enough of the five of you whining and bitching about it. We let you do what you wanted with the money you inherited, and you all pissed most of it away. Too bad. Boo-hoo. This ends today. Get past it, girls.' He turned to Ashley and said, 'Welcome to the family, sweetie. Ryan sure got himself a pretty girl. And a smart one too.'
Ashley stepped forward and gave Pete a hug. 'Thanks,' she said. 'But how would you know if I'm smart or not?'
'I'm an accountant,' Pete replied. 'You got one store, you're opening two more. You sell what women want. You're smart.'
Ashley laughed. 'Yes,' she said, 'I am.' Then she turned to her other guests. 'I thought I'd show you the house and grounds. Then we'll have an early lunch. This weekend is our annual Harvest Festival, and I thought you might enjoy going later. But if not we'll just sit and talk. Ryan and I plan to go tomorrow either way.'
'How lovely,
'Oh, yes,' Ashley told her. 'The festival proceeds all go to our local hospital. There are homemade treats, knitted goods, birdhouses, and our local author signs her latest book. Her publisher donates the books so everything can go to Egret Pointe General Hospital.'
'Who's the author?' Bride asked, curious in spite of herself.
'Emilie Shann is her pen name. She's really Emily Devlin. She'll probably be there, although she does have a new baby. She's old Egret Pointe too, and way back we're probably related. I'm sure a Kimbrough married a Dunham somewhere along the way.' Ashley laughed.
'Emilie Shann lives here?' Elisabetta's eyes were excited-'I love her books! And especially since she's gotten sexier. Do you know her?'
'Yes,' Ashley said. 'We went to school together.'
'We've got to go to this festival,' Elisabetta said. 'She is my favorite author. Do you think she'll sign a book for me?'
'For a price, sure,' Ashley said. She was secretly tickled that her sister-in-law was one of Emily's fans. 'And remember, it's all for charity. But now, how about Ryan and I show you the house? Frankie did our bedroom suite, and it's lovely.'
'Even the floral chairs,' Ryan said, and his brothers-in-law chuckled.
The Mulcahy sisters were, in spite of themselves, fascinated by Kimbrough Hall. The wide boards in the floors amazed them, and Ashley was quick to tell them that the boards came from trees found growing in the area when the house was built in 1724, a year after the town was founded. 'My ancestor, Edmund Kimbrough, wanted to replicate the manor house in England where he had grown up.'
'There's a house like this in England?' Magdalena asked.
'Yes, in Devon. It's also Kimbrough Hall. That branch of the family is still going strong.'
'How did your family make the money to build a house like this?' Elisabetta inquired. She taught history in a local city private school.
'Rum, molasses, and slaves to begin with,' Ashley replied. 'Pretty much like all the successful early families. Then in the 1840s we got into the China trade. And some of the family's fleet were whalers. And then the Kimbroughs got involved in helping to build railroads, started a few banks, and eventually got a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. Grandfather sold that before he died. The Egret Pointe National Bank is mine, or rather the Kimbroughs'. I'm on the board, of course, although I have little to do with running it.' She smiled at them. 'My late mother's family came here from Ireland in the middle of the nineteenth century, before the Civil War. They were all shopkeepers, so I guess I come by it naturally. Nobody left on that side. They weren't much on reproduction, I'm sorry to say.'
Ryan's five older sisters looked slightly shell-shocked by this recitation. Their husbands were openly impressed, and perhaps just a little bit awed. This was certainly going to erase any doubts the harpies had about Ashley's motives for marrying him, Ryan thought as he caught his mother's eye and winked.
'Well, come on now,' Ashley said brightly as they moved from the formal dining room to the breakfast room and the library. 'There's the rest of the house to show you.' She led them upstairs, flinging open the door to the first bedroom. 'The rumor is that President Washington himself stayed here once when he was either coming or going from New York, the capital in the early days. It was this bedroom.'
Everyone looked around the room. The furnishings were definitely eighteenth century. Even the draperies at the windows and the bed hangings looked authentic.
'Not many people know that New York was the first capital,' Elisabetta remarked. 'Are the hangings real?'
Ashley shook her head. 'Very good reproductions. The originals were in the room until about twenty years ago, though. But they just became too hard to clean.'
The other bedrooms were admired, and then they came to the bedroom suite shared by Ryan and Ashley. The sisters pushed into the parlor, taking everything in.
'Nice couch,' Robert Napoli said with a grin. 'Looks real comfortable.'
'Shut up, Bob!' his wife said.
Both Ryan and Ashley laughed.
'It is comfortable,' Ryan allowed.
The sisters next looked at the master bedroom, and someone gasped at the size of the bed.
'We needed it extra-large because your brother is such a big fellow,' Ashley said.
'I saw dormers on the roof,' Kathleen remarked.
'There's a third floor. In the old days when the house had a full staff of servants they lived there. Now it's pretty much empty. Just attics and storage,' Ashley told her. 'Well, this is it, ladies and gentlemen. I expect that luncheon is ready by now, and Mrs. B. really doesn't like to be kept waiting.'
She led them briskly downstairs again to the dining room, which was set with embroidered linen place mats. There were place cards at each setting. Ryan sat at the head of the table, Ashley at the foot, and Lina had been put on her son's right. Byrnes, along with a girl brought in for the day, served. There was clear soup to start with, and Waldorf salads were set to the left at each place. A large roast turkey was set on the sideboard, and Byrnes carved, laying bits on each plate, which the maid then distributed among the diners. The side dishes were then passed about. There were mashed turnips, French-cut green beans, and sweet potatoes whipped with butter, maple syrup, and cinnamon.
'I wasn't certain what you would all enjoy, but I know everyone likes turkey,' Ashley murmured. 'Bride, do try some of those tiny corn muffins. Mrs. B. is famous for them. And the cranberry that's in the sauce comes from a local bog. They grow wild.'
'The veggies are all from the estate garden,' Ryan told their guests. 'And the turkey is local. When was the last time any of you ate so fresh?'
'I suppose living in the country has some advantages,' Bride allowed.
Ashley couldn't help but notice how quiet the table was as her husband's relatives ate, and ate, and ate. There were audible sighs of bliss when the dessert was served on individual plates. It was chocolate mousse with fresh raspberries. Finally every morsel had been consumed, and they began to rise from the table.
'Let's go to the festival now,' Ashley said brightly. 'Bill can follow Ryan and me. Byrnes, tell the driver we need him, and why.'
'Yes, Mrs. Mulcahy,' Byrnes said, and he hurried off.
'Well, you know what the prince of Wales always said,' Ashley remarked. 'Never miss an opportunity. If anyone wants the bathroom I think the time is now. There's a powder room, second door on the left in the hall, and one with every bedroom upstairs.' She grinned as her guests scattered.
'Well,' Ryan said when they were alone, 'I don't know if I could say you've won the harpies over, but you've kept them from fighting. It's amazing.'
'The day isn't over yet,' Ashley warned. 'I could kiss your brother-in-law Pete, however. He really put everything in perspective with that little speech of his. I never saw anyone so outraged as Bride when he was
