established herself, they came to view her as a warrior.
Except they weren’t prepared to give her the advancement she so deserved.
Hashtag and Roadkill saw all of her, and they didn’t want her to be anything other than who she wanted to be.
Heaven help her, she loved the feeling.
Almost as much as she loved her mates.
Yet despite her growing contentment with her changing situation, she couldn’t help but wait for the other shoe to drop. It felt too easy. Things like this just didn’t happen.
So what was waiting around the corner for her?
For all of them?