Page 2 of Isla

"You're staying at the castle tonight," he says gruffly, leaving no room for argument. Not that I would have argued anyway. I want to be surrounded by people I love. Lord knows I’ll need their help to figure everything out come morning.

I stumbleup the steps to the castle's front door a few minutes later, falling into Charlie's soft embrace. She squeezes me and kisses my forehead.

"I'm so sorry, Isla. He was a great man." I can only nod, not trusting the tremble in my lip. "Come on, I'll make you something to drink." She pulls me by my hand as she waddles toward the kitchen. "Liquor or cocoa?"

I laugh weakly, dragging in a ragged breath. "Cocoa would be nice."

"Sit." She pushes me into a chair at the table.

Lach and Cam come into the kitchen together, Jack a few steps behind them. Cam squats down next to me, pulling my hand into his. He and Lach were Jack's roommates back in college, and over the years, they've become like brothers to me. Charlie was the one that brought them all back together again. Now she wears three stacked engagement rings and one wedding band on her left hand. I’ve never seen them happier.

"What can I do?" Cam asked, his fingers squeezing around mine.

"Just being here helps. I don't want to be alone."

"You got it, Bug."

I wrinkle my nose at the nickname, pretending to hate it even though I've grown to love it. Not that I would ever tell any of them that.

Lach sits on my other side and pushes his phone into my hand, a video queued up.

"What's this?" I ask, thankful for the distraction.

"Charlie started making promotional videos for the castle. They're brilliant."

Charlie pauses in the middle of stirring the pot of milk, her eyes sparkling at the praise. "I opened a couple of social media accounts. I'm just experimenting right now."

"Did you find a crew yet?" I ask them.

"Not yet. Everyone’s booked up for months. Right now, I think we're just going to do tours,” Lach says, sitting next to me.

I raise my eyebrow, looking at Jack, "You're okay with that?" Before meeting Charlie, he treasured privacy the most, so this is a complete surprise.

"I'm more than okay with it. Starting slow is better than not starting at all. I've been hemorrhaging money for years to keep the castle up."

I wince slightly, feeling bad that the castle had fallen into Jack's responsibility by default. I was too young, and our sister Laurel had no interest.

I watch the video,grinning from the first second to the last. Charlie had made the guys take off their shirts and do a mini-tour. It's possibly the best thing I've ever seen. I wipe tears from my eyes for the tenth time that day, but they're happy tears this time.

"Cocoa is ready!" As the guys grab mugs, Charlie brings the pot and ladle to the table, setting it on the scarred surface.

"What will happen to the pub?" Jack asks, wiping the cocoa from his mustache.

"James told me a million times he would leave it to me, but I don't think he ever actually made it legal." I sigh, wishing I had pushed him to make a will. "It'll go to his son, I guess."

"What will his son do with it? He's some city bigwig, right?"

I nod. "He lives in London. If I could guess, he'll sell it to the highest bidder."

"That's in our favor, then," Jack says.

"True, but I'm not going to overpay for it when the money goes tothe person who never once came to visit his only living relative. Fuck him."

Charlie chokes on her cocoa, eyes watering as Lach slaps her on her back. "Just make sure you call him soon, Isla. If he's that cold, he may try to sell it right away."

"That's going to be a fun phone call." I grimace.

"I can call for you," Lach offers.

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