People like me aren’t meant to be loved.
I must have mumbled the last part out loud because her brows knit together. “What does that mean? You are a very lovable woman, Natalie. You make my son happy. You draw him out of his shell and make him look at the world around him.”
I can’t stop the tears, no matter how hard I try, as if a dam has broken inside me. “You don’t understand. You don’t.”
“Then tell me,” she says calmly. “Tell me why he can’t love you and why you’re so convinced you’re unlovable.”
I wipe my eyes fiercely, not wanting to make a fool of myself. “I don’t mean to say—I’m not saying I’m unlovable. I just—Ethan knows. Given our past, he knows?—”
“I understood that he did something to you when you first met him, something he considers unforgivable.”
My lips part. “He told you?”
“No.” She shakes her head. “And I don’t want to know. This is between the two of you, but before you turn him down, Natalie, at least discuss what happened. It could be that you are viewing the events of what he did to you in a different light. It is entirely possible there’s something you don’t know, something that could be resolved with communication.”
She reaches out and covers my cold hands with hers, her voice warm. “I will tell you one thing. I understand that my son is a difficult man. But when he loves, he loves true and deep. When he talks about you, I see a side of him I’ve never seen before. Please, talk to him before you make any decision.”
Her hand lifts to cup my cheek gently, and I notice her fingers hesitate for just a moment over the healing scratches, her eyes flashing with a mixture of concern and something that looks like protective anger before her expression softens again. My heart trembles when she murmurs, “And I think you are a lovely girl. I would love to have you as my daughter-in-law—no, my daughter.”
“I—”
“Do you care for my son?”
Helen’s question is serious, and I find myself answering truthfully, even though I know I shouldn’t. “Yes.”
She doesn’t say anything else on the matter. “Come on. Let us go out for lunch. I feel you have lost too much weight, and I want to spend time with my soon-to-be daughter-in-law.”
“But I haven’t?—”
She just pulls me along firmly, and I follow her helplessly. So this is what Ethan meant by calling her a force of nature. I’ve barely processed anything she’s told me, and here I am being carted around without even being allowed to have a say. She makes Ethan’s stubborn streak look like child’s play.
A ring.
He had a ring made.
My head is a tangled mess of thoughts and emotions, and I don’t even know where to begin untangling them.
But three years ago?
“Are you going somewhere, Natalie?”
Caroline’s voice snaps me out of my daze, and I look over my shoulder to see her coming out of the cafe, carrying a tray with a coffee and a sandwich.
“Oh, sorry! Mrs. Brown, this is Helen Wilder. She’s my—” I glance at the woman next to me awkwardly. “She’s my boss’s mother.”
“Oh.” Caroline looks between the two of them, her eyebrows rising slightly.
“Mrs. Wilder, this is Caroline Brown. She owns this cafe, and she’s my flatmate Sarah’s mother. I’ve been staying with her and her husband for the past two weeks.”
“Natalie’s been helping out at the cafe while she looks for a new job. She’s such a delight to have around.” Caroline smiles. “Would you like some coffee, Helen?”
“I’d love some.”
I sense an odd tension between the two women, like two lionesses circling each other, but it could be in my head.
“Brody!” Mrs. Brown calls out. “Bring another coffee out here.”
A few minutes later, a man walks out, his dark hair tied in a tight bun at the top of his head. Brody is Sarah’s older brother, and he is set to take over the cafe at some point.
