Fantastical (Fantasyland #3)(80)

My eyes went to Tor and his came to me. Then his face went soft, one of the sides of his mouth curled slightly up and he winked at me. I took in a deep breath and smiled back. He tipped his head to my chair and waited until my bottom was in it before he resumed his seat.

Dad came back with two whiskies and he brought the bottle. Mom refilled her and my wineglasses.

Dad threw back his whisky like he was doing a tequila shot then refilled his glass.

Then his eyes came to me.

Then I watched him take in a breath.

Then he said quietly, “All right, sweetheart. Let’s start at the beginning.”

I pressed my lips together and looked at Tor. He sat back and sipped his whisky, his eyes watching me over the rim of his glass the entire time. I took a sip of wine, looked between my Mom and Dad and then I started at the beginning.

* * *

Dad and Tor were in the dining room, drinking whisky.

Mom and I were in the kitchen, doing the dishes.

I didn’t want Mom to have to do the dishes by herself but I didn’t think it was wise leaving Tor with my Dad.

I’d told our story and my parents believed it. They were shocked by it, but they believed it.

This was good.

I had left out the part of Rosa being kidnapped by the evil Minerva but Tor had gone into some detail of what a sweet-tempered, lovely young woman she was, how she was destined to marry his brother and how much she was loved by her family, those around her and especially her husband-to-be. This made both my parents’ eyes get wet. It also, with the information I’d already communicated about Tor taking care of and protecting me, made them like him. And from the way they were looking at him, I was guessing they liked him a lot.

This I wasn’t sure was good.

“Do you think it’s a good idea that we leave Dad and Tor in the dining room…” my mother’s eyes came to me and I finished, “alone?”

“Why wouldn’t it be a good idea?” Mom asked.

I grabbed a wineglass and started drying it, muttering, “I don’t know.”

Mom hesitated, rinsed a plate and put it in the dish drainer before asking, “Is there something you aren’t telling me?”

I bit my lip. Then I put the glass away. Then I reached for the plate.

Then I lied, “No.”

“Cora,” Mom said softly and I hated it when she said my name like that. Soft with disappointment. I hated to disappoint my Mom. That was the worst.

I dried the plate, put it away, turned my side to the counter and leaned into it.

Then I found my mother’s eyes and I whispered, “I’m in love with him.”

My mother, who never hid her expressions from me or anyone – she was who she was, she thought what she thought – didn’t do it then either. And her face looked at war. She looked hopeful and happy at the same time she looked frightened and concerned.

She pulled the towel from my hands, dried her own, dropped the towel on the counter and got close to me.

“You’re in love with him?”

I nodded.

“If you’re in love with a man who obviously adores you for everything you are, sweetie, why do you look like your dog just got run over?”

“Things are… complicated,” I explained.

“You got that right,” she muttered and I shook my head.

“No, it’s not just the alternate universe thing,” I told her and her brows drew together.

“Things are more complicated than the alternate universe thing?” she enquired and I nodded. “How?”

“Well…” I started, quickly weighed the pros and cons of confiding the fullness of my history with Tor to my mother, then I decided to do it. I had no one else to talk to about it, my Mom was awesome, she was also wise so who else would I choose? “In his world, I was up front with him about who I was, where I came from. He didn’t believe me.”

Her head tipped to the side. “And?”

“For two months he didn’t believe me, Mom. The Cora of his world is different than me. A lot different. She isn’t a very nice person and… he doesn’t like her much.”

Her head straightened, her eyes went alert and she repeated, “And?”

“But he used to love her. But she spurned his love, I get the gist that she wasn’t nice about it and they were prophesied to marry so he was kind of stuck with her. I got there, he didn’t know I was me, I told him I was me and he thought I was her playing a game with him. So he played one with me. He pretended that he was into me. During this time, I fell in love with him. I found out right before we both came to my world that he thought I was a liar and he was playing me.”

“Well I’m guessing he knows you’re not a liar now,” she replied.

“Yep, he knows,” I affirmed the obvious.

“So this is a problem…?” she trailed off and her brows went up.

“Mom!” I hissed, leaning into her. “He thought, for two months, that I was lying to him. He played the devoted, adoring husband and the operative word in that is played. He never believed me but he led me to believe that he did!”

At this, her brows drew together. “Yes, sweetie, I get that. But that was then. This is now.”

I leaned back and whispered, “What?”

She took my hand and held tight. “Cora, that man in there doesn’t think you’re a liar and he’s not playing at the devoted, adoring anything. I don’t know what went on between you two in that other world but whatever it was, he’s seen it for what it was, he’s seen you for who you are and now he’s just plain devoted and adoring.”