“He doesn’t know I’m asking you. And he shouldn’t, if you do decide to go up. I just think he might appreciate the help. And he deserves it. A lot.”
Fraser scratched his head, but she knew him. Knew that he’d likely already decided to help, because it was in his nature to do so.Andbecause she’d asked him to, and she wasn’t above exercising her sisterly powers over him for the right cause.
She just couldn’t bear to imagine Warren living in a van for longer than he needed, with the approaching winter too. He deserved that home he dreamt of, even if she couldn’t be there to see it.
“I’ll think about it,” Fraser decided.
“Thank you.” She squeezed his hand gratefully, some of her worry easing.
He only let out a begrudginghmph. “So, if you care about him enough to hire reinforcements behind his back, is there a reason you can’t just, I don’t know, be with him?”
“Lots of reasons,” she murmured.
“Eiley …”
She nudged him away before he could try to convince her of her mistake – because, deep down, she was already well aware of it. “Harper’s in need of her photographer again.”
He grabbed the camera off the counter, giving her a lingering look that said the conversation wasn’t over. Eiley watched as Fraser returned to the woman he loved, kissing her on the forehead before listening to her request as the enthusiastic reader she was with clapped her hands excitedly.
“Look at that,” Cam remarked as she leaned against the opposite side of the counter, fiddling with a spinning rack of dark academia-inspired bookmarks Eiley had tactfully nudged Maggie towards last week. “She has fans already.”
“She had fans long before the book was published,” joked Eiley. With her bubbly personality and heart of gold, Harper had the power to make anyone love her, or at least laugh with her. Thank goodness Fraser hadn’t thrown it all away the way she had with Warren.
Not that it was the same. Really.
“God, they are sickeningly in love,” Cam complained. “I thought they’d have broken up at least four times by now.”
Eiley gasped in horror. “Don’t say that!”
“I don’t mean it like that. It just sometimes makes me wonder if Sorcha and I are doing something wrong, what with all the ups and downs we have. They make it look so easy.”
That, Eiley could understand. It must have been hard to watch her brother navigate his relationship seamlessly while Cam struggled through hers.
“Do you still love Sorcha?” Eiley asked, quietly so Sorcha, at the other end of the bookstore with Isla and Archie, couldn’t hear.
“Aye, of course. I don’t think that could ever change, no matter what.”
“And do you think you can sort out your problems, in the end?”
“We’re working on it as best we can.”
“Thenthat’swhat makes your relationship right,” she said. “Finlay and I could never do that. He just walked out, went to the pub, and hoped I’d be too exhausted to carry on arguing when he came home at silly o’clock. All of that anger and pain was never resolved, because he wouldn’t let it be. He never apologised. So it all just sat there, eating at me every single day. You and Sorcha still love each other enough to talk it out, even if it’s about difficult things. Even when you disagree or even shout. I don’t think there’s one right way to do a relationship. I think doing your best looks different for everyone.”
Cam gave a sad smile. “Shite. Are you taking my spot as the new resident love guru?”
Eiley shrugged. “I suppose I’m qualified these days.”
“And yet …”
She shot her a sharp glare, willing her to shush before she said something Eiley didn’t want to hear, but Cam wouldn’t be swayed.
“I recallWarrenapologising a fair amount,” Cam said. “And I remember his best looking quite nice from our point of view.”
“Well, maybe I don’t want to be with someone who I fight with so much.”
She snorted. “Nobody does. Wouldn’t life be so much easier if we were always on the same bloody page?”
“Anyway, we’re talking about you,” Eiley brushed off quickly. “Have you reached a verdict? More kids or no more kids?”
