Fifteen
Miles was like a dead man walking. A snarly one at that. Everyone, even Daniel, had kept a wide berth since he’d sent Chloe home. Miles had been back in Royal for three weeks now, and they’d been both the worst and the best of his life. Heavy on the worst, he told himself.
Chloe had been gone only three days, and while he told himself, frequently, that was a good thing, he found himself missing her so badly it had become a physical ache. He’d avoided his family over the past weekend and had spent most of his waking hours at the head office of Wingate Enterprises working on running the beta version of the new IT security system his team back in Chicago had designed for the company. So far it had been running perfectly and at this rate, in another few days, he’d be able to head back to Chicago and be satisfied that any surprise glitches could be managed remotely from there.
But that didn’t stop the hurt that reverberated through his every waking moment. He let himself back into the house and headed for the stairs up to his room. It was late and the house was quiet, but he was surprised when he saw his mother come from the main sitting room.
“Miles, we need to talk,” she said firmly.
“Not now, Mom. I’m tired and I need my bed.”
“What you need is a good talking-to, and you’re going to get it whether it’s down here in the sitting room or up in your bedroom if I have to follow you there. And don’t think you can lock the door on me. This is my house, remember? I hold all the keys. So, which is it to be?”
Ava put her hands on her hips and stared at him, awaiting his response. Miles sighed in frustration, knowing she’d darn well follow him upstairs and to his room if he tried to avoid her.
“Fine,” he said with ill humor. “Let’s get it over with.”
“Thank you,” Ava murmured, preceding him into the sitting room.
She settled on one of the leather wingback chairs by a picture window that looked down the hill and toward the lake, although it was pitch-dark out now and even under the scant moonlight there was little to be seen. Ava gestured for him to take the other seat, and he threw himself down and leaned forward, forearms resting on his knees, hands clasped together and head bowed in acquiescence. He was startled when he felt his mother’s hand on his hair. Even more so when her fingers shifted to his chin and forced him to raise his face toward her.
“Miles, I hate seeing you like this.”
“What? Tired? Once I’m satisfied with the new IT system I’ll get plenty of rest again. But it’s vital everything is running properly before I leave because I don’t plan on being back anytime soon.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. I had hoped, in these years since your father’s death, you would come to see this as a place you are always welcome to come home to. That you might even consider moving back to Royal, even if not onto the estate.”
He shook his head, staring at her in disbelief. “No, that’s not going to happen.”
“I know your father was hard on you, but—”
“Hard on me? He took every opportunity to let me know I was a disappointment to him. Hardly the actions of a good man or a good father.”
“Everything he did, he did for us,” Ava said in fierce defense.
“Everything? Really, Mom? Even driving a man to suicide? I don’t know how it made you feel to hear that the other day, but it made me sick to my stomach and ashamed to even bear the name Wingate. I can’t believe that even now, knowing what kind of man he truly was, that you still continue to stand by him or that you continue to mourn him.”
His mother’s face bore a mask of pain for a moment, but she pulled herself up straight and her features cleared.
“One can forgive much if the love is real, Miles. I want you to think about that. I know you sent Chloe away after discovering her background but I’d like you to consider just how different you are from your father right now. Isn’t that exactly what he would have done in the same situation?”
Miles flinched as if she’d slapped him. “Don’t go there, Mom. I’m nothing like him. Nothing!”
“Don’t you realize it, yet? The harder you try not to be like someone, often the more like them you become.” He stared at her in stony silence but allowed her to continue.
“You have all the good of your father. Be careful you don’t develop the bad along with it.” She released a quavering breath, and when she spoke again, her voice rang with emotion.
“Yes, I know he wore two masks. I know he could be ruthless at times, and while your father capitalized on another man’s unhappiness, he did everything he could to ensure that you children always had everything you ever needed whether it was the roof over your heads or the educations you undertook. He used to watch you sleep at night, when you were babies, and he’d share with me his dreams for our future, for the empire he wanted to build so that none of u
s would ever want for anything. He loved you all in his way.”
Miles wanted to refute his mother’s words. To tell her she’d viewed her late husband through rose-colored glasses and that the man had been a monster, not some gallant hero forging a life for his family. But deep down, he knew that, faults and all, that’s exactly what his father had done. It didn’t mean that Miles’s feelings toward him changed one iota, and he could live with that. What he couldn’t live with, however, was his mom thinking he was just like the man who’d fathered him.
Ava continued. “Miles, I need to be honest with you. I wasn’t thrilled when I saw you’d brought someone home with you, especially under the circumstances we’re facing. But I could see that she was special to you and, the longer you two stayed, the more I could see how right Chloe is for you. She brought out a softness I haven’t seen in you since you were a little boy. Softness your father drummed out of you. Yes, he shouldn’t have done that, but you’re an adult now. You make your choices. You decide how you treat people, how you’ll let them treat you.
“I know how hard you’ve worked to build your own empire and you’ve done an outstanding job. But—and you have to admit I’m right here—it’s a lonely life managing everything on your own. Chloe loves you. Even a blind man could see that. Give her another chance. Don’t let the fact she hid her true identity from you banish her from your life forever.”
“I trusted her,” he said bitterly.