The Missing Princess Of Hearts

Chapter 6

Shelby sat in her chair shocked by what her mother had said to her. "You can't be serious. You are going to take some strangers side over my own?"

"That stranger as you like to refer to her as, has opened my eyes to the terrible things that I should have stopped when your brother and father were alive. It cost me a son and a grandson. I'm going to start doing what is right and make amens with Mae. I won't have you stand in the way of that either," Betty Anne said before getting up.

"Where are you going," Shelby asked.

"I had enough. I would like a quiet evening," Betty Anne said before turning to Derek. "Why don't you be a dear and send the good news to Mae.

"Right away mother," Derek said hoping to catch up with Rowena.

"Looking for someone," Rowena asked from behind Derek.

Derek turned around and spotted Rowena standing there. "You managed to save my sister-in-law from losing the building that is rightfully hers. I can't thank you enough for that."

"No need to thank me for it. Your sister-in-law makes me feel like I should belong somewhere. Anyway, I have something that I need to take care of before it's too late. You have a goodnight," Rowena said before walking away from Derek.

Derek stood there shaking his head at the mysterious Rowena as she walked away from him, leaving him to his thoughts. That woman is something else. I sure do hope that I get an opportunity to get to know her better. I haven't met a woman like her, and I quite like the fire she has inside of her, Derek thought to himself before shaking his head free of the thoughts as he made his way to his car. Derek drove all the way to the apartment building, getting out and making his way inside where he spotted his shocked sister-in-law standing behind the counter.

"Derek, what brings you all the way to my building at this time of night? Do you come bearing bad news for me," Mae asked growing worried that Derek had something terrible to tell her.

"Before you ramble on anymore Mae, save your breath. I only come bearing good news to tell you," Derek said.

"What is it," Mae asked kind of skeptical of what her brother-in-law had to tell her.

"The apartment is now yours. My mother decided that it belongs to you, as well as put Shelby in her place," Derek explained.

"She did? What caused her to have such a change of heart, if you don't mind me asking," Mae asked.

"My mother realizes what my father had done to you and my brother was wrong. She regrets not doing something sooner. If it's not too late my mother would like to make amends with you, and start coming around more to see her grandson and form a bond with him. It's strictly up to you and you can say no to it, but I'm only telling you what my mother wishes for," Derek said.

"What about Bryce? Doesn't your mother still have contact with your sister Bryce," Mae asked.

"As of right now, Bryce is only speaking to me. She's unaware of what happened this evening. But it won't be long before she finds out about how I managed to mess up the dinner that Shelby had planned," Derek explained.

"How on earth did you manage to do that? Your brother always told me that Shelby planned everything down to every last little detail. August always told me that Shelby goes as far as to plan the dates that the two of you would bring to these little gatherings of hers," Mae said.

"Don't remind me," Derek said while playfully rolling his eyes at his sister-in-law. "But I may or may not have told my 'date' the wrong day and time of this little event on purpose. Besides that, I was lucky enough to find a random woman on the street as I was making my way inside."

"You took a hooker to Shelby's fancy little dinner," Mae asked.

"Oh no. This lovely young woman was not a street walker. I could tell by the way she was dressed. She had way too many clothes on to be considered a street walker. She said her name is Rowena. She also mentioned that she was there on your behalf. I wasn't aware that you knew someone who had such a fiery temper," Derek stated.

"I didn't think you wanted to speak to me. When your father was alive, he made it clear that none of your family wanted anything to do with my son and I. He also said that he was disappointed in your brother Augustus for marrying me. I wasn't entirely sure if you were on board with not talking to me as well," Mae explained. "As for me not telling you anything about me having someone who has a fiery temper, I didn't know Rowena for long. She happened to walk in needing a place to stay. I guess you can say that Rowena was a huge blessing in disguise; coming into my life and helping me out in so many ways that I can't even begin to repay her for. Shoot I don't know what would happen if I didn't have Rowena go and defend me against your sister Shelby," Mae said unaware that Rowena had arrived back from her walk around to hunt for a job.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that. I will be here for quite some time. I have grown to like this place. I look forward to exploring more of the town as I wander around," Rowena said before turning her attention to Derek. "I thought we were done with each other."

"I actually stopped by to talk to my loving sister-in-law. I couldn't wait to drop by and tell her about everything that took place in the restaurant. Then my darling sister-in-law Mae was so kind to surprise me by telling me that you are a tenant of hers. You kind of failed to mention that you were the one who paid a lot of money in advance to help buy Mae some time from losing the apartment to my sister, Shelby. Why didn't you mention that after we left the restaurant," Derek asked.

"Because what I choose to do with my hard-earned money is nobody else's business but my own. I don't want you to get the impression that I'm a weak woman, who needs someone around to defend her, keep her safe or bail her out of tight situations. For a long time, I had to care for myself. I always had people come and go from my life, which hurt me a lot. But I took that pain and turned it into the most valuable lesson that I carry around with me to this very day," Rowena snapped at Derek before turning her attention to Mae. "I'm heading out to clear my head a bit. I will be back most likely after your guest of honor leaves," Rowena then turned and left before Derek could say anything else to her.

Derek turned to Mae with a shocked look on his face. "What the hell did I do that made her so damn offended?"

My guess would be that it has something to do with the fact that you wanted to go digging around her personal life, thinking that she wouldn't find out about it. Derek, if you want to know about Rowena, I suggest that you take her out on a date and get to know her a little better," Mae suggested before giving him a slight glare. "I also ask that you don't do anything dumb to chase this tenant away. She's one of my best tenants that I have. I seriously can't afford to lose her, not when things are starting to look up for Andrew and I. I can't go back to square one again, struggling to pay everything off and keep a roof over Andrew's head."

"Mae, Andy is almost an adult. He's going to want to go and venture out into the world on his own and make something of himself. He's also going to want to become more independent. The real reason you worry about losing this place is because you don't want to lose the last thing that connects you to my brother; which I completely understand. I'm not going to allow anyone to take this building away from you. But you can't just go and close yourself off from the rest of the world. Don't you miss having a man in your life, to help you with the tasks that are too much for you to handle on your own," Derek asked.

"I have my son Andrew to help me with all of that. And that is all I really need. Besides, you were chasing after Rowena. I don't want to be used to make her jealous, just so you can gain some sort of attention from her. If you want Rowena to fall in love with you, you are going to have to come up with a way to gain her affection. Don't do anything stupid or over the top either, because you might upset her and push her away," Mae warned.

"What do you suggest I do then," Derek asked.

"Do something romantic that she likes. As I said, take her on a first date, and get to know her a bit. Then plan something special for your second date, knowing what she likes and doesn't like," Mae said.