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I quickly glance at Dianna to find that she’s definitely doing the weird smirky thing and I can’t say that I’m surprised. The last time Cruz was on his bike, he ended up flying through the air and crashing into the hood of Carver’s Escalade. No mother would willingly buy their son another after that, but Cruz doesn’t need to know that, if anything, the extra motivation to help him find those missing children is just what he needs. We’ve been so caught up with trying to save ourselves that the search has been put on hold, which makes me feel like the biggest dick in the world. But at the end of the day, if we’re all dead, then there will be no one advocating for those kids.
I gently close the door behind us, closing out Cruz’s desperate pleas before following Dianna to the long table. She quickly glances over the manila folders that are left scattered all over the table before pretending that she didn’t see a thing. She takes a seat and I take the one beside her, letting my nerves get the better of me.
“Oh, honey. There’s no need to be nervous,” she laughs, clearly seeing the look in my eyes. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this since the moment you arrived back in Ravenwood Heights, but every time I feel it’s the right time, something happens and I find myself pulling back.”
“Oh?” I ask, my bows dropping in confusion.
She takes a deep breath and reaches across the table to take my hand. “I don’t know if you knew this, but your mother and I were quite close.” I suck in a breath and she gives me a fond smile, nodding as I take in the news. “She was an amazing person, caring wife, and an even better mother. All she wanted in the world was to raise you into the beautiful woman that you’ve now turned into. I can just picture her looking down on you and knowing that even without her by your side, you’ve become the woman that she would have always wanted you to be.”
Tears fill my eyes and I try to blink them back, but all I manage to do is send them sailing down my cheeks. “Are you sure?” I question. “Because more than ever, I feel like I’m letting them down.”
“I’m positive, Elodie,” she whispers, squeezing my hand again. “I can’t speak for your father, I wasn’t as close with him, but your mother prided on strength, courage, determination, and loyalty, and you come fully equipped with all of those traits. You’re not afraid to go after what you want and neither was she. Plus, you look just like her. It’s uncanny.”
“Yeah?”
“Definitely,” she says before taking a breath and allowing a seriousness to come over her. “The night of the fire … when Royston—” I nod and she goes on, not wanting to upset me with the constant reminder of what happened that night. “My husband and I had been going through a rough patch back then. We were struggling to conceive after having Cruz and the stress of that was all too much, and your mother, bless her soul, London was kind enough to allow me to stay with her for a few nights to clear my head. I told my husband that I was going for a spa weekend and your father drove us away into the mountains. Your mother sat up front with Andrew while I sat in the back with you, watching you sleep as we drove for hours.”
Dianna pauses for a short moment, looking over my face as though she was looking at her long-lost friend. “It was one of the best weekends of my life. London and I sat up all night having cocktails while your father rolled his eyes at our antics and held you in his arms. He would always refuse to put you down, even when your mother insisted that he was messing with your sleeping schedule. They were great parents and you were always their first priority, which is why they were so eager to get away for a few days. There was such an uproar over you being born as a little girl that it was putting a strain on those precious moments they got to have with you as a newborn. All they wanted in the world was to enjoy their baby girl.”
She takes a breath as her eyes become watery. “I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I’ve never told this story before and it’s … it’s so much harder than I thought it was going to be.”
“It’s okay,” I whisper, watching her face and taking in her gorgeous green eyes that are so much like her son’s. “Take your time.”
Dianna fakes a smile and pretends to be strong, letting out a breath and trying with everything that she is to be encouraging. “I was there the night that Royston broke into your parents’ mountain home. It was the middle of the night and I had no idea what had happened until I was woken with flames surrounding my room. I heard your cries and I knew they’d never have left you behind, so I ran to them assuming the fire hadn’t woken them yet, and what I found …”
