Chapter 29
ALEX
“Are you ready?” he asked, glancing over at Ruby’s outfit. She was wearing a semi formal classy dress today. Looking like an executive of some sort- exactly like a Blackwood should. “You look perfect,” he said to her as she came to stand in front of
him.
She smiled at him, but the way she kept touching her dress was evidence of just how nervous she was. She followed him outside to the Aston Martin, her brows rising in question. “Didn’t you say we were going to see your grandfather?” she asked. looking around. “I thought all the Blackwoods lived on the same estate? Well, except your father…”
He smiled and opened the door for her. “We do, but the estate is massive. This is just our mansion, our grandfather lives down the street.” he explained, tipping his head towards the house looking imposing as it stood.
“Wait, you own this estate?” she asked him, wide eyed. “I didn’t know that.”
He winked at her. I had this estate built so that the entire family could live close together in the same area.”
“But I’ve seen other people around here,” she said.
“Yeah. It’s essentially a private neighbourhood, but there’s only so many Blackwoods, so we had to sell some of the houses to other families. So while it’s still in the same estate, it takes about eight minutes to drive to my grandfather’s place. That’s about twenty minutes on foot, we can’t walk that distance in this weather,”
“Just how much money do you have, Alex?
He smirked at her. “Enough that you never have to worry about money ever again.”
She looked around in awe and shook her head. He had forgotten that the only place she had ever really been to in the estate was their mansion.
“If we ever have children, we’d probably move to a mansion of our own. Traditionally we’d move into a new property on the estate when we get married, but I don’t like the idea of leaving my mother by herself. Scott isn’t home often, and when he is, he prefers to stay in his room. My mother doesn’t do very well when she’s alone for long stretches of time.” he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “She’s fallen into depression a few times now, and it worries me. It doesn’t matter how much staff we have or how many people surround her, it doesn’t stave off the loneliness that she pretends not to feel”
Ruby nodded, her expression a picture of pain. “I understand,” she said. “Besides, it does feel like we have our separate apartment even within the same mansion, which I guess we technically do. Your mother doesn’t ever even drop by when you’re home. So I don’t think moving out would even make much of a difference. I actually enjoy having dinner with her whenever you work late. I think I’d miss that a lot, just as much as she would too.”
Alex breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that if it was Natalie in this situation, she probably wouldn’t respond in the way that Ruby just did. He knew she would have insisted on them moving out. She would have wanted an entire mansion of her own–just having one floor in the same residence as his mother would never be enough for her. He glanced at Ruby with his heart stirring up weird feelings. She was such an amazing woman, and here he was, driving her to his grandfather’s place which was just another ploy to use her again. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel, suddenly feeling conflicted.
His grandfather looked up when Ruby and him walked in, and he frowned at the old man who was on his knees on the floor of the open garden, a large plant pot in front, his hands covered with soil
“Come help me with this, Alexander!” he barked out, waving them over.
You flew in when? Last night? And you’re already doing this? You have staff for this kind of thing” he reprimanded, frowning at his grandfather as he walked over with Ruby, he sighed, knowing it would all just fall on deaf ears. His grandfather was always up to something. Why couldn’t the old run just rest every once in a while?
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Chapter 29
“Grandpa,” he said. “This is Ruby Smith, my wife. You’ve met her before, when she was much younger. You remember her, right?”
His grandfather barely glanced up at Ruby, and he tensed. Natalie had always hated being rebuffed, but Ruby merely smiled and dropped to her knees. She stuck her hands into the soil and helped his grandfather re–pot his orchids. “The leaves are too dark,” she said, a finger tracing the edge of the stem. “When they’re this dark, it means they aren’t getting enough sunlight. Orchids are a little noody” she added, laughing playfully.
His grandfather, Donald Blackwood paused and looked up at her in surprise. He glanced at her soil–stained hands and clothes, a smile tugging at the edge of his lips. Alex could bet that he expected that she wouldn’t get her hands dirty, that she’d be too worried about her clothes, Ruby didn’t even realize that she was being tested. Damn this old man. He also guessed that his grandfather had been expecting them since the very second they stepped into their car at home.
“You know about orchids?”
Ruby nodded. “They’re my mother’s favorite. We used to have so many in our house.” She touched the edge of the white flowers, a sad smile on her face. The longing in her eyes broke his heart. “Orchids are a little peculiar,” she added. “They love the morning sun, but they want to be in the shade for the rest of the day. Moody little plants, I tell you.” She glanced around and pointed out a comer of the room. “That should be the perfect spot,” she said to his grandfather. “That angle should give them the morning sun they so love, but once the sun moves, they should be covered in shadows.”
They helped the old man move the pot to the corner she pointed out, and his grandfather smiled. “Come on,” he told her. “I’ll show you my greenhouse.”
Alex groaned inwardly, but Ruby actually looked excited as she followed him.
“Oh my God,” Ruby said, walking over to the vines on the wall. Melons?” She glanced at his grandfather and shook her head. “You sure do like a challenge, don’t you, Mr. Blackwood? These are so hard to grow!”
He smiled at her and tipped his head toward the rest of his crops. “You can call me Grandpa,” he said, and Alex’s widened. Ruby had no idea what he’s just offered her, and she smiled cluelessly. Everyone was always trying to gain access to
eyes his grandfather for as long as Alex could remember, and the old man notoriously kept everyone at a distance. “Grandpa” was reserved for his own grandchildren only, not their spouses, not even any distant cousins. He wrapped his arm around Ruby, showing her every single one of his vegetables, and Alex’s heart nearly stopped when he started to create a basket for Ruby to take home. The only one that had ever walked out of this greenhouse with any of his babies was his daughter, Alex’s mother. Not even his uncles had managed it, neither had he or Scott, and they had tried many times.
“Oh, this is amazing,” Ruby said, her eyes twinkling with delight, “I can just imagine how good this is going to taste. How about I make lunch for you soon, Grandpa?”
He frowned. His grandfather didn’t eat anything that wasn’t made by his own cook. He didn’t even go to restaurants. The only person whose food he ate, other than his cook, was his daughter’s.
“I’d love to,” he said, and Alex stared at him with raised brows–not that he noticed, all his attention was on Ruby. He had taken Natalie to his grandfather a handful of times, and each time he acted like she didn’t exist. He wondered if it was because she wasn’t the type of person he wanted for him, but then again, he had let his mother
marry his father.
He grabbed his phone and pulled up Natalie’s text messages. She had been contacting him more and more frequently since rumors about Ruby and him started to spread even morw. He couldn’t figure her out. Did she want him now that she thought she’d truly lost him? Or did she realize that being with Cole wasn’t all she thought it would be? He didn’t know any of the answers, and each day, he was more tempted to text her back. He wanted answers.
“Tell ine your favorite dishes,” Ruby said, and he looked up at her. She and his grandfather were lost in conversation. He stood back as they talked, discussing recipes and ingredients. He couldn’t help but think of Natalie. Would she ever even consider offering to cook for his grandfather? He didn’t even recall her ever offering to cook for him. He shook his head and snapped out of it.
“I look forward to it, his grandfather said, his smile genuine.
Ruby glanced at her soil–stained hands and brushed them against each other, trying to get them clean. Grandpa pointed out
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the sink at the back of the greenhouse, and she walked off with a smile, promising to return soon. He crossed his arms and glanced at his grandfather. He expected him to drop the sweet–old–man act the second Ruby walked away, but instead, he was still smiling, his eyes twinkling.
“She’s a nice girl, Alexander. Very kind. I’m old, son. I’m old enough to know, to see how genuine she is. She’s the type of person I want raising my great–grandchildren. You’ve chosen well. Now don’t fuck it up. You let her slip away, and you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”
He nodded, his gaze trailing towards Ruby. “Yes,” he said. “I know,”
SEND GIFT
