“None of that,” she said.“You and your brother will have to learn to get along at some point, you know.It’s what your mother would want.”
They were already starting to mend that bridge, but she didn’t need to know that.
“Even if she liked me better,” he said.It was what Aunt Genie would expect of him.
“Nathaniel Alder, I don’t want to hear another word,” Eugenia said.“You and your brother will figure it out.Iknowyou will—even if I have to sit down and make the two of you talk one of these days.”
“That’s not necessary, Aunt Genie,” he said as he led her into his office and closed the door behind him.“Now, what can I help you with?I’m assuming you need something, since you closed the library to show up here.”
“I have a problem,” Eugenia said, “and I need you to help me solve it.”
“What’s wrong?”he asked.It didn’t matter what it was—of course he would help her.
“I need you to stop faffing around and show Thea how much you care for her.”
Nathaniel’s eyes widened, and he stared at Eugenia.
“I know you care for her,” she said.“Because I know you wouldn’t be offering your arm to walk her through town if you didn’t.”
Nathaniel colored.“How’d you hear about that already?”
“I have my ways,” Eugenia said in an airy tone.
“And how do you know I’m not just flirting?”he pointed out.
“You haven’t flirted with anyone since you came back from Riyel, and I’m offended that you think I haven’t noticed that.You know I’m right.You care for Thea.”
“You might be right,” he said, “but it doesn’t mean she’s ready for me to tell her how I feel.”
Technically, he already had.And technically, he’d been about to kiss her.
But Eugenia didn’t need to know that.
“You should know better than anyone that there is no guarantee of how much time we have left with someone,” she said.“And you should know what it’s like to lose someone you love without having said the things you wanted to say.”
Nathaniel swallowed hard.Hedidknow what that felt like.And he never wanted to experience it again.
“I’m assuming Thea knows the same thing, since she’s here on her own,” Eugenia said.“But I want the two of you to figure it out, because I’m tired of watching you pine for each other.”
“You think she’s pining for me?”Nathaniel asked.
He knew that she loved him…but it didn’t mean he didn’t want to hear that she’d missed him as much as he’d missed her.
“I don’t know,” Eugenia said airily.“So I suppose you had better figure it out.All I know is the two of you belong together, and I’d actually like to see it happen before my time on this earth is through.”
“You have plenty of time left,” Nathaniel said, shaking his head at her.
“That’s what we thought about our loved ones, isn’t it?”she asked quietly.“You should know better than to assume.But the good Lord willin’, I will have plenty of time left, and I will get to see you have babies of your own.They’ll look adorable,” she mused.
“Aunt Genie!”Nat protested, his ears turning red.
The problem with being a redhead was that he blushed far too easily.
“Oh, don’t mind me,” she said, waving her hands in the air.“You know I’m just a foolish old woman.”
“You are anything but that,” Nathaniel said, leaning over to give her a kiss on the cheek.“You just like to pretend you are so people will give you all the best gossip.”
Eugenia grinned.“Is that a crime?”
