The Mistress of Black Grove Manor (24 page)

Somehow, it seemed Ms. Milestone was more taken to Dillan than she did him. Perhaps Dillan should marry her instead. The silly thoughts that flowed through his mind, only served to make him feel worse.

He turned his head toward the stairs just in time to see his father descending.

“Good morning,” Mr. Rivers greeted them, with his usual warm smile. Dillan and Harriet offered an even response, but Alex was fighting to not glare at him.

“Dad, we need to talk,” he said.

“We do?” Alexander asked. “May I have my coffee first?” He took a seat beside Harriet and smiled at her. She returned the smile, lighting up the room again. Alex had to admit, the girl’s beauty was ridiculously captivating. He had to fight with every cell within him to not be enraptured.

Dillan took his seat as well, leaving Alex standing by himself.

“Will you join us for breakfast, son?” Alex held his peace and went to the bathroom to wash up before joining them. When he walked back into the room, he could hear Harriet’s infectious laughter. For that single moment, he thought he knew that laugh, but he wasn’t very sure.

He watched her head tip backward as she giggled at something his father said, and he couldn’t help but notice how familiar she suddenly looked.

Alex slid into his seat, barely taking his eyes off of her. Though she came off as such a confident woman, she seemed to go shy every time he looked at her.

Why did she seem so familiar all of a sudden? Yes, his father shared the story about them being playmate when they were younger, but it hardly meant anything to him. Quite frankly, he didn’t remember her.

Until now.

She was young, and she used to laugh a lot. That was all he could remember. The laugh.

“Mr. Rivers, do you have a library here?” Harriet asked. Alex looked at his father with widened eyes, and the man looked back at him.

“Yes, we do,” he answered. “It’s not in use at the moment nonetheless.”

“Really? What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing, really,” he replied. He cleared his throat before continuing. “It’s just not in use at this time.”

“If you need it straightened up, I can…”

“No!” Alex blurted without thinking. “I’m sorry, but the library is off limits.” Harriet locked eyes with him, and he could see the hurt, coupled with confusion, in her eyes.

“Okay,” she choked. An awkward silence fell among them, and it was suffocating. It had been a long time since Alex had felt this bad. He’d shot her down so swiftly without giving her a chance. And yet, he couldn’t help it. He could not allow her into that library.

“You like books, Harriet?” Dillan asked, cutting into the silence.

“I do,” she replied. “I’ve read almost every novel in existence. Most of the time, I have to read to my best friend, Francine. She says she prefers listening to my voice, instead of reading the book herself. I think she’s just lazy.” They erupted into laughter, thereby lightening the air around them. Even Alex found himself smiling.

“Reminds me of those wonderful times when Aunt Verna used to read to Alex and I,” Dillan said. “She had the most beautiful voice.”

“She did,” Mr. Rivers agreed.

Alex swallowed hard. He did not like any conversation that surrounded his mother. He didn’t even know why Dillan brought her up in the first place.

“She must have been a wonderful person,” Harriet said.

“She was the best,” Dillan replied. “She was like a…” His words were cut off when Alex stood to his feet suddenly. Alex avoided the eyes that were glued to him and brought his dish into the kitchen. He threw more than half of his breakfast in the garbage, before heading to the front door. Alex was almost sure his father would call him.

“Alexander?”

He stopped in his tracks immediately and swallowed hard. The voice was so reprimanding, like his mother’s would sound when he was being rude. Slowly, he turned to face Harriet, who was now standing with her arms folded across her chest.

“Yes, Ms. Milestone?” he replied as confidently as he could.

“Do you have a problem with me?” she asked. “I really need to know because it’s quite obvious that my presence irritates you, and to be honest, I don’t like to be in people’s way. If you think that I’m in no way suited to be your partner, I suggest you say it here and now, and I will pack my things and go.”

She arched her brows at him as she ended her statement. Alex could not believe she just said all those words. He didn’t know if he was to be angry with her, or applaud her for what she just said. It took him a while to find his voice, but she waited for him nonetheless.

“Um, I’m sorry if you think I have a problem with you, Ms. Milestone,” he responded. Alex considered that perhaps this was the best time to do damage control. After all, Harriet seemed like a tough girl who could handle the truth.

He turned his whole body to face the table and continued. “The only person in this room who I’m upset with is my father, because he’s practically deceived us both.”

Harriet’s arms and face fell, and she turned her eyes to her right. “What is that supposed to mean, Mr. Rivers?” she asked.

“Harriet, relax and sit down,” he replied. “My son is just overreacting over a simple misunderstanding.”

“A simple misunderstanding?” Alex growled. “You went all the way to Baltimore to get me a wife, told her that I want to marry her, when I didn’t even know about this in the first place! I’m sorry, Harriet, but I only knew about you when you arrived yesterday.”

Alex took a long breath, relieved that the truth was finally out there.

“Harriet, it’s not like that,” Mr. Rivers said, reaching out to take her hand. Harriet stepped out of his reach and smiled coldly.

“Well, at least someone in this house has the guts to be honest with me,” she said. Alex eyed her with a frown.

“What does that mean?” he asked. “Did you know the truth all this time?”

“I’m not a stupid girl, Alex,” she snapped. “I knew something was off the minute I set foot in this house. But don’t you worry, you’re not obligated to marry me. It was your father and my late uncle who tried to set us up.”

“Harriet, let’s talk about this,” Mr. Rivers said, jumping to his feet.

“Talk about what?” she asked. “You deceived me, and brought me hundreds of miles away from my home, and for what? To be embarrassed like this?”

Alex felt a pang of guilt from those words. Had he embarrassed her? That really wasn’t his intention.

“This was your uncle’s wish, Harriet,” Mr. Rivers replied. “He wanted you to have a happy life.”

“My uncle is dead!” she screamed. Alex could finally see tears in her eyes, but she fought to keep them from falling. A fight he knew she would lose any minute now.

For the first time, he began to see Harriet as a hurting woman, who was still mourning over the death of her uncle, just like he was mourning over the death of his mother. He watched her arguing with his father, and found himself trying to think of some way he could help her.

Then the thought came.

The library.

Harriet said she loved books. Maybe the library would cheer her up. But then, the thought of bringing anyone in his mother’s library was irritating. He didn’t even allow his father to go in there.

Bad idea, Alex.

As soon as he was ready to bring his attention back to the argument that ensued, Harriet stormed up the stairs, leaving Mr. Rivers calling after her to no avail.

Surely, Harriet was going to pack her bags and leave this instant. What was he supposed to do now?

Think, Alex, think!

Chapter Seven

Harriet threw the last piece of her clothes in her luggage before drying her face for the millionth time. Why did she believe for a minute that something good would have come out of this? She’d been tricked. Even when she saw the signs, she refused to believe that it was true.

Alexander Rivers Sr. was no better than Douglas McIntosh. Both were scheming old men who thought only about themselves.

But how would her being married to his so benefit him?

Suddenly, that thought didn’t make sense. If she were to think of it logically, she would have gotten all his riches at the end of the day. To be married to his son, meant that she would get everything that came with the young man.

The annoying thought came that Mr. Rivers really was looking out for her best interest. She did her best to trample the thought though, because she didn’t want her anger to subside. It was the only thing that could give her the energy to walk out of this house and return to Baltimore.

She wouldn’t have any home to go back to. She already made up her mind that she would stay with Francine’s family, until she got a job. That was if they said yes to keeping her. If that didn’t work out, there was Mrs. Fray, the old lady who’d offered to help.

Oh Harriet, look what you’ve come to.

She shook her head and grabbed one of the luggage. She dragged it to the door as she calculated how she would bring down all five. Her thoughts came to a halt when she opened the door and saw the tall, slender young man standing there. His eyes emitted gentleness, and some amount of pity. Harriet hated to be pitied.

“Are you checking to see if I’m done packing my things?” she snapped. A slow smile spread across Alex’s lips.

“I want to show you something,” he said. Her brows lifted in surprise.

“You want to show me something?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“I’m guessing it’s a carriage that will take me to the train station?”

“Don’t be silly,” he answered. “Come on.” Alex took hold of her hand, much to her surprise, and pulled her out of the room. For a minute there, she wanted to scream at him, and demand that he let her go, but the feel of his hand was captivating. She didn’t want him to let her go.

Alex took her downstairs, and then down one of the hallways that she’d never been down before. When he reached the door he was searching for, he stopped. He let go of her hand to go into his pocket, leaving her cold without his touch.

When did she become so attracted to this boy?

Alex came up with a key and lifted it between them with a smile on his face. “Tada,” he said. Harriet bit her lower lip to control the smile that was about to invade her face.

Alex unlocked the door and pushed it open. “Welcome to Verna Rivers’ library,” he announced. He ushered her inside.

“Goodness,” she breathed through her lips as she looked around. The library was three times as big as the one her uncle had set up back home for her, and there were hundreds of books. It was clear that Verna Rivers was a lover of books, just like her.

“My mother spent a lot of time in this room when she was alive,” Alex said. “She used to force Dillan and I to read, but we hated it. Soon, she had to resolve to reading to us all the time. Like Dillan said, she was the best.”

Harriet listened keenly, as she rolled her delicate fingers over the books neatly stacked on the shelves. The more Alex spoke, the more she was confused.

“Why are you doing all this?” she asked, finally.

“Well, because…” She could hear his deep sigh. “Harriet, I’m sorry for the way I spoke earlier.”

“There’s no need to apologize,” she replied. “You were very clear and honest with me, unlike your father. He’s the one who should be apologizing. Not that I would accept anyway.”

“But I do need to apologize,” he refuted. “I embarrassed you in front of everyone, instead of talking to you privately about this. It was so immature and stupid.”

“Okay,” she whispered. She had no idea what else to say. She tried to ignore it, but she was angry with him as well.

“And about my dad,” Alex continued. “I know it might seem like he’s a bad person, but he really isn’t. He just loves to play hero and save everybody, even when they don’t wish to be saved. I was so mad at him when I found out that he brought me a wife without my permission, but when I thought about it, I realized, he was just trying to help me get over all this hurt from my mother’s death.”

Those words brought so much clarity to her. “I see,” she said. “So, are you still mad at him?”

“You mean about him bringing me a smart, beautiful woman to wife?” he asked, smirking. Harriet stared at her shoes when she felt her cheeks reddening. Instantly, she remembered Francine. She was always annoyed with Francine staring at the boots whenever men complimented her, but here she was, doing the same thing.

Harriet gasped when she felt Alex’s fingers lifting her chin. “Harriet, please don’t leave,” he whispered. “I know that things started out badly, but I’m hoping that somehow, we can try to work things out.”

“But…but you don’t want me,” she stuttered.

“Not so, Harriet,” he answered. “I do want you. I didn’t want to admit that, simply because my dad was the one who did all the work for me. Stupid, right?”

Harriet chuckled. “No, not stupid. I’d react the same way.”

“No,” he said. “I think you’d react way worse.” This time, she erupted into loud giggles. “Ah, that laugh. It’s so familiar.” She stopped laughing and frowned at him.