“I mean that’s why I needed to get rid of that woman. I couldn’t have some random stranger letting things slip, could I?”
Flick narrowed her eyes even further. “What’re you talking about? Let what slip?”
She watched her mother take a second to gather her thoughts. She finally looked Flick directly in the eye.
“What else was it your dad used to say?”
Wondering where this was all going, Flick tried to think. Her dad used to say lots of things. “That I’m beautiful. That if I work hard and stay focused I can achieve anything I want in life.” She smiled. “That one day I’d be a famous artist… I’m sorry, Mum, but you’ve lost me. What does any of this have to do with Matthew? With that woman?”
“And you wonder why I wish your father were here. He was always better at this stuff than me.” Brenda took another moment. “Look, when you and Matthew got serious, your dad wanted you to know that, no matter what, you’d always be his little princess. He knew you’d eventually get married and it was supposed to be a wedding present, extravagant I know, but that was your dad all over when it came to you. Then he had to go and have a stroke, and then what happened happened and there was no way you could give it back like you did all your other gifts. So, I ended up not giving it to you at all.”
Flick struggled to keep up with her mum’s rambling.
“And the longer I left it, the harder it became… Don’t you see, that’s why we had to come here, why I had to stop that woman from opening her mouth, and why everyone in the village can’t wait to meet you.”
“Mum,” Flick finally interrupted. “Take a breath, you’re not making any sense.”
Brenda fell silent.
Flick could see she still felt frustrated, but at least she did as she was told and inhaled. “You’re right, we need to start from the beginning,” Brenda said. “So, you remember your dad calling you his little princess?”
Flick despaired, wishing her mother would just cut to the chase. However, the expectation on her mum’s face told her she had no choice but to, yet again, play along. “Yes, I do.”
“And what does every little princess have?”
“A tiara?”
“And?”
This was getting stupid.
“A throne?”
“And?”
Now it was getting hard. Searching her mum’s face for some sort of clue, Flick didn’t have any proper idea as to what real princesses did or didn’t have. Forced to think for a minute, she wracked her brain until the penny finally dropped.
“You’re not suggesting…”
Brenda slowly nodded. “I’m afraid I am.”
Flick’s heart skipped a beat. This had to be some sort of joke, her mother couldn’t really be saying what Flick thought she was saying. She looked around the room, the enormity of her mother’s revelation slapping Flick in the face. “Oh, Lordy.”
“Exactly,” Brenda replied. “Welcome to your new home.”
6
Nate popped his head through the kitchen doorway. “Anything I can do to help?”
“Nope,” Julia replied. She wiped her hands on a tea towel, grabbed a bottle of white wine from the fridge and took a glass from the cupboard. Handing him her wares, she took him by the shoulders, turned him around and gently pushed him back towards the lounge. “You go and relax. I’ve got everything covered.”
Reluctantly doing as he was told, Nate realised he should have known better than to try to make himself useful in the kitchen. Letting her get back to putting the finishing touches on the dainty bite-sized canapés she was making,everyoneknew that room was Aunt Julia’s territory. It was a domain she guarded fiercely, shooing anyone and everyone offering assistance out of the way.
Feeling at a loose end, he sauntered into the living room. He wondered what he was even doing there. He didn’t share everyone else’s excitement for the newcomers, especially when the new chatelaine had already recognised him, albeit in a vague kind of way. And how long before it dawned on her where from? Then what? He dreaded to think. Oh yes, he’d have much preferred to stay away that night, but as usual when it came to her gatherings Aunt Julia was having none of it.
“It won’t be the same without you,” she’d insisted. “Besides, everyone will be expecting you.”
With nothing else to do, he found himself glancing around. He felt strangely comforted. From thetoile de Jouyarmchair and the lush cream sofas, to the antique display cabinet and the opulent chandelier, the whole ensemble reminded him of his mum. She and Aunt Julia might not look alike, but they certainly had the same sense of style – expensive.
