“Forget being an O’Shay?”She stiffened at his inference.“Dad, I’m more O’Shay than the air in my lungs.”This was so weird.What was he not saying?“Is, um, everything all right?”
“Scottie, stop.I’m just encouraging you to enjoy being with your mom’s people.Don’t worry about things here.”
Okay, that made sense.“I’ll be home before you know it.”Said with cheer.A bit forced.Yet absolutely true.
Though she sensed something rumbling between her and Dad.Was it because she chose to spend two months with Kate?He said he understood, but did he?The tone of his voice seemed to cloak something.
At the knock on her door, she turned.When she opened up, footman Miles stood in the corridor.
“Her Majesty is anxious to see you, miss,” Miles said.“She’s requested dinner for tea since the hour is late.”
“How is she today?”Scottie tucked her phone into her pocket and regarded Miles
“She’s the queen, miss,” he said with a bit of a grin.“What else can I say?”
Of course, Miles wouldn’t disclose anything about Her Majesty’s health.Discretion was paramount to his livelihood.Down another corridor where sconces lit the textured wall, around another corner toward the back of the castle, then Scottie arrived with Miles at the familiar door of the royal suite, Monarch One.
The footman rapped on the heavy, ornate door, then backed away.Hilda, Kate’s maid, escorted Scottie to the small dining room, then exited, closing the door behind her.
“Ah, here she is.”Kate smiled but remained seated, her hands tucked into her lap.She looked tired and her pale skin a bit too thin.Thank goodness her eyes were clear and bright.“I’m so sorry I’ve spent most of your first week napping away the hours.”
“Your health is more important.”Scottie sat across from her mother at a small table set for two with bone china and gold flatware, and goblets of water and wine.“Are you resting well?”
“Fairly,” Kate said.“I feel like the effects of my last treatment will never end.I am in a bit of pain.”She sighed, reaching for her water.“How do you like Michael?Are you getting on well?”
“I’ve not spent a lot of time with him, but he seems like a nice man.He gave me a tour of the Garden Party tents and explained how everything works.”
“Rather handsome, don’t you think?”Kate raised the lid of the blue-and-white tureen, releasing the aroma of chicken and vegetables in a thick sauce covered with a golden-brown crust.The fragrances filled Scottie with a sense of home.“He comes from the very esteemed Cross family, who have served the Crown for as long as the Blues have been on the throne.”
Kate tried to serve dinner for Scottie, but she bobbled the plate and dropped the lid, clattering it against the tureen.
“Kate, hey, hey, let me.”Scottie retrieved her plate and the serving spoon teetering on the edge of the table.“You don’t have to be a hero.I know your treatments leave you weak.”
“But it’s your first week here.”Kate curled her hand into her lap.“We’ve done nothing together except drink tea, and I’m half asleep before we finish the first cup.I want to do all the motherly things I couldn’t do when you were growing up, but then I remind myself you’re not a child.You’re thirty-eight years old.Look, now you’re spooning dinner on my plate instead of the other way round.”
“Well, if you want, I’ll let you pat me on the back later, see if I burp.”
Kate’s laugh was quick and hearty but with a swift fade, like she was out of breath.Looking down, she confessed, “I refuse to let this,thisdiseasetriumph.”
Kate’s diagnosis with Guillain-Barré was one of the main reasons Scottie first agreed to meet her long-lost, fabled mother.
Prince John came looking for Scottie in Hearts Bend two years ago and convinced her to visit Perrigwynn Palace.Along the way, he fell in love with Gemma, a Hearts Bend gal who had lost herself in Hollywood.Her love gave him hope after a year of grief.His love rescued her from shame.
Kate tried for a bite of chicken pie, but her spoon nosed downward.
“Here, let’s make this a team effort.”Scottie scooted her chair around, dragging her place setting along, rearranging the goblets and the ornate crystal vase, then scooped a small portion of the pie.
“I feel rather silly,” Kate said, eyes locked on Scottie, not moving toward the spoon.
“Either this or get half of it in your lap.Or starve.”
Kate made a face, breathing out.“Well, all right, but only Edric has done this for me in the past.Let’s keep this to ourselves, shall we?”
“It will be our secret.”
And so it went, a choreographed routine of a bite for Kate and a bite for Scottie.She buttered a roll for her mother, who could manage holding that on her own.And with two hands, she could sip her water.
“Arabella would have a day if she saw us.”Kate exhaled back against her chair.“But God love her, she’s opening the symphony tonight for me.”
