Chapter Six #2
“Beni, are you sure it’s wise for you to leave your mother?
” asked Manon, concern etched across her features.
“I don’t want to leave you somewhere you don’t want to be, but won’t she follow you?
” Her tone was not unkind, merely questioning, but her words were a dagger through Scarlett’s heart.
She couldn’t leave her baby brother here alone.
He faced Manon. “I can’t stay here with her.” His voice was pleading. “She’s awful, and she treats me like…” He took a deep breath. “She’ll know I helped you, and she’ll be furious. Just let me come.”
“I can’t leave him here,” Scarlett said. “He’s coming. End of.” There was no way she was leaving him to face Laylani alone.
“Beni is welcome to join you both,” offered Lachlan.
“Fine,” said Manon, looking resolute. “The three of us will go to Clair de Lune. We need to leave. Let’s be off!”
Scarlett let out a sigh of relief.
“I’ll send Brayden and James to collect you at the Clair de Lune train station,” said Lachlan. “The only train out of Soleil leaves at 6:30 a.m. You should make it to the station with time to spare.”
“Be careful,” said Brayden.
Their gazes met. There was no trace of his usually carefree demeanor on his face. The moment reminded Scarlett of the morning after her father had died. She prayed this would be the last tragedy they endured together.
“I will,” she said. There were so many other things she wanted to say to him, but there was no time.
Beni wheeled Manon into Scarlett’s room, and Scarlett tore herself away from Brayden to follow slowly behind them.
“Good thing you named Beni your heir, Scarlett,” said Manon as Scarlett closed the dressing-room door. “That guardianship paperwork should be in place by now.”
Beni beamed. “You did?”
Scarlett smiled at his happiness. “Yes, of course I did.” Her smile faltered. “But we have no proof…”
“Getting into Soleil is difficult,” said Manon.
“Getting out is not. They’ll let him over the border.
His passport shows he’s Jules Heroux’s son, and I still have your mother’s marriage certificate to Jules—and her birth certificate—in my important documents.
You said you’d packed the black folder, yes, Beni? ”
Beni dipped his chin. “It’s on the boat with the rest of our bags.”
“Excellent,” said Manon. “That should be enough. Now lie down on the bed, Scarlett. We need to get these catheter tubes out of us.”
Scarlett eyed the bag of yellow urine on the stand she was using for support.
She stood straighter in an attempt to support her own weight, but her body was weak.
She’d lost so much muscle mass in the weeks she’d been asleep.
It was a good thing she had the cane—and adrenaline pumping through her veins.
“Beni, wheel me to her bedside, then go tell Charlie we’re ready to be carried downstairs. We need to be gone five minutes ago.”
Scarlett tried not to think about what was happening as her grandmother gripped the tube that had been emptying her bladder for weeks.
“Try to relax,” said Manon.
“Have you done this before?” Scarlett asked.
“No, but it can’t be hard. Buck up, buttercup,” she added with a light pat on Scarlett’s bare leg. “You’re going to have to return the favor in a moment.”
Scarlett gritted her teeth and tried to relax her lower body as Manon pulled gently at the tube. She tried to go somewhere else in her mind, but to her surprise, the tube was out before she had any time to think.
Scarlett let out a huge breath. “Your turn,” she sniffed as she sat up.
A minute later, they were both catheter-free.
Beni came back into the room.
“Beni, can you please bring me a bag?” asked Manon. “One of the gift bags in my largest desk drawer would do.”
He did as she asked, and Scarlett grimaced as Manon wrapped up their urine bags and tucked them safely into the side pocket of her wheelchair.
Manon caught sight of Scarlett’s expression and raised her eyebrows. “I don’t know why you’re looking at me like I’m packing this up for my own sick amusement. We might be able to use this as evidence.”
Scarlett’s disgust turned to admiration for her grandmother’s resourcefulness. “That’s smart. Sorry for making a face while you wrapped the bags of pee up like a solstice present.”
Manon smiled crookedly. “No bother. Let’s get ourselves dressed.”
Scarlett somehow found the strength to pull on the dress, trench coat, and boots Beni had grabbed from her closet.
She shoved her phone and her bank cards into her jacket pockets, then she helped Manon pull a loose dress over her head and slide loafers onto her feet.
As an afterthought, Scarlett stuck a wide-brimmed hat in the second wheelchair pocket.
“Charlie’s here,” called Beni from the doorway.
Scarlett waited at the top of the staircase while Charlie carried her grandmother down.
Every time his foot hit the steps, a loud thump reverberated through the space, making Scarlett’s nerves jangle.
She leaned against the wall worrying about everything that could go wrong until Charlie reappeared a few minutes later.
“Thank you for helping us,” she whispered.
“Of course, kid,” he said. “I’ve been so worried about you. I’m glad to see you awake.”
Outside, Charlie sped down the dock and onto the boat with Scarlett in his arms, setting her down only when he reached the boat’s cabin, where Manon and Beni were waiting.
The feeling of an imminent heart attack finally ceased once the boat had pulled away from House Heroux and was speeding down the Sapphire Canal toward the train station.
The first signs of the sunrise appeared on the horizon, illuminating the city.
Manon let out a loud sigh and looked up in a prayer of thanks.