Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 121898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
“I do like the sound of that whiskey tour,” Sam said, eyeing the flyer. “You said they offer a discount when booking via you?”
“Yes, and just to be clear, we don’t benefit financially at all,” I explained. “Just word of mouth from us all working together.”
He nodded slowly. “And, uh, I don’t mean to be rude, but…” He glanced down at my slightly swollen stomach.
“Sam!” Amy hit him. “You can’t just—”
“It’s fine.” I smiled warmly. “I understand the concerns, but rest assured, there will be no conflict with your wedding whatsoever. I run the business with my husband’s mother and sister, and they’re both more than capable of stepping in in case of an emergency.”
She paused, then tilted her head to the side. “Wait. You live there, don’t you?” She looked between me and the photos. “Sam, look. That’s the Duke of Castleton. That means…” She gasped. “Oh, yeah, it’ll be fine. Everyone knows how close the Castletons are.”
Sam looked between us, then shrugged. “I’m just here to sign the cheques, babe. If you want this…”
Amy hesitated, then squealed. “What dates do you have available during our ideal window?”
I opened the diary with my best smile. “Let’s have a look, shall we?”
***
I leant against the doorway and folded my arms across my chest, taking in the sight before me. “Is that my nephew?”
“Technically, it’s our nephew,” Tom said, gently rubbing the baby’s back.
“And why is he here?”
“Your sister called me.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Tom, I told her no.”
He peeked open one eye and looked over at me. “She didn’t tell me that.”
“Of course, she didn’t!”
“Shh, you’ll wake him.”
I pushed off the doorframe and glared. “Call Hazel and tell her to retrieve her child.”
“She’s going to yell at me again,” he muttered, slowly sitting up while cradling baby Jack.
“Good,” I said firmly. “Let me know when you’re done on the phone so I can yell at her for going behind my back. Again.”
“Hold on. Let me put him down, and I’ll call Julian.”
I rolled my eyes and turned, taking myself to the kitchen. This was his problem, and he could deal with it.
It wasn’t that I didn’t love my nephew, because I did, I just didn’t want to finish work only to have to look after a baby.
A bit rich to say that while I was literally growing my own, but that was different. That was my baby. I chose this.
I did not agree to be my sister’s on-call babysitter whenever the whim took her.
She’d learnt many things since her wedding, but clearly, we still needed a crash course on boundaries.
“All right,” Tom said, walking into my office ten minutes later. “Julian is coming to get him now. He was under the impression you were all right with it, and I quickly set that record straight.”
“Thank you.” I shoved a fizzy peach ring gummy sweet into my mouth. “She’s taking the piss. We only looked after him last week. She’s still on maternity leave, for God’s sake.”
He sat down next to me and pulled me into him, resting my head on his shoulder. “Bad meeting?”
“No, it was a perfect meeting. He’s a walking chequebook whose only mission in life is to make her happy.”
“Ah, the hallmark of all good men.”
I pulled back, eyeing him. “Just because you’re a vastly wealthy simp for your wife doesn’t mean everyone is.”
“True. I have found it easier to just give you whatever you want, though.”
“I don’t think wealth has anything to do with that. That’s probably a universal experience for men.” I popped another sweet in my mouth and sucked off more of the sugar. “Do we have more of these?”
“I can have more in an hour.”
“That might be a good idea.”
“Noted.” He pulled out his phone. “Zara will get some.”
“Zara is working! She has a meeting with the gin distillery and—”
“And she can stop on her way back here,” he replied. “Are you done for the day?”
I sighed. “Just a bit of paperwork, but not a lot.”
“Good. You look tired.” He gently brushed some hair from my eyes. “How are you feeling?”
“A bit better,” I said slowly, then held up the bag. “These are really good.”
He grinned, resting his hand on my small bump. “Are your parents coming for Christmas this year, by the way?”
I shook my head. “They’re on a cruise. Hazel had a hissy fit because it’s Jake’s first Christmas, but it’s non-refundable or some bullshit.”
“Some bullshit,” he mused. “I know which one I’m going with.”
“Mm. Well, not all parents are meant to be grandparents.” I paused. “Or parents.”
“At least the wedding opened your sister’s eyes a bit.”
“Hers or ours?” I said dryly.
He laughed, sagging back into the sofa. “Both? Especially ours. That one definitely opened a lot of people’s eyes.”
“Mm. I don’t want to think about all that. As far as I’m concerned, they can cruise off into the sunset and leave us to enjoy our lives.” I rested my hand on my bump, just above his, and closed my eyes. “Oh, I wish I could take a nap.”