“Tempie!” Prue snapped.
“I think it’s lovely,” Chassie whisper-declared. “Finally, Battie’s found a good woman. We like her. Bartie likes her. The cats like her. The house likes her.” She smiled sweetly at me. “It’s perfect.”
The house liked me?
I couldn’t get into that either.
“We haven’t even had a date yet,” I pointed out.
“So have,” Prue contradicted. “Best dates ever. All at The Downs. If he wasn’t my brother, I’d think it was all dreamy. Instead, it’s just slightly gross dreamy.”
Chassie giggled.
“You’re okay with this?” I asked Prue.
“Absolutely,” she answered perkily.
“It hasn’t even very much started.”
Chassie shocked me by rolling her eyes when I said that.
“Okay, it has, but it’s new and it might not come to anything,” I warned.
“Vivi,” Prue smiled brightly, “I’m not twelve. And you’re a good person. So is Battie. If it doesn’t work, it won’t work for whatever reasons you two have. But he won’t be cruel to you, and you won’t be cruel to him, that I know.”
“Chelsea earned what he said to her,” Chassie whisper-added.
“I know, honey,” I assured her.
“What I mean is, that’ll be between you two,” Prue continued. “And like he’ll always be my brother, you’ll always be my friend.”
That gave me so much relief, I reached out to her, she took my hand, we squeezed.
“And the nausea returns,” Tempie drawled.
Prue and I let go as she and I, with Chassie, laughed.
I also got out my phone and texted Battle.
Tempie gave me a talking to. I won’t go for my wallet tonight.
One of the few things I learned from my research into the Talyns was that Battle was a venture capitalist. He was deep into this and had investments in a dizzying number of companies.
So I knew he was probably pretty busy.
He still returned my text, again immediately, Excellent. Enjoy your day, sweetheart. See you tonight.
Staring at his text, and my second brand of endearment from him, I realized we’d pretty much been on a weeklong date before he left for London.
And now that would resume.
So I had to bury a bit of my pride and what had been drilled into me during my upbringing.
I looked from my cell to the girls in the first-class carriage, knowing we had a fun day planned, and I’d see Battle again soon.
Okay.
Yeah.
