And nor would she ever have that sort of money if she couldn’t build the business to the heights she and her friends had planned. She swallowed the choking lump in her throat, determined to show no emotion in front of him.
‘Ruby.’
His stern schoolmaster tone ignited her anger all over again.
‘You’re a successful businesswoman. You should know the importance of keeping emotion out of business deals.’
‘But don’t you feelanythingfor Rothwell Park? Anything at all?’
His features were as hard and cold as one of the marble busts of his ancestors in the gallery. ‘As far as I’m concerned, this place is cursed.’
She frowned so hard it hurt her forehead. ‘Cursed?’
The cynical twist to his mouth reappeared and he put his fork down with a hard little thud. ‘You witnessed it yourself. My parents falling in and out of love. Breaking up and breaking each other. This place reminds me of nothing but angst and ill-feeling. I want nothing more to do with it.’
Ruby gaped at him. ‘And you think that’s Rothwell Park’s fault? It was your parents and their hang-ups that cursed their relationship. It had nothing to do with this lovely old castle and its grounds. It’s the people who make a place a home—not the bricks and mortar. Besides, when they were happy, they were truly happy. I have never seen two people more passionately in love with each other.’
Lucas gave a harsh laugh that was nowhere in the vicinity of humour. ‘In love? Is that what you’d call it? You saw them through a child’s eyes. You were fascinated by them...in awe of them because they were so different from—’
‘From my mother?’ Ruby lifted her chin, a remnant of pride making her spine as straight as a rod. ‘Is that what you were going to say?’
The silence throbbed with a dark energy that seemed to press in from all four corners of the room.
Ruby liked to think her motherhadloved her once. Not that she had any clear memory of it, but still... The alternative was too awful to think about. Didn’t most mothers love and adore their babies? Didn’t most mothers bond with their newborn infants and want the very best for them?
Or had her mother always resented her? Hated her for changing her life irreparably before she was ready? Resented the demands a small child had made on her time...resented the responsibility that came with raising a child without a father present. Resorted to drugs and drink to escape from the burdensome task of keeping a child safe.
How could Ruby ever know the truth? Her grandmother refused to speak of her daughter—her only child, who had rebelled against everything she had tried to instil in her. The values, the qualities, the solid work ethic...all ignored, disregarded.
And now, of course, it was too late. Ruby’s mother had died of an overdose only days after leaving prison, within a year of Ruby coming to live at Rothwell Park.
Lucas finally let out a serrated sigh. ‘You deserved better, Ruby. No one can deny that. But my parents were not shining examples of how to be an adult, and certainly not how to be an adult in a relationship.’
Ruby picked up her wine glass again but couldn’t bring herself to drink a drop. It was more something to do with her hands. ‘But at least they loved you,’ she said. She stared at the wine in her glass and added before she could monitor her tongue, ‘I’m not sure my mother ever loved me.’
Most people would have saidOf course she did.Or offered some other equally useless platitude. But not Lucas Rothwell. Maybe there were some advantages to being a hardened cynic. He spoke the blunt truth instead of wrapping it up in cheap shiny tinsel.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said in a gentle tone. ‘That must be hard to live with...not knowing for sure.’
Ruby gave a wry smile, even though she knew he couldn’t see it. She wondered if he would sense it anyway. He seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to her—which, come to think of it, was a scary thought.
Could he sense her growing awareness of him? Could he sense the way her body responded to his closeness? Could he sense how often her gaze drifted to his mouth and how her mind ran wild with images of those firm lips moving against hers?
She put her wine glass back down on the table and ran her fingertip around the rim, so the soft musical whine of the friction filled the silence.
‘I couldn’t help envying you growing up here at Rothwell Park,’ she said, lowering her hand from the glass. ‘It’s true I was a little starstruck by your parents—in particular your mother. She was so glamorous and vivacious and charming...the life of every party. No wonder your father kept falling in love with her. I think I did a little too.’ Ruby gave a little sigh and added, glancing across at him, ‘I miss her. I guess you do too.’
Lucas’s mouth twisted in a rueful manner, and a shadow of raw grief passed over his features like the ripple of the wind across a lake. ‘Yes...’ His hand carefully searched for his wine glass and his fingers moved around the stem, but he didn’t lift the glass to his lips. ‘It’s sometimes hard to believe she’s gone.’ He tapped his fingers on the base of his glass and added with a frown, ‘My father certainly got over losing her quickly. He remarried within weeks of her death.’
‘But they weren’t together at the time,’ Ruby pointed out, even though she too had been a bit surprised at Lionel Rothwell’s haste in remarrying.
‘No, that’s true.’
The silence ticked past.
‘Do you think they might’ve got back together? I mean, if she hadn’t got sick?’ Ruby asked.
‘Don’t you think three marriages and three divorces is enough to prove two people are completely unsuitable?’