As was the case anytime he asked that question, Winnie turned away from him. “I just do.”
“Is it your family?”
“Of course it is.”
Lie. He could detect it, and that wasn’t the first one she’d told him. In fact, Winnie had been lying to him for a solid month now. She was keeping something from him, but Reidar didn’t know what it was. Out of respect for her, he refused to slip into her mind and find the truth. He owed her more than that.
“I need to get back to work,” he told her.
“Oh, trust me, I know I play second fiddle to your job, Reidar. You care about it more than you care about me.”
Arguing was a waste of time. No matter how many times he’d told her otherwise, Winnie had kept with the same tune.
“We’ll talk in the morning,” he told her.
“If I’m still here.”
Moving toward her, Reidar said softly, “Winnie, I’m really sorry. Whatever I did, whatever’s given you the idea you don’t matter…”
Winnie spun around. “You, Reidar. You’ve given me the idea. It’s a wonder you sleep in the same bed with me.”
“I’m trying, Win. I’m really trying.”
He could feel the anger coming from her. Had he detected even a hint of hurt, Reidar probably would’ve dropped to his knees and begged her forgiveness despite the fact he didn’t know what he’d done. However, he got the feeling this didn’t have anything to do with him at all. Something was luring Winnie back to California while she was insisting someone was pushing her away.
Reidar reached up to cup her face, but before he could make contact, she jerked away.
“Just go back to work. If I’m here when you’re done, we’ll talk.”
With that, Reidar walked away, wondering if this would be the last time. She made the threat so often, he figured at some point she would make good on it.
“I know I keep saying this, butyou look so much better.”
Orianna smiled at Penelope. “I feel better.”
Honestly, she hadn’t realized how exhausted she’d actually been until the other day when she’d collapsed under the weight of that last vision. Since then, Eclipse had all but confined her to bed rest. At the beginning, Orianna had argued, insisting she was fine.
She so hadn’t been fine. Not only had her body been screaming for some R and R, her emotional well-being had taken a hit as well. Not easy to spend so long chasing one single goal only to hit a wall. Finding out her sister was dead had been the equivalent of a concrete barrier getting intimate with a semi going sixty miles per hour. The crash had been inevitable, and it had taken Eclipse to see it.
Insert bed rest and some quiet and Orianna was as good as new.
Over the past few days, she’d learned quite a bit about herself, though. One, she didn’t so much mind someone taking care of her from time to time. No, she had no intention of putting her feet up for the rest of her life, but a few days had certainly reset all her levers, and she felt more like herself than she had in the past … forever.
The downside? Well, that would be the fact the only outfit she’d brought with her was getting a bit snug. Luckily, she’d spent most of her time in Eclipse’s room, either naked or wearing one of his super-comfy T-shirts. But if they kept this up, she would easily put back on those ten pounds she’d inadvertently lost. If she didn’t know better, she would think that was Eclipse’s goal.
“I’d hoped to find you here.”
That familiar voice triggered an immediate smile response as she turned to see Eclipse coming toward her from the front of the mansion.
“I thought you went to the war room.” She lifted her head to meet his kiss.
“I got chased out of there. Went upstairs to take care of something.”
Orianna figured Winnie had been the one to chase him off. Based on the way the woman had stormed through the kitchen a little while ago, no one would want to be in her direct path.
According to Penelope, Winnie was going through a rough time right now, and the best thing they could do was give her space. Orianna had to take her word for it because she hadn’t spent much time with Penelope’s best friend from high school. Aside from a brief introduction and a couple of words in passing, they hadn’t talked.
“Mind if I steal her for a little while?” Eclipse asked, his question directed at Penelope and Acadia.
