--- 28 ---
Leslie, Paul's aunt, looked at Reba from head to toe. She stopped and stared at the ring; the one that should have been hers. Paul's grandmother kept the ring for her eldest son, but she and Bill married first. She cursed the day her mother-in-law put the ring in Sylvie's hand. She cursed the day she found out Paul's dad got everything. She cursed the old lady for stabbing her in the back. She looked at Reba's family: Van, Cheyenne, Kyra, Jake, Elizabeth and Steve. She sneered.
"How greedy, you brought the whole family over to see how much gold can you dig out when he's dead?" Paul's eyes lit up with anger.
"I'm not bringing my fiancée here for you to insult. I'm here to pick up the keys to grandma's quarters."
"I don't have it. Billy has it." She referred to her son, Paul's cousin. Paul sighed, he took out his BlackBerry where he had previously recorded his cousin's comment 'Mum has it'. Reba tried not to smile, Kyra and Cheyenne giggled. At first they wondered why Paul would do that, now they understood.
Leslie turned red with embarrassment and unwillingly gave the keys to Paul and watched them walked away with hatred.
"She always does that. They just have to make me look like I'm begging them to stay in my own place. When they know I'm coming, I never know where I will find the keys." Paul took her family to their rooms. Then he took Reba to what used to be his grandmother's bedroom. The setting was untouched: elegant and classic.
"This is where you stay when you come here?"
"Yes. I don't come here that often though. Only to visit Uncle Bill. Uncle Bill is the only one who was happy for mom and dad when they got married. Him and dad were buddies, best friends you could say. He was never jealous that dad got everything. But his wife, Aunt Leslie, is another story. She has been eyeing this castle since grandma was still alive. They lived here with grandma. Dad left. Leslie was so sure Uncle Bill would get everything. She started to take charge of the castle, bossing the servants around as if she was the head of the family. When grandma was sick, dad and mom came to visit. They were treated badly. Leslie wouldn't let them stay here. They had to stay in the servants' quarters. Mom set her stubbornness aside, and took care of grandma when she was sick. Grandma took off her ring" Reba looked at the ring on her finger. "And she put it in the palm of mom's hand and she smiled at her for the first time. Leslie stormed off, slammed the door and abused every servant she walked past. She was furious."
"This ring must mean a lot to her," mumbled Reba twirling the ring on her finger. It was a beautiful 5 carat diamond ring, antique and unique.
"I think you're the 6th or 7th generation who has it. It means a lot to our family. Two things Leslie and Billy want: This castle and the ring. When grandma died, dad wanted to sell this place, but mom said 'not in my life time'." Paul chuckled. "She doesn't want it, but she doesn't want dad to sell it since it's a family treasure. And you know how expensive the taxes are to keep this? So dad converted it to a hotel and let Billy run it for Uncle Bill's sake."
"What did your uncle do for living, when he was younger?"
"He did what us MacIntoshs do best: a carpenter," said Paul with a proudest grin. Reba glared at him.
"That's MacIntyre" Paul closed his grin and thought.
"Oh yeah... But Uncle Bill, he worked for an import export furniture company."
"Now you got me curious, what did the MacIntosh clan come from?" Puzzled Reba.
"I don't know, a farmer who grew apples?" He got another glare from her. "Ah, who cares. They're all dead. C'mon, why don't I take you out for a tour around the castle. I'm sure Cheyenne and Elizabeth are looking forward to it." Reba looked around her in awe walking arm in arm with him.
"Does the castle have a torture room?" Questioned Reba curiously. Paul laughed.
"I didn't know you're into that sort of things." Reba blushed and slapped his arms. "No, not all castles are built that way you know." Paul took her family sightseeing. He avoided confrontation with his cousin and his aunt at all cost. He knew one of these days he would lose it and might end up chasing them out. However, his aunt had her people keep an eye on them all the time.
They took a trip to visit Loch Ness, and Paul asked Elizabeth if she could find the friendly monster called "Nessie", she kept her eyes on the lake to see if she could find it.
"Would anyone believe her if she really see it?" Questioned Reba to Paul with a chuckle.
"Would you?" Paul laughed.
"I would. Why would she lie to us? Right?" Cheyenne giggled. However, Elizabeth didn't see anything, but she pointed and giggled at a grown man wearing a skirt.
"It called kilt, sweetie. Not a skirt." Paul gave her a little history about the kilt and said he would buy her a kilt in the MacIntosh tartan. Elizabeth said she would like to try Scottish dancing and the bagpipes too.
"See, she wants to be Scottish already, so I'm going with my kidnap plan." Paul laughed. As they walked through town, they went to a store to get her a kilt. Paul bought one for baby Steve too. But he would have to wear diaper under it. Paul also bought Elizabeth a stuffed animal. A little green 'Nessie' wearing a tartan hat, known as a Glengarry. It looked like the type of hat a bagpipe player would wear. Elizabeth thought the hat was cute, so Paul bought one for her to match her kilt.
"I'd like to see you wearing kilt," said Reba with a sly smile.
"And hope for a breeze so you could see if I wear anything under my kilt?" Paul whispered, making her blush.
They went back to the castle after a long day of sightseeing. The kids went to their own room to rest. Paul was called over by his cousin, saying he had something important to talk to him about.
"I guess I know what he wants. You go up first, I'll follow you up shortly."
"Okay. I'm going to take a shower. Walking all day made me sweaty, I feel a little dirty." Reba gave him a meaningful wink, before making her way to their room. Paul watched her with a grin, before he went to talk to his cousin.
Reba slipped out of her clothes and step into the shower, she was almost finished when she heard him coming into the room. So she decided to stay in the shower a little longer, just in case he would like to join her. However, she waited and waited, but no sign of him. She sighed and turned off the water and put on her bathrobe. She was frowning seeing Paul making his way to the bathroom.
"Aaww I was hoping to join you." He sulked
"I thought you would too, but I waited and waited. What took you so long?"
"What do you mean? I just got here." Reba eyed him confusedly.
"I thought I heard you in the room about fifteen minutes ago. Oh well, I must be hearing things." Reba shook her head. She sat in front of a big suit of armor, drying off her hair. She noticed his grin. "What are you looking at, go shower!" Paul pouted, but he went to have a shower. When he came out, Reba was searching for something all over the room.
"Are you looking for something?"
"The ring, and my bracelet, did you see them?" Replied Reba nervously.
"WHAT?"
"I took them off and left next to the suit of armor along with my watch." Reba pointed to the small table where her watch was. She started to panic.
"When you came in the room, did you lock the door?" Reba nodded. "And you said you heard someone in the room when you were taking a shower."
"You think there's a robbery?" Commented Reba looking worried.
Paul shook his head in disagreement. "Although technically it's a burglary"
He called all the staff over including his aunt and his cousin.
"Reba's ring and bracelet have gone missing. I'm giving who ever took it until noon tomorrow to return them to me. No questions asked, and I will not report this incident to the police. If I don't receive them back in a timely fashion, I won't care who you are, I'll put you in jail for thievery! And just for a heads up. Those two items you took are unique and handcrafted. So if you try to sell them, jewellery stores will not buy them because they will be stolen goods." Paul paused, and glanced at everyone in the room. His eyes stopped at his aunt. "So do what is wise."
