We were at the island in the kitchen. Next to us was a collection of fruit and drink mixes I’d used to make her beverage.
“Is it good?” I asked. I knew for damn certain it was good, and if she said no, she’d be lying.
“It’s good.” She nodded.
“Impressed?”
Her brows knit together. “By a cocktail?”
“My cocktail didn’t impress you? That’s an Irish mix I gave you. It’s damn good.”
“Irish?”
“I’m half Irish, so I know how to make a drink.”
“Is the other half monk?”
I narrowed my gaze at her. “What?”
She laughed and the sound filled me again. “Monk, as in member of a religious order who lives in a monastery.”
“What makes you think that?” I was real interested to hear.
“I just assumed. You seem so goody two shoes, like a priest who just took his vows.”
“I’m not a priest.”
“No? Well not that I’m trying in any way to tell you how to raise your child, but I should tell you Aria’s only going to get worse. Also, the more you push, the more she’ll defy you.”
I took a sip of my own drink and regarded her. “I don’t know what kind of magic you worked but she listened to you, and I owe you big time.”
“You don’t owe me anything. It’s clear from the way she acts that the most important person in her world is you. I was just trying to show you both what’s obvious.”
“Thank you.” I nodded. “How did you know to do that?”
She lifted a shoulder into a shrug, drawing my attention to the daintiness of her.
“I was a sixteen-year-old girl once.”
And I hadn’t been. “Tonight could have been much worse if you weren’t here.”
“What would you have done?” She picked up her drink again.
“Freaked out and said something I shouldn’t. I certainly wouldn’t have met Brad.”
“My dear detective, what you need is to get a life.” She nodded as if that was the simplest answer.
“Get a life? Is that you insulting me?”
“No. If I was insulting you, you wouldn’t need to ask.” She giggled and shook her head. “But honestly, you need to get a life, or possibly buy a dog—something that will fill up your day more.”
I chuckled knowing I was a hundred percent certain I’d never met anyone like her. The woman had just told me I should get a life or buy a dog.
“Brooke, are you always like this?”
She nodded. “Am I wrong? Think about it: if you keep going the way you are, you’ll probably go crazy. If you allow her to live, it will be so much better. Also, she knows what you fear the most, and I’m seventy percent certain she won’t disappoint you.”
“How do you know what I fear the most, and why are you only seventy percent certain she won’t disappoint me?”
