Page 94 of The Problem With Pretending

I couldn’t move. I was paralysed with uncertainty and fear over what she was telling me.

She calmly continued fixing two cups of tea, despite my refusal of one. “One sugar, isn’t it? That’s what William gave you this morning.”

I nodded. It was all I could do.

“There. Perfect.”

She put my cup in front of me, and her blue eyes met mine. There was a warm softness to her gaze, and I wrapped my arms around myself like it would protect me. “I greatly regret not seeing your mum before she passed away. I was terribly sorry to hear of her death,” she continued. “I wasn’t able to make her funeral, but I do visit her every now and then and talk to her.”

A ball of emotion rushed through my body, and I could do nothing but stare at her.

“Harriet was one of the only people who understood what it meant to marry someone with a title. She was the most wonderful person, and she never had a bad word to say about anyone. Not even about your father and his wife, even when it hurt her the most.”

“You really did know her,” I whispered.

“I did,” she replied softly. “She was my closest friend for a long time, and I can’t believe it took me so long to recognise you. It clicked this morning—you looked a bit too upset for someone who didn’t know Eric. I remembered a time when you were all children and our three families were together, and it hit me who you were.”

“I didn’t mean to lie to anyone.” I gripped the tea mug. “I just… I avoid these circles as much as I possibly can, and I had no idea who William was when we met.”

“Which is funny, considering you were friends as children. Although it’s been almost twenty years since you’ve actually seen one another, so it’s not terribly surprising, perhaps.” Her lips curved into a small smile. “You’re not actually in a relationship, are you?”

I bit down on my lower lip.

“Of all the people he could have brought to be his girlfriend for the weekend, I am extremely amused that it happened to be you.” Katie laughed, leaning against the island countertop. “Given that I now know the truth, I should warn you that your grandmother and your father’s family are invited to the wedding this weekend.”

I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “I just found out that Carmen and Vincent are on their way.”

“Not your dad?”

“No. He said he’s told someone—Margaret has asked him to be on standby to drive up and help Fred with the estate as it’s handed over.”

She nodded slowly. “Of course, that makes sense. So just your stepmother and Vincent, then?”

“Yes. Wait, did you say my grandmother was on her way? As in Olive? Mum’s mum?Granny?”

“I did. She struck up quite a friendship with Morag when we were all younger, and they’ve been in touch ever since. Morag requested she be invited.”

I dropped onto a stool. “I am in so much trouble.”

She laughed. “Forgive me, but you do appear to be.”

“Oh, no,” I breathed. “You’re putting Granny in the same room as Carmen. Do you have any idea what you’re doing with that? She despises Carmen.”

“Good. Then she and I can commiserate together in a corner,” Katie said dryly. “I tend to avoid her where I can, too.”

“So do I,” I muttered. “Oh, God. What am I going to do?”

“I might suggest you start with telling the truth about who you are.” Her voice was soft and not accusatory at all,thank goodness. “I really do believe that you ended up here with no idea, by the way. William will never use fifty words if three can do, and those three tend to be wholly uninformative.”

“No kidding.”

Katie hid a smile behind her teacup. “For what it’s worth, it’s only been a couple of days, and it’s not like he was honest about who he was, for all his mithering about people being overwhelmed by castles.”

“I did kind of gripe about that, though,” I admitted. “How long do I have?”

“I would guess until tomorrow night. I believe Olive is in Duncree already, and I heard Morag saying she was going over there to see her tonight. You do rather resemble one another, dear.”

“Oh, my God. This is the wedding she was talking about.” I stared at the wall. “She told me a few weeks ago she had a wedding in Scotland of a friend’s granddaughter. It went right over my head.”

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