Page 57 of The Beach Hut on Plum Island
As he stepped into the room, Harriet slammed the door shut and pulled him to where King Titus was still sitting in his chair. Finn felt like he’d stepped into one of those period movies where the King’s subjects had to approach his throne to address their king.
“Finn, I saw you surfing on Joyce Isles a few times,” Titus surprised Finn by saying. “You are a remarkable surfer.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Finn said with a slight bow.
“You can do away with the formalities, Finn,” Titus told him. “Right now, I’m just Harriet’s uncle. You may call me Titus.”
Finn nodded but didn’t know if he’d feel comfortable doing that and looked from Titus to Harriet. “Is everything okay?”
“I’m hoping it will be,” Titus told Finn and looked at Harriet. “We need your help, Finn.” He looked at Finn with his piercing gaze, making Finn feel like he was back in high school and in the principal’s office. “Actually, the whole of Joyce Isles needs your help.”
Finn’s alarm started to grow as he looked from Titus to Harriet. “Okay.”
“We need you to buy an olive grove,” Harriet told him with a grin.
“What olive grove?” Finn asked, even though he had a pretty good idea which one.
“The Gladstone’s olive grove,” Titus confirmed Finn’s suspicions.
Harriet made Finn promise in front of the king that nothing said in the room would go any further before they brought him up to speed with what was going on. By the time they’d finished telling him the story, Finn stood staring at them with afeeling that while he knew his life may change when he’d started out helping Harriet, it was now about to be turned completely upside down.
“While I may be comfortably well off,” Finn told them. “My finances won’t stretch to enable me to buy an entire olive farm that I’m guessing probably costs a small fortune.”
“It’s worth a lot more than a small fortune,” Titus assured Finn. “But fear not, Harriet and I will arrange that.” He glanced at Harriet, and Finn saw the flicker of pride that shone in his eyes. “My cunning niece has pointed out that should I endorse this union between the two of you, I have to offer you a substantial dowry.”
“No!” Finn held up his hands. “Sorry, sir, with no disrespect to your culture and traditions, I don’t believe in that.”
“Finn!” Harriet said with a laugh. “I wouldn’t allow it either, but please hear my uncle out.”
“Hearing that and the way I saw you meant it, gives me the confidence in you that Harriet has,” Titus told him. “I know this seems archaic to you, but as soon as I give my blessing to this union, you become part of the royal family of Joyce Isles.”
“Which means, like it or not, you get part of my money that comes with becoming part of my crazy family,” Harriet told him with a glint of mischief in her eyes. “It also gives you the means to get finance to buy the Gladstones debt from the bank and—“
“The best part is that I’ll give you the right to keep the olive trees,” Titus told him. “Which is one of the only reasons Gloria Gladstone has been able to hold the banks off for so long.”
Finn knew he probably looked like a guppy in a glass fishbowl with his jaw slightly open as he gaped at Titus and Harriet, but he couldn’t help it. He knew that this would be a crazy ride pulling off the charade that he and Harriet were engaged in, but this was taking the charade to the next level.
Finn was not comfortable handling other people’s money, especially on the scale Titus and Harriet were obviously talking about. Which brought him to his other state of shock. He’d known Harriet’s family was wealthy. They were royals that had a huge island the size of New Zealand, if not bigger. He’d just never thought of just how rich they were.
“Uh…” Finn looked at Titus. “If you wouldn’t mind, Your Majesty, could I speak with Harriet in private?”
“Of course,” Titus said with a nod. “Use one of the bedrooms. I’ll take a turn on the balcony and get some fresh sea air.”
Finn didn’t care which room they went into as he dragged Harriet with him. He glanced out the door and saw the king walk onto the balcony before he closed the door. Just to ensure the man couldn’t hear them, he pulled Harriet into the bathroom.
“I can assure you my uncle won’t eavesdrop on us,” Harriet teased.
“This has gone too far, Harriet.” Finn blew out a breath and started to pace the bathroom floor. “Your uncle’s now talking about dowries.” He stopped and looked at her. “Just how much is your dowry…” He shook his head. “People still have dowries?”
“No.” Harriet shook her head. “Well, sort of.” Her brows creased. “It’s more like sharing or—“ She pursed her lips as she tried to put it into words. “Think of it as part of a marriage agreement. A contract is drawn up that states we, as in me and my betrothed, will be given an estate and finances to ensure the smooth running of that estate.”
“But your uncle called it a dowry,” Finn pointed out.
“He does things like that,” Harriet stated. “He is old, you know. They still said things like that in the last century.”
“Funny!” Finn said. “But this is no joking matter, Harriet. I’m thinking you’re not talking about your uncle giving me a few hundred thousand, which even that’s an amount that I don’t was responsibility for.”
The teasing light went out of her eyes, and her look became serious. “I know this is a lot to ask,” Harriet told him. “And I understand if you want to back out. But I promise you that if you decide to help save Joyce Isles’s main source of income, my uncle will put measures in place to protect you and the funds you’ll be given.”
