“She disappeared, because she’d been attacked and was in a coma for six months. She had severe memory loss from it.”
My mother waved her hand at us, like she was dismissing it as a lie. “You’re playing a dangerous game, young woman. I came here trying to be nice. I have a much larger amount than last time to offer you, £150k and you walk away from my son.”
“Are you sick? I’d never walk away from William!”
“Mother, I think you need to go.”
“William, why don’t you give me a moment with Hannah?”
I was about to protest, but Hannah put her hand up against my chest to stop me. Looking at my mother like a boxer getting into the ring, she said, “I’ve got this.”
“Don’t hit her,” I whispered in Hannah’s ear, and she smiled up at me amused. I leaned down and kissed her, ignoring my mother’s huff of disgust.
“Would you like to step into my room?” Hannah waved her hand toward the door, and my mother marched over to it, ready for battle.
“You don’t have to do this.” I didn’t want my mother to upset Hannah.
“I’ve got this,” she reiterated and walked into her room, closing the door hard.
I didn’t know whom to be more worried for, Hannah or my mother.
Chapter 16 – Parle' and Accord
WILLIAM
Once Hannah and my mum were behind closed doors, I tiptoed closer and pressed my ear against it, like a mischievous child. It might’ve been considered being nosy, but I wanted to be at the ready, in case I had to break up a catfight. My mother might’ve been Lady Greyson, but when poked, like an angry mummy bear, I wouldn’t put anything past her.
"I've brought a contract, along with a cheque. You sign it saying you'll never bother my son again, and I'll pay you £150k."
"That's not going to happen."
"You really have some nerve contacting my family after taking us for £100k before."
"Again, I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't play coy with me. It didn't take much for you to agree last time. The man my husband sent called us three days after he approached you. You refused the offer of £50k like a greedy…"
"I’d watch your mouth if I were you. William had a free shot at my father. It's only fair I get to punch his mother."
"Well, I never!"
"Talk, I'm getting tired of this. I'm not taking any amount of money to stay away from William. I can tell you I wouldn't have taken it then, and I won't take it now."
"'Wouldn't have,' don't you mean didn't?" my mother caught that little slip.
"What William said was true. I was in a coma. I lost a chunk of my memory, starting from my college graduation, to what was thought to be a brutal attack," my sweet beautiful Hannah spoke quietly and sadly. "I didn't know how I came to be in New York, and I was shocked I was pregnant when I awoke." She laughed blackly. "I’d been a virgin last I remembered. Imagine my shock to waking up six months pregnant. I thought I had cancer or some other illness, pregnancy was not possible."
"That's a very elaborate story. My son may have bought it, but my husband and I don't, £200k, it's very generous."
"It's not a story."
"Please, my husband had private investigators locate you. I believe you when you say you were in hospital, but you moved into a penthouse once you were released."
"That supposed first offer wouldn't have bought a penthouse. My friend, Ophelia, took me in because I was lost. I had no memory of where I’d lived. She helped me look for my daughter's father. I had no memory of William."
"Ha, a lot of good that did you. You made a good show of it."
"Lady, I don't know what you want, but I'm this close to tossing you down my stairs."
"Alright, £250k, William has obligations and a reputation to uphold. You're ruining his life!"
"You're a sick woman to think I’d ever take any amount of money from you. William and my daughter are the reason for my existence. No amount of money could ever make hurting either of them worth it."
"We can do it discreetly. You take the first half now, like you did before, and sign the contract. Then you break up with my son gently. Staging your death before was just cruel. I’d ask you to not do it that way again."
"You need to get out. I never 'staged my death.' I never took any money!"
"You’d only known him for three weeks. Your attachment to him was easily broken before. You've only added another two weeks. Such affection doesn't develop that quickly. You will stop playing your games with my son and sign the contract, £250k is more than generous!"
"I’d never."
"You're nothing but an overpriced whore. You will leave my son alone!"
I heard a bang and hurried into the room to see Hannah had shoved my mother into the wall. "Mother, I think it's time for you to go." I placed my hand on Hannah's shoulder. She needed to calm down. I didn’t want my mother to file charges against her and risk our being together.
"This isn’t over," my mother huffed, straightening her blouse. I picked up a picture that’d been knocked off the wall. It was one of Hannah and Penelope.
My mother looked at it confused. "Why does that child look like you?"
"Because she's my daughter."
My mother's eyes narrowed at Hannah. "Oh, you've really sunk low on this one, haven't you, trying to pinch my son for child support."
"Enough!" I’d had enough of her accusations. "Penelope is my daughter. Hannah will soon be my wife. I'm moving to the states, because I want to. I’m bloody twenty-nine years old, Mother, and before, I was twenty-two. Father has interfered in my life far too long. I plan to cut ties with you both."
"Do you see what she's done? She's taking your family away from you. She's acting so selfishly!"
"There's nothing selfish about it. She's had to give up her father as well, because he doesn't approve, either."
"He's a lawman. Of course he has a sense of decency and would oppose her actions."
I was done speaking to my mother. It was obvious she was only here to stir up trouble. "You need to go." I wrapped my arm around her, not giving her a choice to stay. The skidding of her heels was proof she was not ready to leave.
"Don't let her get away with this, Son! I don't know what she has over you, but if you want a family, there are plenty of respectable ladies at home." She jerked away from me.
"Nothing you can do or say will change the way I feel about Hannah. I know you never had love in your marriage, but I will have it in mine. It's sad that you can't recognize it for what it is, but I won’t let you keep it from me. I won’t let you keep me from my daughter, either."
My mother's face screwed up, like she was about to start shouting again.
"Daddy!" Penelope cried, as she ran at me. I quickly caught her up in my arms. "Please don't leave me, Daddy."
"Never, Poppet, daddies don't leave, remember?"
"Some daddies do!" she cried.
"Not this daddy. I keep my promises." I kissed her little head. "I'll always keep my promises."
My mother stood there shocked, not sure what to say. "I’d never leave my daughter. What you're asking of us is ridiculous. I'm not leaving my family to fulfill my father's twisted sense of esteem. There's more to life than the royal peerage, Mother. It's sad that neither of you ever figured that out."
Her eyes blinked rapidly, like she was confused. We heard the floorboards creak and looked to see Camille standing in the hall. "I'm sorry, William. We were arguing, and she got away from me."
"Camille, what on earth are you doing here?"
"I'm helping plan their wedding."
"Why would you do that?"
"Because he loves her, Mother. If you just took a moment and actually looked at your son, you'd see he truly loves her. He acted like a silly fool when he found her. You should've seen his face, when he laid eyes on her. You don't know how happy she and Penelope make him. I know dad had bigger plans for us, but I wanted to believe you would've steppe
d in if he did something that’d make us unhappy. You did when he wanted me to marry Lord Whitmore. You said I should be able to marry for love. Why doesn't William get that choice as well?"
"But they've only known each other for a short time."
Camille shrugged. "I've known Carter for less, and I know I love him."
"Oh saints," my mother cupped her cheeks. "I don't…"
"Dad can't pay off Carter, Mum. He's worth way more than our family. If anything, his family should be paying me to leave, but that's never going to happen."
"It better not." We all turned to see Ophelia standing in the hallway behind Camille.
"I'm not sitting in there alone. You've had plenty of time to settle things," Brody said, as he came down the hall, too. He looked at us worried.
"We've settled things. My mother was just leaving."
"No, wait, do you really believe you love her?" my mother asked frantically.
"I don't believe I do. I know I do." I pulled Hannah into my side and kissed the top of her head. She wrapped her arm around me and rubbed Penelope's back, helping quell her fears.
"And you're sure she's your daughter?"
"Dude, this is ridiculous, he had her tested, and he put his name on her birth certificate," Brody snapped, just as annoyed as the rest of us.
"So you did have her tested," my mother sighed in relief.
"Only because it was the easiest way to get my name on her birth certificate, it had nothing to do with you."
My mother shook her head smiling. "That makes no difference." She took a few steps closer to us, and Hannah stepped in front of me, blocking my mother from our daughter.
"Please, William, you know I've always wanted grandchildren," my mother pleaded. The fire had left her eyes, but I didn't know if Hannah was ready to trust her yet. "I'm sure your father didn't know about her," she pointed to my daughter. "I certainly didn't, I’d have never allowed him to keep her from me. You must understand…"
"No, you must understand, your husband knew everything. He knew where I was and that I had a daughter," Hannah snapped.
I put my hand on Hannah's shoulder to calm her. "I’d been paying one of his PI’s to help me search for Hannah for years. He had to have known, Mother."
My mother's face crumbled. "I thought he was being ridiculous. It seemed silly for him to keep a man on her, when we'd paid her off years ago. She made no move to contact you. I didn't understand why she'd do so now."
"She didn't contact me. By the sheer grace of God, I found her, and it took a bit for her to remember me." I pulled her into my arms, hugging Hannah with all my might, squishing our daughter between us. "I just wish I’d been able to find her sooner. I should've known better than to trust dad with helping me find her."
"You have us now," Hannah comforted me and kissed me softly.
"Yes, I have you now."
My mother studied us for a moment. "William, I see that you care for her deeply, and I can understand you wanting to stay with your daughter, but I urge you to proceed with caution. She did take the original payoff. She may have changed over the years."
"She didn't take any payout. I can attest to that. The girl had $123.50 in her account when she woke up. She stayed in New York, hoping to remember and find her daughter's father. Her family is on the other side of the country, but she refused to leave without finding him. She bought him tea, even though she didn't know why or who he was. She did silly things like that, and he remembered how she took her coffee and liked her eggs, even after seven years. If that ain't love, then I don't know what is," Ophelia defended.
"But money was taken, the cheque was cashed," my mother looked lost.
"It had to have been someone else who took the money, Mum. I'm sure the people who work for dad are less than scrupulous." Camille was right, it’d most likely been a man who worked for my father who’d stolen the money and took him for a fool.
"I didn't know. My husband said…" My mum looked lost. "I'm so sorry."
I could tell Hannah wasn't ready to trust my mother yet, but I knew my mum well enough to know she’d want me to be happy. She wouldn’t ask me to give up my family.
"I'm sorry, William. Your father told me…"
"It's alright, Mum. I know you were just trying to protect me. I hope you see now why I can't leave my family. They have their life here, the shop, and Penelope's school. They can't leave, but I can find a new job. It's easier for me to come here than to move them there."
My mother nodded in agreement, I was sure shocking everyone in the room, except for me and Camille. We knew our mother would always want what was best for her family.
"I hope you don't mind coming to visit, or maybe it'd be best if I came here for holidays. I’d like to spend time with my granddaughter." She looked to Hannah for the answer, and I hoped she’d say yes.
"I think here would be best for now," Hannah said and looked up at me for confirmation.
"Yes, I think that's best. Dad is…"
"No, no, I understand. I don't know what I'm going to do with him. If he truly knew, William, that's…I hope you know I’d never condone such actions," my mother pleaded.
"I know." I reached a hand out to her, and she took it quickly. I pulled her into a hug and felt her tears on my chest. My eyes watered, too, as I fought back tears of my own. I knew I wasn't the only one who’d missed out on Penelope's life. My mother would’ve wanted to be there for everything as well.
I was still holding my daughter. She reached down and petted my mother's hair in a comforting way. "Don't be sad."
My mother looked up at her with a watery smile. "Oh, you sweet, beautiful girl. I look forward to spoiling you."
Penelope's eyes lit up. "I like candy, and castles. Daddy said I can get married in one, but I can't do it until I'm old like mommy."
We all burst out laughing.
"I'm not old," Hannah playfully griped. Penelope looked at her like she didn't believe it. "Well, I'm not as old as daddy!"
"But he's your prince. He's 'posed to be old. How's he gonna get a castle if he's a kid?" Penelope said, like we were all being ridiculous. Then she looked at my mother straight in the eyes. "Are you gonna be nice now?"
My mother looked ashamed of herself. "Yes, I'm very sorry. Your daddy is my little boy. I was worried about him."
"So you're like the queen, 'cause daddy's a prince."
"I'm actually a countess. He's a viscount and you, my dear girl, are a lady."
"Mum," I whined, "I really don't want my daughter mixed up with that stuff."
"Oh, please, if we're playing, she might as well get to use her title." My mother cupped Penelope's cheek. "You are a lady, but since daddy loves you so much, you get to be anything you want to be as well," said my mother giggling, like it was an exciting secret.
I let out a sigh of relief, glad she was not going to push that title on my daughter. "Thank you."
"You know I only want you to be happy. If I’d known the truth, if I’d known she hadn’t taken the payoff and truly loved you, I wouldn't have stood in your way, William. I hope you'll forgive me." She looked at Hannah when she said the last part.
"Can we trust her?" Hannah asked worried.
"My mother is just protective, beautiful. It's my father who's mental. She won't do anything to jeopardize her chance to be a part of our family."
"Alright, I'll need some time, but I trust William. If he says it's safe for you to be around my daughter, then I'll allow it."
"Great, now that that's all settled, we have a wedding to plan," Ophelia said with a clap of her hands.
"How exciting, I do hope you'll let me help. I promise not to encroach on your mum's territory, though," my mother begged.
Hannah's face fell at the mention of her mother. My mum looked worried. "Does she not approve of my son?"
"No, Mum, Hannah lost her mother when she was a little girl."
"Oh, dear heart, I'm so sorry."
"It's alright, it was a long time ago."
>
"No, I lost my mother before William was born. It was very hard to go through that without her. There'll always be things you'll wish she was there for. She is, though. I truly believe my mother looks after me, and I believe yours does the same as well."
"Thank you, Lady Greyson."
"It's Emmaline, we're family, and there are no titles in family." When my mother said that, I knew she’d truly accepted Hannah.
"Thank you, Emmaline." She turned to me. "Is it safe to let your mother help?"
"You know this can't get back to dad, Mum." My point was clear.
"That man will be lucky to hear from me at all. There's no way I'll let him hurt your family, William. He's already hurt too many people. It has to stop."
"Great, we have flowers to pick out," Ophelia said. She was really pushing to get things done. I had to admit, I was thankful for her focus.
"Do you want to see what arrangements we're looking at?" Hannah asked me.
"I trust you, beautiful. You ladies work on the wedding, and Brody and I will work on supper."
Hannah pulled me down for a kiss. "Thank you."
"No, thank you. I love you." I had to kiss her once more, or maybe twice.
"I know, I love you, too," she kissed me again.
"Don't make me hose you down," Ophelia complained.
"We need a crowbar to pry these two apart," Brody chimed in.
Penelope had long wiggled out of my arms, so they were free to hold Hannah. "How about I keep the bride, and you all plan the wedding," I teased, lifting her and kissing her again.
"William, put her down." It was Camille's turn to complain. "She's only getting married once. You have to let her plan it."
Hannah's arms were wrapped around my neck, and she was snickering through our kiss.
"They have flower crowns! We need flower crowns, Mommy! Come see. Put her down, Daddy!"
"Only for you, Poppet." I set Hannah down and tried to give her one last kiss, but it was so hard to stop at just one.
Brody grabbed my arm, and Ophelia grabbed Hannah's. "You guys can do that after dinner. We have work to do."
Hannah blushed, and I grabbed her hand and kissed it before she was out of reach.
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