Chapter One #3
He raised an eyebrow. At what she’d said? Or because he’d seen her checking him out? Heat raced up her neck, and through sheer determination she internally repeated what he’d said. She needed to focus on this conversation, not get waylaid by an inane, pointless attraction.
‘What do you mean? Have all the guests staying here for the funeral already left?’ She’d presumed there would be numerous people still here, as Ruby had been much loved by many near and far.
He nodded. ‘As of this afternoon, I’ve given the staff a few days off.’
‘All the staff? Everyone’s gone?’ She couldn’t prevent repeating his words as their magnitude seeped in. It had been strange seeing no-one when she’d arrived. Not even Mrs Goodchild, the housekeeper, who was always at WillowGlen.
Ivy had wanted to remain under the radar, but still she’d expected to see Ruby’s trusted staff, who were the soul of discretion. But she’d been so distraught at not seeing Ruby and unsettled about the thought of seeing Ethan, she hadn’t really processed it. Until now.
‘Except me.’
‘You!’ she squeaked. ‘You’re staying here, by yourself?’
‘Of course. And your plans?’ In contrast, his voice was deep and dark and shouldn’t make her want to close her eyes and savour its deliciousness.
Absolutely not an option!
She placed a hand against her stomach, trying to contain her grief and loss and unscramble the mess of emotions that churned it.
When she’d heard the news, she’d been desperate to get to WillowGlen to somehow say goodbye to Ruby, in the place she’d so adored.
Despite the logistical nightmare, she’d made it in record time, unsighted by the press, which was no mean feat since they tracked her like bloodhounds.
‘To stay here tonight. I didn’t realise it would only be us.
I’ll leave first thing in the morning.’ She mentally went through her plans and how she could rearrange to leave and remain undetected.
As much as she’d prepared herself that Ethan would be here, she hadn’t expected it to be only the two of them.
Ivy straightened her spine. She could do one night with him; it was a huge house and she was an actress after all.
But no amount of acting could cover up her unease around the man.
Over the years, she’d convinced herself that she’d dramatised his impact, appeal.
It had only taken fifteen minutes in his presence to shatter that illusion.
‘That’s not going to be possible,’ he responded coldly.
‘You’re not going to allow me to stay?’ Like a dart aiming for bullseye, his words hit their mark. He disliked her that much? It shouldn’t matter, especially as she’d done everything she could to make sure he felt that way about her. But paradoxically, it did.
He took a sip of the amber liquid in his glass. ‘You won’t be leaving in the morning.’
She lifted her chin. ‘That’s not your decision, I—’
‘You’re required for the reading of the Will.’
‘The Will? Ruby’s Will?’
‘Naturally,’ he snapped.
‘That’s…weird. Do you know why?’ Had Ruby left her a memento that Ethan needed to hand over?
She didn’t want, nor expect anything. She had a vault of Ruby memories, which was all she’d ever need from her late grandmother’s best friend, who’d welcomed Ivy with open arms after she’d made the long trek from Australia at seventeen, the year after her parents’ deaths.
A visit encouraged by her uncle, who’d become her guardian.
Yet neither of them had realised the guilt she carried because she’d caused the deaths of her adored mum and dad.
She’d been forbidden to go to that bonfire, but still she’d snuck out and gone.
When her mother had realised and come to get her, her car had been T-boned by a drunk driver and she’d been killed instantly.
And her beautiful, loving dad had yelled at her, blamed her, before having a fatal heart attack right in front of her.
She’d killed both her parents in the space of two hours.
That’s when she’d made her life pact; she’d never be in a relationship, nor marry; she didn’t deserve it.
She could never allow herself to experience anything like the love her parents had had for each other.
Ethan was the only man who’d ever made her forget she didn’t deserve anyone to look at her the way he had, make her feel the way she had, that long-ago afternoon.
‘You have no idea?’
Ethan’s question threw her back to the present and she wordlessly shook her head.
‘Les Peachey, Ruby’s solicitor gave me a letter this afternoon.’ He ran a hand through his hair, the movement pulling his shirt across his chest, defining the width of it.
Ivy curled her fingers pressing them into her crystal glass instead of giving in to the urge to run them all over that hard muscle.
‘Ruby wrote it seven and a half years ago, after she updated her Will. Her final Will.’ Ethan’s shock was unmistakable as he paused and fixed her with a penetrating stare, like he was trying to figure her out and found her wanting.
A sense of foreboding slithered down her spine.
His jaw tightened. ‘She’s left WillowGlen to both of us.’