Chapter Three.
Adam
This was the worst vacation ever. For once, I felt something other than self-pity; a raging anger took over me as the taxi driver left out belongings dumped on the roadside and drove away.
“Adam?” Rina looked a little scared and uncertain. The village we’d been left at was in sheer darkness, and the snow kept falling—and hard. In the time it had taken us to reach here, the entire countryside was covered.
The kids shivered in the cold, and worry crossed my mind. I was about to bang on someone’s door and ask for help when the lights came on nearby.
A door opened, and a woman stepped out of the café, just a few doors up. “Come in!” she called out in a husky voice.
I didn’t hesitate and grabbed Zoie and hurried towards her. My footing wasn’t stable because of my leg, but I helped Zoie inside without falling and hurting her. Walker carried Callum, and Rina had Xander.
“I need to get our luggage,” I said to the stranger, who was sporting bedhead and a thick robe. She’d clearly been woken up and had got out of bed.
“I’ll help Dad,” Walker said and walked out beside me.
“I can bring in the luggage,” I muttered.
“Yeah, and? It’s snowing heavily, there are eight suitcases, travel bags, backpacks, and who knows what fuckin’ else Mom packed,” Walker snapped. “You can accept my support or make at least ten journeys back and forth.”
“You made your point,” I growled out, and Walker sent me a disgusted look.
“This ain’t about your leg, it’s about being helpful. Even if you weren’t hurt, I’d have helped because that’s how Mom brought me up,” Walker stated and grabbed two cases before stomping off.
It hit me again that Walker called Rina ‘Mom.’ Up until Callum’s birth, Walker had been content to call her Aunt Rina. But it felt like he’d needed to enforce his tie with her, and he’d started calling her mom. Neither of us objected because, honestly, Rina was like his mom.
It took us a few minutes to get everything out of the snow. By the time we finished, Rina had shucked her thick coat, and the kids were drinking a big mug of hot chocolate.
“You need to put a complaint in about that driver. How bloody rude and ignorant. If I hadn’t heard him arrive and the commotion, you’d have been left out in the snow. I know it’s coming down thick, but we don’t leave people abandoned like that!” the woman was snarling.
“Here, come and get a hot drink,” Rina called out.
“Thank you for opening your café,” I said.
“I’m Rose-Marie, the owner. It’s my pleasure.
It wouldn’t have been the neighbourly thing to have left you outside to freeze!
Bloody ignorant taxi drivers. If you don’t mind, I’ll pop upstairs, shower quickly, and then we can sort you out.
I hope you have rooms booked somewhere because the village was pretty jammed packed yesterday,” Rose-Marie babbled, and I blinked.
“Yes, we’ve rooms at The Black Cat. We were meant to arrive later today, but our plane was late in and there was no point staying at the overnight hotel we’d booked. We decided to come straight here, which was probably a mistake. Especially as this isn’t The Black Cat,” Rina said.
“Oh, you’re staying with Benedict and Mariah. The Black Cat is a beautiful place, you’ll love it there. Be warned, Benedict can be a little stiff, he’s nobility, the brother of an earl.”
“And he runs an English pub?” I asked incredulously.
“The Nortons aren’t a typical family. They’re very well thought of in these parts,” Rose-Marie said, and I felt the warning in her words and voice. “Sit yourselves down and get warm. I won’t be long, and then we’ll feed these beautiful kiddies.”
“Thank you,” I replied, and Rose-Marie nodded.
“You haven’t had a great welcome to England. Trust me, we’re not all like that twat who abandoned you. We’ll get you to The Black Cat one way or another.” With that promise, Rose-Marie disappeared through some doors. I sipped my drink and wondered what else would go wrong.
◆◆◆
Well, this hadn’t been expected. I looked around at my family as they all grinned and snuggled under the blankets the farmer had provided.
I was sitting on the back of a cart with a tractor pulling us along the snow-covered roads.
The snow was so deep that no car could drive on it.
People waved at us as we travelled through the village and headed out onto a narrower lane.
Rina and the kids all waved back as Terry, the farmer, tooted his horn in acknowledgement.
I’d been stunned when Rose-Marie had informed at several hours after our arrival that she’d found us transport to the inn.
Rina had been amused when she’d seen the tractor and cart pull up.
I hadn’t been and had demanded to know if this was a joke.
Terry, unimpressed by my attitude, told me I could either get on board or stay on the café floor.
Rina had given me a disappointed look as the kids joy evaporated.
Shit, I saw what was obvious. I was stifling everything the children found exciting.
On the plane and during the trip here, it had become clear how much they gauged their reactions to me.
We might have flown in on a private plane, but the airport was anything but.
Other kids were screaming, yelling, laughing, and being children.
Mine were quiet, overly well-behaved, and serious.
Even when they saw things that excited them, they muted themselves so they wouldn’t disturb me.
Even Zoie had stopped squealing, and it was something I’d missed.
This was on me. We passed a tree, and I reached out and grabbed some snow.
Before anyone realised what I was doing, I’d throw it in Walker’s face.
His jaw dropped open in surprise, and I chuckled.
The noise sounded rusty, which made them all stare at me in disbelief.
I scooped some more snow up and threw it at Rina and the kids.
Walker turned around, grabbed some, and threw it back at me. My heart warmed as the kids began laughing, a sound I’d not heard for a long time. Guilt stabbed at me, darkening my mood. Had I become the monster my father and brother had been?
Rina
I was shocked beyond belief when Adam threw the snow.
For a brief moment, I saw a shadow of his former self.
Adam had never been light-hearted or silly, but he had known how to enjoy life and have fun.
That had disappeared. This glimmer assured me that some semblance of the man I fell in love with still existed.
Hope reared inside me, and I prayed that England might be the cure we needed.
Adam’s demeanour suddenly darkened. Guilt crossed his face as he stared at the kids smiling. He looked at me with questions in his eyes and shook his head. Something was happening inside his head, but I didn’t know if it was a sign of something positive.
“The Black Cat can be seen when we turn this corner,” Terry announced, and I craned my neck.
We turned into a narrow lane, and I gasped as out of the gloom lights appeared in the distance.
I could see a large fir tree, decorated for Christmas, and the inn's lights twinkled merrily.
They were a welcome beacon for lost travellers.
Ten more minutes passed before we arrived. Two women and a man spilt from the inn as Terry tooted.
“Got your guests and order, Lord Benedict,” he called.
“Benedict will do, Terry. Lord is my brother,” the man responded. I studied him, a little amused at his behaviour.
“An assured thing, Lord Benedict,” Terry replied with a twinkle in his eyes.
“Let’s get those kiddies inside!” an older woman called, reaching up for Adam and me to pass the children down to her.
Once down, she began herding them towards the inn. I sent a concerned look after her.
“That’s our manager and housekeeper, Trudy. Julie, our cook, is also inside. I’m Mariah, and this is Benedict,” the second woman said.
“I’m Rina, and this is Adam. This is our eldest son, Walker.” I smiled, took Benedict’s hand, and climbed down off the cart.
“I can manage,” Adam snapped, and I rolled my eyes.
“Adam, I very much doubt they saw your limp! Take the offer of help, the cart is high!” I hissed, and silence fell. Adam turned red, and I saw anger cross his face. “I don’t have a limp and still needed assistance getting down.” I ignited his embarrassment. Adam shrugged off any help and jumped.
We all heard his groan as he landed.
Mariah opened her mouth in concern, and Walker cut her off. “Can I have a hand, please?”
Benedict looked between us, obviously trying to figure out what was wrong, but he held his hand up to Walker. Walker wisely took it and clambered down.
“Let’s get you inside. Hot drinks are ready for you, and Julie has prepared a warm lunch. You can eat now or after you’ve unpacked,” Mariah said awkwardly.
“After unpacking is fine, thank you,” I replied and marched away, leaving Adam standing there, gritting his teeth in pain. I was done with considering his feelings.
Mariah
“Wow, what do you think that was about?” I hissed at Benedict when the Maddon family disappeared upstairs. Adam limped painfully towards them, trailing behind. Rina paid him no attention, and neither did the others.
“I don’t know, but that’s a family in crisis,” Benedict replied. “They certainly brought enough with them. I’ll use the elevator to carry it to their rooms.”
“I’ll help,” Trudy said. There was a look of concern on her face, too.
“We have two private dining parlours and our apartment. We don’t have to spend Christmas with them,” I said to her, and Trudy laughed.
Trudy had a large family, although she was a widow.
She was planning on spending Christmas with her children and had invited us to join them.
We’d politely refused, wanting to spend the day alone.
Well, we now had Julie, so that wouldn’t be happening, but I knew Trudy worried the Americans’ miserable attitude might ruin our day.