He shook his head, his hands fisted on his knees.“You didn’t let me choose.You decided the client was more important than you.That wouldn’t have been the choice I’d have made.”He shook out his hands, then reached for mine.“You have to let me make my own decisions.
“You broke a very big promise to me.Part of me is really pissed off you ignored me.The other part recognizes you did it from a place of caring, which is really hard to be angry with.”
“Yes.That,” I said, pointing at him.“I agree with that part.”
“Then do you understand why I was angry?”
“Was?”Maybe we would get through this okay.
He blew out a breath.“New rule: We tell each other when we go somewhere.If you’d texted me that Osso wanted to take you to a crime scene, I would have called to see if I could take you myself in an hour or so.Would it have made a difference to their investigation if you arrived an hour later than you did?”
I shook my head.
“I ran over at lunch, and you weren’t here.No text.No note.Bracken hadn’t seen you.I was already on edge when I got your message that you were at a crime scene.Without me.”He ran a frustrated hand through his hair.“Did you turn off your phone?Nothing seemed to be getting through to you.”
My stomach cramped with guilt.“Yeah.”
He stood abruptly, went to the railing, and looked down on the studio.“Second rule: Don’t turn off your phone.”He turned to me.“I’m not magical like that.I have no idea if you’re okay when you cut me off.”
The back of his hands got hairier.He closed his eyes and let out a long, slow breath.The hair receded.“I can’t be with you all the time.We both have our own careers, our own interests and obligations.I’m not saying I expect you barefoot and pregnant upstairs in our home so I can keep you under my thumb.I’m saying I want to know when you go someplace different than what you’ve shared with me because Ineedto know that you’re safe.”
He sat on the edge of the bed again.“It all goes both ways.We text or call so the other doesn’t worry, and we never turn our phones off.Okay?”
I thought about his rules.They seemed pretty reasonable, so I nodded.
“Good,” he said.“What new rules do you want instituted?”
“Oh.”My mind was a blank.“I don’t know off the top of my head.Let me think about it.”
“Fair enough.”He stood, pulling me to my feet.“Do you want to tell me about the new case?”
I shook my head.
“Maybe later,” he said.“Have you eaten?”
“Not since this morning.”It had been a long craptastic day and it wasn’t even over.
“It’s almost dinnertime.Let’s go home and eat then we can stretch out on our new bed.”
I smacked his arm.“I completely forgot!I’m so excited.”
We went downstairs and I detoured to the refrigerator to grab a grape soda.“Do you want anything?”
He grabbed the container of cookies on the counter.“Just these.”
He slung my backpack over his shoulder and held the door open for me.I walked through and locked it behind me.Bracken was sitting on a bench, on the far side of the deck, watching the waves.
“Give me a minute.”I jogged down the deck and sat beside my great-uncle, bumping his shoulder with my own.“Thanks for earlier.”
The corner of his mouth kicked up.“All better now?”
“Yeah.Listen, I never ate lunch, so we’re going to have an early dinner.Do you want to come join us?”
He glanced over, his eyes smiling.“Thank you for the invitation, but I agreed to have dinner with Elizabeth and her family tonight.”
“What?”I couldn’t stop the grin taking over my whole face.
“I was as surprised as you,” he said.“Should I bring flowers or wine?What would be an appropriate hostess gift?”
