Half a dozen people showed up at the house over the course of the night; my mother’s closest friends and allies, includingBlair and her brother, and a few people I didn’t know nearly as well. They were all reasonably comfortable with each other, though, so they congregated in the sitting room, and didn’t even question it when they were told what was going on and even more, why Mother had called them in but wasn’t available to talk to them.
I hated screwing up my whole schedule, but when morning came, it seemed most sensible to just take Davin and crash in my childhood bedroom.
Frankly, I was annoyed I hadn’t thought of it earlier. The room was soundproofed, after all...
Not that Davin would have ever agreed to have sex in my mother’s house. So I sighed to myself, stripped down to my boxers and T-shirt, and curled up next to him to sleep. At least he was nice and warm.
That was kind of odd, come to think of it. I was warmer than the average person. Over ninety-nine degrees. Always had been. So why did Davin’s body feel warm next to mine?
When he turned over and pulled me tight against him, it cut off my train of thought and just left me appreciating the feel of it. Appreciating him. It didn’t take long to drift off that way, focused only on how warm and safe it was, wrapped up in Davin’s arms.
I woke to a knock on the door, and weirdly, Mirabelle brought in a tray with breakfast for both me and Davin. When she saw the confused look on my face, she gave a deep, annoyed sigh. “They’re hanging around in the dining room this morning, and I didn’t think you wanted to be a zoo exhibit while eating, since you two and your family are the only people in the house thateat, and both of them are still recuperating in bed right now. So trays to bedrooms it is.” She bustled over and extended the legs of the tray before setting it across most of the bed.
It was an impressive array of foods, definitely enough for two people, even if one of them was a dragon.
“That cousin of yours has impressive manners,” she observed as she hurried out and came back with a second tray. I wasn’t sure where she was going to put it, but it turned out it just held drinks, so she handed me a glass of juice, then poured us both tea from a pot that had been brewing on the tray. Then she stopped and looked at Davin. “Something wrong?”
“Sexton,” was all he said, staring at her.
She cocked her head in confusion, then slowly nodded. “That’s the one, yes. There’s not another cousin I don’t know about is there? Poor dear is terribly sweet. Acts like a kicked dog who’s afraid he’s about to be tossed out on his head. Thanked me a dozen times just for breakfast.”
Davin continued to look confused, so I smiled at her. “Sexton is in the process of some major life changes. He was raised alone and sort of spoiled in that weird way that sometimes happens to rich people. He only just realized he doesn’t need to act like a jerk to get what he wants in life, so he’s relearning who he wants to be.”
Mirabelle clucked her tongue and shook her head sadly at that. “Rich people are strange. Miss Fiona made sure you would never have that problem, though. Raised you to be a good boy.”
“I’m very lucky,” I said, nodding.
“And a very good boy,” she half-reiterated and half-agreed with me.
After she left us alone with our eggs, bacon, pastries, and drinks, Davin turned to me. “Weird way that happens to rich people?”
I scrunched up my nose, frowning as I considered how to explain. “It’s...it’s like, Sexton was taught to hold himself apart from other people, told it’s because he’s special and important, but...he’s not. No one is. And being alone didn’t make him feel special and important, it just made him feel alone. But you can’t complain about it, because having that much money is supposed to be a good thing. Except...in this situation, it sucks.”
Davin turned back to breakfast, shaking his head. “Every time I start to think something about being rich is nice, like breakfast in bed, someone reminds me that rich people are fecking strange.”
“We are.”
“They are.” The words were stronger than the previous statement, so I looked up at him and found him staring at me. “Like the woman said, you weren’t raised like that. If you’re strange, it’s in a different way.”
I wasn’t sure whether to take that as an insult or a compliment, but since he was dating me and not my cousin, I was going to think of it as a good thing.
CHAPTER 16
As we were finishing our food, Davin grabbed his phone off the nightstand and then pressed a few buttons before holding it to his ear. A moment later, there was a tinny greeting.
Oh heck, how could I have forgotten?
Clearly, though, Davin had not, and he was smiling as he said, “Olive. How’re the daughter-in-law and grandbaby?” She gushed about her healthy adorable new granddaughter for a moment while Davin listened, looking like this was his favorite conversation ever.
After she wound down, she promised that while she was running late, she was definitely going to be in after all.
“It’s fine if you want to take the day and spend it with your family,” he assured her. “I can call Arthur and ask him to put a note on the door saying we’re going to be closed. Flynn and I have had an emergency come up, and I’m afraid we’re going to be out for...not just today, but a few days.”
They spent a few minutes talking about whether there was a point in her staying in the office if we weren’t working, and whether she should call and reschedule any installations, but my attention drifted back to the room.
My childhood bedroom. It was a weird place to be in my thirties.
It was also too bad I’d taken all my clothes with me when I’d moved out. We didn’t have any clothes to change into, because we hadn’t been expecting this drama and hadn’t thought to bring bags. Oh well. One re-wear without washing wasn’t going to kill anyone.
