Marrying Mr. Darcy (Love Manor #2) - Kate O'Keeffe Page 0,48
“No ninja skills.”
“You’re just gonna have to rip off that Band-Aid. Remember when I first met Trey, and his mom hated me? That was all because I told her I found football boring.”
“Which it is. How did you win her over?”
“I pretended to love football, and then I got myself a Texans shirt.”
“I’m not sure me buying a soccer shirt is gonna help them get past me falling into a toilet in front of them all.”
“Does she have a sense of humor?”
“That would be a big, serious, stiff upper lip no. My friend Jilly’s helping me make sure I look and play the part at the big event we’re having to kick off opening the house.”
“Oooh, that sounds fun.”
“As long as I don’t fall into anything, have a giggling fit, say the wrong thing, or all of the above.”
“Answer me something, is Seb worth it?”
I think of my handsome fiancé, and my heart fills with love. “Totally worth it.”
“Then you’ve got this, girl.”
“I guess. At least I’ve got Jilly. She’s training me so I don’t make a fool of myself at the opening. Jilly knows how things work here. She is an absolute godsend.”
“Good for Jilly.”
I think I detect a note of jealousy in her voice. “Don’t be like that, Penn. She’s really great. You’ll love her when you meet her.”
“Like when you get married back here at home?” she leads.
“I, ah, I think we’ll get married here at Martinston. It’s a family tradition, and it only seems right.”
“What about your little chapel? You’ve always wanted to get married there.”
“It’s fine,” I reply with a shrug. “That was just some silly fantasy. Martinston is so much grander and more amazing, anyway.” I think of the beautiful grounds at Martinston where we could have a massive marquee, the ballroom where we could dance the night away, the pergola on top of the rise overlooking the house where Sebastian proposed to me. It would be the picture-perfect wedding. “I might have once wanted a small, simple wedding in a sweet little chapel, but that was before I agreed to marry a Lord. Things have changed, Penn.”
“Heck yes they have, girl! Lady Huntington-Ross shall have the best of everything!”
“Actually, I’ll be called Lady Martinston when we get married.”
“You’re named after the house? That’s like calling me Mrs. 12156 Memorial Street.”
I giggle. “Well, Mrs. 12156 Memorial, I need to go help the others. We’re moving a bunch of stuff around for the opening, and that means packing boxes and choosing which of the priceless antiques to put where.”
“Nice for some.”
“I know, right?”
“Em? I hope Seb’s granny is nice to you. You deserve nice.”
“Thanks, Penn. You’re the best.”
“That is very true,” she jokes. “I hope you have some success with getting a meeting this week. I cannot wait to get Timothy into some UK stores.”
My heart sinks as I think of my complete lack of success on that front to date. “I hope so too, Penn. Wish me luck.”
“You got this, girl.”
I hang up and make my way downstairs where Sebastian is busy going through boxes of stuff. You know how you move from a small place to a larger one, and you think “wow, so much space!” and then you end up filling it all up? Well, it turns out it’s the same with oversized English manor houses, only on a much, much larger scale, thanks to the generations upon generations of family who have lived there.
“What can I do to help?” I ask.
“Why don’t you see what’s in those boxes over there,” Sebastian says as he points at a stack of old cardboard boxes in the corner. “Granny thought there might be a few things in there we could put on display, but I’ve got no idea what’s in them.”
“For sure.” I work my way through the boxes until I come across one filled with old toys. “This one’s interesting.”
“Let me see.” Sebastian pushes himself up off the ground and walks over to me. He reaches into the box and pulls out a wooden cup and ball. “Did you ever play this game?” The red paint around the rim is chipped, and the string holding the ball is grey and fraying. It looks like it was made about a hundred years ago, which knowing Martinston, it probably was.
I shake my head. “I was more a Barbie and Ken kinda girl. Trying to catch a ball in a cup was never my thing.”