“What about us?”he said, walking toward to her.“I can’t just let you fly away without one more try.”
“I don’t know,” she said, heading for the Grand Staircase.“Nothing makes sense anymore.”
“Maybe that’s because you think everyone is out to fool you because your father and grandparents lied to you for thirty-five years about your mother.”Michael walked around in front of her, grabbing her attention, stirring her pulse.“You say you understand why they never told you, but deep down, Scottie O’Shay, you don’t understand.You resent it.”
“Why are you lecturing me?I thought we had to leave intwenty minutes.”
“Twenty-two minutes won’t alter the flight.”
“Then what’s your point, Michael?Did any of them consider how being motherless impacted my life?If she’d really died, then okay.I’d have my grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins to tell me about her.But there were no stories.My mother was a world of nothingness.Now that I know, I admit it, sometimes I resent losing my childhood and teen years with Kate.”All her stories, her thoughts, were raw and exposed.“They didn’t even give me a chance to be trusted.Why couldn’t I have met her, been told she was a distant relative or someone who loved me for only God knows why and then one day, tell me the truth?”
“They were never going to tell you the truth, Scottie.”
“Exactly.”She all but shouted as she arrived at the stairs.“That’s what burns me the most.”
She’d tiptoed around this depth of honesty ever since she learned the truth.Today’s news shook her enough to spill her secret.
“You were born between a rock and a hard place,” Michael said, leaning on the banister, looking up to where she stopped on the first tread.“Which story would you prefer?Your mother died but you were the apple of her eye, or she chose another life and left you behind?I know what being left behind feels like Scottie, and I’d prefer a dead mother a thousand times over one who walks away.Then her absence was not her choice.
“You think learning the truth at thirty-five makes you an expert on how a father or mother should convey an impossible choice?You’ve no idea how the truth, at any age, would’ve wounded your soul.To compound it with a lie such as Her Majesty being your long lost relative or a random woman who fancied you would not have made the truth any easier.They fed you a simple story to protect you.Trust me, watching my mother walk out destroyed me and Evan.It continued to tear at my soul until Emmanuel showed up that day at Wenthelen Chapel.I forgave Mum because He gave me grace to end my own self-inflicted darkness.Maybe you should consider asking Him for the same.”
“Why are we talking about this again?I have forgiven them.I’m going home because of O’Shay Shirts being sold.”
“The stories are connected, Scottie.Once again, your world has been turned upside down so you’re going back to the motherless little girl clinging to the small world that made her feel safe—Hearts Bend and O’Shay Shirts.”
“My world was not small.”
“Yes, it was, love.All your life it was you, your father, and grandparents.Period.If you leave to never return, you’ll be returning to the nothingness of not having a mother.You can’t go back.You know the truth.You know what is possible here with your Blue family, with your mother and yes, your title.You leave, nothing on either side of the Atlantic will ever be the same, Scottie.Your mum loves you.Your brothers love you, and I daresay, you love them.I saw how you laughed and danced with them last night.It was genuine.Moreover, I love you.More than you know and more than I ever thought possible.”With a glance at his watch, he started down the stairs.“Just remember those things on your long flight home.”
* * *
“I’m broadcastinglivein The Haskells this week, where residents in the villages and hamlets of the Highcrest Mountains recount their sighting of the Eye of God.So stay tuned forTuppence Corbyn & Friends!”
— Tuppence Corbyn & Friends
* * *
“Eloise Ltd.announced a partnership with Reingard Industries this morning.‘Eloise Ltd.will begin production with our everyday women’s wear right here in the Midlands,’ said designer and Eloise Ltd.founder, Eloise Bright.‘This will up our productivity and provide hiring opportunities.As of this deal, we’ve come full circle for textile and clothing production in the Midlands.Lady Royal played a vital role, and we’re thankful.’”
— Clark Wilson, The News Leader
* * *
“The sale of O’Shay Shirts to Boston Brothers leaves a gaping hole in Lady Royal’s life.I say she come home to Lauchtenland.She’s won her crown.In my book, she’s already acted more like a princess than most.”
— Hamish Fickle, Lord Midlands speaking to the
House of Lords
* * *
“The electrical surge from the Eye of God knocked out power grids across the northern and middle part of Lauchtenland.However, residents are reporting no loss of light or energy to their homes or businesses.Figure that one out, Stone.”
— Willis Faregate, news reporter on the Morning Show
Chapter Twenty-five
Scottie
