CHAPTER 33
W hen Ava entered her mother’s bedroom, she found the queen sitting at her vanity trying on a dazzling emerald necklace.
Their eyes met in the mirror.
“We need to talk,” Ava said in a serious tone.
Her mother sighed and nodded. “I know.” She put down her necklace.
As Ava worked on choosing her words carefully, she walked over to the fireplace where the flames flickered and popped.
That was when she saw a framed photograph of her with her mother and Samuel at the Skylight Restaurant.
She’d never noticed this picture before, but then she was rarely in her mother’s bedroom.
She picked up the picture and studied it closer.
In the photo, they were eating Samuel’s famous Chocolate Fountain Cake.
Still holding the picture, she turned to face her mother. “Was Samuel also in on this Stormy charade?”
Her mother nodded. “Yes.”
Ava shook her head with disbelief.
“He knew you’d be coming to the restaurant with Justin, and he planned a romantic meal for you.”
“He said the private dining room was set up for a proposal, but all along, it was for us,” Ava said. “Unbelievable…”
“It was supposed to be a wonderful night, until you showed up hurt. You scared us to death. If anything had happened to you…” Her mother’s voice trembled with emotion.
Ava was surprised by her mother’s level of concern. She walked over to her and took her hand. “Our doctors say I’m fine,” Ava reassured her. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Except you marrying someone you don’t love,” her mother said.
Ava pulled her hand away. “I don’t understand. If you’re so against this marriage, why haven’t you ever said anything all these years?”
“I should have. I regret that I didn’t,” her mother said, clasping her shaky hands. “You and your father had such a strong bond. I didn’t want to interfere with that. I didn’t want you to have to choose between us, because I knew who you’d choose…” She stopped to wipe away a tear.
Ava opened her mouth to disagree but stopped. She realized her mother was right. She would’ve chosen her father. She felt a rush of guilt. She struggled to find the right words to say when nothing seemed like enough. Finally, she settled on simply saying, “I’m sorry.”
“You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about,” her mother said. “You and your father made a great team. There just wasn’t any room on that team…for me.”
Now it was Ava’s turn to fight back tears.
All this time, she’d grown up feeling like a failure in her mother’s eyes, believing her mother had no time for her, because she didn’t approve of her. She thought that was why they weren’t close, and why they never did things together.
But now the real truth was sinking in.
While her father had meant well, he had definitely monopolized her time. He always said they needed to stay out of her mother’s way because she was the queen and had a country to rule. He’d always reminded her that that was mother’s focus and most important job.
She had grown up believing she wasn’t important to her mother, and that belief had cut deep, leaving her feeling like no matter what she did, she would never be good enough.
And since her father had always been there, always showering her with attention, her loyalty had naturally belonged to him.
She turned and faced her mother. “I always thought you never wanted to spend time with me because we are so…different.”
“No,” her mother said passionately. “Ava, you have always been the most important thing in my life. I know I’ve made a lot of mistakes.
There are a lot of things I should have done differently.
I should have spoken up sooner, but I’m here now, promising you I’ll always put you first. I’m hoping we can start over… ”
“And what happens if I decide to marry Henry?” Ava asked.
Her mother took a deep breath. “I will support whatever you decide to do, as long as you know you don’t have to marry Henry or anyone else you don’t love. It’s your choice, your life. I trust you.”
“Really?” Ava asked, surprised.
“Really,” her mother said. “I realize I may have gone a little overboard with having Lydia take Stormy—”
“A little?” Ava laughed.
“Okay, maybe a lot, but time was running out. You wanted to announce your engagement at the Christmas party. I had to do something drastic—”
“So, that’s why you adopted Stormy?”
“No,” her mother said smiling. “I love Stormy, and I meant it when I said I thought he would be good for both of us. I also was already planning to hire Justin, because he really is the best of the best. I’ve been following his career and admire him and what he does so much. This all started out very innocently…”
Ava gave her mother a look.
“I’m serious,” she said. “Cross my heart.” She crossed her heart with her hand.
“Wait, Justin does that,” Ava said.
Her mother smiled a bright smile. “I knew I liked him.”
“So, how did we go from you hiring him for Stormy to you playing matchmaker?”
Her mother shrugged. “Honestly, it all just snowballed really fast. When you started pushing your engagement, I panicked. I didn’t know what to do, but I knew I needed to buy some time to figure it out.
I thought maybe if you could be around someone like Justin, you’d see there are some great guys out there, and that Henry didn’t have to be your only choice.
So, I asked Lydia to take Stormy, so you and Justin would spend some time together.
Lydia feels terrible for deceiving everyone, so please don’t blame her, blame me.
I didn’t mean for all this to blow up like it did, or for anyone to get hurt.
I have a lot of people I need to apologize to, starting with you and Justin. Do you think Justin will forgive me?”
“I have no idea,” Ava said. “Especially after he learns why you did this.”
“He should be honored that I was trying to match him up with my daughter,” her mother said. “You’re a princess.”
“Justin doesn’t care about any of that,” Ava said.
“And that’s why I like him for you,” her mother jumped in. “But I’m done matchmaking. I’ve learned my lesson.”
“I hope so,” Ava said.
Their eyes met.
“Can you forgive me?” her mother asked, sounding truly sorry and looking scared.
For an answer, Ava wrapped her arms around her mother in a heartfelt hug. It was the first real hug they’d had in years. “I forgive you,” Ava said with tears in her eyes. “I hope you can forgive me for only spending time with Father. I wish I had known then what I do now—”
“There’s nothing to forgive.”
As they continued to hug, like they both never wanted to let go, Ava felt an overwhelming sense of love. In that moment, she knew it was the beginning of healing old wounds.
They both wiped away tears when they pulled back from the hug.
“I do have another question, if that’s okay?” Ava asked tentatively.
“Anything. What would you like to know?”
Ava took a deep breath. “You said you loved someone once, before Father. How did you know…it was real love?”
Her mother smiled softly, a faraway look in her eyes, as if she were remembering.
“Because when I was with him, I could just be me. I felt free. I didn’t feel like a future queen with the weight of the world on my shoulders.
We had so much fun together. We laughed all the time, and we challenged each other.
He was always making sure I was okay, putting me first, no matter what.
Together, we made each other better, and that’s what I want for you, too. ”
Ava reached for her hand. “I’m sorry things weren’t different with Father.”
Her mother brushed a strand of hair from Ava’s face, her voice soft but sure. “I wouldn’t change a moment, because he gave me you—the most precious thing in my life.”
Tears welled up in Ava’s eyes as she wrapped her arms around her mother. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Ava drew back gently and smiled. “And I know the perfect way we can start over. I have a plan…”
Her mother laughed and hugged her again. “Of course you do.”
? ? ?
Ava cringed as she stood in the Great Hall with her mother, surveying all the damage that Stormy had done when he taken down the Christmas tree.
It was worse than she’d remembered.
When she had first run into the hall after hearing the loud crash, her focus had been on Stormy and making sure he was okay. Now that she had a chance to really look around, it was beginning to sink in what an abysmal disaster the entire room really was.
The showstopper Douglas fir Christmas tree was a complete loss.
There were broken branches everywhere and the top of the tree had snapped off when it hit the wall.
The marble floor was covered with broken ornaments.
Her wreath display invention was totaled, and the vintage nutcracker collection looked like it had just gone to war—and lost.
She was going to have to start completely over to decorate the room, and the clock was ticking if she was going to transform this space in time for the Christmas party.
“Ava, are you sure you can do this?” her mother asked, worried.
“No,” Ava said. “I can’t do it…”
Her mother’s shoulders slumped with disappointment.
“But we can,” Ava continued.
“We?” her mother asked, surprised.
“Yes, we ,” Ava said emphatically. “If I’m going to pull off a Christmas miracle, I’m going to need your help.”
“You really want me …to help you save this Christmas party?”
Ava laughed. “Yes, Mother. Why do you sound so surprised?”
“Maybe because you’ve never asked me for help…ever.”
“But we’re starting over, remember?” Ava asked with a warm smile. “And who knows a party better than you?”
“This is true,” her mother said, her smile lighting up the room. “But I’ll only do this if Santa can come.”
Ava laughed. “Yes, Santa can come.”
“Ho! Ho! Ho! Then let’s go!” the queen exclaimed, excited.
Ava put her arm around her mother. “I know we’re going to make a great team.”
“The best team ever,” her mother agreed as they shared a smile.