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My mother on a snowmobile? Good thing Brakefield decided to wait in the car. He'd go apoplectic if he heard someone suggest the princess would do anything as dangerous as that.
But Mum says, "That sounds like fun."
And yes, the next day my mother rides a snowmobile while wearing a white snowsuit and a knit cap with matching gloves, not to mention goggles. She doesn't drive the machine. Chuck does that so Mum can enjoy the ride. Oh yeah, she enjoys it all right. Princess Olivia whoops as she and Chuck race down the mountainside.
While Sam and I watch from a safe distance, she says, "I thought your mother was rigid and proper. That's how you described her, and that's kind of how she acted yesterday when she first arrived."
"I haven't seen Mum act this way in years. She doesn't drive a car herself, much less jump on a snowmobile and whoop so loudly it echoes off the trees." I shake my head, staring down the hill with my mouth gaping open as Chuck spins the snowmobile around and they rocket back toward us. "Mum won't let Brakefield drive faster than fifty miles an hour."
Sam laughs. "I think Dad's driving a little faster than that."
Chuck stops the machine so suddenly that snow sprays up. Then he hops off and helps Mum get off the snowmobile too.
"How'd you like it?" Judy asks. "Fun, hey?"
"Bloody fantastic," Mum says while grinning.
My mother just said the word bloody, and she wasn't talking about how she likes her ribeye steak. Not that Mum eats steak. She's also grinning.
"Who wants some hot cocoa?" Cameron asks.
Ella and Lily jump up and down. "Me! Me!"
"Me too," Mum says, and she grins again.
Once we all get inside the cabin, I take my mother over to the farthest corner of the living room. "Are you feeling all right, Mum?"
"Fabulous, darling." She kisses my cheek. "Haven't had this much fun in years. Almost forgot what it feels like to cut loose. You and Sam and her family have given me a much-needed refresher course in enjoying life."
"But you rode a snowmobile. And last night, you slept in a sleeping bag. On the floor. In the living room with Cameron, Amy, and their daughters."
"I braided the girls' hair too."
"You did what?" I am genuinely gaping, and I'm positive my jaw has dropped low enough that it will graze my chest if I try to speak.
My mother lays a hand on my shoulder. "Don't look so stunned, darling. We used to have fun all the time."
"When I was little. Once I left for boarding school, everything changed."
"Exactly." Her smile fades, and she moves her hand to my cheek. "I missed you, Ben. Honestly, I didn't want to send you away, but that's how it's always been done in the Montague family. It seemed like the right thing at the time, but I regret it now."
"It's all right. Boarding school wasn't so awful. And I loved going to university."
"We do need to get to know each other again. I want to do that." She pulls me into a hug. "I love you, Ben, and I want you to be happy."
"I love you too, Mum. And I am happy."
She lets go of me. "But not when you're in Mithoria."
"Well, it's, ah…"
"You don't need to placate me, dear. I know you've never wanted to rule the country. You love your job in England and your friends there."
"I love Sam too."
"Yes, I know." She sighs, all the happiness vanishing from her expression. "I will do whatever it takes to make my children happy."
"Stephanie is happy. She loves all that royal rubbish."
