Chapter 82
Chapter eighty-two
Rosa made the hot chocolate—now for four. She needed to do something while her anger seethed in silence. The spoon clanked against the side of the mugs as she stirred each one. She kept stirring long after the powder had dissolved, the chocolate sloshing up the sides before she steadied her hand.
“Are you alright?” Billy asked, sidling up to her while Meredith and Imogen continued to bicker in the lounge.
“I don’t know why I’m shocked. It’s so very Imogen, isn’t it? But I’m also angry with her for playing with our feelings like that. It could have backfired completely.”
“Yes, it could have,” Billy said, nodding. “But it didn’t.”
“No, it didn’t. Which means we also have to be grateful for her meddling, which sends a message I really do not want to relay to her—that it’s something she can continue to do.”
“Totally get it. It’s an invasion of our privacy.”
“Exactly.”
“And had you known, you wouldn’t have come.”
“Absolutely,” Rosa said. Her shoulders loosened a fraction.
Billy remained silent, letting her process. She stayed close enough Rosa could feel her warmth at her side—not touching, just there.
It took a moment, then Rosa turned and looked at her. “And we wouldn’t have worked things out, would we?”
“No, we wouldn’t have,” Billy agreed. “And as frustrated with Imogen as I am…I can’t be angry.” She moved in closer. “Because I’ll forever be grateful that I got this chance to find us again.”
Rosa smiled. “I’m not unhappy about that. I just…I don’t like that she toyed with us. I don’t like feeling like I had no say in how my life plays out.”
“To be fair, we still had a say. We could have just said no to the arrangement. We could have just ignored each other. We chose to talk and be honest with each other. We chose to take this path. All they did was put the path in front of us.”
Sagging, Rosa groaned. “God, I haven’t even considered your mother’s part in all of this.”
“Well, maybe we can go and ask them, and then, when we have all the facts, we can decide how we’re going to punish them.” Billy grinned mischievously.
“Are we going to ground your mother?” Rosa chuckled.
“I’m sure we can come up with something suitable.”
They each carried two mugs into the lounge. The quiet whispers between Imogen and Meredith came to an instant halt as they both turned and looked up at Rosa and Billy.
Drinks were set down on the table. Billy and Rosa were barely seated before Meredith and Imogen both blurted out a tumble of words that became incoherent.
Billy held a hand up. “How about we do this one at a time?” She turned to her mother. “As the adult in this little charade, maybe you can start by explaining how you ended up in cahoots with our daughter.”
Meredith didn’t flinch. She took a slow sip of hot chocolate, as if she’d been waiting for the interrogation.
“Oh, don’t look at me like I’ve committed a crime,” she said. “I’m not the one who raised a child who can organise a small coup before breakfast.”
Rosa stiffened, unsure whether to feel attacked or proud of who Imogen was becoming.
“Ma,” Billy warned, but there was no bite in it.
Meredith set her mug down. “Fine. You want the truth? We’re not blind. I’ve watched you for years. Pretending you’re fine. Pretending you’re over it. Dating women who were never a fit. And every time anyone mentioned Rosa, you lit up…it was written all over you.”
Rosa’s jaw tightened. “That doesn’t mean you get to interfere.”
“I didn’t interfere,” Meredith said, calm as ever. “I facilitated. There’s a difference.”
Imogen made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.
Meredith shot her a look. “Don’t.”
But Imogen’s grin was already spreading, like she couldn’t help herself. “It was mostly me, to be fair.”
Rosa turned slowly and glared just enough.
“What?” Imogen’s eyes were bright, almost gleeful. “It worked, didn’t it?”
Billy’s mouth opened, closed again, then gritted out, “Immy…”
Imogen sat forward, elbows on her knees, like she was about to present a school project—proud of herself and what she had organised.
“Okay. So…step one was getting you both to Austria in the first place. I must admit, I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but with a little guilt tripping, I knew you’d come, Mum.”
“Imogen,” Rosa said again, quieter this time.
Imogen barrelled on, “Step two was the cabin. That was where Gran came in. I needed her to make sure you both went there. Because if you stayed in the big house, you’d just avoid each other. Or you’d be polite and weird. So we needed…forced proximity.”
Rosa’s face didn’t change much, but something about her went still.
Meredith cleared her throat. “Imogen, that’s enough.”
“No, it’s not,” Imogen said, too quickly. “Because you’re acting like I’ve done something awful, and I haven’t. I’ve done something smart.”
Rosa’s voice came out flat, “You trapped us.”
Imogen blinked. “I didn’t trap you. I just…made it harder for you to run away from each other.”
“That’s the same thing,” Rosa said. “You decided you knew what was best. You decided you had the right.”
Imogen’s excitement faltered, confusion flickering across her face. “Mum, I was helping.”
“You were helping yourself,” Rosa said, and now there was hurt under the anger. “Because you wanted a fantasy in your head to come true.”
Billy stepped in, gentle but firm, “Immy, listen… We love you. And we get why you wanted it. But you can’t do that again.”
Imogen’s eyes flashed. “Why not? It worked.”
Rosa let out a short laugh that wasn’t amused. “Do you hear yourself?” Billy turned to watch her.
Imogen’s cheeks flushed. “I’m just saying—if I hadn’t done anything, you’d still be…like you were. You’d still be doing that thing where you pretend you’re fine and then you cry when you think I can’t hear you.”
The room went quiet.
Billy’s head snapped towards Imogen. “Imogen!”
Rosa’s throat bobbed. She looked away, as if she couldn’t bear to have that said out loud.
Imogen’s voice wobbled, just slightly, and it was the first crack in her certainty.
“I’m not stupid. I know you’re lonely. And I know Ma’s been miserable with half the people she’s tried to move on with.
And I know you both love each other because you’re terrible at hiding it.
So yeah, I pushed. Because I was thinking if I went to uni, I didn’t want to leave you like that. ”
Rosa stared at her daughter, and the anger in her eyes shifted into something else—something raw.
“You don’t get to manage my life,” Rosa said quietly. “You talk to me. You ask me. You don’t…move me around like a piece on a board.”
Imogen swallowed, her bravado slipping. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I know,” Rosa said, and her voice softened, but her posture stayed firm, “but that’s what you did.”
Meredith finally leaned forward, her expression gentler as she momentarily looked away from the group. Turning back, focusing on her granddaughter, she said, “Imogen, love, you can be right about what people feel and still be wrong about what you do with it. And I shouldn’t have indulged you.”
Imogen’s eyes filled, which seemed to annoy her more than anything. She scrubbed at them with the heel of her hand, telling Rosa, “I just wanted you to be happy.”
Billy reached across and caught her hand. “We are happy. But it has to be our choice.”
Imogen looked at Rosa, properly looked, and her voice came out small, “I’m sorry.”
Rosa held her gaze for a long beat, then opened her arms. “Come here.”
Imogen crossed the space in two steps and folded into her, all sharp elbows, teenage pride finally giving way. Rosa hugged her hard, one hand cradling the back of her head, the other pressed between her shoulder blades like she was anchoring her.
“I love you,” Rosa murmured into her hair. “But you don’t get to do that again.”
“I won’t,” Imogen whispered, voice muffled. “I swear.”
Billy watched them, something bright and painful in her chest. She let out a breath through her nose, steadying herself, and when Imogen pulled back, she tugged Billy in too—three bodies awkwardly trying to fit into one moment.
Meredith stood, picked up her mug, and sniffed like she hadn’t been watching her own heart heal in real time. “Right,” she said briskly. “Now that we’ve all confessed our sins—”
“Uh, don’t think you’re off the hook so easily,” Billy said. Meredith stopped moving, glanced at Imogen, then back to Billy. “You should have known better.”
“I know, I just said as much.”
“That’s not good enough. You’re my mother and I expect no less from you, but Rosa deserves better, and she deserves a proper apology.”
Meredith nodded. “You’re right.” She turned to Rosa.
“I am sorry that I allowed my better judgement to be overruled by wanting what I thought was best for you both. It was unfair and…” She shook her head.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve known better. I just couldn’t stand watching you both lose more time.
Rosa, you and Imogen are the best thing this family ever lost, and now you’re home again. I’ll never be sorry for that.”
Her eyes lingered on Rosa. The room was silent as everyone waited for a response.
“I’m not sorry for it either,” Rosa said, reaching for Billy’s hand. “But there will be no more of this behaviour from either of you.” Her voice stayed firm as her eyes moved between Meredith and Imogen.
They both nodded. They both grinned.
“So…does this mean we’re all going to live together?” Imogen asked.
Billy looked to Rosa, who smiled and nodded. It was time to tell them everything too.
“Once we get married, yes, I imagine we will be living together again.”