“Mother.” It had been so long since she’d heard that voice. He spoke the name she’d never expected to be called again. She felt frozen in time, as though this moment could not be real. But when she realized he was holding back, uncertain of her reception, she rushed forward and wrapped her arms around his waist.
Her son. She’d not embraced him in years. But he was here. Standing before her. She couldn’t help the tears that suddenly cascaded like a waterfall.
So many tears.
At first, he held himself stiffly, but of course, they’d never been a family for outward gestures of affection.
But that was the past.
After a moment, he relaxed and dropped his arms around her, hugging her into him even more tightly.
“Oh, Harold, I’ve missed you so.” She mumbled the words into his shirt front. Her son. Her child. A trembling set in that she could not stop.
Her son embraced her even more tightly.
“I’m so sorry, Mama.” He’d not called her that since he’d been a child. He shook in her arms as well. “I’m so sorry you had to go through everything alone. I never meant to hurt you.” He apologized over and over again, but she simply shook her head.
“I’m just so very happy to see you. You cannot know…”
After what could have been several minutes or several hours, Loretta eventually loosened her arms so that she could step back and look up at him. She did not release him completely though, keeping her hands on his as she regarded him.
He seemed more muscular, harder, older and less uncertain of himself. It had only been eighteen months since he plunged off the cliff into the ocean, but it felt as though it had been a lifetime.
He turned his head and chuckled. “They have decided to give us some time alone.”
The door was closed, and she and Harold were the only two people in the room. Thomas would have left, but…“They?”
“Stewart came with me.”
Ah, his Valet. His friend. His…
Love.
She had so many questions, so many things she needed to say to him. But suddenly she felt awkward, after such an unseemly display of emotion. Her face was likely red and her eyes puffy. She withdrew the already damp handkerchief from her reticule and began dabbing at her eyes.
“We’ve been waiting for you.” He turned away towards the stove. “I’ve tea and sweetmeats and bread. Sophia and Dev figured we’d want to spend some time together. We’ll travel south again in the early morning hours. I cannot be seen, of course, especially in these whereabouts.”
He moved about gracefully, placing cups and cutlery on a nearby table. Harold had always shown refinement and dignity in social situations. When she finally had the wherewithal to glance around at her surroundings, she smiled. “You’ve decorated.” Sprigs of evergreen and holly were pinned along the walls. Ah, and yes, the room smelled of cloves and oranges. “You’ve always loved the festivities at Christmastide.”
He laughed a little self-consciously. “I didn’t have time to buy you a present.”
“Oh, but Harold,youare the present. I cannot imagine a greater gift.” He pulled out a wooden chair for her, and she sat down at the setting he’d laid out.
Where did one begin?
“I wanted to come, as soon as I’d heard about the accident. I cannot imagine a world without Prescott and Lucas.” He poured her tea and mixed it exactly as she liked. No sugar and just a dab of cream.
Loretta sobered at the memory. At the time, she’d believed Harold already dead as well. For days, weeks, it seemed, it had hurt to simply breathe. But Sophia had been there to support her, as had Dev.
“Dev is Prescott now.” She spoke softly. “He and Sophia… They told me everything. A body had been discovered. They could have perpetuated the lie, but Dev said I needed to know.” Her words made it sound as though she were yet angry with him for lying. Oh, and but she had been! But this was not the time for such ridiculous recriminations! She needed to apologize to him, for making him feel the need to go to such drastic measures. She glanced up and met his serious brown gaze. “I’m so sorry, my darling. For making you feel as though you could not be accepted. For making you feel like any less of a man. I love you. You are my child. There is nothing you could ever do that would cause that love to die.”
He squeezed his eyes closed, and his throat worked a time or two, as though he found it difficult to swallow. “It was not your fault, Mama. I knew that you loved me, but I also knew you were terribly frightened for me. The rumors had become more and more vicious, I knew. Stewart and I both had heard of them. Marrying Sophia was not a horrible idea. And it might have worked, but I could not trap Sophia for a lifetime. And I could not go on pretending forever.”
“I do not fault you for it. My unhappiness was only because I knew how difficult it would make your life. And I had dreams of my own. But those were only my dreams. Your dreams, your happiness were what truly mattered.”
“I know you always loved me.” His voice caught and then he took a sip of tea. “Even father, in his own way.”
Loretta smiled ironically at his words. They were the same thing she’d told herself time and time again. But Prescott’s love hadn’t been anything to build one’s life around. She’d learned something different recently. And now, they’d both apologized, she and Harold. And having tea with him almost felt like old times.
