Lucas took another sip of his wine before answering. ‘So, you’re not a fan of casual hook-ups?’ he asked.
Her cheeks grew warm. ‘I have the occasional fling.’
‘But you’ve never fallen in love.’
‘Not yet.’
‘But you’d like to.’
‘Of course,’ Ruby said. ‘I work in the wedding industry. I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t believe in love and want it for myself. I just haven’t been lucky enough to find it yet. Nor have either of my business partners, Aerin and Harper—which is kind of ironic, really.’
Lucas made a sound that sounded like amore-fool-yousnort. He picked up his cutlery again and ate a couple of mouthfuls. But then he paused with his fork halfway to his mouth, as if sensing her watching him. ‘Look—I’m sorry about your grandmother. I hope she’s going to be okay. If there’s anything she needs, or if I can help in any way—’
Ruby reached for her glass of wine. ‘Thank you, but I’m sure she’ll be fine. Although I still think she needs to be encouraged to retire. She can’t work for ever.’
There was a small silence.
Ruby studied his expression, wondering what was going on behind his shuttered features. He was hard to read at the best of times, but now he seemed even more closed off. He wouldn’t be human if he wasn’t worried about regaining his sight, but she sensed it was more than that. He had a big international business to run, staff to look after, multiple projects running at the same time. Yet he was unable to travel now—or at least chose not to until he was confident of a full recovery. No wonder there were lines of worry about his mouth and eyes that had not been there before.
‘That’s a conversation I intend to have with her sooner rather than later,’ Lucas said. ‘And it’s another reason you can’t host your client’s wedding here.’
He paused as if expecting her to join the dots.
A stone landed in Ruby’s stomach as she finally did. She put her wine glass down and stared at him. ‘You’re not thinking of...sellingRockwell Park?’
Even saying the word out loud seemed like sacrilege—like shouting a curse in the middle of a church service. This had been her only stable home, and she hated the thought of not being able to return to it. It was her base, the anchor that had kept her safe after bobbing up and down in the turbulent waters of her early childhood.
If Lucas sold it, she would never walk through the castle and its grounds again, never wander through the gardens and the moors beyond. A deep sense of loss assailed her—a sense that nothing would ever be the same again. She would not only be losing her sanctuary but a part of herself as well.
‘It’s too big for one person,’ Lucas said, shrugging one shoulder in a dispassionate way. ‘I spend most of my time abroad these days, so it makes sense to offload it to someone who’ll make better use of it.’
Ruby opened and closed her mouth like a stranded fish gasping for air. ‘But it’s your home. The home of your ancestors. And, wait—what does your father think of you selling?’
‘He signed over the deeds to me upon my mother’s death. He has no wish ever to return to England, let alone live here, and nor does his young wife. She finds it too cold.’
Ruby bit her lip, still struggling to get her head around the fact Rothwell Park would not be a part of her life any more. She might not visit more than two or three times a year, but just knowing it was there, that her gran was there, gave her a sense of security.
She hadn’t realised how much she’d clung to it until now. Having her beloved sanctuary taken away would be like revisiting the worst of her childhood—the constant moves from bedsit to bedsit as her mother tried to escape yet another unsavoury boyfriend or a drug debt that had got out of hand.
‘But what’s going to happen to my grandmother? She’s lived her for so long.’
‘You’re the one who’s insisting she needs to retire. I’ll give her a generous pay-out, of course. And provide her with accommodation for the rest of her life.’
It was a more than generous offer, but Ruby still didn’t understand why he was so intent on offloading Rothwell Park. How soon did he plan to sell it? Was selling it just something he was mulling over in his mind while he recuperated, or did he have a timeline in place?
‘When do you intend to tell her?’
‘Once the sale is finalised.’
Ruby’s heart clanged against her breastbone. ‘You mean you already have a buyer?’
Lucas’s expression flickered with a hint of irritation. ‘Why all the drama? It’s an offer I’d be a fool to knock back.’
‘So, it’s all about the money.’ It was a statement, not a question—a statement that burned in her throat like a searing hot coal. ‘I thought you were nothing like your father, and yet here you are selling your birthright to the highest bidder.’
Lucas leaned back in his chair and curled his top lip in a cynical manner. ‘You’re welcome to make a counter-offer. The final contract is yet to be signed.’
She glared at him, even though she knew he couldn’t see the blistering fire in her eyes. ‘You know I haven’t got that sort of money.’