This chapter is set between chapters 60 & 61 of Read All About It.

"Your Highness, your daughter's plane landed safely eighteen minutes ago."

Mary slipped a battered looking leather bookmark in between the pages she had open before she closed the romance novel she was reading and set it down on the arm of her sofa. A quick look at the time told her that it was almost ten pm, and while her daughter was normally a night owl, she didn't want to intrude after such a long flight.

"Thank you, Jacobs. I'll visit her tomorrow. It's late, you should get home to your wife."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Jacobs offered her a stiff bow before turning to leave the Duchess's home, closing the door softly behind himself.

Mary sat for a moment longer before she reached for the glass of wine to her left and stood from her seat. It had always felt strange to her that she lived in one of the busiest cities in the world, and yet – her home was always so silent.

David and Emma had added such vibrancy and energy to every place they'd ever resided. Both had shared a passion for music, and Mary could remember a time where there was always some kind of tune drifting down the hallway. But when David had passed away her home had fallen silent. Emma had stayed away from music as it reminded her too much of what she had lost. And Mary was too busy trying to hold herself together to notice.

So when the music had started again, it had only served to amplify the silence she'd been existing in since she'd said goodbye to her husband.

While Emma hadn't been entirely forthcoming about the new man in her life, Mary wasn't as oblivious as her daughter seemed to think she was. She'd seen the reports and articles written about their romance, just as she'd seen the same pictures that had left the internet squealing with delight.

Killian Jones was the person bringing music back to her daughter's life.

It might have taken almost twenty years, but Emma was finally moving on.

Mary knew that she'd never be able to move on with her life in the same way. But that evening, for the first time since her husband's passing, she found herself switching on the radio as she poured herself another glass of wine, before settling back down to finish her novel.

The next morning, Mary woke with a spring in her step. It had been a while since she had enjoyed some quality time with her daughter, so she was determined to rectify that as soon as possible. She knew that Emma was probably missing her boyfriend, now that she was on the other side of the world once more. And Mary hoped that a little mother and daughter time would help to lift her spirits.

But when she knocked on the front door to Emma's apartment there was no answer, and Mary started to panic a little. Her daughter had a tendency to push everyone she loved away when she was upset, and Mary didn't want her to go through anything else alone. Emma had already been through enough.

So she let herself into the apartment.

A quick scan of the main floor showed no signs of life, so Mary quietly made her way up the stairs.

Maybe Emma was just jetlagged and sleeping it off?

In which case, she would make her daughter some quick meals to keep her going for the rest of the week, and then leave. As eager as she was to see Emma again, the last thing Mary wanted to do was invade her daughter's privacy while she was sleeping. However, when she pushed open Emma's bedroom door, the sight that met her eyes was not the one she had expected to see.

Emma's giggles cut off abruptly as she whipped her head around to see who had entered the room. When her eyes landed on her mother's form they widened in horror, before she yelled, "Mum! Have you never heard of knocking?"

Mary was pretty sure her face looked just as pale and traumatised as her daughter's did at that moment. While the man that had been holding himself above her had covered most of Emma's nudity, the same couldn't be said for himself. And she was horrified to realise that her first impression of Killian Jones would forever be of his naked arse.

The man in question seemed thoroughly humiliated by the entire experience, and Mary felt awful for him as she watched the guy bury his head in Emma's pillows to avoid her gaze.

It took her a moment to find her voice, and even longer to make her feet work, but when she did she was able to squeeze out a quick apology to them both. "You're right. I'm so sorry. Pretend I was never here. I'm gonna… go and do… stuff. Far away. It's nice to meet you, Killian," she called, backing out of the room and hurrying down the stairs.

Stupid, stupid, stupid her mind chanted, as she headed down each step and further away from the bedroom. Who the hell told their daughter's boyfriend that it had been nice to meet him when all she'd seen of him so far was his bare backside?

When she finally made it to the kitchen she headed straight for the fridge to grab a cold bottle of water. Mary hadn't realised that her hands were shaking until that moment, but she wasn't sure she'd ever been so embarrassed in her entire life.

Unsure of what to do to make things right, she did what she always did when she needed advice. Mary fished out her phone to call her best friend, as she headed for the front door.

"Ruby, I think I just did something terrible," she said, as soon as the line connected.

"Oh, hey Mary. I'm good, thanks for asking. How are you?"

Mary sighed as she pulled the door to her daughter's home closed behind herself and then sagged against the wall to the left of it. "Ruby, I um… I think I just walked in on my daughter having sex with her boyfriend."

"Are you serious?" Ruby's tone had lost the playful banter it had originally carried and switched instead to incredulous disbelief so quickly, that Mary would have laughed if she thought the situation was funny. As it was, she was a little worried that she might have just scared poor Killian off for good.

"Unfortunately so. Oh God, what if I've just ruined this relationship for Emma? She really likes this guy."

"If the guy likes her as much as the internet seems to think he does, then you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Sure, things will be a little awkward to begin with, but eventually, you'll both be able to laugh about the whole situation. And if he can't get past this, then take comfort in the fact that he's not the right man for your daughter," Ruby offered.

"But it would kill Emma," Mary reasoned. While her daughter didn't often like to discuss her dating life and hadn't mentioned much about the new man she was seeing, Mary hadn't seen her this happy in years. The last thing she wanted was to be the person responsible for taking that from Emma.

"Maybe. But Emma would eventually realise the same thing," Ruby reasoned. "If this guy is as wonderful as everyone says he is, I don't think you have to worry about him being scared off right now, Mary. If I were you, I'd give them a couple of hours to calm down and process the incident, and then go back over and see your daughter. Treat them both like you would if it were the first time you'd met Killian."

"Do you um… do you think you'd maybe wanna join us for that?"

Mary was fully expecting her best friend to refuse the offer. Who in their right mind would want to put themselves into such an uncomfortable situation? But Ruby had never been like all of the other people in Mary's life. So when she spoke up, her answer wasn't exactly shocking.

"I'd love to. As long as you're not cooking."

"Hey! My cooking's not that bad," she protested, as she pushed herself away from the wall to start the short walk back to her own apartment. Mary would send her daughter a message about dinner when she got home. But for now, she'd take comfort from being able to talk freely to one of the people she loved most in the world. Because it had been a few weeks since Mary had last seen Ruby, and as far as she was concerned, that was a few weeks too long.

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