“Daddy, I’m glad you’re okay, but I’m leaving. I’ll see you later,” I say, and start walking out when Joseph grabs my arm. I look at him with fierce intent as my body tenses.
“Deliah, spend one day with your family. Go back to Colt tomorrow. It won’t hurt you to spend one day with your sick father, will it? Think of it this way… he misses you and only wants to spend some time with you. Hell, even I’d like to see you for longer than thirty seconds. So please, just one day?” Joseph asks, looking at me with soft eyes. The same eyes I thought I was once in love with.
I exhale and relax. “One day! That’s it! No more!”
“Thank you, Deliah. Joseph’s right, we miss you, and how we left things last time in the rose garden, well… I’m sorry for that. I love you, and I want you to be happy, my darling,” Mummy says, hugging me.
“Thanks, Mummy.”
Daddy stands from the bed, and Joseph and I walk out so he can get dressed.
“Deliah, I still care about you, you know. I’ll always be here if you need to talk. But I do want us to stop bickering and be the friends we once were before we got together.”
I know he’s genuine about how he feels by how he looks at me. I see it in his eyes—the quiet intensity, the way they soften when they meet mine.
“I’d like that. I’m sick of all this rubbish between us,” I reply, and Joseph leans in and hugs me. A surge of familiarity floods through me, and I feel guilty for holding someone other than Colt. I slowly pull back, only to find Mummy and Daddy watching our embrace, matching grins stretched across their faces.
Great.
I let out an exaggerated eye roll because, of course, they’re enjoying this, before turning on my heel and heading for the emergency doors to grab my luggage.
The ride back to the manor is quiet, tension simmering beneath the surface. I’mstillangry at Mummy for not telling me it was only heartburn, but despite that, a part of me is relieved to be going home, even if just for a short stay.
We pull up to the grand estate, the familiar sight both comforting and overwhelming. Our chauffeur, the aptly named Mr. Bentley, steps forward, opening the door for me first, followed by Mummy and Daddy. As I step out, stretching my legs, Joseph exits the front passenger seat and moves to the back of the car to collect my luggage.
“Nice to see you again, Miss Norman,” George greets me, nodding while he holds the door.
“George, it’s great to see you again, too,” I reply, wrapping my arms around his neck. As always, he hesitates but eventually gives in, patting me lightly on the back.
I chuckle and walk inside.
Rosemary follows, bringing a tray of tea and scones into the living room, where we are headed.
Joseph puts my luggage by the staircase, and we all sit on the white, ornate sofas, with Mummy and Daddy on the other side, facing us like we used to. As Rosemary hands me my Royal Albert bone china tea cup and saucer, it dawns on me how much my life has changed from luncheons and tea parties to rock concerts and after-parties. But more than that, I love my new life, and being here shows me how stifling it was, and still is.
Then, my mind drifts to Colt—the way I left him at the hotel—and a sharp ache pierces my chest.My God, I was such a bitch to him.Guilt claws at me, relentless and unforgiving, as the weight of my words and actions settles like a stone in my stomach.
“Excuse me, I need to let Colt know what’s going on,” I say, walking outside and down to the rose garden. Pulling out my cell, I dial his number. It rings and rings, but there’s no answer, and he doesn’t have voicemail because when the paparazzi find his number, they bombard him. He’s had to change his number so many times that he never sets up a new one now. I end the call and frown, exhaling. I scuff my shoe along the gravel and look down at my feet.
“Deliah?” I look up to Joseph walking toward me.
I smile and place my hands in my jeans pockets. “Hey.”
He stops in front of me. “Do you want to go for a walk, like old times, along the lake? Might help clear your mind?”
Not seeing any harm, I nod at the thought of some tranquility, but my thoughts are a million miles away with Colt. I know he’s probably either on the jet flying to Germany or having interviews, but above everything, I hope he’s okay after that stupid tongue-lashing I gave him for no damn reason. Living the life I led before Colt has shown me how spoiled and downright horrible I can be as a person. There was no reason to treat him that way, but for some reason, when shit goes south, I always end up going tothat placewhere this godawful mean girl surfaces—it’s not a trait I’m proud of, and one that comes from being a spoiled, rich princess who got everything she ever wanted growing up.
We stroll to the edge of the lake in silence.
“I’ve missed this,” Joseph says. “Just spending time with you, I mean. I think you know as well as I do that we were always more like best friends than a couple,” he adds.
“I didn’t think so when you broke up with me…” I trail off, not wanting to think about it. “But I see now there was definitely love there, but only in how you love a friend. Us breaking up was the right thing for both of us.”
He wraps his arm around my shoulder. “I couldn’t agree more, Deliah, and I will always love you like that, but I’m so glad you feel the same way I do. It devastated me to think that I’d broken you. But I am glad you have found Colt. He seems, well…different,” he says with a chuckle. “But you’re happy, which is all I want. I know categorically that I can’t give you that kind of happiness.”
“Just as I can’t make you happy,” I say, leaning into his embrace.
“Exactly.”
