Chapter 2
E dward’s daughter, Lily, was like many girls her age, shaking off the remnants of her teenage years– garish polished fingernails and all– while hurtling blindly into adulthood. The transition terrified him.
She rarely spoke to him these days, and when she did, it was in a clipped and unpleasant manner, especially if he tried to pry her attention away from her phone.
And whilst Edward was usually content to sit in silence during the drive back to her mother’s house, today he felt compelled to fill the space with conversation.
“Do you have a busy week ahead?” He stole a glance at Lily.
“Not really.”
Keeping his focus on the road, he tried again. “How’s school? Anything new?”
“Nope. Just the usual.” She began typing out a message at a furious speed.
Despite feeling it was another aimless attempt at a connection, he continued pushing. “And your brother and sister, are they—”
“Dad, we don’t have to do this.” She finally stopped typing and looked across at him, annoyance etched across her face.
He furrowed his brow. “Do what? Have a conversation?”
“Talk about shite neither of us cares about.” She shrugged and returned her focus to her phone.
“Watch your language!” he snapped, frustration bubbling to the surface.
“Apologies, laird .” Lily rolled her eyes and huffed. She shifted in her seat and went back to typing on her phone, signalling their exchange was over.
Edward rolled his own eyes at her use of his title– something she only did to goad him into an argument.
This time, he wouldn’t bite, but the silence that followed felt heavier than before.
He sighed, more at himself than at her. The distance between them seemed insurmountable, and no matter how hard he tried, he could never quite seem to find the right words to bridge the gap.
When they eventually pulled up outside his ex-wife’s house– a modest detached townhouse on the outskirts of Perth– he sighed again.
He turned to Lily, hoping for a last attempt at something more civil, perhaps even a few forgiving words. But without even a last glance his way, she tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder, grabbed her overnight bag from the footwell, and stepped out of the car.
“Bye, Dad,” she said, barely audible, before slamming the door behind her.
With a small wave, she bounded up the steps, opened the front door, and disappeared inside.
Edward stared at the closed door, feeling a familiar pang of regret.
He often wondered how things might have been different. If they’d stayed a family– together – would Lily still have grown so distant? Or was this always their inevitable dynamic?
It was a futile train of thought. They were where they were: Lily living with her mother and her new family in comfortable suburbia, and Edward alone in his oversized, draughty ancestral home.
They all seemed happy enough, and maybe that was the best he could hope for.
He did his best to be a good father– he had Lily every weekend, attended every parents’ evening, recital, birthday– but since her early teens, Lily’s disinterest in his efforts had become the norm and her time at Haddon an inconvenience.
Noticing the front door opening, he saw Natasha appear, an older version of their daughter– taller than average with her blonde hair still long. She made her way to his car, and he lowered the window.
“Edward,” she said in her usual cold way of greeting him.
“Natasha.”
“It’s just her age.” She shrugged and picked at an invisible piece of thread on her jumper.
“You’ve been saying that since she was twelve.” Edward glanced back at the front door where Frankie, her husband, appeared.
Frankie stood firmly with his thick, gym-toned arms crossed over his chest, watching their exchange with interest.
Amused at Frankie’s transparent and feeble attempt at intimidation, Edward’s top lip curled into a half-smile.
Natasha knew Edward well enough to read his thoughts.
“Stop it,” she snapped at him. “And stop taking it all so personally. She just wants to hang out with her friends for her birthday this year. It’s really no big deal.” Natasha rolled her big blue eyes, her exasperation evident.
“You only don’t see it as a big issue because you’ll be seeing her on her birthday.” Edward returned his focus back to her, suddenly surprised at how immune he now was to her good looks and childish petulance.
“Honestly, I don’t know why you’re making such a fuss. Just pop over the day before or after or do something special when you have her next weekend.”
“She never wants to do anything. That’s half the problem,” he grumbled.
“If you’re going to be negative about everything I say, then there’s no point talking. It’s always the same.” She narrowed her eyes at him and shook her head.
“Oh, here we go.” His turn to roll his eyes.
“No, actually, we’re not going anywhere with this. Goodbye, Edward.” She turned and walked away from him.
He watched her as she marched back to the house, storming past Frankie.
Edward offered him a sarcastic smile, to which Frankie responded with a disapproving shake of the head, disappearing after Natasha and closing the door behind him.
Prick.
With a final glance at the house, Edward released another resigned sigh.
He started the ignition of his Land Rover and pulled away, his thoughts reluctantly shifting to more immediate matters.
His younger brother Leonard was visiting from the States soon– not something Edward was looking forward to. Not in the slightest.
Although they were near replicas in appearance, both standing at around six foot two with brown hair that curled at the nape if left unchecked and deep blue eyes that could be warm or piercing depending on their mood, or so he’d been told, the similarities ended there.
People had always compared them, even as children, though the truth was they never really liked each other.
And now Leonard was coming back.
Edward suspected it had something to do with the house and the estate. His brother had been trying to convince him to sell to some eager American investors for years, but Edward had refused to even entertain the idea.
Their last encounter had been tense, and Edward wasn’t keen on a repeat performance.
As if on cue, his phone rang, and the word MUM appeared on the screen.
Bloody woman is psychic.
He sighed before accepting the call.
“Hello.”
“Finally, I’ve tried you four times this weekend! I was beginning to think you were ignoring me!” The car filled with the sound of her Southern Louisiana drawl, each word dripping with feigned innocence.
“I was going to call when I got back to the estate. I was just dropping Lily home.”
“Aww, how is my angel? I’m sorry to have missed her. I’ll call her after I speak with you.” Her voice always softened at the mention of her granddaughter, whom Edward knew she sorely missed. He would need to take Lily across the pond for a visit soon.
“Not so angelic, but she’s fine. Has her head down for her last year at school.”
“And Natasha and the kids?” she asked.
Edward grimaced. “All fine too.”
“Informative as ever, darlin’.” Verity laughed, to which Edward grumbled an inaudible response– something between a growl and an aye .
“Right, well, the reason for my call. Your brother will be arriving soon. Have you prepared his rooms?”
“No.”
“Now, Edward, play nice! Your brother hasn’t been home in years.”
“This isn’t his home anymore. He lives with you.” Edward bristled at the idea of Leonard, the literal man-child, being in his home once again.
“You’re getting more like your father every year. He was a grump, too!”
“Grump is relative.” Edward shrugged.
“Oh, Edward. You always get so prickly.” Verity’s sigh hung heavily between them.
“When is he coming?” Edward finally asked, sensing Verity’s frustration and not wanting to upset her by being a dick.
“Next Saturday,” she replied, clearly delighting in the news.
“Great.”
“That’s all that sorted then. Fantastic. You’re a good boy. I love you,” she said, ignoring his sarcastic tone.
“Sure.” He rolled his eyes. “And in case you missed the memo, I’m a thirty-eight-year-old man at this point.”
Verity laughed. “Just as well I know you love me too. Speak soon, sweet boy of mine.”
“Goodbye, Mother.”
The line went dead, and he knew his mood would be ruined for the rest of the day.
He hoped the visit would be over as quickly and painlessly as possible, which got him thinking about another visitor who was soon to arrive.
According to the conversation with his gardener, June Hope, early that morning, her daughter, who he didn’t even know existed until then, was coming to stay– and he’d agreed to find her some work on the estate.
Just fucking great.
Edward groaned. He knew he was being unkind and miserable.
June was visibly nervous when she’d approached him in the courtyard. “Are you sure it’s okay?” she had asked. Her voice had trembled slightly as she wrung her hands.
It really made no difference to him, especially since Mrs Wilson could always do with a bit of help around the house, and it might actually save some money on the increased fees the cleaning agency recently started charging, but he sensed this was important to June.
“Of course. My brother is coming soon, and Mrs Wilson will be glad for the help.”
“I appreciate you may want to speak to her before she arrives, if she’s going to be working for you.”
From what little he’d gathered, June’s daughter was fleeing some kind of domestic upheaval. Edward really wasn’t interested in the specifics– and despite his quiet fondness for June, he wasn’t particularly in the mood for carrying out a phone interview.
How bad can she be?
“I’ll send you her number, just in case. She won’t be arriving until tomorrow.”
“Aye, that’s fine.” Edward had offered a tight smile and nodded. “I’ll call her, but I’m sure it will be no problem at all,” he reassured her.