Marie Grayson was staring at Isabelle from the living-room’s window. The girl was very friendly and quite playful with her granddaughters and the girls immediately took a liking to her. She was very glad that Andrew had accepted her proposal. His young girl had to get out of the ranch and build a life far from her despot of a father. She remembered Isabelle at her mother's funeral. She was so lost, so timid, almost afraid to open her mouth and speak out.
Initially, Marie had thought that all this sudden shyness was the result of her mother's loss. Isabelle had never been a shy, silent, fearful girl, but quite the opposite. Marie knew Michelle, she used to visit the Baldwins often, and sometimes Isabelle kept them company. Isabelle that she knew was a girl that was talking a lot and she always had arguments to support everything she was saying. Marie had always thought she was a very intelligent young girl, full of interesting ideas and opinions., wise beyond her years. But Michelle's death put down the sparkle Isabelle always had in her.
In the years that had passed since she came to live with Andrew at the "Silver Spur Ranch", Marie kept a certain interest in her. Somehow, Marie had managed to win Andrew's sympathy, so at least a couple of times a month she visited the ranch to make sure Isabelle was okay. It was not true that he had all this need of Isabelle’s help with the girls, but she wanted to give this young woman the opportunity to breathe the air of freedom.
Isabelle had just turned twenty-three and she had become a very beautiful young woman. Somehow, she reminded her of Michelle, her mom. Marie had no doubt that this young woman was as intelligent as she was beautiful. She hoped that Andrew's behavior hadn’t caused too much damage to Isabelle's personality. The girl had the potential to accomplish great things in life, but the most important condition for doing so was “to steal” her, even for a few hours a day, away from her father's obsessive control. On one of the occasions, she went to the ranch, Lucy Townsend had told her some things about Andrew Baldwin's behavior, things that had led Marie to make the decision to help Isabelle even though she didn't know she needed help.
She kept looking at the young woman as she sat on a blanket resting on the grass beside her granddaughters, Francine and Diana, playing and laughing with them. The girls were two little angels, one blonde and the other brunette, but both had beautiful green eyes. They were half French and English was sometimes a bit challenging for them. Christine, Richard's wife, was French. Before marrying her stepson, she lived in Paris and worked for one of their company's European subsidiaries. Richard had met her and, after a few months, he decided to marry her and to bring her to the United States. After a while, these two miracles arrived in their lives. First Francine, "Frannie", who had just turned six, blonde like her mother, and then, a year later, little Diana, who was five, brunette like her father. The girls had also different personalities. Frannie loved dressing up and often played with her mother's jewelry and make-up. Diana was a little tomboy, she adored playing soccer and loved to climb every possible tree. Marie had to keep constantly an eye on her. But both girls had immediately accepted Isabelle's presence without asking any questions. All three started chatting as if they’ve known each other since forever and Marie retired inside the house. Her little ones were starting to get very fond of Isabelle.
Marie felt a hand on her shoulder and winced. She turned quickly and saw Christopher, her husband, accompanied by Billy, their son.
My love, I’ve called your name, but you were so caught up in your thoughts... Who is laughing and screaming so loud outside our house?” Chris asked, looking out the living-room window.
He kissed his wife, hugged her tight, and smiled seeing his granddaughters playing and having fun running around the garden. Billy also approached his parents and looked outside the window. Frannie and Diana had a... new playmate. She was someone he vaguely knew, someone he had seen a couple of times at "Villa Mimosa", but he had never stopped to talk to her. She was a little girl back then. And then, since she and Andrew had moved to the ranch that his father had promised to give to Shawn, he had begun to feel a slight dislike for the Baldwin family. Yes, Andrew Baldwin was an old friend of his father's, but he wasn’t in his right mind half the time since his wife's death. Everyone knew it, but people behaved as if nothing had happened. His daughter was doing the same, hiding her head in the sand and chosen to stand next to such a hateful person.
“Yesterday I’ve asked Andrew to allow his daughter, Isabelle, to come here and give me a hand with the girls just for a few hours a day,” Marie answered looking back at the garden where the girls were together with their young nanny.
“And the old wacko had accepted?” Billy asked, while still staring at Isabelle. “Dad, I would never understand how you could remain friends with this man. He installed himself at the ranch seven years ago and that's where he remained. After selling his company, he received so much money to take his daughter and go on living a good life in the city. I'd love to send him away from that place...”
"Billy, don't talk like that," his mother said. “Your father and I wanted to help them; it was our duty as their family’s friends. You don't live in the same house so you can't judge him. Although he has changed a lot in these recent years, he still is her father and, in his strange way, he still loves her. I am sure of it. Chris, remember that every time he was talking about Isabelle, in his eyes you could see how much he loved her and how proud was of her? I don't think I've ever seen a prouder father than Andrew.”
"Yes, my love, I remember it quite well," Chris replied, escorting his wife to reach the couch and helping her to sit. “Then it happened what you well know, and things changed completely. Luckily, he agreed to sell his company before going completely bankrupt. So, he managed to get a lot of money in return and secure his future and that of Isabelle.”
"Dad, I can't understand why you agreed to let them stay all these years at the ‘Silver Spur Ranch’," Billy said, pouring a glass of Martini for his father and one for him. "You promised it to Shawn, he always loved that place. Years ago, you told him that when he will return from his European trip, he would have the ranch.”
“After finishing college, Shawn had made the decision to travel the world, especially Europe. In those moments, not even he was aware of what he really wanted to do with his life. Andrew and his little girl couldn't keep staying in their house,” Chris replied and then sip from his Martini. “Anyway, Shawn was brokenhearted after what happened with that girl... what was her name? Ah, Jennifer. All he wanted was to go away as far as possible from all those painful memories and heal his wounded heart. This was the reason for his sabbatical year. When he returned, Shawn told me that he would prefer to work with you and Richard at the company. And here is how the ‘Grayson Trio’ was born. And I couldn't be happier with his decision.”
Billy went to the window to take a closer look at Isabelle. He couldn't deny that the seven years that had passed had turned her into a gorgeous woman. She had beautiful dark long hair that she held tight in a ponytail, she was tall, with a fabulous body even though the clothes she wore wasn’t doing her justice. A pair of jeans, a checkered shirt, and a pair of white sneakers weren't exactly the right clothes to highlight Isabelle Baldwin's beauty. Billy smiled when he saw her be tickled by Frannie and Diana. Her laugh was so wonderful, so genuine. Isabelle would have had his full attention.“Son! Billy!” His father's voice brought him back to reality and stopped his train of thoughts about the new babysitter. He put his serious face on again before turning to look at his parents.
After they changed their clothes with beautiful pajamas, Isabelle accompanied Marie and the girls to the kitchen where they chose what they wanted for dinner. Marie asked the cook to prepare dinner for two more people and then joined Isabelle at the table. While Frannie and Diana finished eating, the two women were drinking iced tea waiting for them. The little ones kept talking, making Isabelle smile."I'm so glad you agreed to stay for dinner, my dear," Marie said, putting the dirty dishes in the sink. Isabelle got up from her chair with the intention of washing them, but stopped immediately and sat down again, totally surprised by the amused stare of Marie. She realized that this wasn’t her house, that she didn't have to clean the kitchen or wash the dishes."Excuse me... I always do this at home...
Angry as she had never been before, Isabelle abruptly pulled away from him. He let her go without saying another word. She wanted to tell him a lot more, but Marie's voice stopped her. She didn't want to be seen by her in that state, so Isabelle tried to calm down."Oh, my dear, you are here... Come on, your father just arrived... Ah, but I see you've already met Shawn, my nephew." Marie walked up to him and let him give her a hug. "How about you have dinner with us this evening?" she asked, adjusting his hair."Aunt Marie, first I need to take a shower and I'll join you as soon as possible," he replied, continuing to smile at Isabelle.“Very well! Hurry up, please!” Marie took Isabelle's hand and practica
When Isabelle finished singing, she realized that nobody was talking, not even her father. She raised her beautiful blue eyes and, very close to her she met another pair of eyes that were staring at her in complete awe. She hadn't noticed that while she was singing, he had moved and was now near to her."You're such a good singer, Isabelle," he said stunned almost whispering those words. “Your voice is so stunning.”"Shawn is right, my dear," Marie added in a tone full of enthusiasm. “Sweetie, you are a young woman full of surprises.” But she wasn’t paying attention to the other comments. Apart from Shawn's tender words, she heard nothing else. Someone cleared his throat and Isabelle looked in the direction of her father who was
Isabelle entered the kitchen and surprised Lucy while she was preparing breakfast. She tip-toed to Lucy and hugged her, making the woman startled."One day, you will give me a heart attack with this little game of yours!" she scolded Isabelle with feigned anger. “You’d better sit down and eat something before starting your day at the Graysons.”“No, Lucy, the car sent by Marie to pick me up will be here at any moment. Besides, I'd like to go away before father wakes up. I am sick and tired of hearing him saying the same things that he had been telling me for almost two weeks now. Today I don’t want to hear ‘You have to impress Billy Grayson! You must marry Billy Grayson!’, I just don’t,” Isabelle said imitating Andrew's voice. “I can't stand the sound of these words an
Frannie and Diana were finishing breakfast when Christopher came down with the suitcase ready for the trip to England. He kissed his wife and the girls and he was about to get into the car and go to the airport, but the loud noise made by a sports car stopped him. Everyone turned in the direction from which all that noise came. Christopher shook his head when he saw his nephew getting down from a black Ferrari, walking all full of himself towards the small group. The girls ran to their uncle who leaned down and hugged them, then he said hi to Marie and Christopher. As usual, he didn't consider Isabelle."Uncle Chris, have a good trip, and let me know what can I do to help you from our main office," Shawn said shaking his hand. “I’ll go right now to San Francisco. If you need me, you'll find me there.”“Very well, son. I will keep you informed about everything,” his uncle said and the
“Now that you're going to stay with Marie at the villa, you’ll have to be very careful!” Andrew told her in a severe tone. He finished drinking his coffee and put the cup on the breakfast tray his daughter had brought him earlier. “Stay always close to her, listen to her, and don't go snooping around too much. Always listen to what she has to say and remember that you are there to work, not to behave like the mistress of the house! You will do exactly what you are doing here, in this house, and even more since the Graysonshouse is so big.”"Yes, Father," she said quickly.“When you won’t be taking care of those little girls, you'll have to help out with cleaning and other chores. You don't have to stop and laze around, that's not why I gave you permission to stay with the Graysons. You were not raised to behave like a damn princess, rem
Isabelle looked at her watch and realized that she would arrive at the villa too early if she continued the journey by car. The girls were never out of bed before nine in the morning. She still had a good half hour to enjoy a little walk, so she asked the driver to stop the car. After a while, Isabelle saw the villa and stopped to admire it. It was not just a gigantic house made of bricks, granite, and marble, but also a house made of love, trust, laughter, sweetness. The bond that Marie had with her husband was strong, sweet, full of love, and respect. All this could be felt since the first second spent inside the Grayson’s house. To have a house like this had always been a dream of hers, but both her mother and her father had never been able to get along very well. Her father, too busy with his job and his company, and her mother, too t