Page 76 of The Saint (Gentlemen Rogues 3)
All this time. Where the hell was she now?
She'd been alive six months ago. My motherhad been here.
Why didn't she come for me?
"I don't understand. If you've seen her recently, then why didn't she come back for me?"
She waved me over. "Why don't you come in? We'll go in through the back. I don't use the main house often as I live in the caretaker's quarters back there."
"You take care of the house?"
"Yes. Come in and I'll explain everything, or as much as I can."
Then she walked, expecting us to follow. Gemma nodded that I should follow her, and she was right behind me. At least, I wasn't doing this on my own. As I followed Magda to the back, I could see the caretaker's cottage she pointed out, but she led me to the back stairs of the main house and then picked up a key from the stone as if it was the most natural thing in the world and opened the door. Inside, the house was cute. Unused, but clearly aired out and pristine. The furnishings were modern. Bright and all white. Open and spacious; the kind of thing my mother always loved.
I could see bits and pieces of her. The art on the walls, the little tchotchkes. There was a lot of my mother in here. I had more surprises when I turned to the bookshelf. There were photos of me at all stages of my childhood, as a baby, a toddler, and even in secondary when I had been awkward and sullen at best. Candid shots of me showing all the different momentsof a past that was slowly fading from my memories. Moments when I was smiling, moments when I was happy, relaxed, or even pensive. How were they all here when we always got rid of everything each time we moved? None of this made any sense to the reality I had lived.
"Where did all of this come from?"
Magda put the kettle on. "Your mother said this house was meant for you and her. But the last time she came, she said it still wasn't safe but that one day, she wanted it to be perfect for you. Every time she came, she brought something for your room."
I blinked rapidly. "My room?"
"Yes. It's just down the hall."
I shook my head. "I don't know what’s happening…" My voice trailed as everything started to spin.
Gemma was right there, directing me into a seat. She didn’t stop pushing me down until my butt hit the soft cushion.
"Breathe." She turned to Magda. "Water. She needs a glass of water." Magda immediately went to the faucet and brought a glass over. "Drink this. Slowly," Gemma said in her drill sergeant tone that I was so grateful for at this moment.
"You're telling me my mother has been alive this whole time?"
Magda nodded slowly. "I'm sorry. I don't know why she wouldn't tell you that she's been very much alive."
"All this time."
"Sorry. This is probably allbewildering for you."
"Yeah, you could say that. So you just take care of the house?"
"Yes. Your mother hired me seven years ago."
I blinked up at her rapidly. "Seven years? Where was I?"
"I don't know. She could only stay overnight though. She said her daughter was busy at a school competition."
In a snap, that memory was at the forefront of my mind. Debate Club. One of the few things she'd let me participate in. Ihad worried for months about how to ask her about it. I wasn’t certain I’d be allowed to go. And all this time, she'd been looking for an escape. "So she just came here, to what?"
"To hire me to fulfill her very specific instructions for renovations and preparations. She very much intended that this be a safe haven for you both."
My stomach cramped. "A safe haven?"
"Hold on, she left something behind." She went to one of the paintings in the living room and moved it to the side, and I could see there was a safe behind it. She tapped in a few numbers, and it opened. I couldn't see much of anything as it was too dark. Reaching inside she pulled out an object that looked like a wooden carving or something.
“Another clue to follow? Didn’t she leave a letter or something?"
"Your mother is very private. Always has been. All I was told was that you must have that key and to protect it."
