Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 139178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
A butterfly brush of Phoenix’s cheek. “I held Gavi just so many a night while Keir was in surgery. I rocked him out of his tears. I sang lullabies to him. I cuddled him as a toddler and had him underfoot in the library and at home. I put him to bed night after night. All of this, she didn’t get to experience except for a fragment of a heartbeat.”
“Yeah.” It came out raw with emotion. “But she’s doing something right. Raphael told me that Gavi is still in Australia.”
“He calls me or Keir every week. I see that he is happy.” No jealousy in Jessamy’s tone, only the relief of a mother who wanted the best for the boy who was her son in every way but blood. “I hope it heals Michaela to see that her adult son respects and likes her.”
They’d ended up speaking about Gavriel and other subjects for an hour afterward, while Jessamy continued to cuddle Phoenix.
The entire day had felt good, felt like home.
Elena missed Greta, Honor, and the rest of her New York crew, but they would all visit one by one as Dmitri staggered their duties to allow it.
The visitors wouldn’t be limited to the Tower team, either—Lady Sharine, for one, had already declared that she’d be arriving within the week. Elena couldn’t wait to see her.
This morning, however—“I’m so glad you’re here,” she said to Majda. “It feels like a piece of Mama is here.”
Her grandmother’s eyes shone wet. “Was she a good mother, Ellie? My Marguerite?”
“The best.” Elena came to sit on the floor next to the rocking chair, her back against the window and her legs stretched out. “Even though there were four of us, I never felt as if I didn’t get enough time with her—she was so good about loving us. She had so much love to give.”
Though her heart ached, it was a dull ache. She could speak about her mother and her sisters with love now, and without pain.
“I remember going grocery shopping with her when I was small enough not to be in school. She’d leave baby Beth with Papa for that time, and we’d have our own ‘Mama-Ellie’ time—that’s how she always put it. We’d go through all the rows, and she’d always let me pick a special treat to have in the car on the way home.”
Majda’s voice was thick as she said, “It fills my heart to hear such stories.”
Elena realized she’d never before spoken this one aloud—and Majda had never asked for any more than Elena gave on her own, too aware of Elena’s scars. But today, she was ready to speak. “She did things like that with all of us. She took Belle to her dance classes, just the two of them in the car, so they could talk and catch up alone—and afterward they’d stop for chocolate or coffee.”
“What about Beth and Ari?” Majda made no effort to hide her hunger to know more of the beloved child she’d been forced to abandon to keep her safe from a vicious narcissist clothed in the robes of power and civilization.
“Beth was Mama’s baking assistant—remember how I told you about that time she got the mix all over her face?” Elena laughed. “But she kept on learning, determined to be just like Mama. I can still see her seated on the counter, her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth as she stirred the cake batter.
“They had their time together while we were in school. If they weren’t making something, they’d go to the baking supplies store to choose cake decorations, or to a fancy bakery to eat miniature cupcakes and get ideas.” How Bethie had glowed as she organized her plastic container of supplies.
“Ari was the most academic of us—she loved museums and libraries, so Mama would get tickets to shows and exhibitions, and they’d go to those together. Other times, they’d walk to the library to browse the shelves, and get an ice cream on the way home.”
“She knew her daughters.”
“Yes.” Bending one leg at the knee, Elena braced her forearm on it. “Our father knew us, too. He didn’t have as much time to spend with us one to one, but we never minded because what free time he did have, he spent it with the family.”
An unexpected flash of memory that brought with it a smile. “When Belle hit that rebellious age, there were a lot of slammed doors—she was full of a wild energy, my big sister. But Mama would just throw up her hands and say, ‘She gets it from my side of the family, so what shall I do, azeeztee, but love her through the storms.’ ”
Startled laughter from Majda, her tears wet streaks on her cheeks. “I can imagine my own mother saying just that. We’ve always had a tempestuous element to our nature.”