Love's Cure

Chapter 7

Alexander's POV

I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a woman's company so much. The six hour flight simply flew by as we exchanged life stories, and got to know each other. My attraction to her grew with each passing minute. She radiated joy and a sense of calmness. I felt peace enter my soul, something I hadn't felt since before my grandparents passed away.

I was astounded at how similar our life experience was. Like her, my grandparents had played a huge role in my life. My mother's parents provided the love and care that I so desperately needed. They saw how my parents neglected me emotionally and stepped in to fill that hole in my heart. They had often expressed their disappointment of my parents behaviour, in how they favored my two older brothers, and how everything my parents did revolved around George and Samuel, and the business.

My grandparents applauded my determination to travel my own career path and encouraged me every step of the way. Much like Cecilia had done, I moved in with my maternal grandparents after high school graduation, and when they passed away they left the majority of their estate to me in trust. It wasn't a huge estate in comparrision to my parents but it was far more than I expected and meant I wouldn't have to worry about my financial future. Just like Cecilia's grandmother, my grandparents had left a portion of their estate to my mother, and each of my brothers, but seventy percent of it was left to me.

My parents only response had been to rewrite their wills specifying that I receive one percent of their estate while my brother's would receive equal shares of the bulk of the estate. I was fairly certain they expected me to be upset by this move as they showed us their wills during a 'family' estate planning meeting. In truth, I was surprised they included me in the will at all, but I guess their lawyers advised them it was imperative they do so in order to ensure I had no grounds to contest the will when they died.

Much to my father's chagrin, I smiled and thanked them for their thoughtfulness. Expressed my gratitude, and acknowledged it was only fair since my brothers would be the ones to run the business. To dig in the knife just a little bit, I even signed off on my right of inheritance, citing I didn't need or want something that wasn't given with a free and loving heart. That immediately solidified my black sheep, disowned son status in the family.

Signing off on the right of inheritance in front of the lawyers caused both my parents and my brothers to bristle with embarrassment, though by that time I'm fairly certain even the lawyers understood how little regard my family had for me. By saying what I did I made it known that I also knew and understood their blatant disregard for me, their unloved son. It was my way of letting them know the feeling were mutual.

That was four years ago. Four years in which I had very little contact with my parents and siblings. Occasionally I would receive what I jokingly referred to as a 'royal command' from my father demanding I make an appearance at one social function or another. Usually it was at a gathering where we were expected to show a united front to some business mogul my father wanted to woo into doing business with Webster Corp. I would show up, stay for a very brief time, then quietly leave when my family was otherwise occupied.

It was at those meetings I got a glimpse of the true character of Kaden Jones and Andrea Cole, as well as the people who I now understand are Cecilia's parents, Eric and Candace Clowater. The Clowater family were what my grandmother had at one time described as social climbing, status seeking, money grubbing, gold-diggers. From what I observed at those functions she was spot on with her judgement of them. The one time I had been introduced to them I went away feeling like I had to scrub off the 'ick'.

I vaguely recalled a conversation I had with my grandparents the day she voiced her judgement of that family. It was probably just about the time Cecilia would have moved to Halifax. My grandparents had been discussing the gossip they had heard about Candace Clowater contesting her mother's will. Of course I was eager to listen because the more information I had the better I could navigate certain social situations.

It had proved to be a subject rife with gossip for many months. There had been talk of how Candace ended up disowning her daughter as well as cutting ties with her father. It was that action that percipitated Cecilia changing her last name to Love. Never would I have connected the Clowaters with Cecilia Love, this down to earth, vivacious, kind woman seated beside me.

Cecilia and I ceased our chatter long enough to deplane and go through customs before heading to the baggage claim area for our luggage. I was surprised to see she had only two large suitcases compared to my four. When I mentioned that she packed light she gigggled. "Don't you believe it. I've known for six months that I would be moving here to complete my residency. So I shipped most of my stuff a month ago and had it delivered to my home here. The folks downstairs accepted the delivery and put it in my flat. They keep an eye on the place while we're not there."

"Wow, you trust your tennants enough to give them a key to you place?" I asked. That level of trust is not something I am familiar with. I would never trust anyone except Andrew Long to have a key to my place.

"Considering they have lived there for the last twenty-five years, and are good friends of my Gramps? You could say I definitely trust them that much." Cecilia responded, her voice softening with fondness. "Charlie and Bea are wonderful people. They are kind of like another set of grandparents. They are going to love you! Especially Bea. She has a thing for a TDH man."

"TDH man?" I questioned. "What's a TDH man?"

"Tall, dark, and handsome." Her giggle was infectious. "I can confirm that you tick every single one of those boxes." Her eyes traveled the length of my body and sparkled as she met my eyes.

"Oh, you think I'm handsome?" I asked playfully.

"Well, duh," she scoffed. "Just take a look in any mirror for the answer to that. I mean, have you seen you?"

I burst out laughing. This girl! She didn't play coy, didn't pretend to be shy. She wasn't afraid to voice her thoughts. I like that about her. She would keep me on my toes!

She took a glance at her cell phone and smiled. "Come on, Charles and Bea are parked at the pick-up area out front." She stepped up her pace, eager to see her friends.

Maneuvering the baggage carts through the busy throng of travelers was not an easy feat, but we managed it without doing damage to ourselves or others. Exiting the building Cecilia looked back and forth trying to spot our ride. A man's voice, loudly calling 'Cece, over here,' gained her attention. She rushed forward, dragging her cart behind her.

"Charlie, I am so happy to see you!" She threw her arms around the gentleman and gave him a tight squeeze. Letting him go she then hugged a grey-haired woman. "Bea, it's so good to see you. I've missed you and Charlie so much." Cecilia's love for these two people was evident in her greeting.

"Alexander, come meet Charlie and Bea!" She called excitedly. "Charlie, Bea, this is my friend, Alexander Webster. He's going to be staying at the flat with me."

Charlie and Bea's eyebrows shot up nearly into their hairline with surprise. Charlie was the first to respond. "Friend? As in boyfriend?"

I liked the sound of that so much that I didn't give Cecilia time to reply. "Yes sir. I'm Cecilia's boyfriend. We just made it official today, didn't we Cecilia?" I shot her a wink and a smile. Not sure what prompted me to say this, but I did so much want it to be true so I decided to stake my claim.

Open mouthed, she stared at me, then quickly agreed. "Well, yes we did. But I wasn't sure we were telling anyone yet."

Thank goodness she decided to go along with my bold statement. I would have looked like a right fool if she had disagreed. Though come to think of it, technically I'm not wrong. I am a boy, well a man, and I am her friend.

I just have to work on making sure our relationship moves into the romantic realm. Without even realizing it, I had made up my mind that come hell or high water, Cecilia was going to be mine, and I was going to be hers. My heart was fully engaged. How it could happen that fast was a bit of a surprise, but I couldn't deny how right it felt.

Charlie patted me on the shoulder to get my attention. "Come on lad. You're a strapping young man, so put you back into loading up the bags so we can get on our way."

The smirk on Cecilia's face, and the suppressed laughter had me instinctively giving a light swat to her backside. "Can you grab my briefcase and your purse, my love? I'll look after the rest."

'Who's laughing now, my dear?' I thought as I caught the look of surprise flashing across her face at my actions. Didn't expect that now did she?

She grabbed the items I requested as I loaded the suitcases in the back of the Land Rover, then climbed in the front passenger seat as the women were already buckled into the rear seat. Charlie's driving was quick and sure as he navigated the vehicle out of the airport area and onto the road to our destination.

It took me a bit to get used to driving on what I considered to be the wrong side of the road, understanding that to him it was as natural as breathing. Charlie's conversation with me could only be described as a 'parental interrogation' of the man dating their daughter, making it clear to me that is how they really viewed her. A much loved 'daughter'.

Knowing someone was looking out for Cecilia and her best interests put my heart at ease. I gladly answered his every question about myself, my financial status, and future prospects. I had a feeling that information would be conveyed to Cecilia's grandfather long before my head hit the pillow this evening.

The funny thing is, I didn't mind that one bit.