“Okay.”
She gives me a sweet kiss that seems to heal a small part of my broken heart, and we tuck in for the night.
***
The next morning, Cole arrives, and we head to the airport. Then a few hours later, we are driving in our rental car to Aurora. It’s strange coming back here with Leo. I have made the trip every year for seven years, but now, having Leo with me? It’s surreal.
Leo is driving. She was insistent that she did, and let’s be honest, I can’t deny her anything, so that’s how I find us turning down an all too familiar and unwelcomed circle drive.
“Leo. What the fuck are we doing at my parents’ house?”
She doesn’t answer me as she puts the car in park. I can’t take my eyes off her. That’s not atypical of me, but it’s for a different reason this time. My heart is racing. I’m freaking out. I had accepted thefact that I would never speak with my parents, especially my mother after what she did, but now I am sitting in their drive, facing down the woman I love, who I know is going to make me go in there.
She turns fully to me. “I made my peace with my mother, Ev. You need to do the same.”
“I can’t. Not after what she did to you.” Has she lost her mind? She thinks I could honestly forgive my mother after what she has done? I feel anger brewing inside me. My temper is rising. But then she lays her small, always cold hand to my cheek, and my storm is settled.
“I’m not asking you to forgive her. I’m asking you to lay this to rest and move on. I didn’t understand the power of closure until I was sitting on my mother’s grave, wishing that I had one more chance to show her that I survived her love. Don’t wait until it’s too late, Ev. Peace doesn’t always mean forgiveness.”
I close my eyes for what feels like hours, when in reality, it’s seconds. I hate that my all too wise pretty bird is right. I need to do this. For her. For Rune. For me.
“Do you want me to come with you?”
“Do you feel you need to? Do you need closure with my mother?”
I was not the only one damaged by her. Leo may need this as much as I do.
“No. I need you. And I have you. I’ve already won.”
I nod and push the door open, placing a kiss to Leo’s knuckles.
“I’ll be waiting for you,” she whispers.
I walk up the white stone steps to my parents’ estate and release a deep breath before knocking.
Only moments later, Richard opens the door in his same black butler’s uniform. “Mr. Rowan. I—” The shock in his voice is startling from a man I have always known to be so proper. “It’s a pleasure to see you again. Please come in. I will fetch your mother. Your father, I’m afraid, is away.”
“Thank you, Richard.” I am escorted to the sitting room, but I don’t sit. This will be quick.
I hear the heels echoing off the empty walls of this broken home. Then she rounds the corner. Where there should be gray hair, it’s dyed brown. Where there should be laugh lines and soft crinkles next to her eyes, there is only smooth skin. The cost of keeping up appearances was never too much for the Rowan family.
“Everett.” She walks to me to embrace me in a hug, and I take a step back. She halts, a flash of hurt crossing her face before she puts her mask back on.
“Mother.”
“I am so pleased you have come home. I heard about Natasha and the baby. Have you brought her with you? Will you be caring for her in her recovery?”
“I am not home. My home is with Leo—”
With a snappy tone, she interrupts me. “Who is Leo?”
“Leora. The girl you manipulated. The girl you offered money to, to abort my child. Ring a bell, Mother?”
Shock mars her face. Clearly, she wasn’t expecting the truth to be revealed. She is silent. For once in her life, she has nothing to say.
“Your silence gives me all the answers and closure I need. My son is fucking incredible, and so is his mother. She is nothing like you,and I am so incredibly grateful for that. Through her, I see what a mother’s love is. Through her, I find my peace, and you will never take that from me again.”
I go to leave, but she catches my arm. “Everett. What I did, I did for you. She would have dragged you down. You weren’t ready for a baby. I was only protecting you.”
