After lunch, Rusty helped clean up, needing a minute to recharge his social battery. He washed the dishes as Dierdri dried and put them away. They worked in silence for a while, until Dierdri broke it.
“She doesn’t talk much. Our Ryni,” she said as Rusty handed her a mixing bowl. “She’s incredibly smart, but she only talks when she has something important to say. Or if she needs the answer to something.”
“I’m sorry if I did something wrong,” Rusty said, but she shushed him with a hand on his arm.
“No, not at all. We didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable with our reactions. We never want to shut her down when she does decide to speak, but we also put you in a difficult position, given the questions she was asking.”
“It’s fine, really. I didn’t mind answering her.”
Dierdri squeezed Rusty’s arm before releasing him. “You’re very sweet. I see why Gemae likes you.”
Sweet? He couldn’t imagine a world where anyone would describe his grouchy ass as sweet.
“If you say so,” he finally said as he scrubbed out a pan.
“I do,” she said haughtily. “I’m a good judge of character.”
“That must be where Gem gets it.”
“Perhaps it is. Or maybe it’s something all Gemae’s own.”
They washed in silence for another few minutes before Rusty found himself blurting, “Aren’t you gonna ask what my intentions are with your son?”
Her throaty laugh was deep and lovely. “Oh, if I know my son—and I believe I do—he’s the one with all the intentions. Am I right?”
He barked a laugh. “You’re not wrong.”
“He’s tenacious and very difficult to deter.”
“He’s the best person I know,” Rusty said honestly, and Dierdri beamed down at him.
“Gemae is the best person most people know,” she said, a little smug. “And he thinks very highly of you. He always has.”
“I don’t know why. I’m kind of an asshole,” he admitted, and she laughed again.
“Well, yes, he told us that too.” She knocked his shoulder playfully. “But he also said you were loyal and protective and caring.”
With a shake of his head, he released a disbelieving scoff, and she rolled several of her smaller eyes.
“I see it too, you know.”
“See what?” Rusty asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.
Dierdri cupped his chin in a damp hand, forcing him to look at her. “Your kind heart.”
His fingers quaked, and his breath hitched. “I don’t know if that’s true.”
“Well, I do.” She dropped her hand and started drying again, one small eye trained on him as she added, “And so does my son.”
Chapter twenty-three
Bodacious Babe
Gem
Gem and Rusty stayeduntil the sun started to set. While Gem chatted with his clutchmates, Rusty lay on his belly in a coloring circle amidst some of the younger kids. Ryni, who’d taken an unexpected liking to the Pyclon, lay beside him, pointing out which markers were which color when Rusty asked.
She’d taken an interest in Rusty’s colorblindness, peppering him with questions. Most of which, Rusty had seemed unable to answer.
