Isabella called for a member of the house staff to retrieve the packages Sawyer left behind, set the kitten on her lap, and Googled what the hell to do with a baby cat.
An hour later she was curled up on the sofa, the kitten purring and sleeping on her chest. Isabella took the envelope she’d set on the coffee table and finally opened it. To her dismay, it was a letter from Amelie. She really wanted to ball it up and toss it in the trash, but in keeping with her attempt to remain above the fray, which as yet had been less than successful, she decided to have a look. She held the letter up and stroked the kitten as she read:
Isabella,
I haven’t had a chance to formally apologize for what a complete bitch I was to you during boarding school. Maybe I’ll never get a chance to say this right to your face, but I owe you, at least, the courtesy of an explanation, which I asked Sawyer to pass on to you if given the chance. Please understand that all of the things I said about and did to you, really had nothing to do with you. I was a very unhappy girl back then. My home life was awful. My mother was gravely ill, and my father blamed us kids for her terrible state. You can imagine what that does to the psyche of a kid. And then to be sent to boarding school, not knowing if my mother would be alive the next time I returned home? Well, it was a bad situation and with it, I chose to behave badly. The thing is, I didn’t even know you enough to have an opinion about you one way or another. I just wanted to lash out, and you were an easy target.
I don’t expect you to forgive me my cruelty but hope that it can set your heart to rest as I know it had such a terrible impact on you. I hope you can find it in your heart to understand that the actions of a child are no reflection on the intentions of the adult. I’d like very much if one day perhaps we could even become friends. And whatever you do, please do not blame Sawyer, as he’s been nothing but a gentleman toward me and in his actions toward you.
Warmly,
Amelie
Well, huh. What was she to do with this information? How do you go from hating someone deep in your bones to feeling as if you should have at the very least some modicum of empathy for them?
And then she noticed a photograph must have fallen to the floor when she opened the envelope. She picked it up and stared at what was the most beautiful, elaborate, heartfelt cake she could have ever imagined. It was a breathtaking golden carriage, surrounded by a forest full of edible storybook princesses, including Cinderella with her missing glass slipper, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and even the princess from Aladdin, all in edible splendor. All made with Isabella in mind. So this was the cake she hadn’t seen for her birthday...
She picked up her tiny kitten and placed her in the cat bed Sawyer had brought for her, then went where she always used to go when she needed good advice.
~*~
“So you remember when you sent me to that boarding school where the kids were so cruel? And that horrid girl, Amelie? And then that Sawyer who came back?” Isabella’s eyes welled up as she spoke. She wished she had the kitten with her for comfort.
“Of course, dear.” Ariana nodded. “And he’s the chef with the whole cake disaster.”
Isabella nodded, starting to sob. “It’s all glopped together like a huge snowball that starts out at the top of the mountain as snow but then gets piled high with rocks and twigs and all sorts of unwanted mess as it barrels downhill. Sawyer and Amelie and I don’t know who I’m supposed to like and not like and who I should have feelings for or if I should even have feelings for them. Him. Ohhh—”
“Oh, poor dear,” her mother said, pulling her daughter into her arms. “It’s hard with all of these old feelings being resurrected, isn’t it?”
Bella nodded, sniffling.
“And here you thought they were such bad people but now you find out that they aren’t at all after you’d built them up as monsters in your head.”
“Yeah.” She grabbed a tissue and blew her nose.
“And you think it’s somehow betraying your feelings by changing how you feel? Is that it?”
Isabella shrugged. “I don’t know, Mum. I just don’t know.”
“So is this more about Sawyer or about Amelie?”
Isabella frowned. “Well, the thing is, I’ve tried really hard to keep Sawyer at bay. He’s totally wrong for me and he’d be a constant reminder of all those things.”
“But would he?” her mother asked. “Seems to be he’s done plenty to right his wrongs with you. So at what point does the balance shift? Do you stay mad forever at something that happened a lifetime ago, even if now this person has shown repeatedly to have your best interests at heart?”
“But maybe he’s really just a jerk.” Isabella was reaching for straws and she knew it.
“Well, if by trying hard to apologize and make up for past wrongs is being a jerk, then perhaps it’s time for you to reevaluate your vocabulary a bit. Because from what I’ve seen and heard, it sounds to me like if anything, you’ve wronged him by causing him to lose business after your tirade, but he’s only tried to be upstanding and honest with you.”
Isabella buried her face in her mother’s neck and sobbed.
“You know it’s not too late to fix things, darling.”
Bella nodded.
“Is it that you don’t know how to begin?”
Bella nodded again, her sobs softening.
“I don’t like to meddle in my children’s affairs,” she said, “but perhaps a tiny bit of intervention might be in order. Though what you do with it will be up to you. Understand?”
Bella sighed. She couldn’t imagine what her mother could do to help make things right, but she just felt stymied about how to go about it on her own. The whole thing was exhausting, so for now, she’d just leave it to fate.