Within a short time Ruby had made an appointment with the local doctor, who advised her to pack a bag for her gran in case she needed to be admitted to hospital. Another hour or so later, once Beatrice had been assessed by a no-nonsense doctor who had advised intravenous antibiotics and a hospital stay of at least a week, Ruby drove back to Rothwell Park, comforted that her gran was finally receiving the medical attention she needed.
Before informing Lucas of her gran’s hospital stay, Ruby took her phone upstairs to her room, so she could have a three-way call with her business partners.
‘I’m going to have to stay a little longer than I thought. My gran has been admitted to hospital for treatment for a burn.’
Although she wanted to tell the girls about Lucas’s situation, and implicitly trusted their discretion, she could not bear to betray his trust.
‘Oh, your poor gran. Is she going to be okay?’ Aerin asked.
‘She’ll be fine if she does what she’s told. The doctor wants to keep her in for a few days for the antibiotics to do their job. Gran wasn’t happy about it, but I managed to talk her round.’
‘Did you ask Lucas about Delphine’s wedding?’ Harper asked, and the eagerness in her voice made Ruby feel awful for not being transparent about the situation.
‘Yes, but I’m still negotiating with him.’
‘I’m not sure I like the sound of that,’ Harper said. ‘We need to lock in the date as soon as possible. Delphine has her heart set on Rothwell Park. It’s perfect in every way. She wants the guests to stay on site, and the castle is big enough to accommodate everyone—including her security team. Besides, I want the photos I can take there for the website.’
‘I can’t plan anything until we know for sure,’ Aerin said with a hint of panic in her tone. ‘We’re on a tight timeline in any case. And it’s a remote location, so things will take more time than—’
‘I know, but leave it with me. I think I can convince him.’
Ruby wasn’t feeling as confident as she sounded to her friends, but her determination more than made up for that. She had to find a way to convince Lucas that holding the wedding at Rothwell Park would be a win-win situation. It was going to be a hard sell to someone who was almost phobic about weddings, but still, it was worth a try.
Lucas was making his way upstairs to his suite of rooms when he heard the sound of the stairs above him creaking. The sound of Ruby’s light footsteps as she approached him sent a frisson of awareness through his body. The fragrance of her wafted in front of his nostrils, making him want to press his face to the side of her slim neck and breathe her in.
Rein it in, buddy. He gave himself a stern talking-to.She’s off limits. She’s always been off limits.
‘How’s your grandmother? Did you take her to see the doctor? I heard your car leave a while back.’
‘The doctor had admitted her to hospital to administer IV antibiotics.’
Lucas frowned. ‘For how long?’
‘A week.’
He drew in a breath and released it in a slow stream. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t realise her burn was as serious as that.’
He’d always prided himself on taking care of his staff, from the most senior to the most junior. It frustrated him that Beatrice, his most loyal staff member of all, had hurt herself and he had known nothing.
‘Of course this changes everything.’
Ruby’s voice contained an element ofI-told-you-sothat jangled at his already overstretched nerves.
‘Everything...?’
‘I’ll have to stay longer than the weekend. You’ll need help while Gran’s away, and—’
‘I will not need help.’
The last thing he wanted was Ruby waiting on him hand and foot. It was bad enough having her here for the weekend. Seven days of trying to avoid her would be unbearable.
‘Don’t be silly, Lucas, of course you’ll need help. I can work remotely for the next week. I can get the castle in some sort of order while Gran has a much-needed rest.’
Lucas saw the sense in her argument, but he also saw the pitfalls if he were to agree—which he was strangely tempted to do. Ruby was not the sort of person he could easily ignore. But wouldn’t a week with her be preferable to a stranger filling in for his housekeeper?
‘Fine. Stay, then. But I don’t want to be disturbed unnecessarily. And once the week is up you’ll have to leave.’
‘Thanks for being so terribly gracious about it.’