“That’s not a common name,” she murmurs.
“It isn’t. Her last name was Mowbray. Opal Mowbray.”
“What if…do you think…?” Theo repeats the name in a soft whisper. “Opal Mowbray. Max, can you pass my phone?”
He hands it to her, and Theo’s fingers fly across the screen.
“What are you doing, Tee?”
“Asking Willow the maiden name of her aunt.”
There is silence in the room while we wait for Willow’s reply.
Her phone beeps.
She looks down.
Blinks.
Looks up again.
“Mowbray.”
Holy cow. “You’re Willow’s cousin?”
A huge smile breaks out on her face. “I’m Willow’s cousin!”
The smile falters.
“And François de Vaux’s sister.”
Max and I instantly get even closer to her.
“No,” I tell her.
“No?”
“No. You are Theo Wilson. You are not a sister or daughter to either of those losers.”
She stares at me, then nods. “You’re right. I have family but it’s not them. It’s you all, and Duncan…and Willow.”
“You’d better remember that, Tee-Tee, because if any Crankshawe tries to claim you, I’ll put an arrow through their heart.”
Fire flashes in her eyes for a moment, but then she crumbles, grief and pain all over her beautiful face. “But poor Opal. My poor mother.”
Feniks tucks her more firmly into his body. “You’re hurting,pulu. How can I help?”
“You can’t,” she mumbles. “No one can go back in time and save her.”
I resist punching a wall.
Max kneels at her feet. “None of this is your fault, Sparkles. Your mom got a shit deal, but she’s good now, you’ve seen it for yourself.”
I settle myself and try to do the acceptance thing Max is doing. “He’s right, sweet Tee. Knowing you’ve got a badass birth-mom has to be kinda great, right? Does it feel good?”
“I don’t know,” she sniffs. “I’ve got no idea what I feel.”
Of course she doesn’t. What a stupid thing to say.
