Conall stiffened, looking at Gazelle, who was gazing longingly at the box of gleaming ornaments. She looked reluctantly across him at Aideen and chewed on her lower lip.
“Oh, you won't mind if we leave you to this, will you Gizelle, my dear?” Aideen said sweetly. Conall wanted to step between them; he knew this voice of his mother’s and it never meant that good things were happening.
But Gizelle took it at face value and smiled like the moon. “Of course not,” she said, and she was off to the box of temptation like a shot.
Aideen tucked her hand into Conall’s elbow and led him firmly away.
They could not speak on the walk back to Conall’s cottage; between the darkness and the awkwardness of having to turn to each other to make lipreading or sign language work, it was easiest to walk in silence.
But, as Conall suspected, once they arrived at the cottage, Aideen did not simply retire, but waved Conall to a seat on the couch as she took the recliner like it was her throne. Conall noted that the potted plant that Scarlet had scowled at was blooming riotously. Graham must have come and worked his gardening magic on it. The coffee table had been replaced, and the rustic wooden piece in its place looked sturdy and had rounded corners.
“Gizelle is certainly... interesting,” she said.
“She’s my mate,” Conall told her firmly, wondering if his mother was going to try to insist that he date someone more suitable to their elite social class or some other nonsense.
“Are you sure?” Aideen asked smoothly. “She said herself that she can hypnotize people.”
“She has not hypnotized me,” Conall growled. “I mean she did once, but I’m not hypnotized now.”
“How would you know?” Aideen asked innocently. “Isn’t being convinced of something false what hypnotism is?”
Conall stood up, fury rising in his chest. “She is my mate,” he insisted. “She is my everything. You may make peace with that, or you may leave.”
Aideen stood as well, hands raised in the sign for peace. “Darling! There’s no reason to get upset! I’m your mother, I just want to make sure that you are certain about this.” She sat again, gesturing that Conall do the same, and after a reluctant moment, Conall did.
“Is she autistic?” Aideen asked, after a moment.
“Is she what?” Conall wasn’t sure he had recognized the word correctly.
“Autistic,” Aideen repeated. “Has she been diagnosed with anything? She’s certainly... not normal. And the trembling, is it medical? I know some very good shifter therapists at a facility in Boston who would be able to help her work through her trauma. Certainly a little... behavior modification would do her a world of good.”
“Behavior modification?” Conall asked in horror, trying to imagine Gizelle being subjected to batteries of tests and training.
“Well, you have to admit that she would get along much better in Boston if she kept her clothing on more reliably,” Aideen said off-handedly.
“I am not bringing her to Boston,” Conall said flatly. “She doesn’t need drugs or modification of any kind. If she wants therapy, it will be on her terms, when she’s ready. Right now, she needs love and safety, and she has that here.”
“You don’t have to be so dramatic!” Aideen protested. “You make it sound like I’m suggesting you put her in a mental institution! She could be perfectly happy at the house and might even be able to go out in public with a little work. You don’t have to throw away a lifetime of accomplishment to keep her if that’s what you’ve got your heart set on. I’m not a monster, Conall. I just want what’s best for you.”
“I’m not bringing her back to Boston,” Conall repeated firmly. “She would be miserable and I would never forgive myself.”
Aideen’s face went through a range of emotions and settled on distant resignation. “Very well,” she said. “No one can say I didn’t raise a son with conviction.” She added, “I won’t say I’m not a little disappointed, but you clearly have feelings for her, and... she’s a very sweet young woman who is very attached to you. Your happiness is more important to me than your business success.”
Conall’s smile in return was wry; he knew how important his business success was to her. “Thank you,” he said simply.
“I hope you will, at least come visit sometimes?” Conall could imagine the artistically plaintive note in her voice.
“I will need to make several trips to sort everything out,” Conall assured her. “And you are always welcome to visit us here.”
“It is a lovely place,” Aideen agreed with a sigh as she stood and looked around critically. “A little small and lacking in culture, but I suppose that it would make an acceptable get-away periodically.”
That was his mother. Conall had to chuckle as he also stood.
“Isn’t it precious to hear you laughing again,” Aideen said wonderingly. Her features were surprisingly soft. “Come, give your mother a hug and I will go to bed. It’s been a very long and unexpected day.”
Conall enfolded her in a heartfelt hug, feeling the last of his dread melt away. This was going to be fine. His mother could see what a special and amazing person Gizelle was, and would accept that their life was on this island... if not forever, for a very long time.
Chapter 49