How hard had the last month been for him?
“Of course you’re coming,” said Scarlett. She wanted to take his hand and squeeze it, but he’d moved to her wardrobe and was tossing more clothes onto Manon’s lap.
“Beni, are you sure it’s wise for you to leave your mother?” asked Manon, concern etched across her features. “I don’t want to leave you somewhere you don’t want to be, but won’t she follow you?” Her tone was not unkind, merely questioning, but her words were a dagger through Scarlett’s heart. She couldn’t leave her baby brother here alone.
He faced Manon. “I can’t stay here with her.” His voice was pleading. “She’s awful, and she treats me like…” He took a deep breath. “She’ll know I helped you, and she’ll be furious. Just letme come.”
“I can’t leave him here,” Scarlett said. “He’s coming. End of.” There was no way she was leaving him to face Laylani alone.
“Beni is welcome to join you both,” offered Lachlan.
“Fine,” said Manon, looking resolute. “The three of us will go to Clair de Lune. We need to leave. Let’s be off!”
Scarlett let out a sigh of relief.
“I’ll send Brayden and James to collect you at the Clair de Lune train station,” said Lachlan. “The only train out of Soleil leaves at 6:30 a.m. You should make it to the station with time to spare.”
“Be careful,” said Brayden.
Their gazes met. There was no trace of his usually carefree demeanor on his face. The moment reminded Scarlett of the morning after her father had died. She prayed this would be the last tragedy they endured together.
“I will,” she said. There were so many other things she wanted to say to him, but there was no time.
Beni wheeled Manon into Scarlett’s room, and Scarlett tore herself away from Brayden to follow slowly behind them.
“Good thing you named Beni your heir, Scarlett,” said Manon as Scarlett closed the dressing-room door. “That guardianship paperwork should be in place by now.”
Beni beamed. “You did?”
Scarlett smiled at his happiness. “Yes, of course I did.” Her smile faltered. “But we have no proof…”
“Getting into Soleil is difficult,” said Manon. “Getting out is not. They’ll let him over the border. His passport shows he’s Jules Heroux’s son, and I still have your mother’s marriage certificate to Jules—and her birth certificate—in my important documents. You said you’d packed the black folder, yes, Beni?”
Beni dipped his chin. “It’s on the boat with the rest of our bags.”
“Excellent,” said Manon. “That should be enough. Now liedown on the bed, Scarlett. We need to get these catheter tubes out of us.”
Scarlett eyed the bag of yellow urine on the stand she was using for support. She stood straighter in an attempt to support her own weight, but her body was weak. She’d lost so much muscle mass in the weeks she’d been asleep. It was a good thing she had the cane—and adrenaline pumping through her veins.
“Beni, wheel me to her bedside, then go tell Charlie we’re ready to be carried downstairs. We need to be gone five minutes ago.”
Scarlett tried not to think about what was happening as her grandmother gripped the tube that had been emptying her bladder for weeks.
“Try to relax,” said Manon.
“Have you done this before?” Scarlett asked.
“No, but it can’t be hard. Buck up, buttercup,” she added with a light pat on Scarlett’s bare leg. “You’re going to have to return the favor in a moment.”
Scarlett gritted her teeth and tried to relax her lower body as Manon pulled gently at the tube. She tried to go somewhere else in her mind, but to her surprise, the tube was out before she had any time to think.
Scarlett let out a huge breath. “Your turn,” she sniffed as she sat up.
A minute later, they were both catheter-free.
Beni came back into the room.
“Beni, can you please bring me a bag?” asked Manon. “One of the gift bags in my largest desk drawer would do.”
