“I don’t know. They’re in a sealed envelope in the solicitor’s office in Dunross, which is in the Highlands. I’m supposed to open the envelope in front of witnesses.”
“On your birthday.”
“Or after, but not before.”
“Your great-uncle sounds eccentric.”
“Not just eccentric. He was cruel and mean, and he’s the reason I’m selling it. I would never keep anything from a man who treated my family the way he did. I was still a baby when my father died, but my aunt Nora told me later what my great-uncle had done to him and my mother. My father had a large inheritance, but Compton blocked it. He was furious that my father defied him by marrying my mother, who Compton thought was beneath him. He had chosen another woman for my father to marry. My parents didn’t care about the money, and, according to Aunt Nora, they were very happy. Then the accident happened. My father was critically injured, and the medical bills piled up before he died. Compton refused to release any of the funds, which would have relieved the burden from my mother. So that’s why I could never take anything from him now, unless I can do something good with it.”
“I don’t get it. If he hated your family, why did he leave you an inheritance?”
“It was in his will. He said he hadn’t expected us to turn out well, but that he was surprised to discover we were well educated and cultured despite our mother. He also noted that all three of us had gone to private schools and were hard workers. I think he attributed our successes to his bloodline. Even the inheritance was a sign of his vanity.”
“I’m surprised you’ve never mentioned this before. What other secrets do you have?”
She wondered how he would react if she told him her great-uncle had left a fortune worth well over a hundred million dollars to her sisters, Kate and Kiera, and that they gave it away to build a wing at the hospital where their mother spent her last days. The addition would have their mother’s name on it, not exactly what their great-uncle had in mind.
“Nothing I want to talk about.”
“You must have had it rough as a child.”
“Quite the opposite. I had a happy childhood. I always felt safe and loved. We were a normal family. We still are, even though it’s just my two older sisters, Kate and Kiera, my brother-in-law, Dylan, and me now.”
“I’m not so sure you’re normal,” he teased.
“Yes, I am, and I’m not the only one with secrets. You have secrets, too.”
“Yeah?” He glanced at her and said, “Name one.”
“Mia Davis.”
His hand tightened on the steering wheel. “What about her? We dated for a while, then it was over and we moved on. No big secret there.”
She shook her head. “Damon, I’m your friend. You can be honest with me.”
“I am being honest with you.”
“You know what I think? I think you’re still in love with her.”
“Maybe I was. I’m not anymore.”
“Yes, you are.” Before he could argue or get angry because she was pushing him to admit something he’d kept buried, she rushed on. “You could call her, take her out and apologize.”
“Why would I apologize?”
“Because you were wrong.”
“How do you know that?”
“A calculated guess.”
“Based on?”
Smiling, she said, “Based on the fact that you’re a man.”
The mood lightened with her outrageous remark. Damon laughed. “I love all women, Isabel. Especially you.”
The drive to Finnegan’s took longer than usual. The streets were filled with students in a celebratory mood after the end of the term. Damon turned and took another route through the campus to avoid the crowd.