Blooms of Consequence (Dusk Gate Chronicles - Book Four) Page 15

  “Sorry about that,” Stephen said, turning to face them. “I wasn’t expecting something like that to happen.”

  “Well, it did,” William said. “That’s not how we intended to tell you.”

  “So it’s true, then?”

  William’s eyes widened. “Do you think I would do that to Quinn? Put her on the spot like that just to satisfy them?”

  “No, I don’t. I’m sorry, I just – I’m a little surprised right now, I guess.”

  “Good. Because I don’t actually care what they think. I’m sure it does make things easier for them, and maybe it will make them take Quinn more seriously. But that’s not why I asked her to marry me.”

  He pulled her closer to him, standing right in front of her, and used his finger to tip her chin up so she was looking at him. “Don’t even think that, Quinn. I see it in your eyes – but stop, please. I don’t care who you are, or what choice you make. I proposed to you because I want to be with you. Please believe that.”

  She hadn’t even been aware that she was holding her breath until she nearly fell over with the relief of exhaling. “I believe you.”

  There was a knock on the door then, and Stephen pulled it open to reveal Charlotte – and right behind her was Megan. Suddenly, Quinn was having trouble breathing again.

  “What’s going on now?” Megan demanded. “I heard Nathaniel asking Charlotte to come here and speak to you. I’m done being left out of the loop on everything. Quinn is my daughter.”

  Everyone was looking at her.

  “Come on in, Mom. Have a seat.”

  “Do I need to?”

  “Yes, you probably do.”

  “All right, Quinn. What’s going on?” Megan asked, as soon as she was sitting down in one of the chairs.

  Quinn swallowed hard, searching desperately through her mind for the right words for this, but before she could, William began speaking.

  “Megan, I’m so sorry. This is not how we intended to tell you this.” He took Quinn’s left hand in his, momentarily covering up the ring. “And, Mother and Father – this isn’t how I pictured telling you, either.”

  Megan’s eyes grew round. Charlotte’s mouth opened slightly, but her eyes were sparkling.

  “I have asked Quinn to marry me, and she has agreed. We are betrothed.”

  “No!” Megan shouted. “She is seventeen!”

  “She’s an adult in our world,” Charlotte said quietly. “She has been for a full cycle already.”

  “Well it’s not old enough in our world! She’s a child!”

  “Megan, I know this is difficult for you, all of this, and I’m sorry. But Quinn has already decided to live here in our world, and here she is old enough to make this choice as well.” Stephen’s voice was low and even.

  There was no question about how furious Megan was as she looked at each of them in turn, and then stood and walked out of the room, nearly slamming the door behind her.

  Everyone was silent for several seconds. Finally, Charlotte stood and walked over to Quinn, pulling her up and into her arms. “This is wonderful news, sweetheart! I can’t think of anything that would make me happier right now.”

  Somehow, a minute later, she was wrapped in Stephen’s arms, too. “We’ve always loved you like a daughter,” he said. “It will be wonderful to make it official.”

  “We’ll need to plan a betrothal ceremony,” Charlotte said, her eyes shining. “I could pull it together quickly, I think, just in case your mother is planning on leaving right away when the gate next opens.”

  “I don’t know that my mom will want to come anyway.” Her heart was heavy as she thought about the way her mom had stormed out of the room. At this point, she wasn’t sure her mother was ever going to talk to her again.

  “Oh, sweetheart, you don’t know that. Sometimes people need time. Especially mothers with their daughters.” Charlotte reached to brush Quinn’s hair off her forehead.

  “Fathers are even worse,” Stephen said. “It wasn’t easy for me when Rebecca and Howard were first betrothed. Samuel might have been happy to find out you were going to marry William, but he’d have been upset that it happened this young – even if you aren’t much younger than your mother was when he met her.”

  Quinn chuckled, although thinking about that made her sad, too. She’d never fully understood the term “bittersweet” until now.

  “Anyway, whether your mother celebrates with us or not is going to be her choice, Quinn. All we can do is make sure we don’t exclude her from it. We will hold the party while she’s here, and leave the rest to her.”

  William squeezed her hand. “It will be okay.”

  She didn’t fully believe him, but she nodded anyway. This wasn’t how she’d pictured things going when she told her mom she was engaged – not that she’d really ever thought much about it. It had always been a vague idea of something that might happen far off in the future. Still, this wasn’t how she would have pictured it. But then, everything about her life seemed to have changed the day she stepped off that bridge.

  A loud knock on her bedroom door startled all of them. Stephen’s eyes widened when he opened it. “What is it, Marcus?”

  “Your Majesty, I’m so sorry for interrupting . . .” Marcus looked around at the four of them.

  “I’m sure you wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important. Do you need me to step out with you?”

  “Well . . .” his eyes darted to Quinn and back, “We’ve just gotten some intelligence about where we might find Prince Jonathan.”

  * * *

  “I’m really proud of you, you know,” William said.

  “Thanks,” Quinn mumbled. Her eyes were still red and puffy, but she was getting calm now. “Not that that went very well.”

  He reached out and took her hand. “We knew it wasn’t going to. But we got through it.”

  She nodded and he squeezed her hand, running his thumb against the braided gold and silver of her ring.

  “I wanted to tell her first, Will. I wanted her to at least have that – not have to hear about it in front of your parents. She probably thinks we ganged up on her.”

  “I know. But that isn’t your fault. She’s the one who barged in here. And we didn’t have any idea that Ellen was going to do that in front of my father, either.”

  He was proud of her. As hard as it must have been, she had even stayed calm, and she hadn’t cried until the two of them were alone.

  It had broken his heart, though, to watch her go through that. For the thousandth time, he wished it didn’t all have to be so hard – that marrying him and choosing this world didn’t also mean her having to say good-bye to the family that she loved.

  At least his parents and Nathaniel had been happy – at least she’d gotten a taste of the joy that was supposed to go along with a betrothal announcement.

  “Maybe someday we’ll look back on this and be able to smile about it – when it’s all in the past, and things are better, this will just be the crazy story of how we became betrothed.”

  “Maybe,” she said. And he knew that it all depended on her being able to repair this relationship with her mother – on Megan somehow being able to accept this, and the two of them making it through. Otherwise, as happy as he knew their marriage was going to be – this would be a dark cloud that always hung over this memory.

  Just then, there was a soft knock on the door, and her whole body stiffened. William stood and leaned over to kiss the top of her head before he went to answer it. “It will be okay, love.”

  When he opened the door, he was surprised to find Quinn’s little brother, Owen, standing there.

  “Hey buddy,” he said.

  “Hi.” Owen didn’t even look up at William as he passed by on his way to where Quinn was sitting on the couch. He immediately climbed up and curled himself against her.

  William closed the door and went over to them. “Do you want me here?” he asked quietly.

  She nodded, and so he sat down in one
of the armchairs to let her and Owen have their space.

  Owen didn’t say anything for several minutes; he just snuggled up with his sister. But finally, he looked up at her. “You’re not coming back with us, are you?”

  Somehow, the tears that welled in her eyes stung at the bottom of William’s eyes, too.

  “No, I’m not.” One of the tears spilled over and ran in a line down her cheek. Owen reached up and caught it before it fell.

  “Don’t cry, Quinn. It’s how it’s supposed to be.”

  A chill ran down William’s spine.

  “How do you know that?”

  The little boy shrugged. “I just do. It’s what you want, isn’t it, Quinn?”

  “Some of it is what I want. I don’t want to leave you or Annie, or Mom or Dad.”

  Owen cocked his head to the side. “Daddy left when he had a job to do.”

  “Yeah, he did. But he’s coming back.”

  “But you’re not.”

  “No. Not ever to stay, anyway. I’m going to live here. I’m going to get married to William, and I might even be a queen.”

  Owen smiled at her. “You will be a good one.” Then he looked over at William. “Do you love my sister?”

  William’s heart swelled with tenderness for this sweet little boy. “Yes, I do, Owen. I love her very much.”

  “Then you should marry her. And I will love you, too.”

  The tears he’d been holding back finally betrayed him, and slipped from his eyes as he regarded the little boy. “I already love you, Owen.”

  William was halfway to the couch, wanting to sit closer to Owen and Quinn, when the bedroom door burst open and Megan walked in again. Oh no. She stopped cold when she saw Owen sitting on the couch.

  “You did not just tell him this ridiculous idea.”

  The immediate change in Quinn’s posture impressed him again. Suddenly, her back was straight, and she was looking right in her mother’s eyes. “Yes, I did. Because it’s the truth. It’s what’s going to happen, Mom, and I’m not going to lie to him or hide it from him.”’

  Megan’s face nearly turned purple with her rage, and William felt an overpowering urge to stand between her and Quinn, though he held himself back, knowing it would make things worse and not better.

  For a long moment, Megan looked furious past the point of being able to speak. When she could finally form words, she said, “Let’s go, Owen!” and escorted the little boy out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

  13. Reconciliation

  “Again!”

  “Again? Aren’t you getting dizzy?” Of course, Thomas already knew the answer to that. Annie was just as rambunctious and fearless as Emma, even though she was quite a bit younger.

  “No. Again!”

  “All right.” He picked up the little girl and spun her in a wide circle, letting go at just the right time for her to go sailing into the huge cushion in the corner of the playroom. She giggled wildly, her eyes sparkling in the way that reminded him so much of Quinn, except Annie’s eye were brown instead of Quinn’s gray.

  “My turn!” Emma called.

  “No! Mine!” Little Sarah pushed her way in front of Emma. Even at two, she’d learned that she had to stand her ground to compete with her older siblings.

  “Hey!”

  “No, she’s right, Em. You went just before Annie.” Scooping Sarah up, he swung her in his arms three times before dropping her from his arms a couple of feet above the cushion.

  He glanced across the room and saw that Alice and Alex were both still busy with puzzles, neither one of them seeming to notice the shrieking from this corner. As he turned back to the little girls, all three clamoring for his attention, a movement from the doorway caught his eye.

  “Go on in, Owen,” Quinn’s mother was saying. “You could go do puzzles with Alex.”

  Thomas raised an eyebrow. Although they’d been here at the castle for a couple of days now, Megan had seemed preoccupied and distant for most of the time. He was surprised she’d picked up on the names of his younger siblings.

  Owen shook his head slightly. It was obvious she was upset, and even more obvious that Owen was worried about her.

  “Hey, buddy,” he said, hurrying over to the door. “Alex and Emma had a new logic problem in their lessons today. Alex has been wondering if you would work on it with him.”

  Owen’s eyes lit up.

  Megan stood in the doorway for several more minutes watching as the children moved into other activities. “Thank you,” she said as Thomas came to stand near her again. “You’re very good with them.”

  Thomas shrugged. “They’re fun. The biggest stress in their day is usually who gets to go first at something.” He paused. “Are you okay?”

  Megan frowned. He watched her expression change as she decided whether or not to answer, but then she shook her head. “Not really, no.”

  “Want a cup of tea?”

  He could read that debate in her eyes, too, but she followed him across the hall to the common room. It was empty, which was normal for this time of day. The family usually gathered here in the early mornings or late evenings.

  “So,” he said, once they each had a mug, “are you going to stay mad at Quinn forever?”

  “Not forever. Just until she starts listening.”

  “And by ‘listening’ you mean until she does what you want her to do.”

  “I’m still her mother. I’m still responsible for her.”

  Thomas rolled the little silver chain on the tea ball between his fingers before pulling it out of the mug and setting it on a plate. “Do you think Quinn is just being disobedient and petulant, and that if she just does what you want her to it will solve everything?”

  “She’s only seventeen!”

  “And I’m only almost sixteen, but you’re able to have a rational discussion about it with me.”

  Megan stared into her teacup for a long time. Thomas was afraid she was going to just get up and leave the room, but she didn’t. Finally, she looked back up at him. “I don’t want to lose her.”

  Thomas sighed, and looked across the counter at her. “Of course you don’t. What I don’t think you realize is that she doesn’t want to lose you, either.”

  “She’s the one doing all of this.”

  “Yes, Megan. She’s growing up. It’s what children do. Except me, of course – I don’t plan on becoming more mature, just coming of age and then stopping.”

  Megan actually chuckled for a few seconds before she became serious again. “She wants to live in a different world than me. She wants to get married at seventeen!”

  “How old were you when you got married?”

  Tiny spots of pink appeared on Megan’s cheekbones. “Nineteen. That’s two whole years older!”

  Thomas shrugged. “It’s not the point, anyway. Think about it, Megan. Even in your world, she would have been starting to leave in just a year – and you wouldn’t be ready then, either. You should have seen my mother when my oldest sister got married. There’s no such thing as ready. She isn’t doing this to hurt you or to get away from you. She’s doing it because it’s what she needs to do.”

  “But if she was going away to college in our world, she would come home in the summers, for holidays, for weekends . . .”

  Thomas took a deep breath. “You knew Samuel wasn’t from Earth when you married him.”

  Megan’s mouth fell open. “I never thought . . .”

  “Maybe you didn’t. Maybe Samuel didn’t tell you the truth about things, or maybe he did and you didn’t believe him, I don’t know. But that isn’t Quinn’s fault. She didn’t ask to have parents from two different worlds; she didn’t ask to grow up not knowing the truth about who she is. She’s had to make some very difficult decisions, and it hasn’t been easy for her.”

  He paused, taking a long sip of his tea before continuing.

  “Honestly . . . this isn’t usually me. I’m usually the fun guy who isn’t much bothere
d about things, but I have to tell you – I’ve watched Quinn struggle with this. I’ve seen how hard it’s been on her. And you’re making it so much worse. I don’t know if you think that you’re going to somehow be mad enough at her to guilt her into going back to Bristlecone, but it isn’t going to work. All you’re going to accomplish is the real kind of losing her. The kind where she doesn’t even want to go back and visit you when she can because it’s too painful. Is that what you really want?”

  Tears appeared at the bottom of Megan’s eyes as she stared into her cup again.

  “I didn’t think so. You need to talk to her – not at her. To her. Don’t mess this up, Megan. She’s getting married – to a great guy, by the way. If you spent even an hour with the two of them, really watching and listening instead of being mad about it, you would see that. That’s what you would want for your little girl – a man who loves her the way that William does.

  “Don’t miss it – don’t throw away whatever amazing parts you could have, just because you can’t have everything the way you want it.”

  “How do you know so much about this at fifteen?”

  “It’s natural. I’m just that talented.” Thomas grinned. “Just try, okay? Because, I don’t think I can pull off this much seriousness again anytime soon. I’m getting a headache already. Think I need to go throw some children and listen to them giggle again.”

  Megan gave him only a half-smile, but he figured it was progress. “I’ll see you later,” he said, walking toward the hallway, stopping just in front of the doorway to give Quinn a gentle squeeze on her shoulder.

  * * *

  Quinn had to blink several times to clear her eyes after Thomas left the room.

  “You okay?” William whispered in her ear.

  “I’d be better if everyone would quit asking me that every five minutes.”

  His eyes widened. “Fair enough.” He squeezed her hand and followed her over to the counter.

  “Hi,” Megan said quietly. Was her mom blushing? Was that a good thing?

  “Hi.”

  “How much of that did you hear?”