Chapter Thirteen.
Lyra
Avery poked his tongue out as he scowled at the letter G. “That’s J.”
“G.”
“It looks like J,” Avery argued, and I laughed.
“It does, in the same way that P and Q are similar.”
“W is an upside-down M. Letters are stupid,” Avery declared and folded his arms.
“Yes, they are, but when you can read them, you can escape into millions of worlds,” I said, smiling. I caught sight of movement and glanced up.
William leaned against the office doorjamb and watched us. My traitorous body came to attention. Oh God. William looked like the typical poster boy. He wore his usual thick trousers tucked into his heavy black boots. I wondered how he kept changing clothes.
Today, William wore a cream turtleneck jumper. With his dark hair and eyes, and his permanent five o’clock shadow (you can’t shave as a ghost, apparently), he resembled an old sailing captain. His flat cap only added to it. I wanted to jump his bones and strip him bare.
I couldn’t; he was a ghost. Then again… William could manifest. Now, that was going to give me naughty dreams. William would probably pass out if I came on to him. If that were true, why look at me like that? His eyes narrowed, and his lips quirked, and I felt a blush begin.
“Dad!” Avery grumbled. William’s gaze moved to Avery, and he smiled. Oh boy, I was in trouble.
“What?”
“These letters are stupid.”
“So you said. But you know who isn’t stupid? You.”
Avery puffed up at William’s compliment, and I melted inside. William would be a really great dad.
“Look at this,” Avery jabbed a ghostly finger at the offending G.
“I see it, lad, but you need to learn to tell the difference. You’ve been at this all morning, and already you’re able to recognise both,” William praised.
Avery preened, and William smiled. “Now’s an appropriate time for a break. Come with me. I’ll show you how the lantern works.”
Avery’s face fell. “I’m sorry for breaking it. Master made me do it. He needs the darkness.”
“Master can go screw himself,” I muttered, but didn’t realise how sharp Avery’s ears were.
His head cocked as he tried to work out my meaning, and then his expression lit up. “How can a man… oh, understand? The back way. That’s funny, Mum!”
“Go with your dad,” I remarked, flustered that an eight-year-old had awareness of sex. William was chuckling so hard that he was shaking.
“Come on, son, your mum needs some time,” William said warmly, offering me an amused glance.
“I’m heading into town to find some children’s books. Mine are for adults,” I informed them.
“Be safe,” William replied.
I nodded and scurried off as the two spirits I left behind laughed hard.
“Mum looked embarrassed.”
“She’s a lady,” William stated. If only he realised what I thought of him!
“Lyra!” Cale called as I walked towards the bookshop. Seriously? Was he still here?
“Go away, Cale!” I snapped as he got in front of me.
“Not until you leave with me. Come on, Lyra, you don’t want to stay here! You’re a city girl,” Cale stated.
“I’m going nowhere!” I exclaimed. Looking around, I realised we were starting to draw a crowd.
“Look, I understand, babe. Lyra, I screwed up; I was an idiot. It took me losing you to realise how good we were together and how much I loved you. Honey, you were the best thing in my life,” Cale said, reaching for my hands. On instinct, I tried to avoid his grip, but Cale grasped hold tightly.
“Let me go, Cale, and stop causing a scene,” I snarled.
Cale knew I detested being the centre of attention; hell, I hated any spectacle. This whole situation was making my skin crawl. Although Cale’s face was sincere, there was triumph in his eyes. The cheating ass was so sure he’d win me over. I yanked free, stumbling back.
“Give him another chance,” a man said.
“Lady, the man loves you,” a teenager agreed.
“Well, he shouldn’t have cheated on me with my boss, should he?” I snapped. A crowd was forming, and I guessed that was what Cale wanted. I was ready to crawl out of my own skin to escape this.
“Lyra, I was a fool. Serena was a mistake,” Cale begged.
“Oh, I see!” I exclaimed. Cale smiled sadly. The names I was calling him in my head weren’t polite by any means. “It was a huge accident that for a period of three years you kept tripping over and shoving your dick into Serena. Damn, Cale, that’s clumsy of you!”
“Mate, you cheated for three years? Yeah, you are on your own,” the teenager said and sauntered off.
“Lyra, let’s attend relationship counselling,” Cale suggested, stunning me into silence.
Seeing an opportunity, Cale capitalised on it.
“We’ll go home to Dagenham, get a new flat; hell, we should live in Rainham or Epping, whichever you prefer.
You’re not a country girl,” Cale coaxed, stepping closer.
“Sell up and buy a nice place where you came from,” a woman urged, and I rolled my eyes.
“What part of ‘none of the land can be sold’ didn’t you understand?” I retorted. “Jesus, how many times do you people need telling?”
“Just sell!”
“Oh, grow up. Sell your own home!” I suggested. I began to move away, but Cale suddenly dropped to his knee. No! He wouldn’t dare!
“Lyra, I love you. Whatever it takes to fix us, I’ll do it.
Please come home, and I’ll break my back fixing this.
Babe, I can’t live without you. You seemed so remote that I doubted you really had feelings for me, and I cheated to make you jealous.
Now I understand how much you loved me. Marry me,” Cale proposed, holding out a small box.
He flicked it open, and I saw a flashy diamond ring. The crowd gasped.
“If she accepts, we might get rid of her,” someone said.
“She’ll sell if she goes home,” somebody replied.
Cale didn’t know, but I’d seen that before. I began laughing, which caused Cale consternation.
“You’re asking me to marry you with a ring you bought Serena?” I hugged my ribs as my laughter turned slightly hysterical.
“What? No!” Cale exploded, looking insulted, but his eyes knew he’d majorly messed up.
“Liar! See, I know you brought that for her because Serena showed me and bragged about it!”
“Wow. That is low! I don’t like her, but no one deserves that.”
“Yeah, that’s really bad.”
“What a total loser.”
Cale’s jaw tightened as the crowd began turning.
“Lyra, we belong together. Nobody wants you here, babe, and I love you. Sell up; we can invest the money, and you won’t have to work. I’ll take care of your finances and you,” Cale said.
A woman’s eyes narrowed in hatred. “You’re being greedy, holding out for more money. Accept Keating’s offer and let this young man look after you.”
That’s when I made a fatal mistake. “Do you actually have any idea regarding the amount of money I have? My grandmother alone left me eight figures. And the Jasper estate? That’s valued at slightly under nine figures.
You suspect that I’m being greedy? Think differently.
Just because I want to live simply doesn’t mean I’m poor. ”
“You’re worth how much?” Cale asked in a strangled voice. I closed my eyes. Oh no.
“If you have that amount of money, sell the lighthouses and leave!” a woman cried.
“Say that again,” a gentleman demanded.
“Spoilt cow, she’s lording it over us!” an old man cackled, annoyed.
“Shut up! I didn’t grow up rich; I grew up poor.
You all assume that I’m a spoiled brat! Wrong.
I only got this inheritance through my father’s side of the family.
My mother worked three jobs to keep a roof over our heads and to feed me.
You think I’m some wealthy bitch? I knew nothing about the Jaspers until invited to a will reading.
“Stop treating me like an entitled heiress; I’m anything but that.
Hell, my dad failed to stick around to see me born.
Up and ran out on my mother without a by-your-leave.
Typical bloke, got laid, then didn’t want the responsibility.
He was so petty that he married her so that she couldn’t marry the man she loved.
All I want to do is live in my lighthouse!
Why is that so wrong?” My temper snapped.
This whole scene was mortifying, and I was so embarrassed, and I felt victimised.
“It’s impossible for me to sell even if I wanted to!
” I screamed. “Don’t you understand? Are you wilfully blind or just pig ignorant?
You assume bullying me will somehow make it so I can put it up for sale?
The Trust doesn’t allow the selling of any asset!
If a stick of damn rock is in The Trust, it can’t be sold.
You may all complain until the day you die.
The Trust is set in stone and was done so to protect the heirs from this kind of behaviour! ” I yelled.
Several of those gathered looked uncomfortable as tears began streaming down my face.
“If I could leave, I would. Who in their right mind wants to live with this type of hate? Every single one of you is a bully, and I’m tired of being your victim.
You don’t want me here? Good. I don’t want to be here.
From this point on, everyone in this town can go to hell.
I’ll take my damn fortune and spend it elsewhere.
And any community projects I was thinking of helping can get screwed, too.
Like that new church roof I planned to donate money to repair.
“God, I hope you’re not churchgoers because none of you has a Christian bone in your body. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You’re nasty, petty-minded, mean-spirited and downright vile. All you care about is money! Money, money, money!” I shrieked and then walked away.
“Lyra!” Cale caught hold of me, desperation on his face. Behind him, I saw Keith Keating smirking.
“Let go of me, Cale. I don’t love you, and I won’t allow you to gaslight me into thinking I made you cheat.
What a crock of crap. I didn’t make you shove your dick into Serena.
You decided to do that. You chose to discard the love I freely gave you.
Now I’ve got money, you think I’m stupid enough to come back? Grow up!”