“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.
“That is a family dealing with a lot. I hope the children can relax,” Trudy muttered before disappearing.
“Seems we’ve a little drama to deal with,” I muttered.
“If they don’t behave, I’ll throw them out or sic Lady Catherine on them,” Benedict replied. I laughed as he headed to the door to help Terry bring in the cases and the order he’d kindly brought us.
Lady Catherine
Agony screamed at me. The man, Adam, was in physical and mental pain. It rolled off him, putting my teeth on edge. I could see red spikes in his aura, and I winced. This was a man used to being in charge and being one hundred per cent fit. I could see what had happened to him: his leg, a brave sacrifice in defending the innocent. But Adam didn’t see it like that, and it filled me with sorrow.
He was a man who loved deeply and would lay down and die for anyone he cared for. But that was lost in the self-loathing and guilt. His wife and children were also sad, grieving the man they’d known and lost. Because even though Adam was in front of them, he wasn’t the same man.
A smile crossed my lips. Mariah and Benedict had kindly given me a Christmas challenge!
Rina
“Those comments were uncalled for, weren’t they?” Adam demanded after I settled the kids in their room next to ours.
“Was it? They had no idea about your bad leg, and yet you snapped at their offer of help. I’m tired of you thinking everyone is judging you,” I replied.
“How do you know they weren’t?” Adam snarled, and I laughed at him.
