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I knew his heart was in the right place, but I couldn’t take it anymore. I got up to leave, but Thomas’ big frame blocked my exit. “Tori, I mean it.” He sighed, and his shoulders slumped forward. I couldn’t tell if he was in big brother mode or boss man mode. Either way, I knew how to end this conversation.He wouldn’t like it, but it was the fastest way to get him off my back.
“Yes,daddy,” I teased.
He shivered. “No. Don’t ever call me that again.”
I squeezed past him and laughed my ass off all the way to the kitchen where Helen had a macchiato waiting for me. I inhaled the rich aroma before taking a long sip. The warmth of the heavenly brew spread through me, and it gave me enough strength to go into the office and make my phone call.
“Victoria, my darling. So nice of you to return my calls.” She answered after the second ring.
“Hi, Mother.” I powered up my laptop.
“We stopped by the flat in New York, but you weren’t there. Where are you?” I could hear the concern in her voice, but from experience knew it wasn’t truly for me. She was more worried about the fact that she couldn’t keep me in line. She wanted to make sure I wasn’t going off the plan—the onesheset, not the one I agreed with.
“I’m with Thomas and Declan. They needed help with a project. I’m working with them,” I lied. I wasn’t going to tell her I had been hiding, or that I was getting lessons from two very handsome vets on how to live my life.
“Oh, honey. I’m glad you can still spend time with them and are not harboring any negative feelings. We certainly do not want to alienate the Kingston family. And don’t you worry, this new group of men will be even better for you.”
And there it was. Not two sentences, and she was already on the topic.I couldn’t understand why my mother needed to push marriage so quickly. I’d only officially broken off my engagement to Thomas and Declan just over a year ago. But she had found the Donaldson brothers after four months.
“Darling, did you hear me?”
Clearly, my silence wasn’t communicating my lack of enthusiasm for her match. “Is there anything you need? I have work to do.”
“How long do you think this will take? I want you home soon. We want to announce the engagement, but your absence will be noticed. And after the scandal of your last engagement, we really don’t need a repeat.” I pictured my mother giving a delicate shudder at the thought of additional negative opinions being tossed at our family.
“I’m sure we can put it off a little longer. I don’t know exactly how long I’ll need to be here.”
“You’d better hurry, Victoria. They are getting antsy, and your fathers and I can’t afford to have this business deal go south because of you. A lady does not shy away from her responsibilities.”
I cringed. I only had theseresponsibilitiesbecause they made them for me. I didn’t give a fuck if their deal went south. I had other things I could do outside the family business. “I’ll let you know when I have a better idea of my timeframe here. Does that work for you?”
“That would be much appreciated. Tell the boys I said hello.”
“Of course, Mother. Speak with you soon.” Another lie. I would love to go more than a week without speaking to her, but it was almost impossible. And now that she knew I was with the Kingstons, she would hound them until I spoke with her.
Sighing, I got up from my desk and wandered outside. After walking for a few minutes, the fresh air cleared my head, and I headed toward the gardens. I spied Jessie bent over one of the beds, pulling out weeds.
“Hey, Jessie,” I called out as I got closer.
“Those boys treating you well?” she asked.
“I promise you, Jessie, those boys are all men.” I grinned.
“Yeah, yeah. Well, they’ll always be boys to me. I grew up with them. I really don’t want to think of them as anything but that.” She laughed, then turned to me. Her expression dropped in concern. “What happened? Who do I need to hurt?”
“My mother,” I whispered, not able to hide the despair threading through my words.
She grimaced and stood up to face me. “What was it about this time?”
“The same shit. I hate knowing I’m going to be miserable when I return home.” I sighed. “But the guys have helped me see I can do whatever I want with the time I have left. I can spend my last few weeks of freedom and do whatever I can to feel like a regular person with a normal life and future ahead of her.”
“A normal life?” Her eyebrow lifted.
“You know what I mean.”
She moved closer and wrapped her arms around me. I leaned into her embrace and rested my cheek on her shoulder. “Except I realized I don’t know how to do that. Be normal. But I’m working on it, and it’s been fun so far.”
“You are normal.” She hugged me tighter.
