The warm glow from the night before remained and Marley woke up the next morning with a smile on her face. She was unconscious that it was there and there it was determined to remain.

She had missed breakfast. Her train ride with Felix had gotten them back into town very late and she would have been responsible for waking Stella up out of a deep sleep to come get her if Felix hadn't offered her a ride home. Thea's house was dark and still as the grave when she sneaked in through the kitchen door.

Everyone had already gone their separate ways by the time Marley made her way to the dining room. All there was left waiting for her was a buffet running slightly cold. She ate in silence and left before the stillness could get to her.

Determined to make herself more at home as they still had several days left in their stay, Marley decided to explore. Gone were the thoughts of her small apartment back in New York. The splendor of Felix's own house in the city made Marley crave to dive into the depths of Thea's mansion to see what she could find.

What she couldn't find was people. She could hear rumblings, her mom on a phone call upstairs, her father typing away nearby, conversations as she passed by the kitchen slipping out through the swinging door but no people.

She found, instead, a library, a billiards room, a ballroom with a gleaming wooden floor that reflected up at it the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling and then finally, at the back of the house, extending out into the expansive, sloping lawn that raced towards the ocean, a solarium, a glassed-in greenhouse attached to the house.

Just as Marley was opening the door and letting the warmth piled up from the sun beating down through the green-tainted glass pour over her, someone spoke behind her and Marley jumped.

"Marley. There you are."

Marley's heart was racing as though she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She moved instinctively to block the slightly open door behind her as if worried Thea would throw her out into the cold winter air knowing Marley had stumbled across her room of hibernating plants.

"My apologies. I did not mean to scare you."

Thea must have heard Marley's racing heartbeat as it pounded in her ears but it was more likely that she had noticed Marley's rapid breathing.

"Ah. I see you've found the conservatory!"

Marley glanced behind her as if just noticing the room behind her.

"I hope you don't mind, I was just wandering-"

Thea gracefully waved away Marley's worry.

"Of course not. This house is yours to explore. I encourage it. I was just coming to find you. Are you busy?"

Marley shook her head. Her shoulders were still tight as the thought of having a one-on-one conversation with her grandmother did not inspire confidence but her breathing and heart rate had slowed.

"If you'll follow me."

Thea led the way and retraced Marley's previous steps towards the front of the house. Off of the main living area, where the second of the two large Christmas trees stood, Thea held open a door Marley hadn't noticed before.

What waited for her was a room of dark wood. Everywhere. The large desk and leather chair behind it could have blended in with the walls. The books lining the bookshelves along one wall, although surely not all one uniform color, seemed to have purposefully faded to match the color theme.

Marley looked around for a large portrait of an overbearing elderly man, or a moose head at least, but was surprised to find neither.

"In here."

Marley stopped staring and hurried to meet Thea where she was standing in the doorway to a second room. A second office. Clearly Thea's personal space.

Where the first room had been dark wood and leather, the second room was white and clean and spacious. The complete opposite of the room next door.

Instead of a wall of bookcases, there was a wall of windows looking out at the estate. Instead of a heavy wooden desk was one made of metal and glass. Gone was the cluttered darkness, replaced instead by clean minimalism.

"Please, sit."

Thea slipped into her chair with a natural grace Marley envied. She took one of the two chairs across the desk and wedged her hands between her legs to keep them from picking at the leather or her jeans or anything. The move didn't help keep her legs from twitching.

Thea leaned across her desk, her hands folded in front of her, her hazel eyes gazing into Marley. She tried on what Marley was sure was to be a reassuring smile that tried to reach up to her eyes but didn't quite make it. Not for want of trying but from lack of use.

"So. Marley."

Marley gave a tight smile back, waiting for her grandmother to explain what it was she wanted. She was the one who had called this meeting.

As if reading Marley's mind, Thea addressed her very concerns.

"This isn't a job interview so you can relax if you want."

"Oh, yeah, thanks."

Marley's shoulders stayed exactly where they were.

"I'm sure you're curious about why I wanted to see you."

Thea had the habit of taking long pauses to show dominance, Marley was starting to notice. It was sure to be an incredible tactic in the business world and Thea certainly commanded every room she entered but it created an air of tension when it was only her and her granddaughter.

"I've already spoken one-on-one with your sisters. Gabrielle and I spent many afternoons chatting this past Thanksgiving when she came to visit and yesterday, while you were in the city, Stella and I had a very lovely tea together. How was your time in the city, by the way?"

Another tight smile from Marley. She wasn't sure how Thea would react to the news that she had spent the day with Felix Reigns of all people and didn't plan on finding out.

"Fine. Thanks for asking."

Thea nodded.

"I wanted to make sure you and I some spent time together. Alone. When your grandfather passed this last spring, one of his last wishes was that I reconcile with Avery and subsequently, with the rest of your family. That obviously includes you. Did you know this?"

Marley shook her head. She had heard whispers as to why Thea had kept reaching out after her grandfather's funeral and it wasn't hard to put two and two together but she wanted Thea to keep talking.

"It was his greatest regret that he never got the chance to get to know you and your sisters himself. He requested of me that I not go to my grave with that same regret."

"Oh."

Marley couldn't think of anything else to say. Thea's explanation made sense but still, the atmosphere in the room felt tense.

"So tell me about yourself, Marley. You work in an upscale French restaurant in the city, is that correct?"

Marley nodded.

"Do you like what you do?"

Marley couldn't keep from shrugging. Her work was a large bag of mixed feelings for her.

"It's alright. It helps pay the bills, pay for tuition. I get along with the people I work with."

"That's good to hear. Stella told me all about the endeavor the two of you have your heart set on."

Marley swallowed. Marley barely spoke to anyone about her wish to open her own restaurant other than Stella and yet here she was explaining it to a second person the second day in a row.

"Um, yeah. I mean, that's the dream. We figured Stella could bake and I could manage. It seems more like a pipe dream right now but who knows, after school and everything..."

Marley couldn't think of anything else to say. She couldn't put into words her deep desire to run her own place, to make her own name, to make Stella's name, to serve people the incredible food she knew, first hand Stella could make. They had menus planned, specials written up, pages, and pages of ideas filling journals for the past two years since Stella graduated from cooking school.

"It's rather ambitious of the two of you."

Marley froze. That word hadn't come out as condescending but it would turn that way soon. It always did. But no, Thea smiled. A real smile.

"I greatly admire your ambition. Your grandfather had no lack of ambition and he wouldn't have gotten where he did without it. It's nice to see it's a family trait."

Marley could feel herself breathe again. The air in the room felt lighter somehow.

"Perhaps you would like to hear about what it is I do. What your grandfather built."

"I'd like that very much."

Thea explained everything. Franklin Clausen had built his own real estate development firm from the ground up and then built his own construction company as well when he had grown frustrated with the construction companies available to work with. Both had done extremely well.

Early on, charity became an essential part of the Clausen empire and Thea took over that part of the business. That was her brainchild.

Marley was overwhelmed with just how many different charitable organizations Thea had started or helped support. The number of dinners and parties and events, all in the name of charity, that Thea was responsible for.

"Since your grandfather's passing, I've had to take over more of the business side of things to make sure they run smoothly in this time of transition. I've left my side of things in good hands but I do miss it. Luckily there's an event happening tomorrow night that I've been looking forward to. It's to help raise money for a local food bank here on Long Island. Would you..."

Marley waited for Thea to finish her thought as she had stopped talking suddenly.

It took longer than a minute and Marley grew uncomfortable under Thea's scrutinizing gaze.

"Would I what?"

"I see a lot of your grandfather in you, Marley. You're smart, ambitious and you care about your family. That was your grandfather to a tee."

"Thank you."

The compliment felt heavy after everything Marley had been learning about her grandfather.

"You're mother is a lot like him, as well. In the end, she was too much like him and I fear that was one of the reasons we fell out."

"What do you mean?"

Thea smiled a sad smile and looked out the window, past Marley, breaking eye contact for the first time in their meeting.

"I think you should talk to your mother about that. I can only speculate and I would hate to misrepresent her. Marley, this dinner I'm attending tomorrow evening, would you care to join me? I'd love to show you more of my own life, introduce you to some of my friends, show you what your grandfather built, the legacy he left. Would you be interested in that at all?"

Marley was at a loss for words. She had no idea what to expect and so it took her a minute to consider the offer. Thea tried to cover up the silence.

"If you're not, I understand. No need to feel guilty. I just thought that maybe you would-"

"I'd love to come."

The look on Thea's face solidified Marley's decision. There was a light in her eyes that hadn't been there before. And her genuine smile was back.

"I'd be honored to have you as my date."

Marley smiled and started to raise out of her chair as it felt the conversation had come to its natural conclusion. Thea's next words froze her halfway between sitting and standing.

"Before you go, I saw you dancing with Felix Reigns the other night at the Country Club. I've also heard that your cousin has been getting you up to date on family history."
"He has..."

"So you aware of the tensions between our two families. Please understand, this isn't some Romeo and Juliet sort of feud. The tension lays mainly on their end. Matthew, Felix's grandfather, never could get over his one bad investment and it particularly stung that your grandfather had warned him not to invest. I've done my best to be cordial and keep things civil but I fear his son has inherited the worst traits of his father."

Marley was frozen, perched on the edge of her seat, waiting for Thea to continue. She did.
"The Reigns are a very different kind of family from ours. When they found out that Christian was dating their daughter, Winter, they demanded she break up with him. I told Christian I thought she was a lovely girl, brilliant, the smartest of them all and that he had my blessing. She, however, decided to end things."

"What are you trying to say?" Marley asked. For the first time, Thea looked uncomfortable. She shifted papers around on her desk and avoided eye contact for a long moment.
"The Reigns do not break for anyone, let alone change course. I am merely warning you. I have heard wonderful things about Felix. I get along rather well with his grandmother and she has said nothing but glowing terms about him. He is, however, still a Reigns, and I would caution you not to forget it."

"Is that all?"

Thea nodded and sat back in her chair. Marley didn't start breathing again until she was back up in the protection of her room.

A/N:

Yeah, she's got a tough outer shell but we can all admit we low key love Thea, right?

I can't be the only one on this.

I didn't cast this book because I just couldn't see anyone as any of the characters.

However, Thea gives me MAJOR Meryl Streep vibes. Anyone else?

Who do you see her as?