Page 44 of Hello Goodbye Amore

“I’m getting to the good part. See, Harrison married soon after that, and they supposedly settled down into wedded bliss.

But it seemed Harrison had bigger problems. His plumbing wasn’t completely functional, and he could never have children.

” She snickered. “Served the old jackass right, and it’s a blessing for the human race.

At least his bastardness won’t be passed on to anyone else.

” There was no mistaking her sense of glee at the turn of events.

“Mum!” He had never heard such vehemence from his mother.

“He had the audacity to approach me about returning to the family after your father died—if I let him groom you to take over for him. I told him to stuff it. You had your own life and didn’t need the mess that he wanted to heap on you.

” She sighed. “But he did it anyway. If he weren’t dead, I’d wring his neck. ”

“When was that?”

“About five years ago. He was in one of those regretful phases, but I knew it was a load of garden fertilizer. He never did anything without getting something for himself. And your father had just died, and I thought he was trying to take you from me and….” Her lower lip quivered, and Robert stood to gently place his hands on her shoulders.

His mother was many things, but touchy-feely wasn’t one of them.

She placed a hand on his, and Robert gave her a chance to compose herself.

“Why didn’t you tell me any of this before?”

“Because I didn’t want you to have anything to do with him.

Harrison was an awful man, and we had a good life here.

Your father was an amazing provider. He worked hard and made his furniture to help ensure we had some of the extras.

” She squeezed his hand once, then dropped hers and looked up at him. “I wasn’t—”

“It’s okay, Mum.” Robert waited for her to take a breath. “I wish you had told me, but you’re right. We had a good life, and if your brother was as big a jackass as you describe, then we were better off without him.”

“But now you’re the Earl of Hantford.”

“It seems so.”

“And everything that goes with it.” She turned back to her tea. “I tried to keep you from all that. I really did.”

He wasn’t sure what his mother was referring to, but it only added to his sense of nervousness. “I’m meeting the solicitor tomorrow, and we’re going to the estate. Do you want to come with me?” It would be really nice not to go alone. “I’ll understand if you’d rather not.”

“Where are you meeting him?”

“At my office at one.”

“Then I’ll go with you. We can meet for lunch, and I’ll tell you what I know about what you’ll be walking into. Granted, my information is a little out-of-date.” She motioned for him to sit, and Robert complied and finished his tea. “This is a burden I had hoped to try to spare you.”

“Mum, I’m an earl and I have a peerage…. It’s—”

“A burden unlike anything I think you understand.” She sighed.

“All I wanted for you was a life filled with happiness and the ability to make your own decisions and live your life the way you wanted. Harrison never understood that. He always thought his way of thinking was the only way and that everyone wanted the same things he did. Now he’s pulled you into the mess I’m sure he created. ”

“We don’t know the state of things.”

“No, we don’t. But we’re going to find out.” She poured another cup of tea, stood, and opened a nearby cupboard. She pulled out a bottle of whiskey and dumped a healthy dollop into her tea.

Things must have been bad. There had been only one other time that he’d seen his mother do that, and it had been the morning of his father’s funeral. She had said that she needed some false courage to get through that day, and it seemed she required another dose.

“I’ll see you for lunch, though I suspect I’m not going to have much of an appetite.”

“I doubt things are as bad as all that.” Robert stood and kissed her on the cheek before leaving the cottage. He stopped in the garden on the way out, admiring some of her flowers in the late evening light, and then walked to his car.

ROBERT FELT as though he had been through a meat grinder.

He hadn’t slept all night and had gone into the office early so he could get as much done as possible.

He’d worked with Blake to rearrange his schedule so he could have the afternoon out of the office.

Of course, with his mother in the car, he wasn’t able to make calls the way he normally would.

The estate was nearly an hour west from Smithford, and he followed William’s black hearselike car. His mother had been surprisingly quiet for much of the trip until they turned a corner and the top of a turret broke the skyline.

“That’s it.”

“When was the last time you were here?”

“Just before I married your father, so over forty years ago.” She gasped when Robert made the turn and the estate came into view.

William pulled to the side of the road, and Robert followed. He parked, got out of the car, and walked up to William. His mother decided she wanted to stay where she was.

“That’s Ashton Park.” William waved his hands in all directions.

“How much land is there with the place?” Robert asked.

“A lot. It’s the one true asset of the earldom. There is plenty of land, and from what I can gather from my colleague’s notes, your uncle refused to sell any of it, no matter how difficult things got.”

“How badly is the place mortgaged?” Robert asked, afraid as hell of the answer. He expected it to be up to the rafters.

“That’s the thing. We can’t find any record of one anywhere.”

“What? You mean I own this pile free and clear?” How in the hell could that be possible? There had to be a catch, and in the back of his mind, Robert latched on to exactly what it could be. “The taxes. Forget I asked.”

“Yes, sir. They are going to be steep on the manor house and all the land. However, since your uncle managed to pay the inheritance duties from when he received the estate, you only have the ones to pay for this transfer of ownership.”

Like that was a comfort. Instantly upon his uncle’s death, Robert owed millions in death taxes on a place he hadn’t known existed, other than in some picture he might have seen on one of those documentaries they did on country houses and such.

“Well, we may as well see just how bad a state the old place is in.” He tried to think of what he was going to do with it. Selling was the first thing that came to mind—if that were even possible.

“Yes, my lord,” William said, and Robert stopped him.

“I’m Robert. Please call me that. I’m not going to stand on all the ceremony and crap, okay? I was Robert before you told me this news and I’m still Robert now.”

“Okay.” William smiled for the first time. “I’ll do whatever I can, Robert.”

Robert turned back to the estate and groaned. “Let’s go see what we’re dealing with.” He got back in the car and followed William through the old gate and up the weed-scattered drive, toward the front door. “This place is….” Robert didn’t quite know what to say.

“I grew up here,” his mother said. “This was my home for much of my younger years.”

Robert stopped, and they both got out, the gravel crunching under their feet. The facade of the building looked to be in fine shape. The stone was discolored but appeared intact.

“Is there anyone here?” Robert asked.

“Yes. There is a caretaker on the property. He lives in one of the other homes on the property and sees to it that the building itself remains in reasonable care. But little else seems to have been done in some time.” William produced a huge set of keys that looked like something to open a medieval jail.

He unlocked the front door and held it open for Robert and his mother.

Robert stepped inside and gasped. All the shutters had been drawn, and everything was covered in sheets and drapes that looked like dusty old ghosts as the breeze from outside fluttered into the hall.

Paintings, chandeliers—everything was draped and covered.

But even under the dust and sheets, the grandeur of the entry hall shone through.

“My God.”

“This used to be….” His mother came inside.

“I remember greeting guests as they arrived. Your grandparents were very social people and loved to entertain. It’s what this house was built for.

Harrison used to love his parties as well, but his took on a very different tone.

” She walked to the left and pushed open the door to a paneled living room with heavy molding, where a rug lay rolled up to one side.

More sheet ghosts and drapes covered everything, and the floor was so dusty, it was hard to see the wood.

Robert looked up and gasped at the frescoed ceiling. “At least that’s in one piece. How could anyone just leave all this to rot?” He moved into the living room and through to the next, which was a bookless library.

“What happened to everything? These shelves were full.” His mother sounded as though she were going to cry as she wiped her fingers through decades of dust on an empty shelf.

“Apparently they were moved to some sort of storage,” William said. “There was a bill for it in the estate records.”

Robert lifted his gaze once again and knew the reason for moving stuff to storage. The expansive coffered ceiling was pockmarked with yellow stains. He closed his eyes and groaned. “The roof is going. Some of those stains are recent.”

“I did me best, my lord.”

Robert turned to find a man in his fifties standing in the doorway, hat bunched in his hands. “Robert Morton.” He held out his hand, and the man who Robert assumed was the caretaker stepped forward nervously.

“Gene Parget, my lord. I noticed the room was leaking, so I went up and patched it best I could. I think I stopped the water coming in for now. But some damage was done, mainly in the bedroom above this one. But I don’t think I can patch it much more. It needs replacing.”

“What about the electrics?” Robert asked.