“Do you want to know something?” Jesse said softly once we’d passed through the village.
I finally turned to face him, his sharp features thrown mostly into shadow but his eyes somehow still soft. “What’s that?”
“I never want you to feel like you can’t come back here. This is your home, Eliza. As my wife, I’ll make sure you can come here whenever you want.”
He sounded completely serious. As far as I could tell, he wasn’t joking or humoring me. He actually meant it.
“Thank you,” I said quietly, turning back to the window when I felt tears welling on my eyelids. “I really appreciate that.”
As we kept driving, the darkness outside slowly changed. Distant lights appeared. Villages became towns and the roadways grew wider. Then the first signs of the city were upon us.
Jesse shifted slightly beside me, reaching for my hand and lacing his fingers gently with mine. I didn’t pull away. Tomorrow morning, we would board a flight together. I would have a short amount of time to acclimate to Chicago before we returned for the wedding.And then… What then?
But I couldn’t let myself think that far ahead.
Instead, my mind spun through everything that needed managing in my absence. The tours. The production schedule. The farms. Miriam. The staff. The endless list of details that kept the estate running.
I must’ve looked worried because Jesse gave my hand a light squeeze. When I glanced at him, he was already looking at me and he smiled as our eyes met, but he didn’t say anything.
Somehow, in that moment of silent connection, I felt just a little bit better. Since this whole thing started, Jesse had done nothing but take care of me. Surely, he would be true to his word about me coming back here whenever I wanted.
This wasn’t really a goodbye. It was simply a very final-feelingSee You Later.
CHAPTER 19
WILL
The Roderick house in London looked exactly like the kind of place where several centuries of aristocrats had lived. It had a stone façade with iron gates and windows that had survived revolutions, wars, fires, and everything else history had thrown at it without a scratch.
It was stately but quiet, the street dark but for the orange glow of the streetlights when we pulled up. We were nowhere near the interesting parts of London here, which I suspected Jesse would have a thing or two to say about.
The staff had clearly been warned we were coming because they descended on the car as soon as it stopped, leading us inside and taking our coats while they tended to our overnight bags. An older woman waved us toward a dining room with all the warmth of a blizzard.
“Dinner is served,” she said sternly. “Right this way, if you please.”
Eliza let out a quiet sigh but fell into step beside me, both of us following her to a full spread on the table. It kind of looked like they were welcoming people who’d just returned from a month-long expedition in the wild.
“Children!” James was waiting for us in the dining room, grinning as we walked in.
Eliza took one look at the food, then made it about ten seconds after hugging him hello before she bowed out. “I’m sorry. If you don’t mind, I think I’m just going to turn in. I’m exhausted from the drive.”
The drive that had taken less than two hours.
James nodded politely, but the look on his face said he also understood basic math. “Of course, darling. Get some rest and we’ll see you in the morning.”
She offered him a small smile, slipping out of the room before anyone could stop her or even offer to bring some food to her room. As I watched her go, I could tell something was off. She wasn’t being obvious or dramatic about it, but I could feel it sitting just beneath the surface.
James poured himself a drink with the practiced ease of someone who’d done it every night for the last forty years. He glanced over at me. “Scotch?”
“Sure.”
He handed me a glass and we waited while the staff quietly cleared a few unnecessary dishes before we sat down. Once we were finally alone, I met his gaze across the table and got straight to it. Eliza clearly wasn’t okay, which meant I had to get to her but not before I’d had this conversation.
“Well, here we are,” I said. “While I’ve got you and before Eliza and I head to the States tomorrow, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask.”
James arched his eyebrows at me. “Oh?”
“The castle,” I said. “You’re going to keep it in good shape while Eliza’s gone, right?”
