“Too bloody true,” Uncle Bryan complained. “It was totally unfair. Lochbrae should be Jasper’s. He’s the one who actually lives in the country.”
Dad hummed.
“You should have done more,” Uncle Bryan said. “You should have talked to Dad. Told him to stop doting on Weston the way he did.”
“You’re taking the piss,” Dad said, barking a laugh. “You think he’d have listened to me? He cut me out of the estate too. I’m the oldest son. Everything should have passed to me first.”
“I’m not leaving it like this,” Jasper said. “It’s not right.”
The ungrateful bastards. Sparks of anger shot along my jaw as my teeth clenched. On today of all days, when we’d just put the best man I’d ever met into the ground, all they could think about was themselves.
I turned around before the heat pulsing in my blood could get the better of me. Before I burst through that door and got in an argument with my pissy family. Today was about laying Grandad to rest, and I wasn’t going to get into petty disputes.
I stopped short, almost crashing into Agnes who was collecting empty sandwich plates.
Her lips were pinched, her nose turned up at the door, telling me she’d also heard everything. “How soon can I kick them out?” she asked. “They’re stinking up the place.”
“I always hope the trash sees itself out,” I muttered.
The corner of her mouth twitched, then she looked at me, hard. “Don’t listen to a word they say. Your grandfather did plenty for them over the years. Supported them even when they didn’t deserve it. You don’t owe them a thing.”
“I know,” I said. And I knew for a fact that he’d made more than generous allowances in his will for all of them. They weren’t walking away from this empty-handed, yet it still wasn’t good enough for them. “If they have an issue, they can take it up with the solicitor.”
“Speaking of,” Agnes said, dropping her voice. “I noticed Jasper left the graveside ceremony early. He walked away and got into a car while the rest of us were laying flowers.”
I frowned. “Where did he go?”
“Here,” she said. “Callum said he turned up at the property with some men in suits. And not funeral suits, if you get my drift.”
“Bloody hell. Can’t keep his greedy fingers under control for one damn day,” I said. Whatever the hell my cousin was up to, today was not the day.
“If you like, I can send the dogs out after them. We could scatter them in no time,” Agnes said, making me smile.
“Not sure I’d say yes, even if we had dogs, but I appreciate the offer.”
“Bonnie then. Perhaps a few nips to the arse will send them running back to their cars.”
I pretended to ponder that one, but it’d be just my luck she’d take a liking to my cousin. “If you see Callum, ask him to keep an eye on them and if Jasper returns to the house, I’d like a word with him.”
“Only if that word includes a stiff kick to the?—”
“It doesn’t. At least, not yet,” I said, interrupting her and she nodded in return.
“I’m glad you ended up with a nice girl like Lena,” Agnes said, patting my arm as she led me from the room. “Lord knows we can’t handle any more arseholes in this family.”
“Hopefully this is the last we’ll see of them for a while,” I said. Having to be in the same vicinity was unpleasant, but it reinforced in my mind that I’d done the right thing by marrying Lena. Protecting Grandad’s memory, making sure Lochbrae was in good hands, getting this wind farm off the ground to support Braeburn—that was worth all the headaches and complicated emotions. I was going to honor his legacy, and that meant making sure the estate never, ever fell into Jasper’s control.
“If not, I’m changing the locks,” Agnes joked before hurrying off with her dishes.
“You good?” Locke asked, chowing down on a sausage roll as he and Alistair returned to my side.
“Mrs. Crawford didn’t get you, did she?” Alistair asked. “We tried to redirect her.”
I shook my head. “Ran into the family instead.”
Locke grimaced. “Not sure which is worse.”
Before I could debate that, Lena walked up with a plate of food. “You haven’t eaten all day,” she said in that tone she reserved for judging my eating habits. “You forget to eat when you’re stressed. So I’ve made it easy for you.”
