Marcus spoke to his brother and was summoned immediately to his granny, Margaret Donnelly’s house. After his dad, Jonathan Donnelly died last year of a cardiac arrest, his mom, Claudia Donnelly, moved in with his granny.
In the early hours of the morning, he reached the beautiful and calm neighborhood and drove in through the gates of his granny’s house. It wasn’t a huge mansion but a big and comfortable house with a huge front yard and an equally sprawling backyard.
When their dad was alive they used to play football every time they visited their grandparents. After their grandpa, Joe Donnelly died, eight years ago, their granny lived here all on her own, refusing to move in with any of them. But now with his mom and their trustworthy housekeeper, Maria living there with their granny, the boys were free to pursue their chosen careers.
While Lucas lived in a posh apartment in Manhattan’s Battery Park with his fiancee, Sienna Hensley, Nicholas, and Marcus had their apartments within walking distance from their granny’s house.
He parked his car and strode into the house, whistling a tune, wondering what news awaited him now. The moment he walked into the living room, he saw the grave faces of his mom, granny, and Maria. “What happened? Is something wrong?” he asked worriedly.
“Sienna was abducted by her ex-fiance. Lucas had been trying to reach you for the last twenty-four hours. He and the police just rescued her and are bringing her back,” said his mom.
“How is she now? Has he been arrested?” asked Marcus with concern, feeling guilty for not receiving his brother’s distress call.
“No, he has escaped and the police are pursuing him but Sienna is in bad shape due to her pregnancy,” said Granny.
After five minutes Lucas arrived carrying Sienna who had been throwing up during the last fifteen minutes of their way back. The exhaustion had taken a toll on her body.
“Take her to your old room, Luke. Maria will freshen her up,” said his mom. Lucas carried her upstairs to his room. Nicholas brought her a mild sedative while his mom brought a bowl of soup to calm her stomach down.
“Do you need to see a doctor, Sienna? There’s a gynecologist who lives in the opposite house,” said Marcus who had walked inside.
Sienna shook her head. “No, I’m fine. I’ll have the soup and medicine and sleep,” she mumbled. Lucas walked inside the room and they all left to allow them some privacy.
Later on, Marcus was lazing on the couch and watching a football match when Lucas walked into the entertainment room.
“I need to talk to you, dude,” he said, sitting beside Marcus and stealing the popcorn he had made for himself.
“Roman pulled such a stunt because he wanted to marry Sienna. What if I marry her soon? If she were married already, I’m sure he would back off,” said Lucas. “I want to go away to a secluded place and have a low-key wedding in a day or two,” added Lucas. Marcus thought for a moment and his eyes glittered as he looked at his big brother.
“I know just the place where you can take Sienna, bro,” he said excitedly.
“Where? It has to be secluded and a perfect hideaway till we get married,” said Lucas.
“It’s all that and much more, bro. It’s a beautiful house that rests on the exclusive Preston Island across the St Lawrence River from Alexandria Bay. The Island has a fully-powered deep-water dock for ferries and the house is equipped with its own boat. It’s totally secluded as the entire island and house belong to my mentor and teacher, Hugh Salisbury. I stayed there while working on my last painting,” said Marcus proudly.
“Great. I want to go immediately. This shouldn’t leak out to any outsider. I’m going to my apartment to start packing. I already have the wedding license. So just make the arrangements for the day after tomorrow. Bring everyone with you tomorrow. I’ll be in touch with you,” said Lucas. He stationed two guards at the gates of his granny’s house before leaving for his apartment.
For the next few hours, Lucas was busy announcing his plans to the family. Granny wasn’t pleased that he was hurrying the marriage on account of a criminal.
“Don’t hurry something as important as a wedding on account of a criminal, Luke. Why don’t you and Sienna go to that island and take a break? She needs rest badly. Alexia has a sports event at her school tomorrow. The day after she has a birthday party to attend. She’s looking forward to both. Therefore we cannot join you for three days. After that, we need to make arrangements too. So the wedding can only happen after three days,” said his mom.
So it was decided that Lucas and Sienna would pack up quickly and leave after dinner. Marcus and the others would join them later after the wedding preparations were taken care of.
For the next two days, Marcus was too busy with the wedding preparations. Maria needed to leave to go and see her sister who was a little unwell.
The wedding preparations were taken care of and the date was scheduled for Sunday. Lucas had sent his helicopter for them and they reached Preston Island soon. Nicholas would arrive later and Maria would directly arrive from her sister’s place.
Cara made dinner for everyone and took some to aunt Maggie and uncle Joe. When she returned from the club a few hours ago, she saw that aunt Maggie was unwell and running a temperature. Uncle Joe wanted to take her to the doctor but she wouldn’t agree at all.
“Maggie, why won’t you go to the doctor? Give me one solid reason for not going,” asked a displeased Uncle Joe.
“Aunt Maggie is afraid of shots like I am,” said Vera with wide eyes.
“It’s just a fever. Why would she get a shot?” said Adam. Aunt Maggie looked grumpier than ever.
“I’ll be fine by tomorrow, trust me. I’m sorry for eating all your ice cream, Joe,” said Aunt Maggie. Cara rolled her eyes at the two of them. They were so cute together even after fifty years of marriage. She wished everyone could be blessed with such life partners! But alas! Some people are born to struggle and remain alone all their lives!
“You didn’t fall sick because of the ice cream, dear. You might have caught the virus at the supermarket today,” said Uncle Joe.
“Yeah, you were right. That woman behind me sneezed into my face. How gross!” exclaimed aunt Maggie. The doorbell rang and Liam rushed to open the door. Aunt Maggie’s sister, Maria, flew into the house with a wide grin on her face.
“Surprise everyone! Aren’t you happy to see me? I brought gifts for all of you,” she said, rushing into aunt Maggie’s room.
“Maria, what a pleasant surprise! I hope you’re staying for a few days?” asked aunt Maggie, already feeling better. They chatted and caught up while Cara served aunt Maria dinner as well. She gave Aunt Maggie her medicine.
“Can’t you two catch up tomorrow? Aunt Maggie, you need to rest now,” scolded Cara, coming into the room to tuck her into bed. Aunt Maggie smiled at her with indulgence.
“Who says you don’t have any children, Maggie? These four are just like your own,” said Aunt Maria.
“Yes, they are my children,” said Aunt Maggie.
“Cara, if you need work, I have one. It’s just for three days, but the pay is good. There’s a wedding coming up and you just need to help me. Will you do it?” asked Aunt Maria. Cara looked at aunt Maggie hesitantly.
“I want to go but with aunt Maggie sick, I just can’t leave her alone here,” said Cara.
“You have twenty-four hours to decide, Cara. If Maggie is better by tomorrow, you can accompany me to the venue,” said Aunt Maria.
Miraculously, aunt Maggie was fine the next day and Cara packed a few of her old clothes in a shabby bag and went with Maria. She called up at the club and took leave for three evenings. Rudolph Sterling wasn’t happy, but he couldn’t decline since she had never taken leave before.
Maria didn’t inform her anything about where they were going, and Cara was too shy to ask too many questions. She was just thankful that she found work that would pay her well. Finally, they boarded a ferry on the St. Lawrence River to take them to their destination.
“Are we going to an island?” asked a clueless Cara.
“Yeah, the wedding is happening on Preston Island across the St Lawrence River from Alexandria Bay,” said Aunt Maria. The ferry dropped them off at the island’s exclusive dock. They walked up to a beautiful and sprawling villa perched on a ridge top overlooking the beautiful St. Lawrence River.
Located right across from the small village of Alexandria Bay, it was a private haven almost hidden amidst the tall Sugar Maple, Breech, basswood, White Oak, and Red Oak trees.
“Aren’t there any guests? It looks too quiet for a wedding venue,” said Cara.
“It’s a hushed-up thing. We aren’t inviting many people,” informed Maria as she rang the doorbell.
They waited for a minute when Cara’s jaws dropped to the floor when the door was opened. There at the door stood the person she had least expected to see. Marcus Donnelly, of all the people on earth!