Then tomorrow Scottie was getting her desired visit to the Midlands for the opening of the Midlands Faire.The king or queen traditionally opened the event, as it had been for two hundred and sixty years, but the king consort was out of country, and the doctors had quietly advised the queen to rest.
And so, the American Scottie O’Shay, Lady Royal, was representing the House of Blue at the famed faire.And in RECO territory.
HMSD officers would be deployed to act as tourists, shoppers, and locals, always within reach of Lady Royal should there be a repeat of the quay incident.
MP Hamish Fickle was already active on his social media and the talkies, promoting the Midlands Faire, which was part of his Midlands Garden district.To hear him, one would think he was king of his own little Midlands universe.
In the Operations Room, Michael chatted with the lads, catching up on their news, then halted when the small light from the lamp on his old desk still burned.He snapped around to Gunner, who gave a single chin lift.
“We’re keeping the lamp on for her.”Purnell.
It was late when he concluded the security plans with Gunner.Mum would be waiting at Saldings on the Waterfront.Hurrying out of the palace, he flagged down a taxi on Clemency Avenue.
He arrived to see Mum had secured her favorite table in the back left corner where the view of the city and view of the port were equally spectacular.He made his way toward her between the late afternoon diners and early evening drinkers.
“Sorry for my tardiness.Business.”He sat, going over the table, already set with a serving of tea and cake.
“No worries.”Mum set aside her phone to fill his teacup.“Everything all right?”
“Just preparations for tomorrow.”He creamed his tea and reached for a slice of cake.“What’s new in your world?”
“Torben Hedgerow announced his retirement this week.”
“And he is?”
“Only one of Pratt Printing’s most tenured employees.He started with mop and broom and rose through the ranks to become our Chief Strategic Officer.I want you to take his place.It’s your right, Mick, and you’d be brilliant in the position.We need you.”
“No, you just want to win, beat Dad and the Cross family.You want me doing what you envision for me, and in your mind, it doesn’t include the Cross family’s service to the Crown.”
“Not true.You know I’m a loyal monarchist, well, ninety percent loyal, but Her Majesty’s armed services and security detail have had enough of you.Twenty years.I understood in the beginning, honestly.Now I don’t.Why this unfounded resistance to the Pratt way?The money, darling, think of what you could do with the money.I know for a fact if Purnell were—”
“Mum.”His stern rebuke reflected on her face, and the banger he’d been harboring in his soul for thirty plus years nearly exploded.“Purnell was on my side, not your mole.And what all did you say to Lady Royal Saturday night?”
“How alike you are in your Cross and Pratt and O’Shay and Blue stories.She’s a lovely woman.I liked her.”
“Well, there’s an endorsement.”Michael leaned her way.“Mum, I’m not playing hard to get with you.I’ve put in my required two years during university to be a part of the Pratt profits.I know what it’s like to work there, and I can’t see myself in suit and tie, locked up in an office all day.I’d rather coach kids on the pitch, earning a pittance, than be a Chief Strategic Officer.There are Pratt cousins to step up.But the Crosses, we’re a dying breed.Our numbers in public service are dwindling.I feel this is my calling.”
There.He’d said it.
“I see.”Mum fluffed the napkin in her lap, glancing away.“Is that the sum of it?You genuinely feel it’s your calling?”
She was hinting at the even deeper issue.The one they’d both avoided over the years.How Jeanette Pratt walked out on her children and seemed to forget all about them.
“Nothing more than what I just said.”Because this was not the time or place to askWhat sort of mum abandons her sons?“What else is new in your life?Are you seeing anyone?”
“That’s a rather random question.”Mum hesitated before she answered.“Lord Cavendish and I have dinner now and then.We went to Cannes for a long weekend in the winter.Is your father dating?”
“If you want to know, ring him.”
“You think I dislike him, but I don’t.I loved him very much when we married and still do in my way, but the Cross devotion to service and the Pratt innovation in business were never going to coexist.I know you’re angry with me for leaving.I’m sorry, Michael, but it’s the way things had to be.”
Mum’s words, her tone, threatened to light the fuse of the old lingering firecracker—a firecracker decades in the making.His resentment was neatly packed and fused with hurt.
Why did running Pratt mean leaving him and Evan behind?
“Were Granddad and Granny happy with the party?”he said, cutting a bite of cake.“Smashing food and music for the evening.”
“We’re all still talking about it on WhatsApp.Don’t you ever read the messages?Mum posts dozens of pictures every day.There’s a rather lovely one of you with Lady Royal.”
