“And she might love you.” The door opened up, and Nick stood up to kiss Kari on the cheek. “Your hubby here is having a panic attack. Perhaps you should show him how wonderful he is so that he can get back to business.”
The door shut behind him, and Steele was all alone with Kari. She frowned at him and then sat on his lap. “It’s a little too late to tell her you don’t want to meet her. However, if it makes you feel any better, she’s having a hard time letting go of the car that brought her here.”
Steele stood up with Kari in his arms and walked to the window. There she was, his mother, holding onto the door handle of the limo like her very life depended on it. Setting his wife down and giving her a quick kiss on the nose, he took her hand and led her out of the room with him. It was time to meet his mother.
~~~
Beth wanted to get back into the car and leave. She was making the biggest mistake of her life, and she was pretty sure she was going to die of a heart attack right there. When the big man, her son she assumed, came out of the house and started toward her, Beth whimpered. He stopped moving and stood very still.
“Hello.” Beth nodded, unsure if she could speak or not. “I’m Steele Bennett. I wanted to welcome you to our home.”
“I don’t want to be here.” He nodded but didn’t make fun of her or tell her that she was stupid. He looked as if he might understand. And that confused her more than anything. “This was a mistake.”
“I don’t think so, but if you do, then I want to help you.” She didn’t believe him, and she was sure he knew it. “I’m really glad that you made it this far. I can see…Aster looks a great deal like you. I’ve seen pictures of you, of course, but it really brings home the fact that you’re our mother.”
“Your wife sent me a picture of you too. And of Aster. Emil tells me she looks like I did at that age.” He glanced over his shoulder to the woman on the steps, and when he looked back at her, Beth could see his love for the woman. “Your father raped me.”
She hadn’t meant to say it like that, but it spilled out before she could think. Steele nodded and smiled sadly at her. Beth wanted to go to him and hold her little boy, but she was still afraid. She told him she was sorry for being so rude.
“I’m sorry for that, truly I am. But had you not been then neither I nor Aster would be here. And I would never have met Kari. I’m very sorry and I wish I could have changed that for you, but we have each other now.” Steele smiled again. “You’re beautiful. If a son can say that about his mom. Aster would have been just as lovely too.”
“I missed her. Both of you. I missed everything about you.” Steele nodded, and she noticed that he was closer than before. She wanted to be afraid of his move but wasn’t all of a sudden. “I can’t get those years back. Not seeing you grow up, not being there for you. Nothing. It’s all been taken away from me.”
“Yes, it has. And I’ll be the first to say my father was a bastard. Eloise was a bitch and treated us as if we were nothing to her. But you can make some memories with us now. Good ones too.” He reached out his hand and ran his fingers gently over her cheek. “Hello, Mom.”
Beth sobbed, and once that dam was broken, she cried harder until she could barely stand. But large comforting arms came around her, and she leaned into her son. He held her to him, saying words such as he was sorry for her loss, that he loved her, and that he was there for her. Still, she cried. Not just for her but for all of them. All the people that Bennett had hurt by his evilness. Beth felt for the first time in nearly thirty years that she was safe.
When she felt she could, Beth looked up at him. Steele, her son, looked so much like her father it took her breath away. And when he smiled, her mother’s smile was there as well. No traces, or at least none that she was willing to see, were there of his father.
“Would you like to come in now?” She nodded at him, and they turned to go to the house. Two men, large as her son, came out and went to the car to get her things. “Kari has set you up in the blue room. So you know, there’s not a spec of blue in the room, but she thought it suited it somehow. She’s trying her best to make this her home too.”
“She’s very persuasive, your wife.” Steele laughed and agreed with her. “She said that she’s talked with Aster. And my father. Are they both here?”
“Grandda is here now. Kari is still trying to learn how to be a necromancer. And I try to stay out of her learning curve. She very much wants to learn this on her own. Very stubbornly, as a matter of fact.” Beth nodded, already liking the young woman. Then she was standing in front of her and Beth looked at her for the first time.
“Hello.” Beth nodded and was surprised when Kari hugged her tightly. She’d never been much for hugging, especially since that night, but it felt right. “I’ve never had a mother, much less a mother-in-law, and I have to tell you, I’m really excited.”