Page 67 of Enchanted
And if she thought of Liam, if she pined for him, so be it. She could live with heartache, but she couldn’t—wouldn’t—live with distrust.
The knock on the door surprised her; then she smiled. Belinda, she imagined, not quite ready to say good-bye.
But the woman at the door was a stranger. Beautiful, elegant in a simple dress of mossy green. “Hello, Rowan. I hope I’m not disturbing you.”
The voice, that lilt of Irish hills. The eyes, warm, deep gold. “No, not at all. Please come in, Mrs. Donovan.”
“I wasn’t sure I’d be welcome.” She stepped inside, smiled. “Since my son’s made such a fool of himself.”
“I’m glad to meet you. I’m sorry—I can’t even offer you a chair.”
“You’re leaving, then. Well, I’ll give you this as a going-away present.” She held out a box of carved apple wood. “And as a thank-you for the drawing of Liam. They’re chalks, the pastels you wanted.”
“Thank you.” Rowan took the box, grateful to have something to do with her hands. “I’m surprised you’d want to see me since Liam and I … since we argued.”
“Ah.” The woman waved a hand in dismissal and wandered the room. “I’ve argued with him enough myself to know it’s impossible not to. He’s a head like a brick. But his heart isn’t hard.” When Rowan looked away, she sighed. “I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“It’s all right.” Rowan carried the box to the narrow counter that separated the living area from the kitchen. “He’s your son and you love him.”
“I do, very much. Flaws and all.” She laid a gentle hand on Rowan’s arm. “He’s hurt you, and I’m sorry for it. Oh, I could box his ears for it,” she snapped in a lightning change of mood that had Rowan smiling uncertainly.
“Have you ever?”
“Boxed his ears?” This time Arianna laughed, light and free. “Oh, with Liam what choice do you have? Hewas never an easy one. Girl, the stories I could tell you would curl your hair. Takes after his father, he does, and can go royal on you in a blink. Now Finn would say it’s my temper running through him, and he’d be right. But if a woman doesn’t have spine and temper, men like that will march right over her.”
She paused, studying Rowan’s face, and her own eyes filled abruptly with tears. “Oh, you love him still. I didn’t want to look and offend you. But I can see it.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
But before she could turn away, Arianna gripped her hands, gave them an impatient squeeze. “Love is all that matters, and you’re smart enough to know it. I’ve come to you as a mother only, with no more than a mother’s right, and a mother’s heart. He suffers, Rowan.”
“Mrs. Donovan—”
“Arianna. It’s your decision to make, but you need to know. He’s hurt as well, and missing you.”
“He doesn’t love me.”
“If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have made so many foolish mistakes. I know his heart, Rowan.” She said it softly and with such simple faith, Rowan felt a flutter in her stomach. “It’s yours if you’ll have it. I don’t say it because I want him to step into his father’s place. Whoever he loved would have been welcomed with joy. Don’t turn your back on your own happiness just to hug your pride. One’s cold without the other.”
“You’re asking me to go to him.”
“I’m asking you to listen to your heart. Nothing more or less.”
Rowan crossed her arms over her breasts, rubbed her own shoulders as she paced the bare room. “I still love him. I always will. Maybe part of me recognized him in that first instant. And my heart just fell at his feet.”
“And he didn’t treasure it as he should have, because he was afraid of it.”
“He didn’t trust me.”
“No, Rowan, he didn’t trust himself.”
“If he loves me …” Even the thought of it weakened her, so she shook her head, turned back with her eyes level, her hands steady. “He’ll have to say it. And he’ll have to accept me on equal grounds. I’ll take nothingless.”
Arianna’s smile was slow, and it was sweet. “Oh, you’ll do, Rowan Murray, for yourself and for him. Will you go back and see?”
“Yes.” She let out the breath she hadn’t known she was holding. “Will you help me?”
***
