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Chapter 12
Jason arrived at the mansion at nine in the morning. He had hoped to get here in time to see his mother before she left on her trip. However this morning when he walked into the kitchen of his house he found his lovely wife standing on the counter, on her toes, trying to get something down off one of the higher shelves of the cabinet. Jason gave himself a pat on the back for not yelling. They had a step ladder, which she couldn't seem to find. It was in the shed, which shouldn't have been the case, and he brought it back inside.
Since he was there he made sure that everything she needed was down, and was rewarded with some kisses, before trying to leave. As he was heading for the door Cameron wanted to talk to him. He wanted to make sure that Jason didn't forget to pick up Mommy's gift from the art center. Cameron and Jake had made hand prints and the eldest Morgan child was nervous they wouldn't be ready in time. Jason assured his son, that they would be picked up this afternoon and tonight they would find time to wrap them.
So by the time Jason got into his SUV, it was already eight-forty. Monica had said that they were leaving at eight-thirty. Unless they were running late, something his mother never seemed to do, he had missed them. He was hoping AJ made it over, only to receive a call from his brother. Jason was getting out of the car when his phone rang. "Morgan."
"My car wouldn't start." AJ said clearly pissed. "And Keesha left early this morning."
"So you didn't see mom." Jason had wanted to come glare at Howie before the couple left.
"No. Did you?" AJ wanted to tell Howie to mind his manners.
"No, Elizabeth needed my help." Jason told his brother as his mind went back to the step ladder. "What's wrong with your car? Didn't you just have it in John's shop for inspection?"
"I have no idea what's wrong with it. I don't know anything about cars, other than how to drive them and fill up the gas take." AJ admitted. He hadn't ever changed a flat tire before.
"Keesha knows about cars." Jason said figuring out what their wives had done.
"They set us up." AJ was also putting it together. "One of us needs to move, we clearly cannot have our wives in the same city."
"I'll call John and ask him to have the guys at the garage fix your car today." There was no telling what Keesha had done. "Do you need a loner?"
"No, I called for a town car. How long until you get a report?" AJ knew that just because Howie had them staying somewhere other than the resort wouldn't keep Jason from putting eyes on the couple.
"As soon as they land." Jason told AJ. He would need to come up with a creative punishment for his wife. Which would lead to her wanting payback. He couldn't wait, he loved her playful side. Hopefully her revenge would involve sex, he thought to himself as he stood in the driveway grinning. "I'll tell you what I hear when I stop by later with the gifts."
"Have fun with grandfather." AJ said laughing. The old man was always a handful.
"Ha, ha." Jason said heading for the front door. "Later." He said before ending the call. Alice opened the door and the maid was in blue jeans with a holiday sweater. It was the first time Jason had ever seen her out of uniform. "Hello Alice, all set?" She was locking up and leaving shortly after Edward.
"I am. Thank you for the gift, and please thank Mrs. Elizabeth as well." The maid was smiling wide. "I've never flown first class before, and I'm excited to experience it."
"You're welcome." Jason smiled too, not letting on that he had no idea about the gift.
"Mr. Edward is upstairs in his room." Alice said closing the door. "I'm just going to be making sure everything down here is off."
"Okay." Jason said heading up the steps. "Grandfather?"
"Hello my boy, come in." Edward's bags were packed and waiting, but he had something to show Jason first. "Before we leave I need to speak with you."
"What's up?" Jason took a seat after Edward did. They were in the sitting area of the suite with the coffee table between them. On the table was a large wooden box. Dark green with white flowers painted on it.
"This came to me, from your great Uncle Hal. He said that I would know what to do with the contents." Edward tapped the box. "If my sweet Lila was still with us, it would be hers, but since she isn't the contents are now yours."
Jason just looked at the box. He could ask a million questions about it or he could just open it. The top opened like the petals of a flower in the morning sun, he'd never seen anything like it, but it was what was inside the vessel that had him dumbstruck. Jewels of all types shined up at him. Based on the size of the box there was more inside. Jason lifted out the top velvet shelf to find more jewelry. Five velvet trays were removed, each filled with gems. "What are these?"
"The Morgan family jewels." Edward smiled at Jason.
"Why are you giving them to me? Emily should receive these." Jason observed.
"Emily received the jewelry that I bought for Lila. She will also receive the pieces that Alan bought for Monica." Although Edward knew his daughter in-law had put some pieces aside for Elizabeth as well. "These jewels are for a Morgan woman."
"You should be the one to give them to Elizabeth." Jason told his grandfather.
Edward smiled at Jason. "I'd like to be there when she sees them, but I'm not a Morgan. They need to come from you. They are a part of your legacy. Lila was so pleased when you took the name Morgan. Hal had no children, and she was worried that the name would die out. She would have been so happy to know that you and Elizabeth found your way to one another. Lila always thought Elizabeth had the traits of a Morgan woman. Strength, compassion, intelligence, and beauty." Edward could feel his eyes tearing up as he spoke of his lost love.
Jason didn't know what to say. Or even if he could say anything. To know that Lila would be happy with his choice filled him with pride, and a bit of sadness. Had he been smarter his grandmother could have seen him make that choice. "Elizabeth will be pleased to have these."
"Because they were part of Lila." Edward understood what Jason meant.
"Exactly." Jason put everything back and closed the box. "Are they insured?"
"Before they were delivered. The paperwork is in my bag, I'll give it to you at the house." Edward smiled at Jason. "There are also some other things you will want Diane to look at."
"Like what?" Jason knew that the Morgans didn't have business holdings. If he was correct his great Uncle Hal was what they called a gentleman farmer.
"The estate and bank accounts." Edward grinned.
"He left me the estate?" Jason hadn't expected that.
"When Lila died he named you as his heir. Hal changed his will when we thought you were dead, but after you returned to us he changed it back." Edward explained. "If Chloe were still alive you would have split this with her. If you hadn't returned to us then Jake would have inherited everything." They had lost so much family. "Your boys will carry on the Morgan name."
"I thought you meant there would be no more Morgans in America." Jason really didn't pay much attention to the family tree. Hell if it hadn't been for the plane crash he wouldn't even be having this conversation. He had to wonder if maybe his grandmother wasn't looking out for him when the plane went down.
Edward just shook his head. "No more Morgans period. You should take Elizabeth and the boys to see the estate. This summer would be nice. It's in Warwickshire, Stratford-On-Avon to be precise."
"Shakespeare." Jason recalled that from high school.
"Exactly." Edward stood up. "Let's get going I want to spend some time with my great-grandsons, and those cookies aren't going to taste themselves."
"I'll start bringing everything down." Jason put the jewelry under one arm and grabbed his grandfather's bags with his free hand. "Which one has the gifts?"
"The gift is being delivered on Christmas morning." Edward said with a Cheshire cat grin. "I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise."
"Why do I have a feeling that I'm not going to be happy?" Jason muttered following his grandfather from the room. Alice met them at the bottom of the stairs and helped Jason take everything to the car. She locked up and headed to her vehicle as well. After she pulled off, Jason and Edward followed.
"Pop-pop is here!" Cameron said jumping up and down. It was so awesome that he was coming to stay for a week. Maybe he'd stay longer.
"Come on, let's go to the door to greet him." Elizabeth said laughing at Cameron.
"You're here!" Cameron launched himself at Edward the second he cleared the door. "I helped mommy get your room ready, and its right down the hall from mine." The little boy rambled excitedly. "You can come and listen to daddy read stories before bed time if you want."
"I think that sounds wonderful." Edward said smiling. "Thank you my dear." He turned to Elizabeth as she took his coat. "Don't you look pretty in your holiday red?"
"Thank you grandfather." She beamed as he kissed her check. "I have coffee in the kitchen. I can bring you some in the living room if you like." She said fussing over him.
"That would be lovely. Cameron and I can plan how to steal some of those cookies." He laughed eyes twinkling.
"I'm going to have to keep a close eye on you aren't I?" Elizabeth asked smiling.
"I'm right here." Jason said looking between the two of them. "Old man stop flirting with my wife." He had to tell his grandfather that every time he got anywhere near Elizabeth.
"Pretty women must be flirted with." Edward said raising an eyebrow. "Besides if I don't do it, how will Cameron ever learn?"
"Does that need to go under the tree?" Elizabeth pointed to the box Jason was carrying.
"No, I'll show it to you later." He told her. "Cameron grab one of the bags and let's take Pop-pop's stuff upstairs. Behave." He said to Edward who responded with a cheeky grin.
"The envelope you need is on top in the larger bag." Edward told his grandson. "Cookies?" Edward asked his granddaughter.
"The first batch is cooling as we speak." Elizabeth wasn't going to be able to resist him, Cameron, and Jake. "Come sit with Jake and I'll plate some up." She said heading back into the kitchen.
"Everything is upstairs." Jason stuck his head in the kitchen. "I'm heading into work now."
"Okay." Elizabeth put down her tree cookie mold and walked to where Jason was standing. Together they went to the front door. "Call me if I need to pick anything up."
"We should be fine." Elizabeth said leaning up and kissing him. "Have a good day."
"I will." He said kissing her back. "AJ and I figured out what you and Keesha did."
"We didn't try to hide it." Elizabeth said smiling wide. "Your mother sent me a text saying thank you."
"You are so bad." Jason told his wife.
"I know." Elizabeth turned to go.
Jason smacked her on the bottom.
"Hey." She said turning. That had been totally unexpected.
He just smiled before hurrying out the door.
"I don't see any mistletoe." Jason said as he walked into Francis's office.
"If you need mistletoe to kiss your wife you are doing something wrong." Francis told his partner. Then he turned and kissed Diane again.
"I didn't ask your wife to meet me here so that you two could make out." Jason told his friends.
"I know, it's just a perk of the situation." Francis reluctantly let Diane go and she got up off his lap.
"What can I do for you Jason?" She said getting back in professional mode.
"I have apparently inherited an estate in England." Jason said handing over the paperwork. He had gone through it quickly in his office.
"From whom?" Diane pulled out a copy of the will.
"My great-uncle." Jason sat in one of the chairs in front of Francis's desk.
"Estate, stocks, and money." Diane was looking at the various bequeaths. "I'm sorry for your loss." Although from the date Hal Morgan died last year. "I'll go over everything. Edward was holding the paperwork? Which cleared probate yesterday."
"He was." Jason confirmed.
"I'll file the necessary paperwork here to transfer ownership. I know nothing about British estate law so I'll contact the late Mr. Morgan's attorney. I'm sorry the late Baron of Warwickshire's attorney." Diane quirked an eyebrow. "You apparently inherit a title as well."
"They don't mean anything over here." Jason knew that so it didn't impress him any.
"Nope." Diane confirmed. "I will get started on this and hopefully it will not take too long to get this done. Otherwise it will have to wait until the next year." They were leaving after work tomorrow night. "Make sure you give him the gifts." Diane said kissing her hubby once more. "Merry Christmas Jason."
"Merry Christmas Diane." Jason handed her an envelope with her bonus.
"I love a man who gives me cash." She said holding it to her bosom. Jason was more than generous with his employees. "Gentleman." Diane said before walking from the room.
"You done?" Jason needled his friend for looking at Diane's ass.
"Yup. Did you get Liz's present yet?" Francis knew Jason was sweating this one some.
"I did." Jason had handled that before coming in. "What did you get Diane?"
"The entire Michael Kors spring line. My wife is easy to shop for." Francis said smiling. One call and it was done. "What did you get my wife?"
Jason looked at his friend. "You will need to take her to New York. I arranged for her to have five pairs of Manolo Blahniks custom made."
"Very nice." Francis knew Diane would love it.
"What did you get for my wife?" Jason asked his friend.
"Elizabeth cashed in her IOU. It was all she wanted." Francis grinned, she'd been holding it since she was eighteen. How she used it was really smart, because he couldn't say no unless he wanted to be a welsher. "Diane got her a handbag." And he had stuck something small in the bag for Liz.
Jason was curious, but didn't ask. He respected Elizabeth's relationship with Francis. "What did you get for the boys?" This was what he was worried about.
"A fort for the backyard." Francis finally told his partner. "You can call the company and they will come out and build it. Cameron will be able to use it now, and Jake will be able to use it in a few years. So we also got Jake a Patrick the Puppy. The jumbo one."
"Thank you. The boys will love their gifts." Jason leaned back some. Elizabeth was going to kill Francis for getting something so expensive. Because he was guessing this fort was not your run of the mill plastic model. "Do you know what Johnny got them?"
"I do, but I'm not telling." Francis chuckled.
"I'm going back to my office, I'm expecting a call." Jason figured Howie's plane should be landing shortly.
"Okay." Francis managed to not laugh until Jason walked out. That call wasn't going to be coming. And when Jason called to find out why, he was gonna be pissed. Maybe now would be a good time to check in at the warehouse Francis thought to himself as he grabbed his coat. He could drop off the paperwork they needed for the fort delivery while he was out.
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