Chapter 73: Mother dear
Beth ended the call with her lawyer, a thin slice of satisfaction cutting through the morning’s residual tension. The zoning bureaucrat would be dealt with, meticulously and legally.She preferred legality, these days.It left fewer loose ends.
She was about to head back to the kitchen when her phone buzzed again, a different tone. An unknown number with a New York area code.Not entirely unknown, though. The sequence was familiar, a ghost from a decade past.Rossi family digits, burned into memory from years of holiday cards and awkward Sunday dinners.
Sophia.Beth stared at the screen, the sleek device suddenly heavy in her palm. The rational part of her brain noted that Sophia had called just yesterday, fishing for information after seeing Beth in the background of Damien’s video call.That had been brief, all polite concern and veiled curiosity. A second call in twenty-four hours meant something had shifted.
She let it ring three times, counting the vibrations against her skin, then swiped to answer. Her voice, when she spoke, was a masterclass in neutral courtesy.“Sophia.This is a surprise.”
“Bethany. I hope I’m not interrupting.” Sophia’s voice was exactly as Beth remembered: cultured, smooth, with an underlying steel that never quite softened, not even for family. It was the voice of a woman who ran her world with the same ruthless efficiency Beth ran her ranch.
“Just wrapping up some business.” Beth wandered back toward the patio doors, her eyes scanning the outside. Marco was now in the kitchen, peering into the refrigerator. Damien was a dark, solitary figure by the roses, his back to the house. “What can I do for you?”
“It’s more about what I’d like to do for you, actually.” A slight pause, perfectly timed. “Claire’s engagement party is next weekend.At the estate. It would mean a great deal to her, and to Vittorio and me, if you would attend.”
The invitation hung in the air, crisp and unexpected as a sudden frost.Beth didn’t speak for a moment. She could hear the faint clink of ice in a glass on Sophia’s end, the muffled sounds of a New York afternoon.Here, a fly buzzed against the windowpane.The contrasts were stark.
“That’s… very kind,” Beth said, the words measured. “But Claire and I were never particularly close. And given the history, my presence might complicate the atmosphere.”
“Nonsense.” Sophia’s dismissal was gentle but firm.“You were part of this family for years. Claire was just a girl then.She’s grown now. We’ve all… evolved.” Another pause, this one more pointed.“Damien mentioned he was with you at the Montgomery homestead. It sounds like you’ve moved past the worst of it.”
Ah.There it was. Not an olive branch, but a reconnaissance mission. Damien had told them he was here, but not why, or for how long. Sophia was piecing together a puzzle, and an invitation was a perfect way to get a closer look at the pieces.Beth watched Damien outside. He’d turned and was looking at his phone, his profile sharp and focused. Wolves at the gate, he’d said.She wondered if the wolves sometimes wore pearls and Chanel suits.
“It’s a beautiful gesture, Sophia.Truly.” Beth let the silence stretch, just a second too long. “May I ask how you got this number? It’s not the one I had during my marriage.”
A beat of surprised silence. Then a light, airy laugh that didn’t fool either of them.“Oh, you know how these things are.Mutual acquaintances. It is a small world, in certain circles.”
“It is,” Beth agreed, her tone making it clear she knew exactly what circles Sophia moved in, and the lengths to which those circles would go to acquire information. “As for the party, my schedule is exceptionally demanding right now.The ranch is in a critical phase. I’ll have to check and see what’s possible.”
“Of course.” Sophia’s voice cooled a fraction.The polite refusal was recognized. “We’d be delighted to have you, if you find the time.Claire would be so pleased. And Damien… well, he’ll be there, of course. It would be lovely for him to have a familiar face.”
The subtext was as clear as the pool water glittering outside.Come back into the fold. Remember your place.See where he belongs.
Beth felt a familiar, old anger stir, cold and clean.The anger of never being quite enough, of being the elegant outsider. But now it was met by a newer, more potent force: the absolute authority of the woman she’d built herself into.
“I’ll bear that in mind,” Beth said, her voice now edged with a finality that brooked no further discussion.“Please give Claire my congratulations. She’s chosen a formidable family to marry into, I’m sure.”
The compliment was a dagger, and Sophia would know it.“I will,” Sophia replied, her own voice regaining its perfect composure. “Do try to make it, Bethany. It would send a… powerful message.”
“I send messages every day, Sophia.It’s kind of my brand. Goodbye.”
Beth ended the call before a reply could form.She stood perfectly still, the phone cooling in her hand. From the kitchen, she heard Marco’s voice. “You find the bourbon yet, or is Texas a dry state now?”
Damien’s reply was muffled, but his laugh, a low rumble, floated through the glass.
Beth looked from the phone to the man in the garden, then back to the phone.An invitation to the lion’s den, delivered by the lioness herself. A test.A trap. A tantalizing glimpse of a world that had once been hers, and a man who had never stopped being hers in some complicated, irreducible way.
She wouldn’t go.The decision was logical, safe.She had her own kingdom to rule.
But as she pushed open the patio door, the humid Texas air wrapping around her like a challenge, a different thought surfaced, reckless and bright.What if she did go? Not as a returning prodigal, but as a visiting head of state.What message would that send?
She stepped outside, the sound of her heels on the stone pulling Damien’s gaze from his phone. His eyes found hers instantly, a question in them.“Everything alright?” he asked.
“Just family business,” Beth said, a slow, deliberate smile touching her lips. It was the same smile she used before entering a high-stakes boardroom.“Mine and yours. It seems we’re both unexpectedly in demand this week.”