Chapter 30

30

NIALL

T he Saturday of the festival was always our busiest day. Even I got involved for it, leading a tour through the property while Tallulah was back at the main house with Sayra and the VIP guests.

After spending most the night inside her, I couldn’t believe that I was already missing her, but I was. “With Tallulah” had fast become my favorite place to be, no matter what we were doing, and I couldn’t wait to get back to her later.

For now, though, we both had work to do. It was going to take some getting used to, this whole doing other things while being in love thing. I could easily have blown off everything else to spend every minute with her, but even just thinking shit like that was going to take some getting used to as well.

I shook my head at myself and refocused on the tour I was leading. Once a year, I got to do this, and honestly, I loved it, explaining the history and why I chose to buy these properties to return them to their former glory.

Finally blinking myself out of my erotic memories of last night, I motioned at the remnants of stone wall that I’d brought the tour group to. “What you see here is all that remains of a hut that was built during the war. The Carmichaels built it by hand themselves, and it was an oddity in that respect because they had help they could’ve ordered to build it, but they didn’t. Every stone here was hand-laid by a member of the Carmichael family and they offered this hut to anyone who needed shelter.”

At the confusion on the faces around me, I nodded. “They were an eccentric bunch and they decided that they wanted only this hut and the area around it to be neutral territory. If anyone was injured or exhausted, they could come use the hut to recover. It was a noble thought, but they never put word out. Only one person ever used it.”

“Who was that?” one of the tourists asked.

I grinned. “The youngest Carmichael son who, upon returning home from the war, found it unoccupied and used it as a space to bring women he knew his mother wouldn’t approve of back to.”

“It was a—” The guy cut himself off and looked around, seeing a number of children in the group. He cleared his throat before turning back to me. “Love shack?”

I laughed, shrugging as I shook my head. “As far as we know, yes.”

“Is that true?” another asked, squinting at me as if she didn’t believe a word coming out of my mouth.

“Honestly? I’m not sure,” I admitted. “See, every time I’m considering buying a property, I have a team of local historians look into it for me. I do my own research as well, but they dig deeper than the records I have access to in my home and office. According to what they found, that’s the story surrounding these particular ruins on the property.”

“Wow,” the first guy said, smirking as he nodded and glanced back at the stones behind me. “That’s actually not boring at all.”

“It’s not,” I agreed easily, turning to continue the tour and gesturing for them to follow me. “The Carmichael Plantation had a bunch of stories like that surrounding it, from the greenhouses having been used to grow pot at some point to some important political events that happened in the main house. Most of the properties around here do not have boring stories at all, which is why I work so hard to restore them and to share those stories with others.”

“That’s pretty cool,” someone behind me uttered and I grinned, glad that I’d landed an interactive group again today.

That wasn’t always the case. I showed them around the property, sharing all the nuggets of information my team had dug up when I’d bought it, and feeling like an historical superhero by the time I led them back to the plantation house.

When we got there, however, I sought out Tallulah immediately. My heart stammered in my chest when I saw her talking to an older woman with a string of pearls around her neck, her grayish blonde hair styled to a tee.

I groaned. What the hell is my mother doing here?

She and I had something of a contentious relationship. We always had. While I’d been honest about her having a good heart in her own way when I’d been telling Tallulah about her, my mother wasn’t the type who gave hugs and kissed boo-boos better.

She had an extremely sharp wit and I did enjoy the occasional lunch with her whenever one of us visited the state the other lived in, but we weren’t close. We’d never had much of a bond, and after my father had died, we’d only grown further and further apart.

The distance between us had become physical once I’d left New York, but it was so much more than that. While Mom had never been warm, exactly, she’d retreated into herself after my father had died, and as far as I was concerned, she disappeared further and further into herself with every year that passed.

The fact that I wasn’t married yet, however, was one of the most contentious issues between us—and one she’d been rather outspoken about in recent years. Gretta Morrison wouldn’t be a warm and cuddly granny either, though.

She just wanted me to be married and have a few kids so that the Morrison name—and with it, our legacy—would continue. I sighed as I wondered what she was doing speaking to Tallulah. My mom had never, ever liked anyone I’d dated despite her apparent need for me to be married, and she’d often suggested that she should be allowed to choose a wife for me.

Hence the contention.

As I strode up to them, I schooled my features, intent on remaining calm no matter what she’d been spewing to my brand-new girlfriend. “Mom, what are you doing here?”

My mother spun to face me, a cool, polite smile on her lips as her bright blue eyes met my own. Wearing one of her cream-colored linen suits with the pearls and a sky blue camisole underneath, she was as put together as ever, which was good to see. At least that meant that she wasn’t visiting because something was wrong, but she also didn’t move to hug me or show any sort of affection at all.

“I was just talking to Tallulah here,” she said pleasantly. “I must say, Niall, she’s an incredibly nice employee of yours. Have you met her?”

I groaned. “Yes, Mother. I have. Thank you. You still haven’t told me what you’re doing here.”

Tallulah’s eyes were wide as they bounced between us, her gaze finally settling on mine after she swept her tongue across her lips. “This is your mother ?”

“Gretta Morrison,” Mom said, glancing back at my girlfriend and extending a hand toward her. “I’m sure he rarely speaks of me. If he ever speaks to you at all, that is. I know he’s become known as a somewhat icy tycoon around these parts.”

I scoffed. “What are you talking about?”

She shrugged as she smiled politely at me again. It drove me nuts when she did that and she knew it. “Don’t be offended, Niall. People talk and I’ve heard what they’re saying about you. I would’ve thought you’d know about it yourself. Your father was always plugged into these things. It’s only good business.”

“Yes, Mother,” I gritted out. “Thanks for the tip. I do know what’s being said about me. Again though, I still don’t know what you’re doing here.”

“Oh. Yes.” She smoothed a hand over her hair and motioned vaguely toward the festival with the other. “Catherine Hillfox, Rebecca Weston, and I put together a group of ladies to come see that mansion and the festival you care so much about that you can’t take any time to come see your dear old mother.”

As she said the names, I saw Tallulah’s expression change from the corner of my eye. She blinked rapidly, her face falling as she stumbled back a step or two. Fuck. She knows them.

On the other hand, while my family made our fortune in real estate all along the east coast, the Hillfoxes were national. California was something of a stronghold for them even. The Westons had had one of those intrusive reality shows made about them a few years ago, so everyone knew who they were these days.

While my mother had been right that I rarely mentioned her, I’d definitely never mentioned how connected my family really was to Tallulah. The fact was that to me, all these families were simply people. Since they weren’t even people I still had much contact with, I hadn’t thought it was relevant mentioning them, but all I could do now was hope that this didn’t send Tallulah into another tailspin.

Desperate for a moment alone with her, I forced myself to smile at my mother. “Why don’t you go gather your friends and I’ll arrange an exclusive tour for you?”

“Excellent,” she said, glancing at Tallulah again and wiggling her fingers in a wave. “It was lovely to meet you, darling.”

Tallulah returned the wave as my mother turned and walked away, but she seemed a little dazed, her eyes slightly glassy and unfocused. “Was that really your mother?”

“I’m afraid so,” I said, taking her hand and pulling her aside. “I’m so sorry about whatever she said to you. She’s not always very nice.”

Finally, my girl refocused on me and to my surprise, she didn’t seem very bothered. She even managed a real smile. “Honestly? I liked her. She and I were having a really good chat before you showed up. I believe that she’s not always very nice but she really was nice to me.”

I sighed, threading the fingers of both my hands around hers and looking deep into her eyes. “I’m glad, but she might not be so nice when she finds out we’re in a relationship. Dating outside our circle isn’t something she generally approves of.”

“By ‘your circle,’” she put the words in air quotes, “do you mean Kaitlyn Hillfox and Sarah Weston?”

I groaned, knowing this was crushing her. “I hate that we’re even having this conversation right now, but yes. My mother would love to see me with either of them, but I’m not interested in them and they’ve never been interested in me. It’s going to be okay, Tallulah. I promise. Just enjoy yourself and I’ll talk to her, okay?”

She sighed but nodded, those hazel eyes so much more muted now than they had been before. As I was about to turn and leave, she tightened her grip on my fingers, keeping me in place for a minute longer. “Don’t be too hard on your mom, okay? She really was nice to me, and while it’s not great hearing that she won’t like it that we’re together, we’re okay, Niall. You and I are okay.”

Relief thundered through me as I tugged her to me, slamming my lips down on hers and giving her a kiss that made me want more before I released her to go find my mother. Her being here was the last thing I needed right now, but she’d come anyway and that meant I had to deal with her.

And to make it crystal clear that whatever she and her upper-crust friends were cooking up in relation to me and either one of their daughters, it wasn’t going to happen. I was in love and I would make damn sure they all knew it.