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They had been, though. Especially with Bru leaving. They’d been worried. They’d been suggesting therapy for me too off and on. I wasn’t against anything like that, but I’d never been one to open up to many people. Actually, these days I’d been talking more and more to the dark prince, which had been nice.
He’d been opening up too, giving me more and more details about Charlie. Apparently, the two had really used to go by Batman and Robin to each other, which I thought was friggin’ cute as hell. The dark prince wasn’t cute by any stretch of the word, so yeah, all that was fucking adorable.
Brielle tilted her head. She was probably one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen in my life, strong. Both seemed to be a prerequisite to be a Legacy mom, which I could confirm now since I’d met them all. How they all had ended up raising so many arrogant pretty boys I didn’t know, but maybe they were the soft side to them. All the bros had a softer side, even if none of the cocky fucks wanted to admit it. She put a hand on my chair. “I’m always here to talk with you. That won’t change just because I’m going back downtown.”
I still couldn’t help but be bummed, though. I felt like we’d wasted an opportunity here.
I had wasted one.
She was another one who’d upheaved her whole life for me, but I’d failed to even talk to her even though she had been close.
I noticed a metal bust in a box on her shelf, abstract. It was one of the few things the movers had left to take, and I picked it up.
“Your father—” she started, but then smiled. “Ramses made that for me. He’d fill my office if he could. If I let him. He loves giving gifts.”
I knew that about him, still looking forward to the show we were going to together.
And I noticed she’d corrected herself, calling Ramses something else besides my dad. They were still walking on eggshells and trying to protect me. I swallowed. “Do you do art?”
“Oh, no.” She took the piece from me when I handed it to her. She made it face me. “If I did this, I probably would have lost an appendage in the process.”
I chuckled, and she grinned.
She placed it delicately in the box. “You definitely get all that from him. I don’t have an artistic bone in my body.”
“Could you tell me how you got into politics?” I brought my legs up. “I’d like to know more.” I felt like I knew little to nothing about her.
“Well, not much to that really. I actually kind of feel like I stumbled into the mayor’s office.” She made a face, which made me laugh again. She put her hands together. “I was in academics before. I’d actually just taken the job as headmaster here when… well, when you were taken.”
My mouth pressed together, and she lifted a hand.
“That was hard, as I’m sure you can imagine, and losing you wasn’t the first hardship I’ve experienced unfortunately.” She tilted her head. “I had another marriage before I met Ramses. It wasn’t a great one, and my ex-husband and I had a miscarriage during it.”
I didn’t know what to say. “I’m so sorry.”
“I got through it. Though, it was a process. By the time I met Ramses, I was on the way toward healing, and he only expedited that. In fact, he saved my life in every sense of the word. He’s such a good man, and every day I wonder how he chose me.”
He had similar wonderful things to say about her, both of them so kind.
Brielle’s smile stayed strong despite the harder details of her story, unfaltering. I was sure she had done a lot of work to get to this place. Her mouth lifted higher. “When I lost you, I worked a lot. Worked for years as headmaster of the school, but also in the community. My community work invigorated me, and I think truly that was the difference in helping me deal with my grief surrounding the loss of you. I was helping other mothers and fathers who’d also experienced the loss of a child, both locally and globally. I started a foundation, and it was my peers who suggested I run for local office. I thought the notion was crazy, but I did it. I worked in a few positions before, again, my peers pushed for the mayor’s office.” She opened her hands. “The rest is history, as they say.”
She’d had so many horrible things happen to her, but here she was with me, and still being strong. “How did you deal with all that? With what happened with me and before?”
“Like I said, it wasn’t easy, and though you were gone, I hadn’t lost hope you were out there and were safe.” She nodded, her eyes glassy despite her smile. She shook my leg. “And here you are with me.”
Here I was with her, with both her and Ramses.
Her hand left my leg, and she got up quickly. She headed to her desk. “I can write you a pass back to class. That way you won’t get in trouble with Dr. Stone. I know she can be a hard-ass.”
She winked after she said that, and I smiled. I got up too. “After you go back to the mayor’s office, I’d love to visit sometime. See what you do?” I didn’t really have too much of an interest in politics, but I was desperate to know her. She seemed amazing, and I, with my own grief, had been missing that.
She stopped what she was doing, the pass in her hands. She came around her desk. “You would?”
“Yeah, if I could.” I played with my hands. “I wouldn’t want to impose.”
“You wouldn’t be. Not at all.” A warmth touched her eyes, her voice. She tugged some of her hair back. “I’m actually headed down to the office today. Pulling an early day to assist with the move. You wouldn’t like to tag along, would you? I can give you a tour, and it’d be a good time with things being quiet down there.”
My mouth parted. “I have a few periods left.”
