Page 26 of Forbidden Duke
She opened her own door and hopped out of the Ferrari. She stretched her long, denim-clad legs and met him behind the car, expecting him to get her bag. Normally a servant would but he popped the trunk and took it himself. When he’d first moved here, he’d carried his own bag to spite his father’s insistence they were nobles again. Donna wouldn’t be so strict as his father and he wanted her to becomfortable.
Donna smiled at him with trust. “You have a small, gentle horse forme?”
Red Devil came to mind, a mare the opposite of her name, and Gaia, a retired show horse, fit the bill. “I’m sure Ido.”
He carried the bag up the three steps and she stopped to put her sunglasses back in the car. Once she returned, she glanced higher and said, “This reminds me of the lawn at the WhiteHouse.”
Blackwell waved her inside. “Let me show you the house. I’m sure my mother will be around to impress you with ourwealth.”
The butler who opened the door immediately reached for her bag and Blackwell handed it tohim.
Donna unfastened her ponytail and ran her hands through her silky chestnut hair. “Why?”
His mother cared about him, which was why he’d follow the rules. “She knows I need to marry but hopes I’ll find a woman to love too. She’s formal, but my parents were very much in love. I’m the only child because when she had me, she almost died and my father couldn’t handle it if she left him.” He guided Donna to the right and toward a living area. The couch was pretentious with the gold gilding but his mother said it was a family heirloom. The rest of the room was simpler. He opened the door and showed her the sitting area that he used as a living room, complete with a view of thegardens.
Her hands went to her heart and she smiled. “That’s sweet. What happened to yourfather?”
His father had been larger than life and smarter than anyone else he’d ever met. “He died ten months ago. My mother is technically still in mourning…” The footsteps outside the door perked his ears and he knew it was his mother, here to meet Donna. He spoke loud enough for her to hear. “Speak of the devil herself. Here shecomes.”
Donna rubbed her arms. “My parents died when I was fifteen. My grandfather died when I was twenty-one and graduating college and my grandma died last year. Mourning is alwayshard.”
They took their seats in the sitting room, when the side doors flew opened and at first revealed a portrait of his grandfather. When they’d lived in Colorado that portrait had come with them and hung in their living room. It was comforting to see his image still with the family, in a place ofhonor.
His mother breezed through the door and had both her hands in the air, like she was joining a dance and not a conversation. She came over and kissed both his cheeks. “I was setting up to have a nice lunch on the patio in the dower house, when I heard your arrival. May I join my son and his bride forlunch?”
No. His heart stilled. He’d need to speak to his mother, alone, so she didn’t pressure Donna. He widened his stance and said, “Mother, Donna’s not my fiancée. She wants to get to know our lifestyle first, but please join us for lunch. The patio does sound nice. Would you like to dine al fresco,Donna?”
Donna nodded, stilled and lowered her head. “Sounds lovely, if you introduce us,Blackwell.”
Right. He straightened his shoulders and placed his hand on Donna’s lower back to keep her next to him. “Mother, this is Miss Donna Smith. Donna this is my mother. Martina Oberlin, the soon to be Dowager Duchess ofOakley.”
“Please call me Martina.” His mother came forward and hugged Donna. Then she kissed both of Donna’s cheeks, as this was customary. “I’ll happily be Dowager if I know my boy ishappy.”
Donna hugged her back, but didn’t kiss. “It’s nice to meetyou.”
His mother took her hands. “You, too. I’m so glad I told my son to go after you and notsettle.”
Donna’s gaze narrowed and she stared at him with a blank expression for a second. She then gazed at his mother and tilted her head, “You did? Why? We nevermet.”
His mother met his stare. He prayed she didn’t ruin his chances. She started but then bit her lip and finished, “I… I saw how happy my son was when he came home the day he met you and asked you to the wedding. I knew you must be special. I can see now I wasright.”
Good.She hadn’t said anything that Donna didn’t alreadyknow.
Donna folded her hands in front of her. “Is being a duchesshard?”
His mother waved off the question in her usual fashion. “It’s a job, like most people have. I’d happily show you how to do it if that’s one of yourworries.”
The answer seemed to calm Donna. “Actually, it was and if you’re here then it’s one less thing to worry about. After lunch, can we see this huge place? I’m afraid I’ll get lost withoutguidance.”
Blackwell reached down and took Donna’s hand in his. “Sure. Mother, I’m going to show Donna to our room. Please meet us on the patio in half anhour.”
His mother began to breeze out of the room, but she stopped and turned toward Donna. “I’ll order the meal on my way. That’s the first lesson of being a duchess. Always make sure my son is fed. He gets whiny withoutfood.”
Donnalaughed.
His jaw tightened. “Mother…”
She lifted her arms like she was in a ballroom dance as she floated out the door. “I’m going.Goodbye.”
“I like your mother,” Donna said as they followed a moment later. His mother wasn’t in the hallway so she must have gone to thekitchens.
Blackwell shook his head. His mother was unique and prone to getting her way. “Good, because she’s ahandful.”
Donna didn’t say anything else and he brought her to the main stairs. Soon he’d show her the layout of Woodbridge Hall and perhaps together they’d make this museum into a place he might callhome.
