He was silent.
“Instead of sitting on the motherlode, the motherlode might just be sitting on you,” I shared.
“Interesting.”
This guy.
Regardless of my recent disastrous news, I smiled. “An understatement worthy of the Duke of Burleigh.”
I heard his chuckle through the line and my breasts swelled.
“Why are you calling?” I asked.
“Chassie phoned, seeking an excuse to get out of coming to London tomorrow.”
Crap.
“I was worried she was being too quiet about it once we fenced her in,” I admitted.
“I didn’t give her the excuse, but just warning you, she might make some plays this evening. I’ve already warned Tempie.”
“Okay, but…I mean, do you think it’s right to force her if she really doesn’t want to go?”
“She really didn’t want to go to Glastonbury, but she had a lovely time. And then, the next day, she was nipping into town like she did it frequently. So, yes. I do think it’s right.”
“You’re the big brother,” I mumbled.
“Prue came into the house giggling and baby talking, practically from birth,” Battle stated, and my attention sharpened. “She was like a baby sunbeam.”
Oh yeah.
This guy.
“So sweet,” I whispered.
“Chassie was like a little doll. I’ve never seen a more beautiful child. Quiet and watchful, fascinated with flowers, always. Though, in the beginning, she tended to try to eat them.”
I laughed softly.
“She looked it, but she wasn’t fragile,” Battle continued. “She knew herself. She knew what she liked. From an early age. Maybe she watched what happened to Prue and took it in more than we expected a child of her age would, and she made certain no one was going to beat her down like they did Prue. Of course, she didn’t have the same personality as Prue, but she was self-contained for as long as I knew her, and that’s her entire life. She could entertain herself as a child. And when she grew up, she asked for one thing. The money to open her own flower shop. She did this in Bath. It was successful within six months of opening.”
“Right,” I said, finding the “wasn’t fragile” comment a tragedy, and having the mystery of Courtney’s comment about wedding flowers explained, albeit only partially.
“We need to reintroduce her to herself, darling,” he concluded.
He was right.
“Okay,” I agreed.
“How are you getting on with your research?”
“Great. I’m making up for the time I’ll be losing by working into the night.”
I could actually hear the frown in his voice. “Is this London trip putting you that far off schedule?”
“Probably not, but now that I have to find a new place to live by next week, I’m glad I did it because, at this late date, I think I might be screwed, but I still have to put in the time to look for something.”
“Find a new place to live?”
