Love's Cure

Chapter 4

Cecilia's POV

Gramps and I enjoyed a coffee and cinnamon roll, keeping our conversation light while in public, then drove back home. And it is home. I have lived with Gramps for the past seven years, not once going back to Toronto to see my parents. Nor have they come here. Gramps is of the same opinion of them as me. My parents are selfish, self-absorbed elitist snobs. Neither of us has anything to do with them.

I had recorded my conversation with Kaden, as when he had contacted me asking for a meeting I just knew it was going to be something I didn't like. I had arrived at the cafe first, and turned on the audio recording just as he walked in. I placed my phone face down on the table so he wouldn't know I was recording our conversation. I was born in the night, but it wasn't last night, a phrase my Gramps used a lot.

Once Gramps and I got settled in the den, I told him about Kaden's call, his request for a meeting, and then I hit play. The more he heard the more irate he became. But the end of the recording he was fuming. "Those two wretches didn't even have the decency to talk to you themselves!" He seethed. "They sent their errand boy to deliver their edict. Assholes!"

The way he spat the word 'assholes' had me breaking out in laughter. "That they are, Gramps. That they are." I agreed with his assessment of his daughter and her husband. "I don't understand how mother turned out to be the way she is. You're not like that at all. Neither was Grammy. Did she fall and hit her head? What went wrong with her?"

"Your father happened to her. She met him at university. I never liked him, or his family. Big feeling, conceited, elitist. So concerned with their image and climbing the social ladder, it's sickening. I know a lot of well-to-do people and they don't all act like that. Most of them are good people with their feet firmly planted on the ground. But there are a few wealthy families that think they are better than everyone else, all because they have money. That's your father's family. Unfortunately your mother became just as bad as them."

Gramps snorted as he thought about his daughter. "For some reason your mother always had an inflated opinion of herself so she fit right in." He sighed. "I love my daughter, but I don't like the person she has become. She became worse when she was pregnant with you, and even worse when you weren't the boy her husband and inlaws wanted. Angry that due to complications during your birth she couldn't have any more children. Just a bad situation all the way around. Your grandmother and I were here in Canada then, so we weren't able to get to London until you were two days old."

"So that's why I've always been treated like dirt, and raised by nannies. They blame me for something that I had no control over. Now it makes sense." At long last I knew the reason my parents disliked me. Only now, when they wanted to profit from my existence am I considered to be of use.

"What do you want to do, Cecilia? Please tell me you are not going along with their schemes." He pleaded with me hoping I would make the right decision.

"Gramps, there is no way in hell that I would agree to what they want. Sunday morning I'm getting on that plane and flying off to London to interview for the residency position. You should come with me! Close up the house here, and fly with me to London. There's plenty of room in the flat. You know you love that place." My late grandmother was originally from London and had inherited her parents home. She had converted it into two separate flats, renting one out and keeping the other one for her and Gramps to use.

My grandfather had worked in the insurance industry for all of his adult life. He had worked at the companys head office in London for five years, and that's where he met Grammy. They married, had my mother, and the following year he was transferred back to Halifax to manage the main office in Nova Scotia. When her parents died, she as an only child, inherited not just the property in London, but also their busiess, making Grammy a moderately wealthy womam.

Grammy and Gramps made sure that they visited Toronto often when I was growing up. They were my only source of family love as my father's family shunned me, I now learned it was for having the audacity to be born a girl. Their loss as far as I was concerned. When Grammy passed away just after my 16th birthday I was heart broken. Her estate wasn't settled until after I had moved to Halifax to live with Gramps while I went to university.

That's what caused the rift between my mother and Gramps. Grammy had left half of her estate to Gramps and much to my mother's fury, she left the other half to me, in trust, while leaving my mother the grand sum of one hundred thousand dollars. Both of my parents were furious and contested the will. Not only did they lose, the resulting legal fees ate up a large portion of the amount left to her. Neither she nor dad have spoke to either me or Gramps since her words on the courhouse steps. "You're dead to me, both of you!" Then they turned and stalked away, never to be seen or heard from again until they sent Kaden Jones to deliver their message.

Gramps was considering my suggestion. I could tell the idea appealed to him greatly. He had his hip replaced four months ago and was still doing physiotherapy. I hadn't wanted to leave him so soon after his surgery, but we had hired a live-in caregiver who was currently enjoying a few hours to himself while Gramps and I were chatting.

"Why don't we wait for you to decide if you are taking the position in London, or the one in Austrailia. Once you know and get settled I will join you. How does that sound?"

"Okay, I will make sure your room is ready for you when you are able to join me." Having Gramps with me would be good for both of us. We only have each other and I wanted to have as much time with him as I could. Just shy of seventy, he wasn't getting any younger. I didn't even want to think about the time when he was no longer on this earth. I would be very lonely, indeed.

"You won't have to worry about money. You have your bank cards and passbooks. All the expenses for the property come out of the trust account automatically. So I won't worry about that. All you have to do is unpack, and buy food. It's a relief to me to know I won't have to worry about anything else." Gramps eyes got a bit misty, thinking about me being on my own thousands of miles away from him and his constant care of me. I honestly felt the same way. "If you decide to take the position in Austrailia, we can arrange for the trust to cover living expenses there."

"I'll make sure to call you every day, even if it's just to leave a voice mail message. And we can do video calls too so we can see each other. Then before you know it, you'll be on a flight to join me!" I tried to keep my voice upbeat and positive sounding. I didn't want to break down in tears. I'd do enough of that when I was all alone.

Gramps gave me a big hug. "You bet I will. If it's alright with you I'll plan to stay for the full two years of your residency." He winked at me and chuckled. "Best thing is neither of us have to apply for a visa since we have dual citizenship in the UK." He was right about that. He became a British citizen when living and working there. I had been born there, coming six weeks early while my parents were living there for a year.

I jumped on his suggestion so fast I startled him. "That's a grand idea, Gramps. I can't wait! Maybe we can arrange for your physiotherapy to be done in London, too. It would get you there sooner rather than later."

He chuckled. "That's something to look into. I love you pumpkin. Don't ever forget that. Now how about we order in for supper? Maybe Cedric wants to join us. Pizza and beer?"

"Of course! Can't break our Friday night tradition," I chuckled. Let me check with Cedric before I order the pizza. I'm pretty sure there's a case of beer in the fridge." Not that we would drink that much, We usually had a couple of a local craft beer each and that was it until the next Friday night. No one could ever accuse Gramps or I of over indulging. We led a fairly tame life.

After checking with Cedric, Gramps caregiver, I ordered the pizza and chatted with both men while waiting for the pizza to arrive. After eating I cleaned up the dishes while Cedric and Gramps settled in for a couple games of chess. They would spend hours plotting strategy as they moved the chess pieces over the board. It was best to leave them to it.

I went to my room and turned on my laptop. Curiousity got the better of me. I did an internet search on Alexander Webster. I couldn't help but feel sorry for the man. The Webster family was at the pinacle of the elite in Toronto. I wondered if Alexander was happy about the arranged marriage, or if he, like me, was totally appalled at the idea.

There wasn't much on Alexander, but there was a whole lot about the Webster family. There was one photo that caught my eye. It was of the parents and the three sons. The blurb under the photo gave a name to each of the individuals shown. Alexander was standing behind and slightly to the right of his mother's shoulder. He was the tallest of the men, standing a good four inches above the one beside him.

He was also the best looking of the three sons. I enlarged the photo in an attempt to get a better look at his face. Holy frig. That man is drop dead handsome! His hair appears to be either dark brown or black, toussled curls begging to have fingers running through them. I couldn't be certain but his eyes looked to be a dark blue. I would love to see them up close. I sighed realizing I would never have the opportunity to meet the man.

Oh well. What can a girl do?