Page 72 of Tis The Season for Secrets
“I punched someone,” Juliet found herself saying. “But they deserved it.”
The woman looked proud. Juliet took her hand back and stared, recognising herself. The bone structure, her round eyes, and the same shade of pink lips. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen it the first time.
“You’re Eloise?” she stammered. “You’re my mom?” Her dark hair, despite being flecked with grey, had the same honey highlights as her own. There was no mistaking the resemblance.
“Please don’t be angry. I knew it was you when we bumped into each other the first time.” Eloise’s brows pulled together; the fear in her eyes confirmed Juliet was right. “I didn’t know what to say, and I didn’t want you to run off. You didn’t have a coat on. Not that it’s my place to tell you what to do, or how to dress. What am I saying? Yes, I’m your mum. I’m sorry, I didn’t want this to go this way.” She looked to the mantelpiece. “The pictures… I didn’t think. I’m so used to seeing them every day, and I never thought you’d come here. I mean, not never, but once we’d met properly.” She covered her face with her hands.
“Now I know where I get my nervous rambling from.” Juliet said, giving her a break.
Eloise’s expression softened. “I’ve made a right mess of this. I understand if you want to leave, but please let me get you a coat first.”
Silence fell between them, and Juliet tried to digest the situation.
“I was trying to find you. The bell brought me to the perfume shop… I thought it had led me wrong, but you were inside shopping,” she said slowly, realising it had brought her to exactly where she needed to be. “I can stay, if you want me to?” The words left her before she thought too much. “I mean, it’s the reason why I’m here, why you gave me the chest?”
“Of course I want you to stay!” Eloise pulled her into a tight hug, and Juliet froze, unsure of how to react. Sensing her discomfort, Eloise released her sheepishly. “Sorry.”
As odd as it was for Juliet, she couldn’t imagine how nervous her mom was after waiting to meet her for so long. Suddenly, she worried that she wouldn’t live up to the idea of the daughter her mom had been wishing for all these years.
“What do we do now?” She fidgeted. There was so much to say, and yet she couldn’t think of anything.
“I can make us some coffee. We can talk, or watch a movie? Mochas are my favourite, and I’d have chocolate with every meal if I could. Training the new guardians keeps me fit and healthy,” Eloise rambled, again.
Juliet didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as she saw so much of herself in her mom. She could listen to her all night.
“Your grandmother, Rose, told me you like Miracle on 34th Street? I think I only have the tape, but I can find it.” Eloise made for the old box TV, and Juliet didn’t know what came over her, but she wrapped her arms around her mother.
Immediately, she began to pull away, not wanting to overwhelm her. Before she could, Eloise engulfed her in an all-encompassing hug. Tears slipped down her cheeks.Home.
“I’m so sorry, my darling.” Eloise’s tearful words broke through any anger or hurt Juliet had held on to for so long. “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”
Juliet wanted to put a wall between them, make Eloise earn the right to be close to her, but she couldn’t. Not when she could hear and feel all the love pouring out of her heart. A love she’d never felt from her father.
“You’re so beautiful. You look like my mother; she’ll be so happy to see that someone in the family shares the dimple in her chin.” Eloise released Juliet, but held her face tenderly. “I’m so proud of you – of how you’ve handled everything with such grace. I couldn’t believe it when you gave the chest back. Those letters belong to you, and you had every right to keep them. I’m so sorry for putting you in this position; I wish there had been a better way. But I have to say that I’ve never regretted you or trying to have you in my life for a second. I only regret that I couldn’t have been there for you every step of the way.”
Hearing that she wasn’t a mistake was the only thing that mattered. Juliet swallowed the wave of emotions.
“Giving up the chest was the right thing to do,” she said firmly. “I didn’t want you or Will to get in trouble. You’re far more important to me than a magical bell and some letters. Will told me you know about Dad’s threats to reveal what you’d done, and I didn’t want to bring you or your family any more hurt.”
“That should be the last thing on your mind. None of this should have landed on your shoulders,” her mom assured her.
“Still, I wanted to protect you. And not only you– the Klaus family have been so kind to me, and I didn’t want to involve them in our mess.”
“A mess is an understatement,” Eloise agreed, taking her hands. “But you’re here now, and that’s all that matters.”
Juliet nodded. “I don’t know how long I’ll be able to stay, though. I’m worried about Dad—”
“You don’t have to worry.” Eloise sat her down on the couch. “As much as I don’t want to believe that your dad would go so far, that he would try and keep you from me, once the council sign off on your legacy petition then he can’t do anything to stop you or us from being in each other’s lives.”
Even after so many years and so much hurt, there was still a trace of love in her mom’s eyes for her dad. It broke Juliet’s heart to realise Eloise still had some faith in him.
“The heartbreak killed him, or at least the person you knew,” she said, recalling her father’s last pleading letter to the woman he loved.
Eloise sighed. “I can’t say he was the only one. I loved him with everything I had, but losing you nearly killed me. When I received his letter about being together, I wanted to give in, but we literally came from two different worlds. I worried that over time we would start to resent each other for all we’d given up. I was sure Reginald would never truly leave us in peace; yourfather was his world. I was young, scared, naïve, and I’d been raised to follow the rules, and when a deal was struck, I did as I was told by those I thought knew best. I don’t even want to think about the time we’ve lost.”
“What if Dad reports us when he doesn’t get the bell tomorrow night?”
“My family is happy to accept you as a legacy, even if your dad tries to intervene. Once the paperwork is complete, it won’t matter. I don’t know if Will has mentioned it to you yet, but there’s one way the council is most likely to accept your petition. I don’t know how you’d feel about it, and it’s quite a big change. But I wondered… if you’d consider changing your name from Frost to Heart.” Juliet could hear the excitement and nerves threaded in her mom’s words.
