Page 8 of Overnight Inheritance

“Now that I’m here, I can help with that.” Through his will, their father had left everything to the only child he’d known about—Heath—but her brother was sharing it with her fifty-fifty, and she needed to step up to the plate.

“That would be great. To start, Freya and Sarah have given me a mountain of reports to read, and we need to visit the businesses we own or have shares in.”

“Ugh. Reports? That sounds like homework, and I’m normally the one who gives homework to other people.” She was joking and he chuckled, but there was a kernel of truth to her statement. All those business reports were completely outside her wheelhouse.

“There’s a charitable trust that looks more your style. Maybe start with that—read up, visit whoever is overseeing it, whatever—to ease your way in. Then dive into the other stuff once you’re up to speed.”

Mae took a breath and tried not to feel overwhelmed. She looked back up at Sarah’s house and scuffed her foot on the gravel drive. “Do you think Sarah would mind if I stayed a few extra days?”

He frowned. “Alone?”

“I just need to catch my breath.” The thought of heading back to Manhattan made her head hurt, with the noise and the bustle and the people expecting things of her that she wasn’t sure she could deliver. “I could join you in a couple of days.”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine with it, as long as you’re back for Friday night.”

A small family dinner to celebrate Heath and Freya’s engagement was planned for Friday. Of course, she knew that her idea of a small family dinner and Sarah’s would be vastly different, but she was looking forward to raising a glass to her brother and his new love. “I wouldn’t miss it. Besides, I was planning on dropping over to see Mum’s family one night this week, so I’ll come back before Friday.”

“That’s a good idea. If Lauren can’t come back and get you, I’ll come out on the bike and pick you up.”

He opened his arms and she stepped into a bear hug. Since their mother had passed, Heath was the only person in the world she truly trusted, and she was grateful they were in this together. “Love you,” she murmured.

“Love you more,” he said.

Three

Later that afternoon, Sebastian adjusted Alfie on his hip, and knocked on Sarah Rutherford’s front door. He hadn’t been here since he was a child—back when he’d stay with his grandparents, and they’d bring him over to see their friends. After that generation had all passed, the invisible walls had gone up and any connection between the families had dissolved. In fact, more than that, his father and Joseph Rutherford had become archenemies, and the distance hadn’t improved since Joseph’s death.

The door opened and Mae stood there, her storm-gray eyes wide, her hair pulled back in a ponytail. The air whooshed out of his lungs. Some people might not call her beautiful—her thin features were a little too severe to meet traditional beauty standards—but what were standards worth with a woman like Mae Dunstan? There was so much vivacious life emanating from her every pore that she glowed. And he couldn’t look away.

She didn’t speak, perhaps surprised to see him again this soon, and his lungs had stopped working, so he simply stood, drinking her in. Until Alfie squirmed in his arms and broke the spell.

Seb cleared his throat. “I was wondering if we could have a word. Maybe alone.”

“That figures,” she said, crossing her arms under her breasts. “I heard you like the divide-and-conquer strategy.”

“What?” He’d been hoping to avoid a confrontation with the whole family while he had Alfie with him. Babies his age should be protected from tension. “No, I just—”

She waved a hand. “The others left a couple of hours ago.”

“You stayed behind without them?” He frowned. She was new in the country, which made it surprising that they had left her out here alone.

She arched one eyebrow. “Wasn’t aware I needed your permission.”

He readjusted Alfie in his arms. This wasn’t going the way he’d hoped. When Mae had left his place earlier, he’d thought they had something of an understanding, but her guard was up again. “Can we start again? I’ve come to make you an offer.”

She nodded, her expression unchanging. “To buy the company from us.”

“Not this time. Though that deal is still on the table if you’ve changed your mind.”

“We haven’t, but okay, then,” she said, her tone challenging. “What’s your offer?”

He did his best to look as professional as he could while standing uninvited on the stoop of his family’s nemesis, his hair mussed in the breeze, wearing casual clothes, and carrying a baby. “Come into the office and shadow me for a week.”

Mae’s eyes narrowed. “Shadow you?”

“You can see the company from the inside, and you’ll see that I’m not trying to do anything underhanded.”

“Is this another version of divide and conquer? Get me on my own and bamboozle me.”

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