In Love with a Stranger (20 page)

I think we all were shocked, when Emmaline rushed into the room. She looked panicked and worried. “William, you must listen to me. He wasn’t involved in the fire. I don’t think it’s safe for you to go back to the states. Please, at least listen to me and stay in England until the arsonist is found.”

“You need to leave.”

“I know he went about it the wrong way, but your father was just trying to look out for you...”

“I don’t want her to be my grandma, Daddy!” Penelope cried and hid her face in William’s shirt. William glared over at his mother. She looked devastated.

Camille stepped forward, taking Emmaline’s arm and gently pulled her out of the room.

Penelope snuggled deeper into William’s chest.

“I’m sorry, Poppet. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Are we moving to England, Mommy?” she asked.

“I don’t know, honey, that’s something me and daddy need to talk about.”

William looked at me confused. I was sure he didn’t expect me to ever consider staying in England.

The stress had worn Penelope out, and she fell asleep, taking a late nap. I knew I’d regret letting her sleep later, but I needed to talk to William alone.

We left Lisa and Ophelia to look after her and went to our room.

“We’re not moving to England,” were the first words out of William’s mouth.

I just nodded in agreement, realizing he wouldn’t budge on the topic. “Fine, but we need to see what your father’s found out about the fire. Emmaline said he was investigating it.”

“I’m still not fully convinced he wasn’t behind it. It’d make absolute sense for him to burn it down. It’d put you in a precarious financial situation, making it more likely for you to accept another bribe.”

I hadn’t thought of that, but it was a good point. There was only one little flaw in his theory. “He never approached me with another bribe, William. He never once sent his minions to make an offer, either.”

“Hannah,” he sighed.

“We should at least look at what he has. It won’t hurt anything. Emmaline seems pretty adamant about keeping Penelope safe. I don’t think she’d let anything happen to her. I’m sure if we asked her for the files, she’d get them for us.”

“I don’t want to have anything to do with my mother.”

I got why he wanted to cut them out, but he needed to put his daughter first. If there was someone trying to hurt us, we needed to put our differences aside and catch them. “I’ll talk to her.”

“No, you won’t.”

“William, you may be pissed and not thinking clearly, but I’m not taking the risk of not knowing something, when your father may have had the clue all along. Your pride isn’t stopping me from keeping our daughter safe.”

“You can’t trust anything…”

“I know, but that still doesn’t mean there isn’t some sort of clue in his file. We need it.”

His jaw was back to flexing. I flopped back on the bed, frustrated. I covered my face. “Your family is messed up, but they love you in their own twisted way. Your mother’s offered her help, and I’m taking it.” I heard him growl, and I peeked at him from behind my hands. His hands were clenched into tight fists.  “Please don’t fight me on this,” I begged.

“You don’t know my parents like I do.”

“No, I don’t.”

“My mother is just trying to manipulate you, Hannah. She wants to be around Penelope. She wants to groom her for her role in the peerage, and I’ll have no part of that!” William had never shouted at me before.

I went to the bathroom to gather myself. The tub was big and inviting, so I started to fill it. After a few moments, William came in. He didn’t look angry anymore, just frustrated. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to him. It wasn’t alright. I didn’t want him to yell at me every time he lost his temper. I started to undress, and he came up behind me, cupping my breasts.

“Please don’t yell at me again,” I whispered.

He hid his face in my neck and wrapped his arms around me tightly. “I’m sorry I got so upset. None of this is your fault.” He helped me out of my pants and into the tub. “Can I join you?”

He looked repentant.

“You can disagree with me, and not be happy about me talking with your mother, but I’m still going to do it.” I slid down into the tub. “If you can handle that, you can come in.” My heart clenched, worried he’d walk out. “Please,” I begged.

He squeezed my hand, before he let it go to undress. When he finally climbed in behind me, I snuggled up to him. “I’m sorry this is so hard on you. I promise to be careful. I just need to be sure, William. If anything happened…” I didn’t even want to think about it.

“Just be careful, and don’t speak to anyone but her. If she wants you to speak to someone else, I want to be present for it.”

I leaned up, kissing his lips. “Thank you.”

He deepened the kiss and turned me to straddle his lap. It didn’t take long for us to get back to trying for another baby. I wondered if we should put it off until the mess was settled, but judging by William’s actions, he didn’t think it’d be necessary. There was a good chance I was already pregnant, anyways. We’d know for sure by the end of the week.

I lay spent on his chest, and he kissed my shoulder. “Just promise you’ll be careful.”

That was one thing we could agree on.

“I plan on it.”

Chapter 24 – Guarding the Castle

WILLIAM

I didn’t like that we needed to work with my mother, but Hannah was right. If they could offer us any information on the arsonist, we’d take it. I still wasn’t completely convinced that my father wasn’t involved. I really didn’t want to move back to England, but Hannah had made the point that we needed a place to stay for the moment. We were on our honeymoon, though, and I wanted to focus on that. I’d worry about my father’s conviction and the fire later.

It was a little difficult to get used to the extended days. The twenty hours of sunlight made it hard to keep track of the time of day. It did make for easy sightseeing, however. I had no idea how much history was in just this little corner of the world. There was so much to see, the Tombs, Skara Brae, Corrigall farm museum, the Earl’s palace, the ancient stone circles, the fossil and heritage center, and the Skaill house. Hannah had marked off so many places to visit, it seemed like we wouldn’t have time to see them all. We were definitely going to have to come here again next summer to squeeze in some more sights and Viking history. I’d be packing a night mask, though.

On our last day in Scotland, the fire marshal back in the states called to let us know they’d been able to make out a silhouette from a security camera across the street. It was a woman about five feet seven inches tall, medium build with puffy hair. The news left us all stumped. Hannah had no idea who it could’ve been. I wondered if my father’s files would give a clue.

“You don’t think it was just some random crime, do you?” she asked me.

“No, it wouldn’t make sense. Your building is in the middle of the block, they’d most likely go for a corner shop if they were just vandalizing things.”

“Maybe your father will have a lead for us to follow.”

My father was the lead I planned to follow.

We flew into London the next morning. I hired a car to take us to my flat, so we could rest a bit, before we went to my parents’ home.

“Who lives here?” Penelope asked, curiously looking around. My place was very contemporary and sterile. I’d bought it with no intention of ever having a family.

“We do, for the time being. It’s daddy’s place,” Hannah answered her.

“Where’s my room?” she asked immediately, and I knew that was going to be a problem. I had a study and a music room, but I didn’t have a guest bedroom.

“We have to make yours, Poppet. Remember, you were a surprise for me? I haven’t left you since I met you, so I didn’t have time to come home and make you a room.”

She looked like she was thinking about it, but then walked off down the hallway where the bedrooms were. She announced, “I want this one!” from the study, and I went up to her new room to see what we’d need to move. I was pretty sure I could consolidate my study into my music room. Everything would be easy to move, except for the safe. “Do you mind if we leave that in your room, Poppet? It’s really heavy.”

She walked over to it, looked it up and down, then sat on the floor next to it and leaned back on it. “Okay, it works for me. I’ll keep it.”

She made me chuckle, and I scooped her up in my arms for a tickle attack.

“Do we move the shelves?” Hannah asked.

“No! That’s why I picked the room. It feels like home.” I could see Hannah’s heart break a little.

“Alright, I’ll leave the shelves, but I’ll need my books. How about I take them with me, and you and your mum can get some new ones just for you to put in their place?” Thankfully, she happily agreed.

I called out to have some bedroom furniture delivered for Penelope and got to work moving my desk and filing cabinets.  Hannah insisted she help me, but I didn’t want her lifting anything too heavy. She hadn’t said anything, but I knew for a fact she was two days late. It was very possible she hadn’t said anything, because she’d lost track of time while we’d been in Scotland. The days there were very difficult to follow.

I’d finally had it, when she reached for the filing cabinet once more, attempting to scoot it. “Hannah, stop it right now!” My raised voice echoed off the walls, shocking both my girls. I took a deep breath, trying to settle myself down. I looked at her, silently pleading for her to understand. “You’re late, beautiful, two days. Please, just let me handle this and take it easy.”

Her eyes watered, and my heart broke. I quickly pulled her into my arms, squeezing her tightly. “I love you, sweetheart. Please, take it easy for me.”

She nodded yes, wiping her tears, and I kissed her lightly before releasing her. Penelope was still upset, though, not liking that I’d made her mother cry. She glared at me and went to her mother’s side. “Don’t you yell at my mom,” she ordered me sternly. I was in fear for my shins.

Hannah calmed her. “Oh, Penny, it wasn’t daddy’s fault. He was just reminding me that I shouldn’t try and move such heavy things. He doesn’t want me to hurt myself. Let’s leave him to this, while we go find something to eat.”

Thankfully, my daughter was easily distracted and didn’t seem to hold a grudge against me for yelling at her mother. Hannah didn’t deny she was pregnant, but she didn’t confirm it, either. We’d have to talk about it more extensively once Penelope was in bed. As I shifted the furniture around, I made a mental note at how little space was actually in our flat. We’d have to get a new place to live. The problem was, I didn’t know where to buy it.

The squeal of my daughter announced the arrival of her furniture. The delivery men set it up in her room, and I tipped them well, glad that was one more thing I didn’t have to try and move around.

After a light lunch, the day of traveling got the better of us all, and we retired to our rooms to take naps. I curled up around Hannah, holding her to me. My hand moved down and covered her tummy in silent question.

“I haven’t taken a test. We were so busy packing up and…”

“It’s fine, beautiful. We can pick up a test for you to take tonight.”

She rolled in my arms and pinned me to the bed. “So…are you happy?”

I pulled her down against me, kissing her deeply. “More than happy.”

“And if I’m not? It could be stress.”

I shrugged. I really didn’t want it to be stress. “I guess we’ll just have to keep trying.” I tugged on her shirt, and she quickly got the hint. I thoroughly wore her out, and we both fell into a deep sleep.

“Mommy?” I heard Penelope say from the doorway. I tugged the sheet up higher on Hannah and made sure I was covered.

“Hey, Poppet, mummy is still sleeping. Did you need something?”

“I’m hungry, and I don’t like being out here alone.”

“Okay, sweetie, give me a minute, and I’ll be out to get you some food.”

She reluctantly closed the door, and I wondered if I had anything for her to eat. I threw on some clothes and kissed Hannah’s naked shoulder, and then I regretted it. Her skin was so soft, and so I kissed it again, moving closer to her. Next thing I knew, her arm was around me, pulling my face toward her lips and then her chest. I was about to get undressed again, when I heard the door open.

“Daddy?”

“Yeah, Poppet, I’m coming. I was just getting mummy up. I’m sure she’s hungry, too.” I leaned down and kissed her cheek, before I climbed off the bed.

Hannah laughed and threw a pillow at me. I picked it up and tossed it back on the bed, smiling at the sight of her, my wife, my beautiful Hannah, in my bed that I’d felt so lonely in. I picked up my daughter and squeezed her tight. “I’m so happy I have you here.”

“I’m happy, too, but I need food,” Penelope stated plainly, causing me to laugh. 

It turned out that other than a tin of fish and a bag of stale crisps, I didn’t really have any food. Hannah had ordered out for our lunch, and it looked like that’d have to be the case for dinner and most likely breakfast, since we hadn’t really had time to shop for food.

My phone rang, showing my mother’s ID. I almost hit ignore, but Hannah saw it as well and waited for me to answer.

“William, have you settled in yet?” my mother asked.

“Yes, we were about to go out to dinner.”

“Lovely, come home, and I’ll have dinner made. See you soon.”

She hung up before I could say anything in return.

“Well?” Hannah asked.

“She invited us for dinner.”

“Are you okay with going?” she asked me, ever the sweet woman.

“Yeah, I think so. My father’s not going to be there, so…”

“Where are we going to dinner?” Penelope asked.

“My mother’s home.”

“You’ll get to see where daddy grew up,” Hannah tried to get her excited, but I didn’t think it was working.

When we pulled up in front of my childhood home, I laughed at Hannah’s expression. She was sincerely disappointed. “I thought it’d be bigger and at least a little castle-y.”

“Nope, I told you I grew up in a normal house.”

“I can see why you’d want to give up your viscount title, your castle is ridiculous,” she taunted, and I pinched her behind, making her jump.

I looked behind us to make sure Penelope was following us, but she was dragging her feet. I swooped her up in my arms and decided it’d be best to carry her in. Hopefully, she’d be alright the rest of the evening.

“William!” Ms. Maggie cried excitedly. She’d been my nanny and then took up doing the housekeeping. She pulled me into a tight hug, squishing my daughter between us. She stepped back and straightened the little uniform hat on her head. “What a pretty little thing you’ve got here. Your mother told me you’d run off and got married, but she’s a bit young for ya, don’t you think?” she teased and kissed Penelope’s hand.

“This is my daughter, Penelope, and my wife, Hannah. This, ladies, is Ms. Maggie. She was my nanny and my best friend.” I hugged her again.

“Oh, go on, you,” Ms. Maggie waved me off.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Maggie. William is a wonderful father. I guess I have you to thank for that.”

Ms. Maggie hugged Hannah and kissed her cheek. “She’s a sweet one, Will, how did you trick her into marrying you?”

“I charmed our daughter with candy, and she followed,” I laughed.

“He had a sweet tooth that nearly rotted out his whole head. I had to check pockets, hats, socks, pillows, bookcases…any place you can think of, I’ve pull candy out of it. He was a rowdy little thing, but the girl next door was sweet on him, so she’d give him every stitch of candy she could find. Poor thing had her heart broke, when he turned eight and decided girls had horrible cooties. She was infected so badly, even her candy carried the disease,” Ms. Maggie exaggerated, and the girls erupted into a fit of giggles.

“Well, Penelope definitely takes after William in that respect. She’s always trying to con candy out of someone.”

I backed up Hannah’s statement by flashing my lollipop stash in my coat. “Just in case of emergencies,” I noted.

“You’re such a terrible influence. You’re lucky you’re good looking, or I have a feeling she’d have wised up by now,” Maggie teased, pointing to Hannah.

“What’s all this giggling? Maggie, I asked you to let me know as soon as William and his family arrived,” my mother lightly scolded.

“That was my fault, Mother. I haven’t seen Ms. Maggie for a while and wanted to catch up.”

“We have more important things to do. Pass Penelope off to Maggie and come with me,” she said dismissively, not endearing her to anyone.

Maggie looked from Penelope to my mother and then back to me. “Would you like to come with me, little one?”

“I’m hungry,” Penelope grumbled.

“Oh, I have the cure for that in the kitchen. Do you want to come give me a hand, while the grownups fuss about silly stuff?”

Penelope looked at me worriedly. “You’re not going to forget me here, are you?”

“Never, and Ms. Maggie knows where I live, too. She’s like a real mummy to me,” I whispered in her ear. “You’ll like her.”

“She’s probably way better than your other mommy, huh?”

I kissed her little head. “Not all of us can be as lucky as you, Poppet.”

“William!” my mother called from down the hall.

I set Penelope down to go with Maggie. She happily took her hand, and I knew she’d be taken care of. I knew for a fact Maggie was loyal to me, not my parents. I’d made many quick escapes and avoided several bad setups with her help.

My mother waved us into my father’s study. “All the way in, now.”  She pushed me aside and locked the doors. I thought she was being a little paranoid. I didn’t realize it was required. She moved to his desk, unlocked a drawer, punched in a code, and there was another clink at the study doors going out. What was once just fancy décor on the doorframe became a barrier, making it impossible to open the door.

“Quickly now, we haven’t much time,” my mother said, rushing across the room. I thought she was headed for the bookcase, but it was a large picture she moved, opening a passage to a hidden room.

“Okay, I forgive the house not being a castle,” Hannah blurted out, stunned, causing me to laugh.

My mother wasn’t happy, but let it slide. There were cabinets of files and computers that most likely were full of horrible things. There were feeds being recorded from at least a dozen cameras set up throughout town. I was sure the whole operation was illegal.