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

of the kitchen staff hadn’t realized that I was exactly that odd duck they were worried about. Hopefully they also hadn’t realized exactly what I’d been doing with Madison in the back room.

Shite.

What was I really doing with her?

The more we got involved, the more this could end badly if things blew up.

Staring at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, I wondered how the hell I was going to pull this off. I still hadn’t had the chance to find anything to say the MacWebleys were entitled to anything. But I couldn’t just walk away, go back to Scotland with my tail between my legs.

“Okay, Jacob, you’re going to get your head in the game and stop thinking about your wedding date,” I muttered to my reflection, then I splashed some cold water on my face.

I tried to swallow my guilt and push Madison out of my mind as I exited the bathroom. She had probably washed up and changed for dinner already, but there was no trace of her around the solar. Maybe she changed in her sister’s room, too embarrassed to come back.

I’d have to find a way to talk to her about everything. But even I couldn’t wrap my head around it. And right now, I had to focus on dinner with more of the Webley family.

The buzzing from my pocket broke my own thoughts.

Puling my phone out, I stared at the screen where Blair’s face stared back at me with a video call. Why the hell was she doing a video call? Did she want a tour of the manor?

Now wasn’t the time.

But if I didn’t answer, I knew she’d just keep calling.

Swiping the screen, instead of seeing Blair’s resting bitch face, Great-Grandfather’s sunken features appeared.

My heart leaped into my throat as I cleared it, trying to straighten my shoulders from the sudden jump after being caught off guard.

“Great-Grandpa, wasn’t expecting your call.”

The man was in his late nineties, but as long as I’d remembered him, he had been a force of a man. Lively, leaning on his cane in a three-piece suit, his white hair parted to the side. It was only in the last ten years, as end stage kidney failure took over, that he started to wilt. That we didn’t see him much outside of his recliner with a nurse by his side.

Gone were the suits, replaced with robes and striped pajamas. And the smile and laugh I always remembered? Well, watching his eyes crinkle at the corners when he saw me was the closest I knew I would get.

“What…what is this thing?” He looked off the camera.

Blair’s laugh echoed over. “It’s a video call to Jacob. Don’t you recognize him, or does he look super fancy now that he’s in Webley Manor?”

Great-Grandfather blinked hard before turning to the screen. “You’re really there? At Webley?”

I swallowed hard. “Ah. I am.”

He nodded, his lips twitching in what I assume was trying to form a smile. “Good, good. Tell me, do they still have all the birch trees? Would they be in bloom now?”

“They do. They’ve kept it up very well.” My breath caught in my throat as I tried to think of the right answer. This wasn’t just small talk, and I was waiting for the ultimate question.

But then he did that lip twitching again. “And the Webleys, are they treating you well?”

I swallowed, thinking of the appropriate response before just giving an honest one as I tried to hold back a laugh. “Well, the Webleys themselves are a little bit apprehensive, especially Gavin, the lord of the manor.”

“Ah, what you’re saying is he is colder than a witch’s tit?”

A nurse in the background seemed to choke on her own spit, but I was used to Great-Grandpa’s sense of humor.

I smiled. “I guess you could say that. Or that he’s kind of an arsehole.”

“Is the rest of the family like him?”

I shrugged, running my fingers through my hair as my thoughts crept to the sweet Lady Elizabeth. “No, not all.”

“Good, good. Did they ask you about a date? I’m sure they were expecting that baroness. What the hell was her name? The one with the nose?”

This time the nurse wasn’t the only one laughing as my chest vibrated, trying to hold back a snicker. “Everly? No, they didn’t ask about her. I actually met the bride’s sister, and well, I guess you can say she’s my date.”

The words came so easily off my tongue, but there was another bite to them. Something that didn’t feel right as I said them.

Friends. We agreed. Just friends and a date.

So it didn’t make sense why my palms were sweating as I told my great-grandpa about her.

“Ah, the American? Didn’t take you for the type to cross that part of the pond, but if she makes you happy…”

Great-Grandfather opened his mouth to speak again, but Blair jumped in before he could.

“Find any interesting history or documents?”

“Not yet, but there is a curator here who I’m hoping will give me a tour of the library,” I said, forcing the biggest smile I could, not even sure if Great-Grandfather could see me on the small screen.

“That would be grand, wouldn’t it, Great-Grandpa? Maybe Jacob can find an interesting piece of history about the MacWebleys?” she hinted.

Why the bloody hell didn’t she just come out and say she wanted to know if I found a document saying we could inherit Webley?

Guess it was better this way, in case a rogue maid was waiting around the corner, listening to my conversation.

“Ah, I’ll see what I can find after dinner tonight. But I need to get ready. We’ll talk soon, okay? Love you, Great-Grandpa.”

He looked off screen, and Blair yelled, “Jacob has to go, but he says he loves you and we’ll talk soon.”

Great-Grandfather nodded, his eyes slowly closing then opening again, his chest rising in the same heavy breath.

How much more time did he have?

As I hung up the phone, I let out the deep breath I was holding in. I couldn’t