AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Benedict stepped up onto the landing in front of her, blocking the path to her bedroom. ‘You might have had Brian wrapped around your little finger, but not me. You need to grow up. While you live under your mother’s roof, you will show her some respect.’ Audrey nodded, shocked into submission. ‘Now, go downstairs and congratulate her. I won’t have you ruining this evening for Vivien.’
Audrey wanted to flee to her room, then leave this house as soon as she could.
‘I’ll apologise tomorrow,’ she said quietly.
‘You will apologise now,’ he said, and he put a hand around her upper arm and guided her back down the stairs. Audrey bit back tears; she had never been treated like this by anyone, and every cell in her body burned with the shame of it, the indignity of being man-handled.
Benedict steered her into the kitchen, where her mother’s face looked pale and haunted. Presumably she had heard every word of their little exchange on the stairs.
‘Congratulations, Mum,’ she said, the ‘Mum’ in itself a covert rebellion. ‘If you’re happy, I’m happy for you.’
Benedict nodded his approval and then marched out into the garden to smoke a cigar. Vivien looked at Audrey like a wounded deer.
‘I am happy, honestly, Audrey. I’ve never felt this way about anyone. And I know you think it’s quick and you feel for Brian, but honestly, darling, this is...’ Vivien smiled. ‘I didn’t think I believed in soulmates before, but, Audrey – he’s the part of me that I didn’t know was missing.’
Audrey saw in Vivien’s face that she meant it. So, she swallowed everything she was feeling, hugged her mother, and whispered in her ear, ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Let me have this, please. Don’t fight with him, I can’t stand it.’
As she looked over Vivien’s shoulder at the tall, overbearing figure in the garden, she promised herself that for her mother’s sake, she would try.
