I stare at him, studying the man who’s been nothing but a fucking prick and a pain in the ass for the past few months. “I thought you weren’t his friend.”
“I wasn’t, but I can tell you that he was once a different person from the man you knew. It doesn’t help your situation. I realize you see me as the antagonist of his twisted testament. Sadly, I’m just the messenger and nothing more. In my opinion, you should’ve looked into this agreement before you signed it. You should’ve been more responsible for your future. Did you know William let your grandfather dictate his future?”
Taking a step back, I stare at him with wide eyes. I’m speechless. William was his own man, wasn’t he?
“Until he took charge of it, and then…” Parrish glances toward the cemetery gates and then looks down at the grave. “Well, then he was mad at the world and made a lot of bad choices. Here are my two cents, use your head and not your anger. Show Ms. Edelstein that you can be a gentleman and try your best on this trial, not because you want to fall for her, but because you are Henry Aldridge and you always put one hundred percent into everything you do.”
“What if she falls for me? She will fight this, and I will lose more than what I’ve lost already?”
“She’ll be a casualty unless you fall for her,” he replies.
“That’s unlikely to happen,” I respond because Sophia is the only woman for me. “Why are you being nice?”
“Years ago, Cyril Merkel made a deal with Griffin Aldridge. His daughter, Debra Merkel, would marry his son, William Aldridge. When the time came, William avoided those nuptials. The problem was, there wasn’t anything in writing to force him. Your grandfather learned a valuable lesson. The next time he’d have a legal, enforceable agreement. But Cyril didn’t fail. At least a part of the Aldridge estate might belong to his heir.”
“Wait, Cyril made a deal with my other grandfather?” So, he’s the one who fucked up, not my mother.
He shrugs. “Yes. It didn’t surprise me to learn from the late William that Cyril got your deal in writing. In my opinion, the fact that Griffin tried to force William to marry was what made him snap.”
“But I swear, you said you didn’t know him,” I insist.
“No. I implied that I wasn’t his friend at the time he died. Be your own person, Henry. You are more than what they wanted you to be.” He looks at me in a way I can’t decipher and says, “You remind me of the old William. Don’t let this break you.”
Henry
Hayes calls us all into a meeting at The Lodge where Pierce and I updated everyone. Sophia excused herself. Her friends are here though, ready to punch me or worse, have me killed.
“Do you have to live with her?” Hayes asks.
“Yes,” Pierce is the one who takes over. “It’s part of the trial. How can they know if they are compatible when they’ve never shared a space?”
“I wish we had an extra bedroom or a futon where she can stay,” I sigh.
Beacon grins. “We can switch the futon I have in my studio for one of the fancy sofas.”
“I love this kid,” Blaire says and then glares at me, “Unless you want her to stay in your bedroom.”
“Listen, it’s not about how to make her life miserable. She didn’t choose this either.” I try to reason with them because even though she’s planning on fighting me, the woman didn’t have a choice about her future. Just like me.
“I think Beacon’s idea is good, but a futon is for college kids. We could exchange it for a sofa-bed,” Hayes suggests.
“What are you talking about?” Beacon asks innocently.
Hayes glares at Beacon who says, “Fine. I’ll lend you my sofa-bed.”
“What else do you have in there, kid?” I ask, and he shrugs.
And where is it? Because I went to that studio, and I didn’t see a futon or a sofa-bed in there.
“If you want to be nice, you can let her sleep in your bed and you can take the couch,” Vance suggests.
“She’s not going to sleep in my woman’s bed. Sorry, that’s my hard limit.”
“What’s going to happen with Sophia?” Vance asks.
“She’s still the CEO of Aldry’s Sweets and works for me. Our relationship is on hold because there’s a prenup agreement in place during these three months.”
“Wow, and I thought William was an asshole,” Mills says. “Your grandfather was worse than him. So, how is this going to work, because I’m not going to act as her servant.”
“None of us are going to be serving her,” Leyla says in a firm tone. “If she’s planning on staying with us, she’s going to have to do her part in the house.”
“I mean, if the fucking chickens have to provide eggs, she has to at least feed them,” I claim.
Hayes laughs and Pierce says, “Not just any eggs, organic eggs. She better be as compliant as my girls.”
“I don’t want her close to the kids,” Leyla protests.
“Didn’t you hear these men, Lei?” Blaire gives her an annoyed look. “She has to do her part. It’s such a shame you don’t have cows. It’d be fun to watch her milk them. But she can walk Ally every other evening. Poppy is too nice to do anything bad. How about your stallion?”
“She’d never be able to control Ally,” Leyla says appalled and looks at Pierce horrified.
“Exactly,” Blaire says, as if it makes sense and is part of her perfect evil plan.
Ally, the alpaca, is moody as fuck and only listens to Pierce and sometimes to Leyla, but not often.
“I don’t want my girl near that woman,” Pierce is the one who protests this time. “Listen, I get that you want to kick her out of this town, but let’s not cause any emotional damage to my children. She can feed them and clean the barn. I think that’s plenty, don’t you?”
While they are thinking of ways to make Martina’s life miserable, I’m searching for a marriage counselor online. Why in the world I need someone to help me with a relationship I’m not interested in pursuing is beyond me. We might need to hire someone who does consults via videoconference. I tune out their noise. It’s good to know they support me, but I have a lot more important things to worry about.
The noise is interrupted by a long silence after someone knocks on the door. My pulse accelerates, as I hope it’s Sophia. Sadly, when Vance opens it, the person behind is Jerome Parrish.
“Why is he here?” Blaire asks, staring at him.
“He’s Martina’s lawyer too,” I announce.
“Isn’t there some conflict of interest involved in this situation?” Hayes asks.
Pierce shakes his head. “We called him to get a few things straight. He’s the executor of William’s will. His involvement with Martina Edelstein is a separate issue. As long as one doesn’t affect the second one, we don’t have a problem with it.”
“It might be convenient that I’m involved in both so I can explain to Ms. Edelstein her role during this trial,” Mr. Parrish conveys.
“Well, we emailed you a copy of Henry’s proposal to initiate the three-month trial. It was signed by Ms. Edelstein. Mr. Everhart and Blaire Wilson signed as witnesses. They agreed to start it today. That said, I want you to be aware that this isn’t considered a serious relationship. Meaning Ms. Edelstein can leave the town freely for any period of time—and it won’t affect the stipulations my father placed. However, if she decides to leave the town for more than one night, she'd be in violation of the stipulations set for this three-month trial and forfeit the agreement.”