Watson, Kathi Barton [little red riding hood ebook .txt] 📗

Chapter 5

Dinner wasn’t what she’d had in mind, but Rayne was enjoying it all the same. Aunt Selma told her how she’d been wanting to leave her sister’s grips for some time. Aunt Becky had moved in with her when Uncle Markus had passed away.

“I don’t know what she was thinking when she did that. We’ve never gotten along well. And to be honest with you, I don’t even know why she thought moving in with me would help me get over Markus’s death. The poor old soul was so ill the last few months of his life that I think he wanted to die.” She smiled at her. “Now, you’ll have to tell me what I can do for you and that lovely man of yours.”

“Nothing that I’m aware of. Unless you’re going to be living here with Grandda and us. There is plenty of room.” Aunt Selma said it was an impressive home. “I’m only just now getting used to the size of it. I love this place, and Wats.”

“That is obvious on both your faces. My goodness, he certainly is in love with you.” Rayne felt her face heat up. “The two of you, are you going to get married?”

They’d been in the kitchen eating a snack. As she’d been invited to have dinner with them by Wats, Grandda had decided to go as well. Wats joined them in the kitchen and took several carrots off her plate, and dipped them into the humus that had been given to them too.

“I wanted to do this later, but I think now is the perfect time.” He got down on one knee and pulled out the very ornate box. “This was given to me to propose with by my Aunt Holly when she passed away. I didn’t have any history with it, and it took several days for me to go to Uncle Clayton to get it.”

“Can I see it?” He opened the box. “Oh, Wats, this is beautiful. But much too expensive for me to wear.”

“Hush up and let him tell you the history. And just so you know, you deserve whatever this man gives you.” She looked at Wats. “Go on, young man. Tell her the story about this ring. I’m betting it’s a humdinger.”

“It is. Very colorful, as a matter of fact. My Aunt Holly received a lot of jewelry when she was born. This was never a part of the estate, so she decided that all of us, including her son, needed something from her things for us to pass on to our own children.” He looked at the ring after taking it from the box. “It belonged to my too many greats to remember them all aunt. Her name was Hester Wilkerson. She never married, but according to what Uncle Clayton knew about her, there was always someone she had on the hook. Meaning, he told me, she’d had more lovers than a woman half her age. This ring was given to her by the man that was most persistent in declaring that he loved her. Which Hester did him as well. But several days before the wedding of the decade was to be performed, Alexander Rihanoff was murdered in his own bed by one of his servants. His father, Lord Rihanoff, didn’t want his son to marry an American.”

“Well, that’s a terrible story.” He laughed and told her there was more. “I hope it’s a bit cheerier than what you’ve said so far.”

“It is. After Markus was murdered, my aunt decided to hunt down the man who had taken her love from her. Not the servant, but the man who had ordered the death. She traveled all the way to Russia—very unheard of for a woman to travel with just a maid. By the time she was in the country, her maternal state was very obvious. Another unheard of thing was a child being born out of wedlock. I’m sure it happened, but not to someone as wealthy and well known as my aunt. Anyway, the lord of the large castle wouldn’t see her. But that didn’t stop her from getting not only into his castle but in his bed-chamber too. She was even back then someone that men were afraid of. She was outspoken and didn’t care what others thought of her, my uncle Clayton told me.” He smiled at her. “The lord woke up with a blade at his throat and his balls. It’s said that the man was quite taken with her mannerisms as well as her carrying a son, he hoped, of his son.”

“Oh, I like this aunt of yours, Wats.” Wats told Selma that he did as well. “Did she end up having the child there in Russia? Was the old bastard at least generous enough with her so that she could have fun?”

“He was indeed. He not only welcomed her and her child yet to be born into his home but also handed over the entire estate, which would have gone to his son after his marriage, to my aunt. The aunt was very pleased, but it didn’t negate the fact that she’d lost the only love she would ever have. When the child was born—a girl, not a boy, as he so hoped—my aunt decided she couldn’t bring a child home with her without causing trouble for the rest of her family. Leaving the little girl there was, according to the story, one of the hardest things she’d ever done. But it was meant to be because when the older Rihanoff passed away, he left her everything as his only living relative.” Rayne asked him what happened after that. “Well, the story goes that the child grew up to be a beautiful, headstrong woman. She doubled the estate and gave her husband six children—five boys, then a little girl was born last. Her husband was her exact opposite in all things except for his love for