Chapter 26
Twenty-Six
Natasha comes bursting through the door of my tiny office, out of breath. I cock a brow and look up, but I don’t even get a word in before she hurriedly stage whispers to me.
“Your family is here!”
“Fuck.” I stand up, pushing my chair back and straightening my tie. “Aren’t they supposed to be in Dublin right now?”
“That’s what I have on my calendar. Yet here they are, waiting downstairs for you. Your mum doesn’t look especially pleased, either.”
Repressing a sigh, I make an angry sound.
“When is the last time you saw her and she looked happy?”
Natasha ducks her head as I brush past her, heading to the stairs. “Good point.”
“Where are Ella and Isla?”
“They were already downstairs when your father opened the castle’s front door and ushered your mother and your brother inside.”
“Damn. I hoped to spare them the experience of dealing with my mother’s questioning.”
I take the stairs at a trot, leaving her behind to follow as best she can.
Smoothing my tie and shirt, I realize only as I’m on the last step that I don’t have a suit jacket.
Usually I put on my jacket as a sort of barrier, a uniform of modern plate armor, defending me against my mother’s brutal recriminations.
Without the complete suit, I can’t help but feel a little unprepared. My stomach sinks but I lift my chin, already defiant when I come around the corner.
Ella and Isla stand near one wall, huddled, Ella’s arm flung casually around Isla’s small shoulders. Ella provides some shelter for my daughter and her chin juts out as she stares at my mother, my father, and my brother James.
Henri stands as stiff as a suit of armor a dozen feet away, looking as though he hopes to fade into the stone wall behind him. I smile at him, giving my head a jerk to indicate that he can leave. He gives me a half-bow and turns, rushing off toward the mostly-unshed parlor.
I clear my throat and regard my family. Mum, Dad, and James stand against the opposite wall from my daughter and Ella. My mother looking at them with stern frown and my brother with his ever-present smug expression. My father pulls up his sleeve and looks at his watch, bored.
I stroll the last few steps, opening my arms in a questioning gesture. “I wasn’t expecting guests. To what do I owe this surprise visit?”
“Our plans changed, darling.” Mum, dressed in a severe-looking dark gray sheath dress and pearls, gives me a tight-lipped smile.
“And we thought, why not visit our oldest child?” Her gaze slides down to clock my outfit.
A tiny frown appears on her face. “I did not count on you being so indisposed, Keiran.”
I give her a cool smile, stepping in front of Ella and Isla. “And yet, here you are.”
I kiss her on the cheek even as my gaze roves over to my father and my brother.
“We came to see how you were making due with your staff shortage,” James announces. He smirks. “I assume you are still having trouble finding a permanent au pair.”
“We are doing quite well. Isn’t that right, ladies?”
I shake hands with my father briefly, then step back and touch the back of Isla’s head. My eyes meet Ella’s. She shoots me a look, then forces a smile to her lips.
“Quite all right,” she murmurs. She drops her arm from around Isla’s shoulders. She touches Isla’s arm reassuringly for a brief moment and then folds her arms across her chest. It all happens very quickly, but I don’t miss it. And when I look back to my mother, I see that she caught it too.
Mum purses her lips and gestures to the rest of the castle. “Well? Are you going to show us in? Or do you expect us to just stand here all day?”
The snobby way she says it, a demand as opposed to an actual request, brings heat to my cheeks. But I bury my reaction by moving forward, pushing Isla gently as I go.
“Of course. Come on. Henri should have the parlor ready soon.”
Ella follows me closely enough to step on my heels as we walk to the room.
I step back, waving everyone through into parlor.
James sticks out his tongue as he passes me, looking every bit the prick as he heads over to one of the long, uncomfortable yellow couches.
My father and mother sit on the other one, leaving the overstuffed red leather armchairs to be filled by Ella and Isla.
I purse my lips and lean against the wall by the fireplace, my eyes roving over those assembled.
Ella clears her throat, sitting stiffly in her chair. “Mrs. Wolf mentioned she needed Isla to help her earlier. Would now be a good time for that?”
Raising my eyebrows, I start to open my mouth. I don’t remember the cook telling me anything about that. But Ella looks at me with a determined expression. And I realize that she’s just making up an excuse to let my daughter escape the room.
“—yes…” I reply. “Isla, go find Mrs. Wolf.”
Isla is on her feet in a second, racing out of the room. Mum looks less than impressed at Isla’s hurried movement. But what else is new?
“Your daughter is unruly.” Her lips tighten and she brushes off an invisible fleck of dirt from her skirt.
“She’s a free spirit,” Ella responds.
My head whips around to Ella and I try not to look as surprised as I am that she jumped into a conversation with my mother, of all people.
“If she’s a free spirit, I’m a three ring circus.
Complete with a trapeze artist, a dancing bear, and a sad clown.
” Mum folds her hands on her lap and narrows her gaze at Ella.
“You are supposed to be her au pair. How can you just let her run around here unchecked? She was wearing a grubby dress and her hair was unbrushed, I’m certain of it. What do you have to say for yourself?”
Ella flushes, seeming a little uncomfortable. But I don’t have to jump in and save her.
“Isla is figuring things out right now while she is out here in the middle of nowhere. The very last thing she needs is to feel like she’s being judged by her own family. I’m sure you will want to support her as best you can while you are here. You’re her grandmother, after all.”
Mum blinks, taken aback by Ella’s firm yet gentle tone.
“I’m concerned about her spending so much time with you, frankly. It’s all very well for Kieran to pay you to be Isla’s nanny. According to James, that’s not why he brought you here in the first place, anyway. But I won’t have you here, raising my grandchild to be a savage like you.”
James, my father, and I all give my mother a look of surprise. Ella blinks slowly, her fingers digging into the arms of her chair.
“I’m sorry?” Ella says, giving my mother a quizzical glance. “You’re not referring to my skin tone, are you?”
A tiny flush appears high in my mother’s cheeks. “Of course not,” she retorts. “Don’t be silly.”
My father steps in. “I’m sure that Maura didn’t mean the remark as it sounded, Ella.”
“Of course not!” Mum protests. “I meant because you are American, not because you’re… different in other ways.”
Ella doesn’t show any real emotion other than confusion.
“That’s good. Because I think we can all agree that referring to my skin color as savage would be a horrible thing to say to anyone.
Not to mention it would clearly mark you as being quite racist. Not a good look for someone with your wealth and privilege. ”
I can’t help the small smile that appears on my face just then. Ella isn’t a girl that needs saving, not from anybody. She’s made that more than apparent just now.
Mum looks practically apoplectic.
“Well!” She shoots to her feet, her entire face glowing red. “Keiran, I think I might need a little lie down. I’m quite tired from all the traveling I’ve done in the last days.”
I wave a hand to the doorway. “Henri can take you to a bedroom. Right, Henri?”
The butler pokes his head in and nods. But my mother sniffs at him. “No. I want my son to accompany me.”
James starts to stand up, but my mother waves him off. “My older son!” She corrects him.
James sinks back down to the couch, firing a glare my way. I stand and walk to my mother, sticking an elbow out. She takes it and I walk her out, eyeing Ella as I go.
In the few seconds I can still see her, Ella straightens her dress and tries but fails not to look miserable. Holding my breath until I pass out of the room, I wince at my mother’s fingernails digging into my arm.
“Stop overreacting,” I say.
She glares at me, pulling me to a stop.
“The fact that you have that girl around Isla is unacceptable. I demand that you call the service and have a proper au pair sent out here. Or better yet, you let me choose a boarding school for my granddaughter. Isla already acts uncivilized. She doesn’t need any more heedless influences around her, not considering that she is already taking after her mother. ”
I stiffen. It is one thing for my mother to criticize me or my parenting. Another entirely for her to talk about Isla when she’s probably not going to hear it.
But to compare Isla to her mother, who cares more for drugs and partying than being a good mom or wife? It’s utterly unfair.
I shake off my mother’s grip. She must see the fury in my eyes, because she rushes to speak.
“Don’t get angry, Keiran. Remember, you owe everything you have to your father and I. We didn’t have to give you the business when you failed at being a political candidate. We did it out of the goodness of our hearts.”
“You did it because Granddad Harrison wanted you to. He knew that Dad didn’t have the guts to run a news conglomerate.
And by the way, it’s been my hard work and my blood, sweat, and tears that have added nearly five hundred thousand consumers to our paying subscribers.
You handed me a success; I turned it into a cash cow. ”
My mother folds her arms across her chest and sniffs.
“You have been very distant lately. If you want to continue to be a part of this family, you need to conform to my expectations. Don’t think I won’t call Granddad Harrison and tell him that you have lost your way.
He’s still my father. And I still have him wrapped around my little finger. ”
I stare at her, trying to figure out if she means what she says. But before I figure anything out, Henri walks down the hall. Mum grabs him by the arm, points him toward the stairwell, and starts talking about how we live in such a damaged, ruined castle.
They head down the hallway. I watch them for a second, then turn and walk back into the parlor, steadying myself for yet more of my toxic family.