She nodded. ‘Did you always have to be responsible for your brother? Take the blame for his mistakes? Let him have his own way all the time?’
Griff turned pale, but said nothing.
‘Becca’s very . . . emotional. Sometimes she would even hold her breath until she fleetingly passed out to get what she wanted. Dad, in particular, never failed to fall for it when she turned on the tears. I always had to be the one to give in.’
‘Resentment eats away at you, doesn’t it? One day I’ll tell you more about my brother, but right now we’re tryin’ to sort you out.’ His forced attempt at a smile failed.
‘I don’t know how to put things right with Becca. Do you think it’s too late?’
‘No, it’s never that. At least, I hope not.’
She suspected he wasn’t simply referring to her problems. ‘Griff, I hate saying this, but—’
‘Your priority right now needs to be Becca and her family. I get that.’ He gave a wry smile. ‘I’m not a saint, so I’m not gonna pretend it’s all good, but I’ve faith in you . . . and us.’ His voice turned to a raspy whisper. ‘I’ve got something for you.’ He sprang up from the table, opened a drawer by the sink and pulled out a small unevenly shaped package, wrapped in jade silk and loosely tied with a thin gold bow. ‘Your reward for coming tonight.’
Lyndsey took it from him with some trepidation. Cautiously she opened it to reveal the beautiful mosaic paperweight she’d admired the other day. ‘I can’t take this. It wouldn’t be—’
‘Right? Yeah, it absolutely would.’ Griff clasped his hands around hers. ‘Look at it as a promise. When you feel the timing’s right for us to pick things up again, you let me know, okay? Hopefully it’ll be sooner rather than later, but you have to do whatever it takes.’
She managed a brief nod. Talking would’ve been impossible. His mouth lowered to hers and she savored the warmth of his firm lips, soaking up every last tempting stroke of his tongue before he pulled away.
‘Don’t walk me home. Please,’ Lyndsey begged, swiveling away from him and striding away before she lost the courage to do the right thing.
Chapter Eleven
‘So, what are we purging today, Attila?’ Becca’s smile took the edge off her sly dig.
Lyndsey didn’t mind. It’d been a long, challenging week, but they were definitely in a better place now. The first thing she’d done when she returned from Griff’s that night was apologize to Becca. It shocked her, in a good way, when Becca did the same in return. Her sister’s admission that she learned early on how to play their parents to her full advantage somehow balanced the scales.
‘How about the dining room?’ They were systematically tackling one room at a time. On more than one occasion, her sister’s indecisiveness over what to keep and what to get rid of had tried Lyndsey’s patience to the utmost, but she’d managed to bite her tongue — so far. She had even talked Becca into agreeing that after each area was weeded out, Lyndsey could give it a thorough clean.
‘It’s bad,’ Becca said with a sigh.
Tell me something I don’t know.She’d poked her head in around the door one day and shut it again just as fast.
‘Most of the stuff in there belongs to Deke. I daren’t throw anything out.’
‘Then we’ll box it up and take it to his studio. He can sort it when he gets home,’ Lyndsey said decisively.
‘I suppose that’ll be all right.’ Becca didn’t sound convinced.
‘Right, come on then. Grab the rubbish bags from the kitchen and meet me in there.’ She touched her sister’s arm. ‘Think of how much better your bedroom, the kitchen and the nursery look already.’
‘Yeah, they really do.’ Becca looked shamefaced. ‘I didn’t realize how bad they were until they weren’t, if that makes sense?’
It was the highlight of Lyndsey’s week yesterday when Becca gave her an impulsive hug after they’d finished sorting out the nursery. They had boxed up Nora’s outgrown clothes for Becca to take to the new parents’ group she’d started to attend—and miraculously enjoy—and found suitable places for everything else. It’d stunned her sister how much bigger the space looked afterwards.
‘It absolutely does.’ She had heard exactly the same from her regular clients multiple times. ‘We all get used to how things are — in different areas of our lives. Change is rarely easy, but it can transform us.’
‘Like Griff has with you? He’s definitely softened you up. I hope you’ll give him another go soon. He’s worth it, Li-Li.’
Her throat tightened. She hadn’t told Becca what exactly happened between herself and Griff last week, not wanting her sister to blame herself. The only excuse now for her not to contact him again was her own cowardice.
‘This isn’t getting us very far. We’ve only got an hour, at the most, before Nora wakes up from her nap.’
‘Fine. I’ll let you get away with it for today, but not much longer.’ Becca wagged a finger in Lindsey’s face and swanned off.
* * *
