Page 48 of Fortune’s Final Folly

“I am unsure where to begin.” A’laya sat in one of the few chairs that hadn’t burnt entirely in the fire. She rubbed at her chest; the ache that should have disappeared with the discovery of Katherina still causing pain. “There is so much to say.”

“Why not tell me about your necklace?” Kate nodded to where A’laya unknowingly rubbed at the metal. “I have seen a picture of it before.”

“You have?” A’laya glanced down at the simple adornment that’d hung around her neck since childhood. “It was a gift from my mother. She bought it for me while we walked the merchants’ stalls when I was a child.”

“What does it mean?”

“It is the Path of Life.” A’laya felt Kate’s stare as it followed the intricate swirls and circles, likely thinking the same as A’laya had when she first saw the symbol. “My mother once said, ‘The paths are the circles. See the center rings? They go on forever. That is who you are. No matter what happens, you are always A’laya. Your mama’s daughter, your grandmother’s grandchild, and your father’s precious baby girl. You will make choices, little one. But know you are always loved for who you are.’”

A’laya closed her eyes, a sadness burrowing deep into her chest at the words that had kept her focused for so many years, even during the long nights and even longer winters without Katherina.

“The necklace was drawn on the back of a piece of paper in the file we found at Joshua’s office,” Kate said. “It seemed very important at the time, as if I knew the symbol but could not place it.”

“I am sorry I was not there for you.” A’laya hung her head. “While we were not together, you were still my Katherina. I thought of you every moment, dreamt of you every night, and prayed relentlessly to find you.”

“Mayhap I did the same without realizing it,” Kate whispered.

“I grew up with stories of the fierce, strong women of our past. Yet, I was weak. I allowed a fiend to deceive me, to trick me so completely I believed he loved me.” She paused, lifting her chin until she stared up at Kate. “But you, my blessed daughter, are everything I was unable to be. For that, I am eternally grateful.”

“I do not feel fierce or strong.”

A’laya sensed that it was her fault despite her absence. That she was the reason Kate did not fully comprehend her strength. “How can you say that?”

Kate held her arms wide, gesturing to the schoolroom. “I nearly lost everything, and it is only because of Joshua’s kindness—and the funds from Shrewbury—that I can make the necessary repairs. If it were not for Joshua, I do not know where I would be. I did not question anything. I did not know where to turn when it all happened. Heavens, I did not even know that my home was burning until Joshua came for me.”

Each time her daughter spoke of the solicitor, the light within her brightened. “Lord Joshua Stuart is a good man.”

A’laya fell silent, allowing Kate to think on all she’d said. Upon meeting the man, she’d thought him her foe. She’d been taken aback to find that she trusted him almost immediately, even before she took his palm and made to read the lord. There was much a person could gain from merely requesting to hold another’s hand. Those who balked at the contact were most often to be avoided. Those who did not readily offer up their hand were generally hiding something. It was rare—very rare indeed—that a man held out his hand as Lord Stuart had, without question, hesitation, or reservations.

Kate glanced toward the front of the schoolroom.

A’laya’s chest contracted at the forlorn look in her daughter’s eyes. She’d seen it in her own over the long, hard years. It was the look of a woman who wanted something very badly but was resigned to never have it.

In A’laya’s case, it had been someone. Her daughter.

In Kate’s case, A’laya suspected it was also about someone.

Joshua.

“You should go to him,” A’laya whispered, staring toward the front of the room and out the open doorway.

Kate feigned confusion. “Go to whom?”

A’laya saw directly through the ploy. “The solicitor.”

They’d been reacquainted only a short time; however, she truly felt as if she knew the young woman before her. Her hopes, her dreams, her fears. Because they matched many of A’laya’s from the past.

On cue, Kate’s cheeks blossomed with heat at A’laya’s direct answer. “No, I cannot. He had work to do, and I’ve inconvenienced him enough.”

There was no fooling A’laya. In fact, the solicitor hadn’t even attempted to hide his attraction for Kate. Attraction… She scoffed. What Joshua felt for Kate was far more than simple lust—and just as complicated. Maybe more so. The interest and captivation were duly returned by her daughter. One did not have to claim any type of extra senses or gifts to see the connection between the two.

A budding love that would soon bring Kate to her senses. Very unlike the speedy courtship and duplicity of A’laya’s relationship with Pierce.

There was only authenticity behind the stolen looks exchanged between Kate and Joshua.

“You are not an inconvenience to him, my girl.”

Kate shook her head. “He, as well as his uncle, was friends with my parents. He feels responsible for me. Needs to make certain I do well.”