‘There isn’t actually that much to say about me,’ Grace said. ‘I’m very ordinary.’
‘Tell us about you in your own words,’ Susie invited.
This felt like a job interview, but she also knew that it was the most important interview she’d ever have in her life. If Roland’s family couldn’t accept her, then she’d fade out of his life—for his sake. ‘I’m an accountant, I have a clean driving licence and I like cooking,’ Grace said. ‘I think that covers it.’
‘I think there’s something quite important you forgot to say,’ Joanna said quietly. ‘You’ve put the smile back into Roland’s eyes. And to do that takes someone very out of the ordinary.’
‘Seconded,’ Philly said promptly.
‘Thirded,’ Susie added.
‘Fourthed,’ Matilda said, beaming at her. ‘Can you make cupcakes, Grace? They’re my favourite.’
‘Chocolate or vanilla?’ Grace asked.
Matilda thought about it. ‘Both.’
Grace laughed. ‘Good choice. Yes.’
‘Are you going to marry Uncle Roland?’
Susie swept her daughter up and plonked her on her lap. ‘We’re not supposed to ask that, sweet-pea.’
‘Why not? I like Grace. So does Coco. I think she should marry Uncle Roland and then I can be the flower girl at the wedding,’ Matilda said.
Susie groaned. ‘I’m so sorry, Grace. She’s obsessed with being a flower girl.’
‘My best friend’s been a flower girl three times already,’ Matilda confided, ‘and she’s got a tiara with sparkly butterflies on it.’
‘That sounds lovely,’ Grace said, smiling.
‘I think you should go and tell Daddy the cake’s coming soon, Tilda,’ Susie said, and Matilda slid off her lap and scampered out of the kitchen. ‘I really am sorry about that,’ she said to Grace.
‘It’s fine. Really,’ Grace said.
‘Out of the mouths of babes,’ Philly said with a grin.
Then it hit Grace. This wasn’t anything like her first meeting with the Suttons. Roland was right. She hadn’t been judged and found wanting. His family was eccentric and bossy—and utterly lovely. And it felt as if they’d already taken her to their hearts.
‘This,’ she said, ‘feels exactly like my parents’ kitchen would if I had a brother who’d brought a girlfriend home to meet them for the first time.’
‘Is that a good thing?’ Joanna asked carefully.
Grace nodded. ‘Because, although I don’t have a brother, I do have a mother and a sister I love very much. And the best stepfather in the world.’
‘That sounds good to me.’ Joanna lifted her mug of coffee in a toast. ‘We really are pleased to meet you, Grace. And I’m sorry for the interrogation.’
‘No, we’re not,’ Philly admitted, not looking in the slightest bit abashed.
‘Of course you’re not,’ Grace said, laughing back. ‘Just as I wouldn’t be in your shoes.’
‘If it’s any consolation, they did it to me, too,’ Susie said, giving her a hug. ‘And they’re all right, this Devereux lot.’
The ice was well and truly broken then—especially when they re-joined the others in the drawing room and everyone tasted Grace’s cake. ‘You’re officially in charge of cake from now on,’ Will said. ‘And we are so going to pick your brains for tea room suggestions.’
‘Yes—Roland ought to show you the boathouse after lunch and tell you what he’s planned,’ Henry added. ‘He can explain them better than any of us can.’
‘Actually, I have new plans,’ Roland said. ‘I know exactly how we can make ourselves stand out for the wedding business.’
Grace had a feeling she knew what was coming next, and hid a smile.
‘We could,’ he suggested, ‘build a folly. A mini-Pantheon.’
Merciless teasing followed.
‘This lot has no vision,’ he sighed theatrically. ‘Grace, tell them you think it’s a great idea.’
‘I think I’ll stick with what you said originally,’ she said. ‘In two hundred years’ time, visitors to the house will be told that you were Roland the Mad Architect.’
‘She’s got your number, little brother,’ Will said with a grin.
After lunch—and after Grace had absolutely insisted on being allowed to help with the washing up—Roland took Grace out to the boathouse and explained what they were planning to do.