‘But that’s awful if he plans to do that,’ Carly exclaimed. ‘You don’t deserve that.’
Benson gave her a weary look. ‘I don’t know if he does, but...it’s partly my fault if you believe today’s psychology. I worked too hard, especially after Pearl’s death. I ignored both Rachel and her brother in their formative years.’ He sighed. ‘I lost my daughter as a consequence, and my son grew up lazy and entitled who spawned a son in his image.’
He coughed into his hand and Carly handed him a glass of water. ‘Listen to me. An old man’s lamenting. That’s another terrible thing about old age. Apart from being that much closer to death you become full of remorse. You see things you never saw before and value things you hadn’t even considered. When I was young I thought winning and success were all important. I had Pearl minding the home front and I didn’t even know I was missing out on anything until she was gone. Dare, from what I can tell, lives the same way.’
‘He’s married!’ Carly felt so shocked by the thought her heart stopped beating.
‘No, no. As far as I know he’s single.’
And now it was beating too fast. She had to stop dwelling on that horrible man. ‘Well, I can’t imagine a woman putting up with him,’ she declared with feeling.
‘Oh, they put up with him all right. They’re banging down his door to get to him.’
‘Aesthetically he’s very pleasing,’ Carly conceded grudgingly, ‘but his personality could use some work.’
Benson chuckled. ‘Maybe he just needs the love of a good woman.’
Carly glanced up sharply at his tone. ‘Don’t look at me when you say that,’ she cautioned.
‘Can you blame me?’ He shifted against his pillows and Carly fluffed them. ‘He already likes you and you’ll make some man very happy one day, my dear.’
Carly felt a lump form in her throat and cleared it away. ‘That’s very nice of you to say but I’m probably more messed up than your grandson. And you couldn’t be more wrong about him liking me. Now go to sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.’
Just before she left, the Baron cleared his throat. ‘Carly, there’s one more thing.’
‘Yes?’
‘I was hoping you would join us for lunch tomorrow.’
‘With Rachel?’ Carly said, surprised.
‘Yes. It might actually help keep the table balanced.’
What he meant, Carly suspected, was that he might need the moral support. After experiencing the full impact of Dare’s calculated put-downs Carly wasn’t surprised. Not that she couldn’t handle men like Dare James. She’d learnt her lesson well at Daniel’s cradle.
‘I’d be happy to join you,’ she said, and she was. Perhaps Benson would take the opportunity to tell them about his illness—and her real role in his life—and she would hate to miss seeing the shock on his grandson’s horrible face.
‘Thank you, Carly. You’re a true angel.’
Carly gave him a pointed look. ‘Call me that again and I’ll have Mrs Carlisle serve you tofu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.’
He chuckled. ‘Pearl had your spirit.’
He heaved a sigh and didn’t say any more. He didn’t have to. He was a worried man who wanted to make amends. It quite broke Carly’s heart to see it.
So much so that the following morning, while she tried to jog off her lack of sleep the previous night, she decided that no matter what happened at lunch she would remain completely civil to Dare.
She might not like the man at all, but then she didn’t have to. He would be gone at the end of the day and, as she only had two weeks left at Rothmeyer House herself, the chances of seeing him again were slim to none.
Thinking about that reminded her of the email she’d received from her temping agency and had yet to respond to. The truth was she was a little tired of temping, but what would she do instead?
It was one year, three months and four days since they had lost Liv and she knew her parents wanted her home.
But was she ready for that? Ready to run into Daniel? Ready to face the memory of Liv’s trusting face as she had held Carly’s hand through every oncologist meeting?