"Want me to call the doctor?"
"And say what? All I wanted was for my daughter to be here to take the load off. You went away for an entire weekend. And to top it off, you texted last night that you were spending another night with that lawyer friend of yours. Who saw me at the pastry place and all but accused me of faking my illness. The nerve of that woman!"
"I'm sure Grace did not mean it like that. I'm here now..."
"You don't care about me."
Her temper snapped. She would take so much and no more. Right now, in her heart, she was already missing her husband, a man she was denying them being with each other because of the man lying in the bed. The sacrifice she was making by not simply packing up and going to Leon was slowly killing her and to have her father accuse her of not caring was entirely too much.
"I don't care?" Eyes blazing, she approached the bed, her body vibrating. "I left my well-paid job, one that I loved to come here when you called and said you could not manage on your own. I have no social life and must carve out time to spend with... with... a friend and you would begrudge me of even that? If you're not feeling well, the obvious thing to do is to call the doctor. I don't happen to have a medical degree and can do so much and no more. If there's nothing else, I should go down and open..."
"I'm sorry." He looked so beaten and forlorn that she felt her heart melting. "It's just that I always wonder if you would leave, just like she did."
"She didn't leave." Her voice was tinged with exasperation. "She died."
"She left me for him." He reached out a hand for hers and she closed the gap and took it reluctantly. "I couldn't bear if you left me too."
"I'm here." She squeezed his hand as she assured him quietly. "I'm here." Even if my heart isn't.
"Why don't you stay in bed, and I'll bring you some tea and toast?"
"Thank you. And forgive this old man for being so demanding."
"It's fine." Giving his hand another squeeze, she let go and left the room.
Waiting until she had closed the door behind her, he allowed the malicious gleam to enter his eyes. His daughter was anything if not predictable. She knew her place and her duty and was going to stand by his side as long as he played the victim and he had a lot of practice doing so.
*****
She got into the swing of things. After seeing that her dad had his tea and toast, she went downstairs to open. The crowd trickled in slowly, giving them little to no time to even concentrate on anything much.
Kadian had added to the store, despite her father's protests. There was a reading corner if one wanted to just sit and have a cup of coffee and some pastries from Mrs. Eddington's pastry place that were delivered fresh every morning.
There was a children's section for storytelling. Kadian figured that as long as the children were being entertained, then the parents, mostly mothers, had time to do more browsing. Even though it was a bookstore, novelty items such as costume jewelry, local paintings, pottery, knick-knacks had also been introduced and had taken off like a rocket.
People tend to wander out of the cold. Some walked in for a cup of coffee or hot chocolate and ended up spending money. That was the idea.
Kadian detached herself from a group of out-of-towners who were browsing the novelty section to attend to a mother with two toddlers.
"Why don't I take one off your hands?"
The woman sent her a grateful smile and without a moment's hesitation, handed her the sixteen-month-old toddler. "He'steething and giving me hell," she muttered, grabbing the three-year-old who was about to rush over to the glass case where shiny bottles were displayed. "I'm here asking myself why the torture."
The woman looked around at the crowd. "Oh, but you're busy. I should..." She started to reach back for the baby.
"Nonsense," Kadian told her firmly. "I'll take Jerry off your hands as well. Chloe is having story time, and you know how good she is."
"Oh, thank God! Remind me to kiss you before I leave. Coffee... two cups, because praise the Lord, I'm no longer breastfeeding and then a couple of books to tide me over."
Laughing, Kadian took the toddler's hand and led him over to the story corner, where the part-time college student was already weaving her magic.
From his position at the top of the stairs, Luke watched his daughter handle the children with a gentle hand. The look on her face was one that he had seen whenever she was dealing with a child. A look of longing and profound sadness.
He felt the familiar feeling of guilt slicing through him, but just for a minute. His needs came first. And besides, he was saving her from a world of hurt. If she was like her mother and he knew she was, she was going to take advantage of some hapless man and break him into pieces. The way his wife had done to him.
She looked too much like her to be different. Shrugging the feeling of guilt away, he turned around and went back to his room. He would spend the entire day in bed to make her feel guilty.
Kadian had fun with the children, but then again, she always did. She was so caught up in the story hour that it was almost an hour later before she realized that she had a few runs to make. A stop at the bank to make a deposit and to return a call to Leon. She also had to call Grace.
