Fuck, he was glad she was here.
“Glad ye like ’em, love,” he murmured, turning back at the road.
Another sideways glance showed him she’d gathered them to her face and was smelling them.
They cost a bundle, but they were just roses.
However, she was acting like they were her sister’s bouquet, something he saw she’d painstakingly disassembled and put the flowers in water, and the plants in pots by the time they’d come over for prime rib that first night.
Maybe she just liked flowers.
Then again, she’d been taken aback when he’d bought her earrings, jewelry, not incidentally, she was wearing right now.
She was worth a load. Her mother’s estate was worth more. Her father even more.
But she was a woman who sincerely appreciated the small things if there was meaning to them.
“Have you heard from Kenna?” she asked into his thoughts.
“Yesterday,” he told her. “She’s rearranged her flight to be here mid-week. You’ll be seeing her before ye go.”
“Wonderful.”
She let some time pass before she queried carefully, “Have you heard more from your father?”
“As I’ve told ye, love, he’s been repeatedly attempting contact.”
“I know. You said. But he still is?”
“I’ve texted him that once I told ye about to tell him to back off and wait until I’m ready to speak with him.”
“It’s good to establish healthy boundaries.”
“Aye.”
“But even if you’re not replying, he’s still not recognizing them?”
“No. He keeps trying. I just ignore it. Davi’s doing the same thing.”
“Your mum?”
It was hard for him to think on that one, because it pissed him off so much.
“Aye.”
“He’s still badgering your mum?” she asked, her voice pitched higher.
“Aye,” he repeated.
“Oh, Dair,” she said softly.
“It’s okay, baby,” he replied.
“It isn’t.”
“Well, it is what it is.”
“Yes. It is that.”
