Page 10 of Breaking Rules

Usually, I would’ve buried myself in work, but I wasn’t quite rude enough to lock myself in a room with my laptop. Perhaps Da would’ve understood. He’d built the business, after all. But I didn’t want to be rude.

Spending the day like this, however, wasn’t so bad. The Bridges Golf Course was absolutely beautiful, and it had been a long time since I’d spent this much time with my family. When Eoin had decided not to re-enlist after he’d been injured, we’d all come home to welcome him back, but I’d only stayed for the few hours.

I’d had a meeting to get back to.

Brody and I hung back as Da and Eoin walked ahead. Neither of them were saying much, but that wasn’t anything new.

“How’s Eoin doing?” I asked Brody quietly. “I know I’ve been caught up in everything with Evanne recently, but I should have been more involved after he got back.”

Brody didn’t quite manage to cover his surprise fast enough. Shame flooded me because I knew I deserved it. I loved my family, but I showed it by working hard to make MIRI even more successful. We all had shares in it. Still, I knew none of them expected me to spend as much time at work as I did. Convincing myself that it was how I cared for my family gave me the excuse I needed to close myself off from everyone.

I knew I had issues. This wasn’t the time for introspection, though. What had happened, however, did make me more aware of some things I could change. The first thing on my list was to find out how Eoin was doing.

“I dinnae ken,” Brody said after a minute. He cleared his throat. “You know how the lad is. Close-mouthed and all that. Can’t get a word out of him.”

I didn’t like the sound of that.

“Is he going back to how he was?”

Brody shrugged. “With some luck, Paris might get him to talk. They’ve always been close.”

“How long is she here?” I asked, shifting the conversation. Brody was right. If anyone could get Eoin to talk, it would be Paris.

“She’s leaving again this weekend. Doing some lecture work.”

We stopped at the next hole and watched as Da teed up.

“You never told me how things went with the lass. The one from the massage parlor.”

I glanced toward Eoin and Da to make sure neither of them heard. At the moment, Brody was the only one who knew about the incident, and I intended to keep it that way. It had been an uncharacteristic lack of judgment. One I was grateful for as I enjoyed Lumen’s company, but not one I wished to share. If I spoke to the rest of my family about it, I’d be sure to give a vaguer explanation.

“She’s Evanne’s teacher.” When Brody’s eyes widened, I allowed myself a small smile. “My life has been a wee bit strange the past few weeks…”

Six

Lumen

I must’ve been moretired than I’d thought because I didn’t wake up Tuesday morning until my phone rang, jarring me out of a deep sleep. I fumbled for it, my foggy brain trying to figure out why I was still in bed rather than at work.

“Hello?” Damn, my voice sounded rough.

“Lumen?”

For a moment, I didn’t recognize the male voice on the other end, but then he continued, and I wished I hadn’t picked up my phone at all.

“It’s Vice Principal Harvey here.”

I silently cursed my foul luck. “Mr. Harvey, good morning. Is something wrong?”

“Nothing new, no. Did I catch you at a bad time? Still in bed?”

If he asked what I was wearing, no power on earth would keep me from telling him exactly what I thought of him. “No, not a bad time. How can I help you?”

“Principal McKenna tasked me with personally contacting all faculty members regarding yesterday’s incident.”

I could almost see the pompous windbag puffing himself up like this was some sacred duty he’d been entrusted instead of him just doing his job.

My tolerance for people wasn’t generally high right after I woke up to begin with, and being woken up by one of my least favorite people in the world hadn’t made it any better. Only a lifetime of learning restraint kept me cordial.