Prince of Secrets (By His Royal Decree) by Lucy Monroe

Author:Lucy Monroe [Monroe, Lucy]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-07-31T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHANEL COULDN’T RESPOND.

Her throat was too tight with tears she didn’t want to shed, but her mom was probably right.

Jacob Tanner had loved his daughter with the same deep, abiding emotion he’d given his wife. He’d expected a different kind of best from both of them than Perry ever had.

The good kind. The human kindness kind.

Beatrice sighed and swiped at the tears on her cheek, not even looking around for a tissue to do it properly. “I wish I could say I would do it all differently if I could.”

“You can’t?” Chanel asked, surprised at how much that hurt.

“As I have grown older and watched your brother and sister mature, had the opportunity to observe the way you are with them, it’s opened my eyes to many things. I have come to realize just how weak a person I am.”

“If you see a problem you have the power to fix and do nothing to change it, then yes, I think that does make you weak.”

“So pragmatic. Your father would have said the same thing, but you both would have assumed I had the power to change myself. If I did, do you think I would have worked so hard at changing you?”

“So, that’s it? Things go on like always?”

“No,” Beatrice uttered with vehement urgency. “If you’ll give me another chance, I will do better now.”

“So, you have changed.” Could Chanel believe her?

“I’ve acknowledged the true cost of my weakness. The love and respect of my daughter. It’s too much.”

“I don’t know if I can ever trust you to love me.”

“I understand that and I don’t expect weekly mother-daughter dates.”

“I don’t have time.” Chanel realized how harsh that sounded after she said the words, and she winced.

Her mom gave her a wry smile. “Your time is spoken for, but maybe we could try for more often than once every couple of months.”

“Let’s see if we can make those visits more pleasant before we start making plans for more.” Words were all well and good, but Chanel had two decades of her mother’s criticisms and rejections echoing in her memories.

Beatrice nodded and then she did yet another out-of-character gesture, opening her arms for a hug. When Chanel didn’t immediately move forward to accept, her mother took the initiative.

Chanel responded with their normal barely touching embrace, but her mom pulled her close in a cloud of her favorite Chanel No. 5 perfume and hugged her tight. “I love you, Chanel, and I’m very proud of the woman you’ve become. I’m so very, very sorry I wasn’t a better mother.”

Chanel sat in stunned silence for several seconds before returning the embrace.

“You don’t think I’m too awkward and geeky for Demyan?” she asked against her mother’s neck.

Still not ready to see the older woman’s expression in case it wasn’t kind.

But Beatrice moved back, forcing Chanel to meet her eyes. “You listen to me, daughter. You are more than enough for that man. You are all that he needs. Now you need to believe that if you’re going to be happy with him.

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