London Loves - Book 3 - Love's Great Adventure Series (3 page)

“I’ll tell you what: when you’re sixteen, I’ll buy you Chanel.” Then he added an additional caveat: “As long as you keep your grades up.”

“Well, that shouldn’t be a problem since she takes after me. He didn’t buy me my first Chanel until I was eighteen,” Tess said in mock horror.

Sebastian laughed. “That’s not fair, Tess. I didn’t know you when you were sixteen.”

“I want to see your Chanel!” Mattie exclaimed. “Can I try it on?”

“Once we unpack, you can try it on,” Tess agreed.

“Penny, the movers are arriving today. Do you mind watching Mattie until we can get her bedroom sorted out?”

“No problem. She’s a joy to have around.”

“Can we have tea at Harrods?” Mattie asked.

“Yes, that’s an excellent idea. You’ve been a huge help to me today, Mattie.”

“It’s settled then. Give us hug,” Sebastian said, kneeling down in front of his daughter.

“Do you want to ring me when you’re ready for Mattie?”

“Yes, that sounds perfect. Thanks, Penny.”

Mattie opened the door to their new flat and raced inside. Sebastian and Tess were bent over boxes, unpacking the kitchen. “Hi, Daddy,” she said jumping onto Sebastian’s back. He teetered a moment, thrown off balance, but steadied himself to prevent falling over.

“Whoa, what’s this all about?” he asked, laughing.

Penny followed behind, setting her purse on the counter. “How are you making out?”

“Mattie, your room is unpacked. Do you want to see it?” Tess asked.

She furiously nodded her head up and down and reached for her mom’s hand. The two of them disappeared from the kitchen, leaving Sebastian and Penny alone. “I hope she wasn’t too much trouble for you.”

“I adore her, Sebastian. I still can’t believe you have a child.”

“Marrying Tess and having Mattie was the best decisions I ever made. You should try it,” he said as his lip curled upwards into a grin.

“Yes, but there is only one problem: in order to get married, I need a boyfriend first.” Penny sat at the kitchen table, looking sad and dejected. “Don’t suppose you know anyone you’d like to introduce me to?”

“Considering I just moved back, give me a few weeks.”

“I’m not getting any younger. I really do think I’d like to settle down and have children.”

“You can borrow my precocious four-year-old anytime you’d like,” Sebastian offered.

“I’ll take you up on that.” Penny rose from the chair and kissed Sebastian on the cheek. “I’d best be getting home to prepare for the charity gala. Let me say goodbye to Tess and Mattie.”

They walked down the hallway and entered Mattie’s room to find Tess and Mattie sitting on the bed talking.

“So what do you think of your new room?” Sebastian asked. The room was a simple square shape. They’d furnished it will a twin-sized bed, a wardrobe, a toy chest, and Mattie’s rocking chair. The walls were painted pale pink.

“I love it!”

“I have to get ready for the ball, Mattie. I’ll see you later, all right?”

“Can you take pictures, so I can see them later?”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Maybe you’ll meet a prince and get married.”

Penny gave Sebastian a wary glance. Marrying a prince wasn’t in the cards for Penny, she’d had her chance years ago, but it wasn’t meant to be. She smiled at Mattie and gave her hug. “You never know what the future holds.”

After Mattie was tucked into bed and sleeping, Sebastian and Tess opened a bottle wine and crashed on the sofa, surrounded by boxes. “I’m exhausted,” Tess began. “Thank goodness I have the weekend off before I start work on Monday. Do you think we’ll be able to finish unpacking by then?”

“Of course we will. Once I take the boxes out of the house, it will look much better.”

“I’m so glad Mattie likes her room.”

Sebastian sipped his wine. “She’s just like you—taking it all in stride. I can’t believe we’re actually here. I never would have guessed we’d end up living in London.”

“You say it like you’re unsure of our decision,” Tess said with concern.

“No, I’m happy to make the move. It was just an unexpected surprise, that’s all,” he explained. “I can still work for Fiona. I get to see Penny and Sigourney. I was even thinking about finding my father.”

“We’re here now. There’s nothing to stop you. Maybe you can contact Max and Victoria and they’d be willing to tell you what they remember about him,” Tess suggested. “Do you think they’d talk to you? How much influence does Lily really have over them?”

Sebastian shrugged. “I haven’t talked to them in years. It’s not a bad idea. Maybe they can tell me something to give the private investigator a place to start his search—once I hire an investigator. I’ll talk to Sigourney later. Right now, I need to make sure we’re settled in.”

Tess leaned into Sebastian and hugged him. “I have a good feeling about this. I think something amazing is going to happen.”

Sebastian kissed the top of her head. “I hope you’re right.”

The flat was unpacked and looking neat and organized. Sebastian and Mattie had sent Tess off to work with a kiss—now all he had to do was entertain a four-year-old. That probably wouldn’t be hard, since they were living in the cultural center of England.

Sebastian guided Mattie through the rooms at the Tate Gallery, holding her small, delicate hand in his. Something caught her eye and she pulled her father toward the painting.

She looked up to him and said, “Pick me up, Daddy. I want to see better.”

Sebastian obliged, lifting her up and cradling her in his arms. “You’re getting too big, Mattie.” He smiled, secretly delighted that she still loved to be held by him.

She studied the painting of several women walking down a curved stone staircase, playing musical instruments. They were wearing thin, gossamer tunics and their red spirals of hair were elegantly coiffed atop their heads. “I like this one. It’s pretty. Who made it?”

“This painting is by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. It was painted in 1880.”

“Wow, that’s old.”

“Yes, it is,” Sebastian agreed. “What do you like about the painting?” he quizzed his daughter.

“They look like angels, Daddy.”

“Do you notice how they all have the same face?”

Mattie nodded. “Why is that, Daddy?”

“Well, you see, the woman who posed for the painter was his muse.”

“What’s a muse?” the child asked.

“A muse is someone who inspires you to create beautiful things,” Sebastian explained. “The painter was so inspired by this woman, he made all the ladies in the painting look just like her.”

“Was he married to her?”

Sebastian chuckled. How on earth did this little one come up with these questions? “No, he wasn’t married to her.” He didn’t have the heart to tell her the muse was the artist’s mistress—nor did he want to explain to his four-year-old what a mistress was.

“Was he in love with her?” Mattie countered.

“Yes, he was madly in love with her,” Sebastian replied, touching the tip of his nose to hers. “Just like I’m madly in love with you.”

“I love you, too,” Mattie replied with a giggle.

He gently set her back down on her feet and looked at his Rolex. “It’s almost noon. We should get going if we’re going to meet your mum for lunch.”

“We can come back here later?”

“Absolutely,” her father agreed.

They made their way down the marble staircase and toward the main entrance door. “Daddy, my shoe is untied,” Mattie said, looking down at her long shoelace that was resting on the floor.

“Do you want me to tie it for you?” Sebastian offered to help.

“No, I can do it.” She bent over and meticulously made two loops with the shoe strings and tied them. Sebastian watched intently until she finished the task. She stood up and took her father’s hand and almost bumped into an older woman as she took a step forward.

Sebastian stopped in his tracks. The woman standing in front of him was his mother. She hadn’t changed at all. She still wore a tailored designer suit, sensible pumps, and her hair was pulled back in the usual updo. His mouth went dry. It had been seven years since their disastrous encounter—the encounter that changed his life for the better.

“Sebastian?” She said his name in the form of a question, obviously taken aback to find him standing in front of her after all these years. She turned to observe the small, adorable child standing next to him, who had Sebastian’s brown hair and blue eyes.

Sebastian said nothing. Mattie finally broke the silence. “Hello,” she cheerfully greeted.

“Hello, I’m Lady Lily Irons,” Lily responded. “And who might you be?”

“I’m Mattie Irons. We have the same last name!” Mattie extended her small hand to shake her grandmother’s.

Sebastian instinctively stood in front of Mattie to act as a buffer between his mother and his daughter. Mattie peered around his thigh.

“This is your child?” Lily asked in amazement.

Sebastian turned and protectively picked Mattie up in his arms. “Come on, Mattie. We’ll be late for lunch with your mum.”

“Do we get to take the Tube?” Mattie asked with enthusiasm.

“Yes, we’ll go on a little adventure,” Sebastian smiled.

Mattie turned back to face Lily. “It was nice to meet you,” she said as Sebastian quickly brushed past his mother and eagerly exited the museum.

Once outside, the cool air hit Sebastian in the face and snapped him out of his shock. He continued to hold Mattie in his arms, and with a quick pace walked down the road toward Pimlico Station. A heavy sigh escaped his lips.

“Daddy, was that lady our family?” she asked, looking back over her father’s shoulder.

“No, Mattie,” he curtly replied.

“But she has the same last name as we do,” she protested.

“Yes. But you’ll find that just because someone shares your last name, that does not make them family.”

“Aunt Sigourney is family.”

“And so is Aunt Alice, Uncle Henry, and Aunt Penny, but they don’t have our last name,” Sebastian politely reminded her. What was he doing trying to reason with a four year old? He decided to change the subject. “How about we pick up some flowers for mummy in the train station? What should we buy her?”

Thankfully, Mattie was easily distracted. “A big bouquet! We should get Gerbera daisies and roses and tiger lilies.”

“Tiger lilies? I don’t think they’re in season right now.”

“I don’t care, Daddy. I like the name. Grrrr!” She scrunched her nose, bared her teeth, and clawed her hands up in his face to mimic a tiger cub.

“Oh, you’re a very scary tiger, indeed.”

Sebastian and Mattie entered the Associated Press building and rode the elevator to the twenty-fifth floor. They walked over to the front desk and Sebastian introduced himself. “Hello, we’re here to see Tess Irons. Can you please let her know her husband and daughter are here to take her to lunch?”

The receptionist smiled down at Mattie and then picked up the receiver to make the call. A few minutes later, Tess was walking toward them.

“We bought you flowers for your first day of work,” a beaming Mattie announced.

Tess looked at the large bouquet of daisies and roses. “I love them, thank you. Let’s go put them on my desk and I’ll grab my purse and we can be on our way.”

Tess walked them through a maze of cubicles. There was a busy excitement in the newsroom: people on the phone, some typing away on computers, others rushing about the floor. It was controlled chaos and Sebastian understood immediately why Tess loved her job. They entered the three-walled cubicle and Mattie took a seat in her mother’s swivel chair. Tess placed the vase of flowers next to the photo of the three of them in Central Park.

“Come, Mattie. Mummy only has an hour for lunch,” Sebastian reminded his daughter.

They sat in a nearby park, eating take-away sandwiches while Mattie ran around the lush green grass, burning off energy. “How is your first day going?” Sebastian asked, after swallowing a bite of his prawn sandwich.

“Good, I thought it might be hard, but the procedures are the same, it’s just getting to know everyone on the team. I’m happy.” Tess sat back and gave Sebastian a long, hard look. “How is your day? You seem a little off. Is Mattie driving you crazy?”

“I took Mattie to the Tate Gallery this morning and had the misfortune to run into Lily.”

“Oh my God, what happened?”

“We bumped into her as we were leaving. Mattie was all talk and smiles. I was in shock—all I could think about was getting Mattie out of there and protecting her.”

“You did, Bas. You’re an amazing father,” Tess said to comfort him.

“Lily was gobsmacked to see me with a child in tow.”

“Yes, I would imagine so.” Tess reached over and took his hand. “She doesn’t know where we live. She cut you out of the family. Please don’t let this rattle you.”

“I suppose you’re right. It wouldn’t be realistic to think I could live in London and not run into her eventually.” Sebastian let out a weary sigh. “I guess it is better that it happened sooner than later.”

“Sebastian, you take care of us, you protect us. There is no one else I’d ever want to have my back. I love you.”

He pulled Tess into his arms and hugged her tight. “Thank you, darling,” he whispered in her ear. “You’re right. She can’t hurt us. I won’t let her.”

Tess looked at her wrist watch. “I’ve got to be getting back. We can talk more tonight, I promise.”

Sebastian picked up the rubbish and placed it in the brown paper bag. “Mattie, come on. It’s time to go,” he called out to this daughter.

Sebastian and Mattie walked Tess back to work, giving her hugs and kisses before they headed for the Tube. “Daddy, can we stop in and see Aunt Penny?”

“Mattie, you saw her a few days ago,” Sebastian reasoned.

“But I want to hear about the ball!” she protested.

Sebastian checked the time. “Well, I reckon we can pop in and see if she’s home.”

“Yay!” Mattie exclaimed, jumping up and down.

They rode to Kensington High Street Station and walked to Penny’s townhouse. Mattie rushed up the front steps and was knocking on the red door before Sebastian had a chance to ring the doorbell.