Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 142976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 477(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 477(@300wpm)
“Also, Cyrus is coming over in a few minutes with some papers he’s going to need you to sign.”
“What papers?”
“I’ll leave it to him to explain it to you.”
“It can’t wait?”
“Better to get it over with.”
“You’re being a little cryptic,” she complained.
“Am I?” he asked cryptically and she glowered at him.
He grinned unrepentantly.
“God, you’re annoying sometimes,” she said and his grin widened.
“But you love me anyway, right?”
“Ugh, you know I do.”
The doorbell rang and she squeaked.
“Is that Cyrus? Right now? But I look terrible. And I’m not dressed.” Her hand went to her hair, which had mostly dried while she was asleep. She would usually have braided it, so it was a bit messy. Not that Cade cared. She looked amazing no matter what.
“You look beautiful,” he reassured her. “And he’s not expecting you to be dressed up fancy to meet him, you were in the hospital. Just stay right where you are, he’ll come to you.”
Cyrus was brimming with concern and sympathy when Cade let him in. The older man went straight to Fern—who still felt more than a little self-conscious about meeting her attorney in her sleep shirt—and sat down on one of the easy chairs.
“How are you doing, Fern? I’m so sorry about what happened. If I’d known things would turn out this way, I would have rejected Abernathy’s request out of hand.”
Cade handed the man a cup of coffee and sat down in the same spot as before, taking Fern’s feet back into his lap.
“So many people apologizing for Granger’s actions,” Fern said, her eyes darting to Cade wanting him to know she meant him as well. “When the only one responsible for what Granger did, is Granger himself. I don’t blame you for facilitating the meeting, I don’t blame Cade for not catching me, any more than I blame the stairs for being there or the floor for breaking my fall. So please… no more apologies. Okay?”
Cyrus nodded and smiled.
“How are you feeling?”
“Perfectly fine, thank you. And so’s the baby.” Her hand went to her tummy to give it a reassuring pat. “So, what brings you around?”
Cyrus exchanged an enigmatic glance with Cade, before balancing his briefcase on his lap and removing a sheaf of papers from the interior.
He cleared his throat and leaned forward to hand the documents over to Fern.
“This is an offer from Hawthorne Construction & Engineering to purchase Lambecrete (Pty) Ltd from its owner Fern Imogen Lambert to the tune of two hundred seventy-three million five hundred twenty-two thousand pounds.”
“What?” she whispered, her wide unseeing eyes going over the bold print at the top of the page without absorbing a single word. “I’m not sure… I don’t understand. What does this mean?”
“It means that we’re buying Lambecrete from you, Fern,” Cade informed her softly. “I want there to be no misunderstandings as to why I’m with you.”
“You don’t have to do this, Cade. I know you love me.”
“And this is me proving to you and the world that you mean more to me than anything else. You come ahead of the company, ahead of my family.… My main priority now and always will be making sure that you—and Cas—are happy.”
“How can you do this? Wasn’t it a done deal?”
“It’s backdated. Cyrus and I worked something out. It’s all perfectly legal.”
“Your father—”
“Understands. I told him, the other day actually—after my other discussion with him—that I was going to do this. He’s fine with it. And frankly, even if he wasn’t, I’d still have done it. I don’t want you because of what you have, Fern. I want you and I love you because of who you are.”
Cyrus cleared his throat again, and she met his eyes. He looked a bit awkward to be witness to such a private moment but also visibly moved by it.
“I—and several of my aides—have been over this contract with a fine-tooth comb, Fern,” the man told her with a smile. “Everything is well in order. The terms and conditions are more than satisfactory and—unless you want me to squeeze a few more pennies out of them—my advice is for you to go ahead and sign.”
Fern’s eyes flitted back to Cade, who met her gaze with a level stare. His hand closed over the top of her foot and squeezed reassuringly.
“Please, Fern… it’s important to me.”
She nodded and took Cyrus’s heavy gold pen in her hand and—to make both men happy—took her time flipping through each page, reading the sections requiring an initial carefully. Giving the moment the gravity and consideration it deserved. It took her nearly half an hour, while Cade and Cyrus quietly discussed a recent rugby match, but she finally signed the last page with a flourish.
Cade took the pen from her and added his own scrawl in the designated space beside hers.
“You didn’t read it,” she admonished with a mock gasp and he laughed.