Heirly Ever After - Vernon, Magan (pdf ebook reader .txt) 📗

curled my hands into fists at my side, remembering the stories Great-Grandfather used to tell us about England and how they used to believe it was a haunted place. How the English side never wanted anything to do with the Scottish side. As if they’d turn their noses up at the thought of being associated with us.

It was time for the Webleys to know that the MacWebleys were here and we had a stake in all of this. The MacWebleys gifted this place to a former Webley bride, so they should have some kind of stake, right? An old prenuptial agreement perhaps?

Well…I could find a way to prove that we did, at least.

“Are you okay?” Madison whispered.

I gathered myself enough to face her, nodding. “Yes, just getting ready to meet this new family of yours. Tell me, what’s your soon-to-be brother-in-law like? From the car service and what I’m guessing is this manor ahead, he must be a well-off nobleman.”

She shrugged, her eyes flitting to the leather seats of the car between us. “I’ve never actually met the guy, or any of his family for that matter.”

I swallowed hard, sure I couldn’t have heard her right. “What?”

“This is my first time being here. The only other members of my family and people I really know are my mom and my sister. And I guess now you…sort of. Are you really sure your family would be okay if you didn’t get there for a couple of days?”

My heart pounded in my ears as I simmered on her words.

She’d never met the Webleys?

And her first time would be with a numpty walking in and announcing he was their Scottish cousin, rightful heir to the manor, well…if he could prove it, that was.

“They won’t mind if I’m a little late. Don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll understand.”

If only she knew this was the exact family I was going to visit.

At that moment, the idea of backing out flitted across my mind. I couldn’t afford to have this first introduction go wrong and have the Webleys throw me out before I could even present my argument. I could fake a stomachache and tell Madison I was ill and needed to go right back home to the family doctor.

But as soon as the car rolled through the large gates, a gasp escaped Madison’s lips, reeling me back to reality. I followed her wide-eyed gaze to the luscious green lawn and sprawling limestone manor that I’d only seen in old photographs. They hadn’t done that grand structure justice.

From what I’d read, Webley spread out over twelve hundred acres of private land complete with gardens, ponds, and other grounds. The MacWebley had once had at least twice that much in Scotland, I was told, but by the time I was born, we had been down to our last one thousand acres.

After failing uni, I’d been living in a two-bedroom cottage on my parents’ estate. An estate that was maybe a fourth of the size of this one, if not smaller, and that we would lose if things didn’t change.

“Is this what every lord’s house looks like in England?” Madison whispered. Her hands were clenched in her lap, and she seemed to be trying to sink into the leather seat.

For fuck’s sake, I couldn’t do this to her right now. Not when this was all new to her.

I sucked in a deep breath, knowing that my time would come to talk to the family, but for now, I’d be here as her plus one.

The town car circled a large fountain, carved of marble with intricate designs curling along each spout—the rose and the thistle.

I clenched my teeth so hard my jaw twinged in pain.

How could they not see this Scottish heritage every day and reach out to us?

Yet they kept displays of our united history?

Why?

I tried to simmer the emotions boiling within me, clenching and unclenching my fists.

A warm hand gently clasped my arm. Madison stared at me with her wide eyes and a tentative smile on her lips.

“We don’t have to go in, you know? You could still back out. I could just say I was giving you a ride and have the driver drop you off somewhere.” Red waves framed her freckled face, and she looked at me with the most earnest expression.

A guilty feeling sunk in my stomach as I thought this could be the moment I told her the truth about everything.

But instead, I just smiled, putting my hand on hers and squeezing it gently. “Why would I back out now, damsel? Your Prada Knight still has some saving to do.”

She sucked in a breath then slowly let it out as she nodded. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

I glanced over her shoulder and nodded at the driver, who’d waited outside, to open her door.

Once Madison stepped out, a clear Southern American accent rang through the driveway. “You’re finally here!”

A short, curvy redhead, dressed in faded blue jeans and a T-shirt, hurried over and smothered Madison in a hug. Was this woman the Lady of Webley? Dressed like she was going on a market run rather than welcoming guests into her home?

“Yeah. Wild drive…”

I waited for a moment, wondering what the right protocol was, if I should slide out of the car or wait for Madison to introduce me to her sister. When Madison glanced back and I met those gorgeous gold-brown eyes that said more to me than words could ever, I noticed she was scared shiteless. I had to help.

I climbed out of the car, putting on a big smile as I held my hand out to Natalie. “Sorry, that’s my fault. We got in late, and I didn’t want to bother anyone, so we stayed at the lovely little inn down by the bakery.”

Natalie raised an eyebrow.

Madison and her sister had the same wavy red hair, but this woman’s was darker and her eyes more doe-like and lips more pronounced. Even dressed down, she seemed to exude a presence that said she was in