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“Well, Row isn’t home yet,” River says as a part of our cover, “but now that you’re here, I am going to head out.”
“Thanks so much for staying so late,” I tell him and I hope he can read between the lines.Thanks for helping us tonight.
“We would have been fine for the record. It’s not even midnight,” Margot adds as she pulls out her phone.
“So, I can’t come hang out with my favorite nieces and nephew?” River shoots her an incredulous look as he slides on his leather jacket.
“We’re your only nieces and nephew,” she replies dryly.
“Which is why you’re my favorites!” He leans down and presses a kiss to her forehead. “Turn off the movie and go to bed,” he tells her.
I follow him out the front door, closing the door behind me. “Everything went okay?”
“Oh yeah, all good,” he tells me with a smile. “Where’s Rowan?”
“Around the corner.”
He chuckles. “Man, he’s really crazy about you. He hasn’t been like this in…years.”
“Like what?”
He hesitates for a bit and scratches the back of his neck. “Light, I guess you could say? He’s been so tense and stressed the last few years. Like he didn’t have time to take a breath, or like he didn’t even know how to breathe for that matter. The kids are his main source of happiness but I’m his brother and I’ve known something was missing for him for a while. Remember I told you he was drowning?” He nudges my shoulder. “It’s like you threw him a life raft in more ways than one.”
“Wow.” I already had a feeling about some of this, but it’s different hearing it from the person closest to him.
“Oh, and Isla?” He nods at the house. “She’s crazy about you too.” He pauses before starting to walk backward toward his car. “Really glad we bullied you that day at the grocery store,” he says with a final wave before he jogs down the steps.
When I’m back inside, Margot is still sitting on the couch. “You’re not going to bed?”
“In a minute. I just wanted to talk to you.”
“Of course, what’s up?” I ask and her chestnut eyes immediately begin to water. “Margot, what’s wrong?” I sit next to her on the couch and pull her hand into mine but she immediately scrunches her nose and pulls her hand back. “Isla was really upset that neither you or my dad were here to tuck her in tonight.”
My eyes dart to the stairs thinking about the tiny person upstairs that I knew I already loved while figuring out my feelings for her father. “I thought she’d be okay for one night.”
“Me too and maybe it was just a one-off, but…Isla is already really attached to you and I just hope you’re not planning to hurt my little sister.”
“Margot, you don’t have to worry about that. I would never.”
“Even if you left or something happened that made you want to leave…” She trails off. “She’s only six and she’s lost so much. Please don’t be another thing she has to get over losing,” she says before she gets up and makes her way upstairs without another word.
River mentioned that Margot is probably still awake so as soon as I get home, I go upstairs to say goodnight. When I get to her room, I’m surprised her door is wide open.
“Knock, knock,” I call from the threshold.
Margot is lying on her bed scrolling through Netflix. “Hey, Dad,” she says without looking my way in a tone that makes her sound almost bored. I close the door behind me and fold my arms over my chest.
“Alright, you want to tell me what’s been going on with you lately?”
“Nothing.” She shrugs and I move to stand in front of her television. It’s mounted on the wall behind where I’m standing, but I know I’m still blocking most of her view.
“Margot.” My tone is even yet stern because while I am not mad at her, I am not loving her attitude.
“Well, since I told Ellie and Uncle River will probably tell you, Isla had a tiny meltdown when it was time for bed because neither you nor Ellie were here to tuck her in. She calmed down after a while, but it was strange that none of us were a good enough substitute tonight.” She sits up in bed and eyes me curiously. “Ellie is staying for Thanksgiving?”
Nothing has been confirmed to my knowledge, so I’m wondering where she heard that. “Where did you hear that?”
“Is it true?”