LITMIR.BIZ

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your mother,” Elizabeth said, then added, “Again.”

      This was the fourth call since Hannah left Seattle. Hadn’t her mother gotten the message that Hannah wasn’t ready to talk to her? She was still too bitter and angry. It was very possible, if Hannah talked to her in her current state of mind, she might say something she would later regret. Like she had the last time they spoke.

      “Tell her I’ll call her back.”

      “She said it was urgent.”

      She would say just about anything to get Hannah’s attention. To get her to come to the phone.

      “She sounded upset,” Elizabeth added.

      Hannah felt a slight jerk of alarm. She remembered the last urgent call from her mother. She had been in the university library studying for exams, so engrossed she almost didn’t answer her phone, when it buzzed in her pocket. And when she heard her mother’s distraught voice, her heart sank.

      Sweetheart, you need to come home. Daddy was in an accident….

      But he was gone now, and she couldn’t imagine anything urgent enough to warrant a return call. “I’ll call her tomorrow.”

      Elizabeth didn’t say a word, but she had this look. Not quite disapproval, because a palace employee would never be so bold as to disapprove of anything a royal did or said. It was more the lack of emotion that was giving her away. It was obvious she was trying very hard not to react. Or maybe it was Hannah’s own guilty conscience nagging at her. Either way, Hannah knew exactly what she was thinking.

      And she was right, of course. “I know, that’s what I said yesterday. So technically, today is tomorrow. Right?”

      “That is true,” Elizabeth agreed.

      “You think I should call her, don’t you?”

      “It’s not my place to pass judgment.”

      Maybe not, but Hannah was pretty sure that’s what she was thinking. And the truth was, her mother wasn’t likely to stop calling. Not until Hannah gave her the opportunity to apologize for her inappropriate behavior these past few months.

      Maybe it would be best, to ease her mother’s guilt and Hannah’s, if they cleared the air. And besides, it was what Daddy would have wanted. Hannah had always been more like him than her mother. So many times her father had told her, “Your mother isn’t like us, Hannah. She’s fragile. You just have to be patient.”

      But sometimes her mother could be so insecure and vulnerable it had been difficult even for her. Not that she was a bad person. She needed constant reassurance that she was loved and appreciated. At times her neediness was utterly exhausting.

      “My lady?” Elizabeth was watching her expectantly.

      Hannah sighed, knowing what she had to do. Knowing that, for her father’s sake, she had to settle this. “I’ll talk to her.”

      “She’s on line two,” Elizabeth said. Then, ever the proper assistant, nodded and slipped quietly from the room, shutting the door behind her.

      Hannah walked over to the phone, hesitating a minute before she finally lifted it off the cradle and pressed the button for line two. “Hello, Mother.”

      “Oh, Hannah, honey! It’s so good to hear your voice!”

      Hannah wished she could say the same, but right now the sound of her mother’s voice, that syrupy sweetness, was just irritating. “How have you been?”

      “Oh, fine. But I’ve missed you so much. I was afraid you wouldn’t come to the phone again.”

      “You said it was urgent.”

      “How have you been? How do you like it there?”

      “Everything is fine here.” If she discounted the fact that her fiancé had taken off the minute she arrived. Or that he refused to share dinner with her.

      “I’ve been very busy,” she told her mother.

      “Is the palace beautiful? And is Phillip as gorgeous as I remember?”

      She was stalling. Hannah wished she would just say what she had to say and get it over with. “The palace and Phillip are exactly the same as the last time you saw them. Now, I’d like you to tell me what was so urgent.”

      “Can’t I have a pleasant conversation with my daughter?”

      Sadly, no. She had shot any chance of that all to hell with her selfishness. “It’s late, and I’m tired.”

      “Okay, okay.” She bubbled with phony laughter. “I’ll get to the point.”

      Thank goodness. Just apologize and get it over with already.

      “Now, Hannah, I don’t want you to get upset…”

      Oh, this was not a good sign. That didn’t sound anything like an apology. “Upset about what?”

      “I called because I have some good news.”

      “Okay.” Spit it out already.

      “Keep December thirtieth open on your calendar.”

      Oh, no.

      “Why?” she forced herself to ask, even though she already suspected what was coming next.

      Dreaded it, in fact.

      “Because I’m getting married!”

      “Married?”

      “Now, honey, I know what you’re thinking—”

      “Daddy has been gone barely a year!”

      “Hannah, please, you’re not being fair.”

      “Fair?”

      “A year is a long time when you’re alone.”

      It was the same song and dance she’d fed Hannah three months after his death, when she’d gone out on her first date. I’m lonely, she’d told Hannah. What she didn’t seem to get is that she had just lost her husband, therefore she was supposed to be lonely. She was supposed to mourn his death, not take the first opportunity to run out and find a replacement.

      “Please don’t be angry, Hannah.”

      “Who is he?”

      “No one you know. He owns a small law firm outside of Seattle. But you’ll love him, honey.”

      No, she wouldn’t. No one could replace her father. Ever. And if her mother honestly believed someone could, she was more oblivious than Hannah could have imagined.

      “I was thinking, I could bring him to your wedding. So you could meet him.”

      She didn’t want to meet him. “For security reasons, that won’t be possible.”

      “Please give him a chance. He’s such a sweet, generous man. And he loves me.”

      Hannah was sure that what he probably loved was the substantial estate her father had left behind. “You say that like Daddy didn’t love you. Or is it that you didn’t love him?”

      “That’s unfair. You know that I loved your father very much.” There was a quiver in her voice that said she was on the verge of tears. No big surprise there. She often used tears to win sympathy. But Hannah wasn’t buying it this time.

      “Then why are you so eager to replace him?”

      “You’ve gone on with your life. I should be allowed to go on with my life, too.”

      It wasn’t the same thing and she knew it. Besides, Hannah wasn’t out trying to find a new father, was she? “And so you have, Mom. You don’t need my permission.”

      “No, but I would like your

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