Chapter 88


    #Chapter 88 – Meeting the Family


    When we arrive over an hourter, the boys are thrilled, but everyone else is, I think, feeling the strain.


    The boys spent the rest of the ride continuing to needle Amelia about little things, despite Victor and my


    equal attempts at intervention.


    I may not like the girl, but it’s her wedding – she doesn’t deserve to be tortured just because the boys


    are bitter that their father has chosen her over me.


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    I bite my tongue at this thought, unwilling to admit…well. That’s all beside the point.


    As I climb out of the van I can feel a little mist in the air. Curious, I walk a few steps around the van


    towards a great rushing sound and gasp, taking in the sight of the gigantic waterfall that plunges from a


    cliff face several stories above us. It’s absolutely breathtaking.


    “Whoaaa!” Ian shouts, running over towards the rail that separates the wedding facility from the


    plunging cataract. “That’s incredible!”


    “It’s so cool!” Alvin shouts, following him. “Mom! Can I go over it in a barrel!?”


    “What!?” I shout, horrified at the idea. I stride over to them, grabbing both their hands.


    “It’s safe!” Alvin whines.


    “We watched a documentary about Niagara Falls!” Ian continues the protest.


    “None of that,” I say, stern, eager to knock this idea out of their heads. “Absolutely no more


    conversation on that point. Waterfalls are for looking, not for touching.”


    I haul them back to a smirking Victor, who stands by the van. “To be fair,” he says, “at their age I would


    have had the same impulse.”


    “Encourage them any more,” I mutter, “and I’ll shove you into the barrel myself.”


    Heughs and then turns away to help Amelia begin to unload the bags. Spotting our own luggage by


    the side of the van, I bring the boys over to grab it. As we turn back towards the venue, we see a man


    dressed in ck tails walking over to us.


    “Madame Ortega, I presume?” He asks.


    I nod, smiling. Madamoiselle, I say in my head, correcting him, but I keep my mouth shut.


    “If you would, madame,” he says, bowing again and gesturing towards the face of the venue. “We have


    a suite prepared for you and your sons.” I pop up the handle of my suitcase and nod to him again,


    starting to follow him in to the splendid manor before us.


    It’s a vast estate, abutting the waterfall. The main drive circles at the foot of the falls but the building


    itself climbs several stories into the air, a beautiful hodgepodge of terraces and balconies from


    individual rooms and suites. The ballroom, I know, from Amelia telling us perhaps a hundred times, is


    on the roof of the building, a gorgeous space with three-hundred-and-sixty degree views of the falls and


    the surroundingnds.


    Despite myself, I can’t wait to see it. Amelia’s excellent taste has again won out. It’s stunning here.


    “Bye, dad!” Ian calls behind him, waving to Victor, who waves back.


    “We’re going with this guy!” Alvin shouts as well, pointing to the butler. I peek over my shoulder and see


    that Victor isughing again, clearly happy. I smile as well, unable to help it.


    The butler leads us into the lobby and then immediately to a stand of elevators which stretch to the left


    and the right of the front desk. We take the leftmost elevator, all shiny brass and ivory buttons. The


    butler presses 12 – the top floor – and we zip upwards, my ears popping as we go.


    When we exit the elevator, there are only a few rooms ahead of us. Seeing my confusion, the butler


    exins, “the family suites, madame.” He opens the leftmost door and bows slightly as we enter before


    him. “Mademoiselle Jones had you listed for a more junior suite, in the floors below, but when I saw the


    important role that the boys had in the wedding, I realized her mistake. And corrected it for her.”


    As I walk into the room I meet the butler’s eye and he gives me a small smirk. Iugh a little, pleased,


    and remind myself to ask Victor to give him a hefty tip.


    “Wow!” Ian shouts. I turn to see him jump onto the top of the couch, his hands and face pressed


    against the windows behind it which – oh, wow – look directly into the cascading water. Alvin eagerly


    follows his brother.


    “Ian!” I call, hurrying over to him. “Don’t touch the windows – you’re going to get them all smudged –“


    “Let him, Madame,” the butler calls after me. “If I may, the falls deserve to be admired, and we have


    staff who are used to cleaning much worse than a few smudges from the window.”


    I smile my gratitude at him, but pull the boys down nheless. I think I’m going to like this butler.


    “If there’s anything else, madame?…” the butler asks, bowing again.


    “No, thank you,” I say, crossing the room again the collect our luggage. He nods his head and starts for


    the door, but I stop him with a hand on his arm. “Really,” I say, holding his eyes. “Thank you, very


    much.”


    He gives me a warm smile and nods. “Of course. Anything for ady, such as yourself.”


    With that, he goes, and I heave a deep sigh, steeling myself for what is surely going to be a


    complicated weekend. I turn to look again at the beautiful falls, letting them soothe me.


    “Well well,” a voice says, resonant, behind me. Surprised, I spin to see a woman standing in my


    doorway – she must have caught it when the butler left, before it closed. She’s a tall woman, about


    twenty years older than me, with light brown hair coiled into a neat chignon at the back of her neck.


    She wears a stunning blue dress. It’s refined, but doesn’t shy from taking the sensuous curves of her


    body into consideration.


    “You must be Evelyn,” she says, the corner of her mouth lifting into a wry smile.


    “Yes,” I say hesitating. “I’m sorry, I don’t know –“


    “And these,” she says, breezing past me and into my suite. “Must be my grandchildren.” She kneels on


    the ground and opens her arms to my two boys. “Come and see me,” she calls, her voice friendly but


    not withoutmand.


    My face pales. I’ve been long dreading meeting Victor’s family, though I knew it would be inevitable. I


    just never imagined I’d have to do it without him.


    The boys rush over to her. “Are you our other grandmama?” Ian says, eagerly looking over her face.


    “We got a new one a little bit ago!” Alvin chimes in, following close on his brother’s heels. “She’s got


    grey hair, though. Yours is better.”


    The womanughs, a low and throaty sound. “Well, I am pleased to hear that I am better. But you must


    call me Mimmi, not Grandmama. That is much more my style.”


    The boys nod eagerly, agreeing to the n. “Now let me take a look at you,” she says, taking each of


    their chins in her hands and turning their faces to observe them better.


    I walk slowly over to them, not wishing to interrupt, but wanting to be on hand if they need me. The


    boys have a right to a rtionship with their grandmother, I know, but this woman is a stranger to me. I


    bite my lip, hoping that she will be kind.


    “It’s remarkable,” she says, ncing up at me, “how much they resemble their father at this age.”


    “Really?” I say, letting out a worried breath and smiling. “I always wondered – they look nothing like me


    when I was young,” I say with a littleugh, “so I imagine they must be all Victor.”


    She slowly raises to her feet, observing me now. I am anxious again, under her gaze. Deep down, I


    know it is ridiculous – after all, I’m not about to be her daughter-inw. Still, a strange part of me really


    does want her to like me.


    “They resemble you as well,” she says, considering my face and form. “In the eyes, certainly – Victor’s


    are green. But in a certain…character of spirit as well.” A slow, considered smile blooms on her face. “A


    very good thing, to be sure.”


    I blush slightly, not sure, but thinking she has perhaps just given me apliment.


    Victor’s mother turns back to her grandchildren, leaning down so that her face is closer to their height.


    “Soon we will have a big dinner,” she says, smiling at them. “I hope that you will sit by me so that I may


    get to know you better. Would you consider it?”


    “Yes!” both boys say with enthusiasm, and I can tell already that she has won them over. Frankly, she’s


    charmed me a bit as well.


    “Good,” she says, straightening and heading for the door. She rests her hand on the doorknob and then


    turns to me, hesitating. “Evelyn,” she says.


    I blink, giving her my full attention.


    “This will…not be easy for you,” she says. I blink, surprised. “My family is biased against you,” she


    exins, “and they will push you, to see what you’re made of. But you must stand up under the


    pressure. Do you understand me?”


    Slowly, I nod, just once. She gives me a slow smile.


    “Good,” she says, pulling the door open. “Don’t let these wolves tear you to shreds.”


    With that, she sails out.