Pride and Papercuts (The Austens #5) - Staci Hart Page 0,73
Maisie. No one could have seen a Bennet with a Bower, but they defied everyone’s expectations—and at great cost to Maisie. Time will tell. Think you can be patient?”
I made a derisive noise.
“Didn’t think so. But at least try. For me.”
“Only for you.”
He kissed the top of my head and let me go. And with that, I was tapped. I turned for Jett with the intent to punch my time card and almost tripped over Mom.
She had that look on her face—the sad puppy face that was absolutely genuine, but still somehow felt like a minor manipulation.
“Can we talk? Just for a minute,” she added, her cheeks flushing prettily, damn her.
I offered a placating smile. “Sure.”
She took my arm and shuffled us toward the butler’s pantry. Sometimes I forgot just how hard it was for her to get around with her rheumatoid arthritis. In my mind, she was still the unstoppable force, dawdling around in the greenhouse and losing track of time. But we knew that soon, she’d need a wheelchair—the stairs had already become a massive challenge—and then what? They couldn’t leave the house—they just … couldn’t. They had to stay here forever, even if we had to spend a katrillion dollars on an elevator for her.
Once we were alone, she faced me, glancing over her shoulder again to make sure no one was listening.
I frowned. “What’s going on?”
“We need you. Longbourne needs you.”
“Mom, not this again—”
She shook her head, frustrated. “Elaine, listen for a minute and don’t talk.”
I waited but gave her a look.
“Thank you.” Another glance over her shoulder. She lowered her voice. “I heard Maisie and Tess talking earlier about some trouble we’re having. No one ever tells me anything anymore,” she griped. “But if they think I don’t know everything said under this roof, they’ll learn that lesson the longer they’re Bennets.” With a chuckle at herself, she continued. “Maisie said we’re losing staff—they’re being headhunted, and no one knows where they’re going, every one of them mentioning NDAs they were made to sign. And we’re having some supply problems too. Losing clients. I don’t know what’s going on, but you have to help them.”
I thought for a second, eyeing her. “Is this some kind of a trick to get me to come back to work for Longbourne?”
“I wish it were.”
A pause. “I don’t know. If they wanted my help, they’d ask for it.”
Now it was her turn to give me a look. “Everyone knows you don’t want to work for the family. They know you’re busy and won’t bother you.”
A year ago, I would have known the second anything happened. But now that my brothers had paired off and Jett and I had moved, it was like somebody had cut the phone lines. I tried not to let that hurt my feelings. I tried really, really hard.
“All right,” I said. “I’ll check it out.”
Her face melted in relief like a pat of butter. “Thank you. And if you fix it and love it, you could just stay, you know.”
“Mom,” I warned.
She held up her hands. “I’m just saying.”
And I couldn’t help but laugh. “Come here.” I pulled her in for a hug. “I’m sorry,” I said into her hair, the familiar honeysuckle scent easing something in my chest.
“So am I,” she whispered.
And there was no denying that truth, no matter how badly it hurt.
LIAM
No amount of hot water could wash the day off of me.
Trust me, I tried.
I’d suffered through the rest of the workday preoccupied with Laney, Catherine, Georgie. When Catherine had left my office, I went in search of Laney, but she was long gone. But I found Georgie, brought her to my office. Told her what Catherine had said, watched her hopes dissolve into tears. She promised me she was fine before she left, but neither of us believed her. And there was nothing I could do to stop her from going to Wasted Words after work to talk to Jett. I didn’t know what she would tell him. Would she abandon her life for a life with him or would she say goodbye? I didn’t know, and she didn’t tell me.
She still wasn’t home.
Everyone around me was in misery, and it was my fault. Somewhere along the line, I had put the people I cared about in a position where no one could have what they wanted, and now there was no going back. Not without forsaking the people and careers Georgie and I had built our lives around.