But that same night, Mom was apologetic and almost cheerful. She’d changed her tune and told me she was excited for me to go.
“I’m so sorry, baby,” she said. “When you told me you were leaving, something ugly came out of me. It’s what Angela, my sponsor, calls, ‘self-will run riot.’ I was focusing only on what I wanted, and I tried to control the situation in the worst way. Do you forgive me?”
I stiffened, wary. “You’re okay with me going? Just like that?”
She nodded and came into the kitchen where I was making spaghetti for dinner.
“What I said was completely out of line. You’ve been working so hard. You deserve this trip.” She took my hand in both of hers and admired my ring. “That is just beautiful. Orion has great taste.”
Later that night, I went upstairs and Googledself-will run riot. It was a real thing, and common in the AA world. Maybe she was telling the truth. I remained on high alert for the next few days, but Mom seemed okay. Sober. Working, and insistent I have a great time in England. Orion had already flown back to the UK for Christmas when I texted him.
I can come.
The reply was nearly instant.Brilliant! Sending flight details now. <3
I smiled, excited. A stamp in my passport. And even though a tiny voice in the back of my mind whispered something wasn’t quite right, it was drowned out by another voice that told me it was okay to have this one thing for myself.
So I took it.
Chapter 26Harper
I stepped off the jetway and headed to baggage claim, where I wasgreeted by Orion holding a sign that simply readBennett.The smile that appeared on his face when he caught sight of me was worth a million pretty rings.
He tilted the sign from side to side and waggled his brows. “Well? How was your flight?”
“How was my first-class flight on a world-class airline? Let me think…” I tapped my chin, pretending to think. “I hated it. It was awful. Torture.” I gave him a playful shove on the chest that didn’t budge him in the slightest, then pulled him to me for a kiss. God, he was so handsome.
Hot. He’s so hot, I amended. As if he’d somehow become even more good-looking over our separation. But it was the essence or substance or whatever made him,himthat I’d missed the most. Nine days without Orion had felt like nine weeks.
“I missed you,” he said softly.
“You read my mind,” I said, still holding the lapels of his lightweight designer jacket, not wanting to let him go yet, into the bustleof London.
Orion brushed his thumb over my cheek and kissed me again. “Come on. You have a lot of my country to see and not a lot of time to see it.”
He helped me with my one bag and led me to a black SUV and a uniformed driver.
“Morton, this is Harper,” Orion said as we climbed in.
He tipped his cap. “Miss.”
“Hello, Morton.”
“Did you want to eat before we get going?” Orion said. “It’s about a forty-minute drive to Surrey.”
“I thought you lived in London.”
“Nope. But don’t worry. We’ll come back and sightsee.”
He took my hand and gave it a kiss as the car moved out of Heathrow and headed south along a highway called the M25. I checked in with home for the second time (the first being the second the plane touched down and I could turn off airplane mode) and let myself relax a little. The scenery was mostly barren: winter trees over grayish-brown land, but beautiful in my eyes because it was entirely different. We passed quaint little villages and not-so-quaint estates that grew bigger and bigger, until Morton drove us down a long, private road. A sign read,Ademere House.
“Ademere?”
“Ademeans ‘crown’ or ‘royalty’ in Yoruba,” Orion explained. “Mereis old English for ‘body of water.’ When he bought the estate, my father wanted to pay homage to his roots. The name meansCrown by the Water.”
“That’s lovely,” I said. “Where’s the water?”
“Behind the house. You’ll see,” Orion said, peering out the window. “We’re here.”
