“I agree,” said Ro.
“But when you really boil it down, these letters are private. I probably wouldn’t be thrilled if my dad’s letters to my mom got put on public display. I want to respect Max and Beatrice, you know?”
Ro nodded at this. “I understand completely.”
“Especially since . . .” Mel shrugged, embarrassed. “Since they didn’t exactly get a happy ending.”
Ro took Mel’s hand and gave it a little squeeze. “I do think they both found happiness again. And they laid the groundwork for a lot of other people to find happiness. Including us.”
Mel grunted in partial agreement. “I guess I wouldn’t exist at all if Max hadn’t married Lady Anne. So I should probably be thankful in a way.”
“I know I am,” said Jasper. Mel turned to see him hovering in the doorway. “I wouldn’t blame you for doubting that, Mel,” he said. “But do you have a minute to talk?”
Mel took a deep breath. “Sure.”
Ro nodded approvingly. “I’ll give you two some space.”
12
Jasper sat down heavily at Ro’s desk. “I’ve been a bit useless, haven’t I?”
“Yeah, you have,” said Mel matter-of-factly. “I know your parents think I’m just trying to get a slice of your fame and money or whatever. I’m not sure if you believe that too, or if you just decided that I’m not worth your time.”
“I don’t believe that,” Jasper said. “But I’m ashamed to say that when I told them you’d be visiting, their reaction left me fairly shaken. I worried that I was making a mistake in bringing you here. Not because I thought you were some sort of gold digger. But because I didn’t have anything of real value to offer you.”
Mel frowned. “Meaning . . . ?”
Jasper spread his hands in a helpless gesture. “The Valmonts aren’t a family. They’re a business. People working together for their own benefit. Preserving their image at all costs. By the time you and I talked for the first time, I’d convinced myself that once you got to know us, you’d want nothing to do with us.”
“But you invited me to Evonia anyway. And then acted super distant and weird.”
“I know this isn’t an excuse, but I’ve been terribly nervous that I would say or do something that would make you regret coming. I was afraid if I said or did anything wrong or showed you too much of the dark side of this family, you’d want to leave. And I didn’t want you to leave.”
Mel remained silent. She didn’t know what to say to that.
“I know we can’t erase the past,” Jasper went on. “But we don’t have to be defined by it either. I want to do better. I want to be the kind of father who can make you proud. If you’ll let me try.”
Mel sat with that for a minute. It wasn’t a fairy tale happy ending—but it was a start. She nodded. “Okay, Dad.”
Jasper smiled and took a couple of candies out of his pocket. “Hungry?’
“Yeah, I never got breakfast!”
He passed her an éclat. She unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth, savoring the bittersweetness that spread through every part of her.
Vanessa Acton is a writer and editor based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She enjoys stalking dead people (also known as historical research), drinking too much tea, and taking long walks during her home state’s annual three-week thaw.
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