She kissed him again but was distracted as she turned back to her room. Darius watched until her door closed behind her.
11
Eve stared out the car window, wishing she could see her grandfather’s house from the road. It’d taken almost three hours to drive there. As she’d watched rolling hills full of cattle and sheep fly by, she’d tried to imagine her father driving up this same road as a young man.
When she’d told her father that she’d visit his old home, his relief had eased her irritation at being asked to do it. He’d texted her the solicitor’s number, so she could let him know when they’d arrive. She’d resigned herself to meeting her grandfather and decided a happier way to approach the visit was that she was there to see the home where her father had lived his first twenty years.
“Any idea how close we are?” Darius asked.
“The solicitor said he’d have a servant waiting on the turn off, waving a yellow flag.”
“What was the name of the house again?” Joe asked, staring at his phone, a crease between his brows.
Eve thought it was entertaining that people named their houses. She’d read theAnne of Green Gablesseries when she was growing up and thought it was a fun thing to do back in the day.
“It’s called Hedson Park. Why?”
“Because the only Hedson Park I can find on the map isn’t just a farm.”
“What do you mean?” Darius asked.
“See for yourself.” Joe handed over his phone.
Eve leaned against Darius’s arm and skimmed the writing. She shook her head.
“There’s some kind of mistake. That place has a large manor house and five other homes on the property. That can’t be right.”
“It says it’s owned by Archibald Stewart,” Joe said, taking back his phone. “What’s your grandfather’s name?”
“Archibald.” Eve’s voice came out sounding small, so she said it again, this time louder and more firmly. “Archibald. So maybe he lives in one of the houses or bought a couple more as an investment.”
“If you say so.” Joe didn’t sound like he believed it.
Eve scooted closer to Darius, and he put his arm around her. She doubted she’d have come if he hadn’t offered to accompany her. And it would have killed her because she’d have let down her father.
“Thank you again for coming with me,” she said.
“This is the best adventure I’ve had in a long time, and I love the company.” Darius kissed her temple. “What’s making you so nervous about this?”
“Part of it is just all the terrible stories my father has shared about his childhood. When he asked me to visit the old man, I made him give me details about the rift. Dad was the oldest son, and his father put a lot of pressure on him to be perfect. Dad said there was nothing he could do that was ever good enough. The big thing was that his father was training him to take over the farm, and Dad didn’t want to do it. He said he hated living out in the country away from ‘where the action was,’ as he called it. He’d gone to university a couple years which confirmed that he liked living in the city better. He had an opportunity to study abroad in the US, and his father refused. He said if Dad chose to go, he’d be dead to my grandfather.”
“And your dad went,” Joe said.
“Of course he went.” Darius’s grin made Eve think he approved of her father’s decision.
“The only letter he received from his father was the one that came from his solicitor’s office telling Dad he’d been officially disowned.”
“And I’ll bet your father never looked back.” Darius turned to Joe and said, “You should meet him. He’s a force to contend with. That’s one of the things that’s made him such a good lawyer. When he wants something, he goes after it like a pit bull.”
“That’s how he won my mother,” Eve said, smiling to herself as she remembered her mother’s reflections on it.
“Did he just charge in?” Joe asked.
“It’s more that he wouldn’t be dissuaded by her reasons why they couldn’t be together. My mother said her family would have disowned her if she’d brought home a white guy.”
“But she did,” Darius said.
“Wasn’t your father sympathetic since he’d been disowned?” Joe asked.
