Chapter Seven
Nicole hurried to keep up with Harrison, but it was difficult because she wanted to stop and look around at the castle as they passed everything. She had never been inside a real castle before and she wanted to see and touch and smell everything. Harrison didn’t seem to grasp just how exciting it was for her to be able to get an up close and personal view of something that had been around for so long. She’d always been a history lover, so to say this was her dream job was an understatement.
“Don’t dawdle,” Harrison said as his long legs strode down the corridor. “We still have a lot of ground to cover, and we need to get it all finished today so we know what kind of to-do list we’re looking at.”
“I’m trying,” she said, hot on his heels. “But I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
“You can explore later once we’ve got the list finished. The guests will be arriving in a couple weeks. We don’t have a lot of time to get everything fixed and ready to go.”
“How many guests are you expecting?”
“Not that many for this first run. About twenty-five. But we will have a soft opening with some friends of mine next week. That way we can work out any bugs that we haven’t caught yet.”
Harrison came to a stop in front of a door which he pushed open and stood back to let her go in. Nikki looked around and tried not to let her mouth hang open. Now, this is what she’d expected when Harrison had said he lived in a castle. It was pure medieval luxury. The fantasy of every castle lover’s dream. Her room was okay, but it had a more modern touch, missing electricity notwithstanding. This room though, this was like walking onto one of the castle sets of Out…the Book That Must Not Be Named. Only with the luxury amped up by ten.
Harrison walked around, poking at things and frowning, mostly. He had grown up in this place, so the splendor of it seemed to be something that he took for granted. Nikki on the other hand had never been within ten thousand miles of a castle in her life. To be standing in a bedchamber that might’ve housed some ancient lord or lady—and from the looks of the furniture in the room it had—absolutely floored her.
A four poster, which was actually quite a bit smaller than she would have expected, stood in the middle of the far wall, draped in old-looking velvet. The room was exactly what she’d expected an old castle room to look like. Rock walls, candle sconces on the walls, rugs and tapestries in deep jewel tones adorning everything. In short, the place was incredible.
“Do you have your notepad and pen with you?” Harrison asked.
“No, but I’ve got the phone you gave me.”
“Can you type with your thumbs as fast as I can talk?”
“Probably not, but it’s got this handy little dictation feature on it,” she said. “Instead of having to take down notes all you need to do is talk, and it will record it for me. Then I can email it to myself and I’ll have every word that you say.”
“Alright, as long as you get down everything that we need.”
They spent the next several hours going from room to room with Harrison making extensive comments on everything from cracks in the ceiling to tile work in the bathrooms that needed to be re-grouted to carpets and bed coverings that needed to be laundered. At first glance, the castle was absolutely incredible. But once she really began looking at it, it was easy to see the crumbling fixtures and the dilapidated state the place was really in.
“Aren’t you like a billionaire or something?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“This castle is pretty amazing,” Nikki said. “Just thinking if you’ve got all that money, why is it about ready to fall down around our ears?”
“I’ve sunk more money into this place than you can imagine. It just takes a ridiculous sum to keep it maintained. My money has paid for all the restorations. Trying to get it up to where it needs to be so it can start bringing in money without my help, which my father isn’t all that thrilled to accept.”
He shrugged. “Until a few years ago I didn’t realize how bad it was. I didn’t really notice when I was a child, and I haven’t been here much since I was old enough to make a go of it on my own. I lived in New York, my family lived here.”
“You didn’t come back to visit?”
“Not very often, no.”
“Well, you’re crazy. If I had a place like this in my family, I’d never leave it.”
“Yes, well, you’ve met my family now. Do you blame me for staying away?”
“Not really,” she said, laughing. “But I guess all families have some quirks.”
Harrison snorted. “I can handle quirks,” he said. “But when it comes to my family, it’s nothing but wall-to-wall quirks. It’s a little much to take sometimes.”
Nicole laughed again. “Yeah, I can see that.”
Harrison looked down the list he had on his clipboard, checking off a few more items.
“How soon do you think you can get that list to me?” he asked.
Nicole shrugged. “Probably a few minutes. I just need to hook it up to my laptop so I can print it out for you.”
Harrison nodded. “Okay. That sounds good.”
He led the way out of the small lounge they were in and into a library that was straight out of Beauty and the Beast. He’d made it to the center of the room before he noticed that she’d stopped at the entryway and was staring around, her mouth hanging open, and her heart trying desperately to do that cartoon beating-out-of-her-chest thing.
He glanced back, eyebrows lifted.
“Holy. Crap,” she said. “This is…this is incredible.”
A faint smile graced his lips as he looked around the room. “It is. I’ll admit this is one of my favorite rooms in the house.”
Her eyes soaked up shelf after shelf, many that looked like reference and non-fiction. Very old. Though there were quite a few shelves with newer books. A whole section of self helps, biographies, and more reference books on every topic imaginable.
“Any fiction?” she asked.
Harrison glanced up from his clipboard and pointed to the section of the library that was separated from the part they were in by a wide arch. “The fiction room is over there.”
“I don’t want to make you jealous or anything, but I think I’m in love,” she said, heading through a wide archway to the next room.
He laughed quietly and shook his head, turning back to his notes.
“Hey, do you have the Out—”
Harrison held up a finger with a scowl, and she laughed. “Do you have The Series That Must Not Be Named here?”
The scowl deepened. “Of course. I appear to be the only one on the planet not enamored of that damn series.”
She nodded. “I’d have to agree with that.”
She went back to perusing the shelves until she came to one of the rolling ladders that leaned against the bookcases.
“Oh my God, I’ve always wanted to do this.” She backed up a little to give herself some running room to build up momentum.
“Wait,” Harrison called out, but she’d already let her feet fly.
She ran for the ladder, jumped on, and flung her arm out, just like Belle in the book shop. It was incredible. Amazing. She’d dreamt of zooming along wall-to-wall bookcases her whole life and now she was doing it. In a castle! In England! Her heart was probably in imminent danger of bursting from happiness.
Until the ladder came to the end of the case. And didn’t stop.
The ladder’s wheels hit the end of the railing, and the worn-out wood gave way, lurching the ladder off the rails and sending her flying. She landed on the stone floor with a thud that knocked the wind out of her.
She curled around her stomach, mouth open as she tried desperately to suck in some air. Harrison dropped to his knees by her side.
“Easy now, easy,” he said, gathering her up.
She grabbed his shirt, eyes wide as her tortured lungs burned.
He cupped her face. “You’re okay. You’ve just lost your wind. Breathe now. Just breathe.”
He kept speaking calmly, gently stroking her face until the vice-like grip on her diaphragm eased and her body remembered how to breathe. She sucked in a strangled breath and the tightness in his face melted into relief.
He held her closer, pulling her fully onto his lap and kissing her forehead. His face radiated relief as she pulled in breath after breath until it finally stopped sounding like she was gasping for air.
“You might want to add that to your list,” she choked out.
He laughed and helped her to her feet, though he kept his arms around her. “Noted.”
She took her time fully regaining her composure, enjoying being in his arms. Enjoying it too much. She stepped back from him, running her hand through her hair. “You know,” she said, “this place is gorgeous, but it’s a total death trap.”
“Agreed. Hence the list,” he said, pointing to her phone. “Speaking of, if you are feeling better, you can use that computer there.” He indicated a decent-looking computer system set up on a desk in the corner.
She nodded and headed over to get their list printed and ready to go while Harrison made some phone calls. By the time she finished, he was hanging up.
“We need to talk to Bob. He’s the foreman of the builders who are working on the stonework outside.”
“Bob?”
“Yes.”
“Bob and his builders?”
Harrison frowned a little. “Yes.”
She opened her mouth to explain why she found that funny as apparently he’d never seen the children’s television show of the same name, but closed it again. Not worth the time it would take. “Never mind.”
His frown deepened, but he didn’t push the point. “Bob’s wife said he’s down at the pub. Ready for your first foray into the village?”
She nearly gasped in excitement. “Absolutely!”
She checked her phone to make sure she had enough battery power to take the dozens of pictures she’d want of a real English village and headed out the door, leaving him to follow.
“Let’s go!”
…
Harrison pushed open the door to the pub and held it for Nikki. Her heart fluttered with delighted excitement to finally be seeing something authentically British, at least in her mind. After all, she’d never been in a British pub before, especially not one in a quaint little village that had been around since before America had even been a twinkle in Britain’s colonial eye.
The little bell over the door tinkled, and it was like someone had set off an alarm. Every person in the place stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at them. Harrison looked around, his forehead furrowed, but he nodded at the bartender behind the bar.
“Gerry,” he said.
The bartender—Gerry supposedly—nodded back. “Mr. Troy.”
Harrison walked by him, and Nikki trailed behind as he went over to a group sitting at the far table who she supposed were Bob and his builders, something that still made her snicker. He nodded to each of them and began to explain what he needed and negotiating price. She, in the meantime, stood to the side staring at her surroundings and soaking everything in—until she noticed a particular group at one table staring at her with open mouths.
She smiled at them. “Hello.”
“And who might you be, dearie?” one of the old man said.
“Nicole Franklin. I’m Mr. Troy’s new assistant.”
At that, the entire place erupted. “He’s got a new one, Gerry!” one of the men said.
Nicole nearly jumped and stood back in surprise at the sudden flurry of activity. The bartender pulled out a chalkboard and set it up against the wall while money started busily exchanging hands. She looked at Harrison, eyes wide. He glanced at everybody with a scowl, but for the most part ignored whatever was going on.
“Alright then,” she muttered.
People started calling out names and dates while Gerry scribbled everything down.
“Excuse me,” Nikki said to the table closest to her. “What’s going on?”
One of the men turned to her with a huge grin. “You just won me fifty quid, dear.”
“And how did I do that?”
One of the old women sitting there giggled. “Mr. Troy has a terrible time keeping assistants.”
“The first one…when was that Geoff? Four years ago?”
“Oh yeah, it must be by now.”
“Anyway,” the woman said, “the first one only lasted three days before she cut and ran. The one who replaced her didn’t make it until tea time. And then the next year there was a brand-new assistant. Jeremiah, I believe his name was. He managed a week. Last year, the assistant really had us running for our money. She lasted six weeks. We thought she might be back this year, but now that you’re here those of us who had bet on her not returning just won a tidy sum.”
Nicole blinked at them, trying to process it all. “You guys have a pool betting on how long Mr. Troy’s assistants will last?”
The whole table laughed. “Oh, sure thing, dearie. It’s turned into an annual tradition. It’s the talk of the town.”
“And why haven’t Mr. Troy’s assistants lasted long?” Nikki asked, a ball of concern growing in her gut.
The woman leaned closer like she was going to tell her a secret. “Well, you’ve met his family now, I suppose. They are an odd bunch up there, that’s for certain. And Mr. Troy is known to be a taskmaster, for all that he’s fine to look at.” The old woman glanced back at him and giggled again.
“Most of his assistants can’t seem to handle the lot of them for too long,” another man added in.
Nicole looked over her shoulder at the board that Gerry was filling out. “So now you all are betting on how long I will last?” she asked.
“Yep,” the old lady said. “And you look like a strong young lady with a good head on her shoulders. Put me down for seven weeks, Gerry!” she called out.
Nicole shook her head. She should have asked for more money.
Gerry held up a brimming glass of beer and put it down on the counter. “On the house, miss.”
Well, she wasn’t going to turn down that offer. She picked it up with a nod of thanks and took a sip, raising her eyebrows in surprise. “I’d always heard you guys drink beer warm over here. I mean, it’s not as ice cold as I’m used to, but it’s definitely not warm.”
Gerry snorted. “Never met a person who liked warm beer. Though if it’s too cold it ruins the flavor.”
“True. This is wonderful, thank you.”
Gerry nodded and went back to cleaning glasses. Nikki jerked her head toward a stained and tattered Help Wanted sign in the window.
“Are you actually looking for help, or is that for decoration? Looks like it’s been there a while.”
Gerry snorted again. “Most people around these parts would rather drink the beer than serve it.”
“Well, if you’re still looking when Mr. Troy no longer needs me, would you be willing to hire a recent immigrant from the States? I mean, I still need to get all the proper paperwork, and I’ll be with Mr. Troy at least until the end of the summer…despite what some may believe,” she said, nodding at the pool board behind him.
He gave her a speculative look. “Know your way around a bar, do you?”
“Absolutely. I worked as a bartender for three years in New York. If I can handle those crowds, I think I can handle this lot.” She jerked her thumb toward the current clientele, who were all still watching her like a pack of cats who just heard the can opener.
Gerry laughed. “Don’t speak too soon.” He studied her for a moment longer before nodding his head. “All right. You’ve got a job when you’re done over at the castle. And don’t worry about the paperwork. My brother’s wife’s sister works for immigration. I can help you get all that together.”
“That would be wonderful. Thank you so much!” She stuck her hand out, and he shook it, looking more than a little amused.
Before she could say anything else, Harrison returned. He put a protective hand on the small of her back and glowered at the people at the table. “Everything all right?” he asked Nikki.
“Perfect,” she said, giving him a smile that was probably overly bright.
The woman watched them with a speculative gleam in her eye. “Gerry, change me to eight weeks,” she said, giving Nikki a wink.
Harrison frowned but Nikki shook her head. “I just got a job.”
His frowned deepened. “I was under the impression you already had a job.”
She rolled her eyes. “I mean for after we’re done. You only hired me to be your temporary assistant. So when you no longer require my services, I’m going to work for Gerry here.”
Harrison glanced at Gerry who gave him a slightly nervous nod.
“You’re planning on staying here? In the village?” Harrison asked.
Nikki shrugged. “Might as well. I can save up some money, get my immigration papers going, maybe travel a bit on my days off and see Europe. I’ve got to start somewhere. And I’m not going back home.”
His expression didn’t improve, and she couldn’t tell if he was angry or confused. Either way, she wasn’t going to let him piss in her Cheerios. She’d just landed a solid job offer. She was well on her way to an exciting, new European life. One which might afford her the opportunity to see Harrison again since his family lived right there, though she really hated admitting that that thought had occurred to her when she’d asked about the job. Either way, she was thrilled, so Mr. Grouchy Ass could be as pouty as he wanted.
“Come on,” she said, taking a last pull of her beer. “Thanks, Gerry!” she said with a wave goodbye.
She squinted at the bright sun once they were back outside and turned to Harrison, who still hadn’t spoken. “Get everything squared away with the builders?” she asked.
His scowl deepened. “Yes. For twice what they should be getting paid.” He sighed. “As long as they get it done on time.” He glanced back at the pub. “What was all that about?”
“I told you. Gerry offered me a job…”
“Not that,” he said, flicking his hand impatiently. “The other stuff. The chalkboard.”
“Oh, that. Did you know that the villagers have a running pool going to see how long your assistants will last?”
His eyes widened in surprise for a moment before the scowl returned. “You’d think they’d have better things to do with their day. My luck with assistants hasn’t been that bad.”
Nikki raised an eyebrow, and Harrison’s lips twitched. “Okay, maybe it has. But it certainly isn’t any of their business.”
“Oh, cut them a little slack. I won someone fifty quid today just by showing up. Makes a girl feel good to help someone out.”
Harrison snorted and handed her a list. “Then I’m about to make you feel amazing.”
Nikki’s eyebrow quirked up again. “Oh, really?”
Harrison rolled his eyes. “You know what I meant.”
She sighed. “Unfortunately, yes. I do. You really should learn to have a little fun, you know. I am your fiancée after all.”
He grimaced at that. “Only pretend. And only around my family.”
She suppressed a grimace of her own at that nice ego blow that she tried to deflect as she was pretty sure it had more to do with the situation than her. She hoped, anyway. Not that it mattered. The last thing in the world she needed was to be attached to another guy. It was time to learn to be on her own. Besides, she barely knew this particular guy, and what she did know wasn’t exactly great. Except for the whole castle part. Although that was more a pile of crumbling stones than a fairy tale. And the fact that he was drop dead, panty-soaking gorgeous. And could kiss like it was an Olympic event.
“I have plenty of fun. Just not here,” he said, glaring around at the village.
Nikki shook her head. “You are the only person I know who would have a vendetta against an entire village simply for existing.”
He snorted again. “Wait awhile. You’ve only just arrived. In the meantime, assistant,” he said, handing her their ever-growing list, “you can assist me. The soft opening is next week. And we aren’t even close to being ready.”
If that wasn’t the understatement of the year, she didn’t know what was.