The Inheritance by JoAnn Ross
Author:JoAnn Ross
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HQN Books
Published: 2021-06-20T23:25:51+00:00
17
âAre you certain that youâre all right?â Rose asked once they were alone in the cottageâs bedroom.
Madeleine sank onto a rocker, the same one sheâd rocked Jackson in after bringing him home from the hospital, while Rose unpacked the overnight bag sheâd thrown together while waiting for the ambulance to arrive. âIâm as fine as any mother could be after losing her only son.â
âIâve never heard you admit to being tired like you just did.â
âGetting old has disturbed my internal body clock. Itâs very frustrating.â
âItâs better than the alternative.â
âThere are days I could argue that. But for now, although I am, in fact, tired after my unplanned trip to the hospital, where, by the way, itâs impossible to sleep, the pitiful truth is that Iâm a coward.â
Rose barked a laugh. âYouâve never been afraid of anything in your life.â
âOf course I have. I simply learned that showing fear was a good way of getting you killed.â
âThis isnât Nazi-occupied France.â
âI know that,â Madeleine snapped. âIâm merely ancient. Not suffering from dementia. I loved my son with my entire heart, but Iâll have to admit that I dread having to attempt to get through this evening dodging questions about the real reason Jackson had Donovan bring my granddaughters here.â
âYou could always lie and say you have no idea.â
âMay I remind you that I donât have that many years left and I donât want to waste them being untruthful with my last remaining family. So Iâm taking the cowardâs way out and hiding out in the cottage for a few more hours.â She rubbed her eyes. âThere were so many times over the years that I wished that Jackson had chosen any other career. I do understand why he wasnât enthralled with the business of growing grapes.â
âHis motherâs son there,â Rose murmured.
âTrue enough. I love the product, but you need more patience than I have to be a vintner. And although he had a true talent for capturing moments, why did he have to spend his life chasing wars? Couldnât he have settled down with a wife and family here?â
âWould you rather have had him being a wedding photographer like wife number two supposedly wanted him to do? Spending his life catering to bridezillas?â
Madeleine laughed at that. âHe wouldnât have lasted a week!â She sighed. âItâs not easy being a mother. We raise our children, give them wings to leave the nest, but we have no control where they will fly off to.â
âI imagine your parents had the same thoughts when you decided to join the Resistance.â
âPapa was furious. When I insisted on becoming a courier, Maman took to her bed for a week.â
âYet, you persisted.â
âI had no choice. The same way I had no choice but to bring Robert home with me to protect him when I found him hiding in the woods after his plane crashed. And at the end of the war, when I left France with Robert, I knew going off to America was not the life my parents had hoped for me.
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