We gather her stuff, Lyndall holding the violin case close as we climb the stairs.
She takes the guest room at the far end, away from all the others, and puts her stuff down, only putting some clothes in the drawers.
It looks like she has done this before.
Or maybe it is what boarding school does. I don't really know.
She pulls back the quilt and inspects the sheets. "Fresh. Good quality." Then she plumps a pillow. "So...are you going to be sleeping with Enzo?"
My cheeks heat.
The girl looks at me, and I try to find words. But I can't because, honestly, I have no idea.
"You know what, Lola? There's a daybed right there." She points at the extra-long and comfy-looking chaise longue. "We can switch off each night. You know, take turns. That way I won't have to be alone."
My heart breaks. "I will sit with you until you go to sleep. There are enough beds for everyone. I can take the other guest room and let the guys fight out who gets the other rooms."
"Enzo can take the one in the study." Lyndall pulls some PJs from her backpack, along with a toiletry bag, and hurriesoff to the ensuite, only partly closing the door. Over the running water, she continues, "He probably deserves it."
When she comes back in, she asks the lights to dim, speaking to whatever app. Clearly, she has worked it out...or read the note that I just spy on the bedside table. It is thoughtful, but it makes me want to laugh at the low-tech instructions for using the high-tech cutting-edge system.
"I'm exhausted," she jumps into bed with the energy of someone not at all exhausted. "So, how did you meet my brother? I think you're prettier in person, you know?"
"Did you see a picture of me?" She said something about that when we met.
But she pulls the covers up. "Everyone has pictures. Are you his girlfriend?"
"No, I'm not. We all used to know each other when you were a teeny thing."
She sniffs. "You wouldn't have been much bigger."
But I don't really want to talk about those times when things went from happy to isolated, all because of her father.
I change the subject to ask her about school, and she tells me all about the classes and how she wants to be a rock star violinist. Or just a soloist. She would take first chair.
"First chair?"
"Top dog in the violin section in an orchestra." She grins. "I'm aiming for a scholarship at Juilliard. But Dad..."
Her grin dies. "He likes to hold that over me to make me behave. And now...after catching me with Luke...I don't think he will let me go."
I hate the man, I do.
I know my father wasn't exactly innocent, but I didn't deserve to be turned into a pariah, and Lyndall doesn't deserve to have her dreams taken away.
"You can do what you want. You know that. I would waituntil I was eighteen, but...yeah... And if you're good enough, a scholarship will be waiting for you."
"If Enzo asks you to be his girl, say yes. I know he can be a dick sometimes, but his heart's good, and it is in the right place."
"He's not going to."
"Enzo probably thinks you're out of his league."
I laugh at her misdirected fierceness. "I don't think so."
"But he's decent, honestly. And he looks after me a lot. I asked if I could move in, and he's trying to make that happen. Most single dudes wouldn't want a kid hanging around. But he does."
I nod.
