Page 4 of Enemies Under One Roof

‘The Will? Ruby’s Will?’

‘Naturally,’ he snapped.

‘That’s…weird. Do you know why?’ Had Ruby left her a memento that Ethan needed to hand over? She didn’t want, nor expect anything. She had a vault of Ruby memories, which was all she’d ever need from her late grandmother’s best friend, who’d welcomed Ivy with open arms after she’d made the long trek from Australia at seventeen, the year after her parents’ deaths. A visit encouraged by her uncle, who’d become her guardian.

Yet neither of them had realised the guilt she carried because she’d caused the deaths of her adored mum and dad. She’d been forbidden to go to that bonfire, but still she’d snuck out and gone. When her mother had realised and come to get her, her car had been T-boned by a drunk driver and she’d been killed instantly. And her beautiful, loving dad had yelled at her, blamed her, before having a fatal heart attack right in front of her. She’d killed both her parents in the space of two hours. That’s when she’d made her life pact; she’d never be in a relationship, nor marry; she didn’t deserve it. She could never allow herself to experience anything like the love her parents had had for each other. Ethan was the only man who’d ever made her forget she didn’t deserve anyone to look at her the way he had, make her feel the way she had, that long-ago afternoon.

‘You have no idea?’

Ethan’s question threw her back to the present and she wordlessly shook her head.

‘Les Peachey, Ruby’s solicitor gave me a letter this afternoon.’ He ran a hand through his hair, the movement pulling his shirt across his chest, defining the width of it.

Ivy curled her fingers pressing them into her crystal glass instead of giving in to the urge to run them all over that hard muscle.

‘Ruby wrote it seven and a half years ago, after she updated her Will. Her final Will.’ Ethan’s shock was unmistakable as he paused and fixed her with a penetrating stare, like he was trying to figure her out and found her wanting.

A sense of foreboding slithered down her spine.

His jaw tightened. ‘She’s left WillowGlen to both of us.’

Chapter Two

‘WHAT?’ IVY SHOUTED. Surely, she was hallucinating?

‘You had no idea? Ruby never mentioned anything about this to you?’ Ethan’s gaze drilled her to the spot.

She shook her head. ‘She’s left this.’ She waved a hand around the room. ‘To both of us? Are you sure?’

‘Yes!’

‘But that doesn’t make any sense. Why would she do that?’ She could have never predicted this. Without giving him time to respond, she rushed on. ‘I’ll sign it over to you. I don’t want WillowGlen. It’s yours. You’re her family, her blood relation. It’s your birthright, not mine.’

He scowled. ‘She never worried about that, nor do I. And to be clear, I never anticipated WillowGlen would be left to me, in any capacity. Ruby always said she’d leave it to an historical association.’

‘That doesn’t change the fact it doesn’t belong to me.’ She pressed a hand against her pounding heart. ‘I can’t, won’t, accept any share. It belongs in her family. With you.’

‘That’s not the way it works. Ruby left a letter for you. It’s with Peachey. He’ll give it to you before he reads the Will.’

‘Do you know what’s in it? The letter?’

‘I’m not sure if it’s exactly the same as mine, which was addressed to both of us. But Peachey was instructed to give you one separately and not to read the one I got until you’ve read your own. The one I received makes a special request.’

For one crazy moment she was almost too scared to ask. Instead, she squared her shoulders. ‘Being?’

He hesitated and shifted on the chair.

‘That she wants the two of us to stay here together, to decide on the future of WillowGlen.’

‘Us. Together?’ No amount of acting could withhold her surprise.

‘Yes, for six weeks.’

Ivy gasped. It was the only way to describe the completely foreign sound that escaped.

‘Six weeks? What? Why?’ Shock made her words high. Fast. She sucked in a breath, mentally counted to ten and slowed down. ‘I understand you making the decision about WillowGlen. You transform old buildings into stunning, sustainable hotels.’ She jammed her mouth closed. He didn’t need to know how avidly she followed his career designing and building boutique hotels that won countless accolades. He’d save properties on the edge of demise, restore them into environmentally friendly spaces of luxurious delight while engaging local communities in the building and running of them. Not that she’d stayed at any, but she’d read the articles, seen the pictures. Many of her peers favoured them, and the waiting lists were extensive. ‘But this. I don’t understand.’ She shook her head, trying to make sense of it all. ‘You didn’t know about it? Before now?’

‘I. Did. Not.’