Kenna’s shoulders stiffened in affront. “I’m not using Blake as a shield.”
“But ye ken he’s gonna show, full of bluster, and act the dick to save face,” Dair kept at her. “And with Blake here, he’ll temper that, get his shite and go.”
“Honestly, Alasdair, I have no idea what your father will do,” Kenna said coldly. “I never could quite understand the way he behaved. Sadly, I loved him. No, I adored him. And even knowing it’s over, I still do. So, although many things he did were things I did not like, I stayed with him. Not anymore.”
I unburied myself from the side of the sofa to wrap my fingers around Dair’s muscled knee.
He looked to me.
“Even if I was here as a shield, which I’m not,” I said softly, “I wouldn’t mind.”
“This is your trauma, along with all of ours,” he returned. “We dinnae need to add to it.”
“This is Kenna’s trauma, Dair. I know you feel it. And so does Davina. But what you feel is not the same at all,” I replied. “Not even close.”
He pulled breath in through his nose, and when he released it, he nodded and seemed less tense.
This, unfortunately, communicated loads to me. That he listened. That he processed what he heard. That he understood. That he wasn’t obstinate and had the ability to stand down. Even in an emotionally volatile situation.
Damn, I didn’t need to know all of this about Alasdair Wallace.
I took my hand from his knee and returned my attention to the women.
They were both staring at Dair’s knee, Davi with an incredulous, elated expression, and Kenna with an incredulous, peaceful one (yes, those didn’t seem like they could work together, but they did).
“I can’t speak for everyone,” I broke their weird fascination with Dair’s knee and got their focus. “But whatever you need from me, Kenna.”
“She likes steak,” Davi said before popping a grape into her mouth.
That made me laugh.
Things seemed less tense after all of that, and we ate and drank coffee (or tea), and waited for the next ordeal to knock on the door.
I didn’t have a very good internal clock (probably why I was late too often), but I’d gauge Bally was late too since my estimate was that a good fifteen minutes passed before that knock came.
We were all done eating, thus we were only sipping.
Kenna opened her mouth, but she shut it, her gaze following her son as he unfurled his long body from the couch and prowled to the door.
Prowling, stalking, the man could move.
Lord.
He opened the door.
Bally jolted when he saw him.
“Mum’s divorcing you,” Dair declared, and I closed my eyes.
Men.
Or rather, protective sons.
I opened them when he kept talking.
“You’re to stay in Edinburgh. She’ll let ye ken when ye can come and get your shite from the house.” He took hold of the suitcase and rolled it into his father’s legs. “Now ye can take this and go.”
“I’d like to speak to my wife,” Bally said through his teeth.
