Page 67 of The Dragon's Captured Heart
“Why don’t you feel bad for kicking her out?”
“She told me to get over the fact that Noa’s dead.”
I tried to leave the rest off.
My mother didn’t fall for it. “And?”
“She told me to ‘accept that she wasn’t Noa, no matter how much I wished she was.’ That was when I told her to get out.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Three days,” I said.
Cleye had come by later in the day to tell me he’d come across Madison and had put her up in quarters in the guest section of the palace. Said I might want to give her some space before approaching and trying to patch it up. That Madison was rather upset.
So, that was what I’d done. I’d left her alone.
“You’re an idiot, my son.”
I choked on some salami. “What?!”
“You heard me. How can you let this fester for three days without going to find her? This woman is screaming for you to chase after her. To fix things. Yet you waited three days, and you come here first?”
“Being berated by you wasn’t why I came here.”
“Maybe not. But if it’s going to wake you up to the fact you care for this woman, probably even love her, then I’ll berate you all day long,” she said, crossing her arms.
The sandwich nearly flew from my mouth, and I dropped the uneaten half on the table while I stared at her in shock. “What did you just say?”
“You heard me. Just like I can hear you. I can hear it in your voice, Callum.”
“But what about Noa?”
“My son.” She steeled herself. “Noa isdead. You cannot let that grief consume you any longer. You have to accept it and allow yourself to move on. She would have never wanted you to stay like this.”
I rose to my feet. “You haven’t gone through this. How could you know?”
She pointed at the chair. “Sit. Down.”
I didn’t. I glared at her, but she glared right back, knowing full well I would cave before she did.
“Fine,” I said, sitting down.
“Now, listen to me, Callum. I’m not telling you to forget Noa. Nobody is. But you have to look at what’s in front of you and ask yourself a question. A very big, very important question.”
“What’s that?”
“Are you willing to give up another chance at love because of something that already happened and can’t be changed? Or are you going to stand up tall, face the uncomfortableness of life head-on, andfightfor what you want?”
I licked my lips nervously. In different words, I’d asked myself the same question. There was just one problem with answering it.
“What if I don’t know how?” I whispered, voicing my biggest worry, my biggest fear.
If I couldn’t tell my mom, whocouldI tell?
“Then you figure it out,” she said, squeezing my hand. “You figure it out, my boy. One step at a time. You take what comes. And youfigure it out. It’s new. It’s scary. I get it. But are you going to let that fear control you? Or are you going to push through and see what’s on the other side?”
I grabbed the sandwich and chewed, trying to slow my breathing. When I was done, I wiped my mouth and took a very deep breath.
