AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Not the time, Declan. Now stop trying to dodge my question. Is what Victoria told me true?”
“Again, Mother, we need more than that. What did she tell you?”
“You two have found the one you both love.”
My throat tightened. I wasn’t sure I was ready to talk to her about this, not when our love lives were in shambles.
“We did, but we messed it up,” Declan replied solemnly.
“Does this have anything to do with the article your father showed me this morning?”
“Part of it,” I admitted.
“What do you mean part? What happened?” The concern lacing her voice felt like pouring alcohol on an open wound. I hated when she worried about us.
“We started seeing her a month ago when we had that huge snowstorm. Both of us have had an eye on her for months before, but we couldn’t figure out how to approach her,” Declan began.
“That doesn’t sound like you boys.”
I cringed at my mother’s words. “Mother, please.”
“Come on. I used to be young and have fun. So did your fathers. Who could resist the two of you?”
I felt my cheeks heat. Declan’s face was in his hands. At least I wasn’t the only one uncomfortable.
“Do you want to hear what happened or not?”
“Sorry. I’ll keep quiet. Please continue.”
When she was silent, I picked up where Declan had left off. “By then, it was too close to the end of our agreement with you. We didn’t want to rush her. We’d just started our relationship, and it seemed too fast to think she’d consider marrying us in five months’ time. But one thing led to another during the storm, and we started seeing her. We never told her about the engagement or the Law of Heirs. The other night at the gala, Tori made a comment and then the article came out. When we told her everything, she took it the wrong way. She thinks we’re using her.”
“As anyone would. I can’t believe you boys didn’t tell her the truth from the start. Isn’t one of the key foundations of a relationship communication?”
“We didn’t want to scare her or pressure her.” I shrugged, even knowing she couldn’t see me.
“Why didn’t you tell me you’d found her? You should know I’d do whatever was in my power to help you. Never once have you ever mentioned you actually might have found the woman who would make you happy. That’s all I ever wanted. This arrangement was supposed to get your eyes open, not be a death sentence.”
“We figured there was nothing you could do unless we could convince Alex to throw caution to the wind and agree to marry us in such a short time.” Declan’s frown tore at my heart. I hated he was heartbroken.
“All right, listen boys and listen well, because I’m only going to tell you this once. Fix it. Do whatever you can to get her back. Don’t let the one you love slip away, because the two of you may never find another like her.”
She wasn’t wrong. Alex was the one. We’d never find anyone to replace her.
I looked at my phone. It seemed strange hearing this advice from our mother. Normally, it was one of our dads.
“What about the law?” Declan needed to hear the confirmation as well as I did.
“Forget the arrangement. Forget about the law. I’ll handle things as best as I can from here. If Alex is who you want, then go after her. I’ve waited this long for you boys to find the woman of your dreams. I can wait a little longer.”
“Are you sure?” Declan asked.
“If you can win her back, the arrangement is over. As long as you’ve found her and she loves you, then it’ll all work out in the end. You can marry her when you feel it’s right. I don’t care a wit about the rest of it. I just want my boys to be happy.”
I let her words sink in. We had royally screwed this up, and it was going to take a miracle to win her back, but she was worth it.
“Thanks, Mom. Love you. We’ll talk to you soon.” I hung up and looked at Declan.
“Did that just really happen? I’m not quite sure we were actually talking to Mom on the other end of that call.”
