Neville barks at the door a second before the muffled sound of gravel crunching under tires reaches my ears.
She’s here.
Whether I’m ready or not, it’s time to meet the woman I’m supposed to marry.
Sucking in a breath, I pull my hair out of its holder and make sure the left side drapes over my face. I know she said she wasfine with the scars, but I don’t want them to be the first thing she sees.
A quick look down shows my nicest jeans are still clean, as is the t-shirt and flannel covering my torso. My good boots are a little scuffed but that can’t be helped when you live in the forest.
Satisfied I’m presentable, I walk to the door and pull it open.
The second there’s enough space for his stocky body, Neville shoots outside barking his happy bark, and I can’t help chuckling. “At least one of us is giving an enthusiastic welcome.”
The high-end car is the first thing to snag my attention. I’m a little surprised to see an older man sitting in the driver’s seat, gaze down on his phone. At the rear of the Range Rover a woman so petite for half a second I think she’s a child, is removing trash bags and placing them off to the side.
“What the fuck?” I mutter as I stride over, my glare aimed at the man through the windshield. My anger grows when he takes no notice, and the woman continues to remove bags from the vehicle. When I get near her I say, “Let me help.”
She jumps, a little squeak leaving her as she spins and focuses on me, one delicate hand pressed to her chest. “Oh. Sorry. I didn’t see you.”
Her voice is smooth, soft and melodic in a way that calms my anger and makes me smile. “It’s okay. Is this all your things?”
“Y-yes.” Her gaze darts away, her focus back on the remaining items in the car.
My gaze follows hers and I’m slightly confused by the bags full of groceries. “You brought food?”
“I paid for it.” Her tone has shifted. Now it has the hard edge of defense. Defiance.
“It’s not a problem,” I hurry to say, silently cursing my lack of social grace. The last thing I need is to scare this woman off before she even gets a good look at my face. “I’ll grab them.”
Leaning over, I scoop up all the handles and pull the bags from the vehicle. “Is this everything?” I ask, trying not to put any kind of negative emotion in my voice.
“Yes.” She wraps her arms around her middle.
I frown.
She’s folding in on herself. It’s barely physical, a small hunch of her shoulders, a lowered chin, but in spite of how small those movements are, she seems to have shrunk to half her size in less than a second. And she isn’t that big to begin with.
Trying to sound welcoming, I say, “Come on, I’ll show you inside and we can put your groceries away.”
With a nod, she turns and picks up one of the trash bags.
“I can come back out to get those.” I want to make things easy. Make Riley comfortable, and I fear I’m already failing.
“I need?—”
Her words cut off when the tailgate of the Rover begins to come down. We step back together and I watch in shock when the SUV takes off the second the rear door latches.
Gravel and mud spew behind it as the car swings around too fast and heads down the driveway. The bottom of my jeans get splattered; luckily I’m between Riley and the spray of muck so her clothes don’t receive the same treatment.
Scowling at the car disappearing between the trees, I mutter, “I guess you already paid the driver.”
RILEY
“Iguess you already paid the driver.”
The man’s gravelly voice snaps me out of my head and I glance up at him. “Um…no. He’s my…uncle?”
With a chuckle the big man beside me looks down and asks, “Is that a question? Do you not know who he is?”
