radicalducati Chapter Forty-two
Chapter Forty-two
Alfred Rickman’s estate in the English countryside reminded Rachel of Downtown Abbey. The ginormous manor house was surrounded by lush greenery, woods, and many hills in the distance.
The lawn was trimmed to perfection and the two fountains in front of the house were reminiscent of those exquisite marble statues in Rome. The place looked like something out of a Beatrix Potter storybook.
Their host had sent a helicopter to pick them up, while their bodyguards would join them later in a rental car that they’d gotten at the airport. It was Rachel’s first helicopter ride and she couldn’t hide her excitement.
Zoe kept giggling and pointing at everything in sight, and Derek gladly indulged her playfulness.
When they landed, a butler showed up to lead them into the house.
“Welcome, Mr. Fraser,” the man greeted Derek politely. “It is good to see you again.”
“Thank you, Connor. It’s good to see you too,” replied Derek. “This is my family; Rachel, my girlfriend, Zoe, my daughter, and this is Elaine, my daughter’s nanny. Our bodyguards will be joining us shortly. They’re driving up here from the airport.”
“That is good to know. Welcome, ladies. I present to you, Rickman Manor.”
The women murmured their gratitude and followed Connor’s lead into the house. The helicopter took off just then, leaving in a wake of heavy winds coming from its blades.
Inside, the main hall was styled to look as if they had been transported to the middle ages featuring vintage furnishings, Persian rugs, intricate candle holders, a grandfather clock with a swinging pendulum, and two knights' armors on either side of the hall.
“Oh my god…” Elaine gasped. Rachel was too blown away to even utter a word.
“Mr. Rickman is expecting you in the great room. Please, follow me,” said Connor with his English nose in the air.
“After you,” Derek said with a grand bow to Rachel.
“I feel as if I have just traveled back in time. This place is amazing!”
Derek laughed. Her childlike awe always excites him. It was one of the things he loved about her – the way she doesn’t hide her emotions but simply wears them on her sleeves. It was the one thing that made her unique from every other woman he had ever dated in his life.
The great room was even more enthralling than the hall. An elderly man was sitting on a wingbacked chair in front of the fireplace, reading a book. When he heard them coming in, he got to his feet and dropped the book on a low stool beside his chair.
“Welcome!” He greeted them with open arms and a huge smile. Alfred Rickman was a tall, slender man with silver grey hair and a smiley face.
“Thank you for allowing me and my gang to intrude on your peaceful retirement,” said Derek, hugging him. “It’s so good to see you again, Uncle Alfred.”
“Aw, don’t be silly my boy. You know this is your home and you are welcome to visit any time you want,” said Alfred, happily.
“This is Rachel, my girlfriend,” said Derek, beaming.
“Hi,” said Rachel.
“Come here, darling,” said Alfred happily, wrapping her in a warm hug. “I finally get to see you. What a pleasure it is!”
“And this is Zoe, my daughter,” said Derek with pride.
“Oh, my world!” Alfred exclaimed. “She is your spitting image!”
He scooped up Zoe from Elaine’s arms and did a little twirl with her, eliciting some giggles from the happy toddler.
“She is adorable,” said Alfred. “I know I shouldn’t say this, Derek, but I never thought that I would live to see the day that you would declare a child to be yours.”
Derek laughed. “People can change, Uncle Alfred. I have.”
“So, I see,” said Alfred. “And who might this be?”
“That’s Elaine, Zoe’s nanny,” Derek replied.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir,” said Elaine.
“Same here, Elaine. Welcome to my home.”
“Shall I ask Cook to serve lunch now, sir?” Asked Connor.
“Why, yes. I am sure my guests are positively starving by now after that long flight,” said Alfred. To Derek and Rachel, he said, “I asked my cook to prepare a hefty meal for us. I assumed you would need some delicious homecooked meals to warm you up after eating loads of junk food during your vacation.”
“We barely ate any junk food,” said Derek. “You know me, I’m still a preacher of healthy eating. Gotta keep my gut clean always.”
“That’s good to hear. Come, sit down and let’s get acquainted before we go to the dining room,” he said to Rachel.
She sat beside Derek on a comfy chair adjacent to Alfred’s chair, while Elaine sat on the other end of the room, giving them a respectable distance.
“So, how did you two meet?” Alfred asked while bouncing Zoe on his knees.
Rachel chuckled. “Today makes it exactly two years ago when I first bumped into Derek at the bar of a nightclub where I was celebrating my 28th birthday,” she said.
“Wait, are you saying today is your 30th birthday?” Alfred asked with raised eyebrows.
“Yes,” she grinned.
“Oh, my goodness! Happy birthday, Rachel. Are you having a party to celebrate?”
“Uh, I don’t know…” she replied uncertainly.
“We could throw a party for her here,” Derek suggested.
“Absolutely! We are going to celebrate your birthday in the manor. How do you like that?”
Rachel was amused by Alfred’s excitement. It was as if he had been looking for an opportunity to throw a party in his house and this was the perfect excuse for him to do so. “Well, if you don’t mind,” she said shyly.
“I do not. We are having a party here tonight!” He declared joyously. “How about a themed party?”
“I’m thinking a ball,” said Derek.
“I’ve always wanted to go to a ball,” Rachel mused.
“Then it is settled. We are going to have a ball here tonight to celebrate your 30th year on Mother Earth,” Alfred said grandly, thoroughly enjoying himself.
“I should call my friend, Giselle, right away. She is a genius party planner and she can create a dream party even at the shortest notice.”
“Wow. Are we really doing this?” Rachel giggled. She couldn’t believe that this man that she had only met a few minutes ago was about to host a ball in his home in her honor, just like that.
“Of course, we are,” said Alfred. “You don’t get to be thirty twice in one lifetime, plus, you are the mother of my god-granddaughter, so you deserve the world for making me a grandpa. I never thought that could be possible, seeing that Mr. Cassanova here had sworn never to procreate.”
Derek laughed. “As I said, Uncle Alfred, I am a changed man.”
“So I see, and I like it. Now, I have to call Giselle right away to get things started. Rachel, you’re going to need a ball gown and she’s going to send a stylist down here to fit you for a dress.
“My adorable little Zoe is going to get a dress too, although I’m not sure about letting her participate in the party. It’s going to be an adult-only bash.”
“Aren’t we forgetting something?” Rachel asked.
“What?” The men asked in unison.
“How are we going to have a party without guests? Or is it going to be just the three of us and your staff attending?” She asked.
Alfred laughed. “Dear Rachel, one of the perks of being a wealthy man is that people are ready to show up at your party even if you invite them only an hour before it kicks off. I am going to send the word out right away through my assistant, and you’ll be surprised at the turnout tonight.
“Besides, I have never had a party here and I know a lot of my nosey neighbors and acquaintances are dying to see what the place looks like, so this is their opportunity to feast their eyes and feed their stomachs too. Trust me, it’s going to be fun.”
“Lunch is served,” Connor announced from the doorway.
“Perfect,” said Alfred. “Let’s all go to the dining room, shall we? After lunch, I’ll give you all the grand tour of my manor if you are up to it, that is.”
“Sounds like a plan,” said Derek, enthusiastically.
“Come on, Zoe darling. Let’s go eat!” Alfred said before scooping the child up into his arms. He was every bit the doting grandfather that Zoe has never had until now.
As they walked a few steps behind him, Rachel nudged Derek in the side and whispered to him, “You seem to have forgotten why we are here.”
He rolled his eyes. “No, I haven’t but this isn’t the right time to bring that up. Let’s focus on having fun today and then tomorrow, we can talk about it. Deal?”
Rachel gave him a skeptical look. She knew he was stalling because he was probably afraid that Alfred might corroborate everything that Yasmin had told them and he wasn’t quite ready to face the truth just yet.
However, he was right about waiting until tomorrow to bring up the issue because Alfred was way too happy for them to dampen his mood with questions about the Frasers’ chaotic marriage of many years ago. The timing wasn’t right.
“Ok,” she said. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow. Let’s not spoil today with a traumatic conversation.”
“Thank you,” he replied and kissed her cheek. It was an unexpected romantic gesture that made Rachel smile.
She swallowed the lump in her throat and reminded herself that she was still trying not to fall in love with Derek. She needed to focus her attention on having a great time with him and stop getting mushy-headed.
********
True to Alfred’s prediction, the ballroom of the huge manor was filled with guests who had only been invited a few hours earlier. They were all dressed to the hilt in beautiful ball gowns and tuxedos, it was as if they had been transported back to the Victorian age and Rachel could hardly believe her eyes.
She was dressed in a cyan-colored ball gown that was made of velvet and tulle. It had a low square neckline that showed off her full bosom, and it had mid-length sleeves that ended in bell shapes with frills on the edges, and then she wore a pair of white elbow-length gloves too.
Her hair had been styled by a hairdresser that Giselle brought, and they’d added some extension in it to create a high bouffant with a cascade of tendrils framing her face.
“You look ravishing,” said Derek when he spotted her. He was dressed in a tuxedo with tails and his blond hair has been slicked back with hair gel, giving him a younger appearance.
“And you look positively dashing,” she replied with a grin. “I feel like I am in a dream, Derek. This is amazing.”
“I’m glad you like it,” he said, pleased. “As Uncle Alfred said earlier, you deserve the world, Rachel, and that’s the honest truth.”
A lump developed in her throat but she quickly swallowed it. She wasn’t going to cry and ruin her perfect makeup even though Derek was sweeping her off her feet right now with his sweet words.
“Thank you,” she said softly. “I will never forget this.”
The tender moment was interrupted when Alfred started tapping his champagne flute with a dessert fork to get everyone’s attention.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” he began. “First of all, I want to say thank you to you all for honoring my invitation to this party on such ridiculously short notice.”
There was a smattering of laughter in the crowd, acknowledging how unusual it was to invite guests to a party on the day of.
“And thank you for sticking to the theme,” he continued. “This room looks like a scene from an eighteenth-century-themed movie if I ever saw one.”
Another round of laughter.
“However, if you were wondering what this is about, we are here tonight to celebrate the 30th birthday of the delectable Lady Rachel Lane,” said Alfred grandly.
“She is the girlfriend of my godson, Derek Fraser. She is also the mother of my newest and only god-granddaughter, Zoe, who could not join us tonight because her bedtime began two hours ago.”
Everyone laughed again, enjoying Alfred’s humorous speech.
“To Rachel,” he said, lifting his champagne flute in the air and everyone followed suit. “May you have many more beautiful years to celebrate in good health.”
“Hear, hear!” Someone yelled and everyone began to clink their glasses together and drink to Rachel’s health.
She was overcome by emotions and had to blink several times to keep her tears at bay. She wished her family and friends were here to witness this incredible moment and see how this roomful of wealthy people was drinking a toast in her honor.
She had never felt so important in her life and she had Derek to thank for bringing her here and allowing his godfather cum uncle to throw this lavish party for her.
“This is awesome,” she said to Derek who was still standing beside her. “Thank you.”
He smiled at her. “It’s Uncle Alfred you should thank,” he said. “He was the one that made this evening possible. This was all him.”
“He must really love you to do all of this without even the slightest hesitation. You are so lucky to have him in your life, Derek.”
“I agree,” he said. “But tonight is about you, Rachel. Enjoy it.”
The live band began to play a classical tune that was perfect for waltzing and everyone automatically moved toward the edge of the room to create some space for dancing at the center.
“May I have this dance, Lady Rachel?” Derek asked her, extending his gloved hand to her.
“Of course, you may, Sir Derek Fraser,” she said and giggled. “Although I must warn you, I haven’t danced the waltz in quite a long time. I may have forgotten how it’s done.”
“Have no fear, my fair lady. I shall remind you,” he said and led her to the dance floor. He placed one hand on her lower waist and the other held up one of her gloved hands.
Before long, they were spinning slowly across the floor to the sonorous tune from the band, and eventually, other couples began to join them one by one until nearly everyone in the room was dancing.
As far as Rachel was concerned, it was just her and Derek in the room and she allowed herself to be sucked into the blueness of his beautiful eyes.
She pretended that they were both head over heels in love with each other and they were waltzing to the tune of their love that was floating around the room, surrounding the two of them with warmth.
No other experience in her life could compare to how special she felt right then that moment.