Page 35 of Mending Fate

“I have potential,” she said. She was practically beaming. “Everybody says so.”

Keli and I burst out laughing, the sound easing the tension between us. She’d been perfectly polite from the moment she’d gotten here, but I still didn’t trust her. I doubted I’d ever completely trust her again. Still, she appeared to be making an effort at least.

“Well, do you feel more like a princess, a cheetah, or a ninja?” Keli asked.

Evanne screwed up her face in thought. “I feel more like an ogre.”

“No surprise there.” I chuckled. “Do you have an ogre costume?”

“No, but I can make mud and roll around in it. Then I’d look like an ogre no matter what I wear.” Her eyes went wide, her face lighting up. “I could roll in mud andthenwear the princess dress. I’d be Fiona fromShrek!”

I saw then that I needed to step in before Evanne acted on her idea and decided to go find or make mud. I loved her creativity, but there was a better way to prevent the enormous mess that particular costume would bring about.

“Mo chride, perhaps save that for next year. Then we can find appropriate makeup rather than rolling about in the mud.” An idea came to me, and I said it before I could second guess myself. “If you want to combine costumes, you could add the princess tiara to the cheetah costume and be a cheetah princess.”

Both Keli and Evanne stared at me, and I wondered if I’d made a father faux pa or if my suggestion was too far-fetched.

Then Evanne squealed and dove at me.

“That’s perfect! Thank you!” She wiggled out of my embrace and ran for her room, shouting over her shoulder, “Come on, Mom! I need help with the makeup!”

Keli stood, but before she went, she said, “I know you sometimes worry about not being a good father, but that right there, that was great dad stuff.”

Despite the issues between the two of us, I appreciated the reassurance and gave her a smile as she followed after Evanne. I stayed where I was. The idea might have been mine, but when it came to prep, anything more than buying a costume was beyond my skills. I’d leave that to Keli.

My doorbell rang, and I stood. It still was early for trick-or-treat, but I wouldn’t turn any kids away. The years I’d worked on Halloween, I’d had my assistant, Tuesday, come to the house and hand out candy. She always joked that I preferred that to having to clean egg off my house or toilet paper off my trees, but we both knew it was more about the McCrae name. I didn’t want my house or my family to be associated with a cold, rich miser who ignored his community. Having candy for kids once a year was a small thing.

Those were the thoughts going through my mind as I picked up the bowl of candy that sat next to the entrance and opened the door. My mind was so fixed on trick-or-treaters that it took me a moment to realize that it wasn’t a kid standing in front of me.

“Lumen. You’re here.” I felt like an idiot stating the obvious that way, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Can I come in?”

“Of course, please.” I stepped to the side, and as she passed by me, I saw what I’d missed in my surprise before.

She looked like she’d been through, as the saying went, hell. Dark circles under her eyes. A pinched look to her face. Her hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail, and her clothes were rumpled, as if she’d slept in them.

“Are you all right, lass?” I closed the door and waited for her to lead the way to the living room. “Not that I’m unhappy to see you, mind you. I’ve missed you.”

I surprised myself with the admission, not because it was untrue, but because I’d offered it so quickly. If it surprised Lumen, however, it didn’t show. She stopped just a few steps past me and turned around.

“Evanne will be happy–”

“I need to talk to your brother Eoin.”

“–to see you.” I finished the sentence even as my brain was processing what she’d said. “What?”

“I need to speak to Eoin,” she repeated, her gaze everywhere but on me. “I didn’t know if he was staying here or if you could tell me where he is. A phone number would work too.”

I felt as if she was speaking a foreign language, as if I didn’t have the ability to understand the actual words she was using. She wouldn’t have come all the way here, after the way things had gone the last time we’d talked, only to ask about my brother. Nothing about Evanne. Nothing about what had happened between us. Just statements declaring her only interest here was Eoin.

When I didn’t say anything right away, she crossed her arms and fixed her gaze on the floor, but didn’t say a word. That annoyed me almost as much as what she wanted. I’d just told her that I missed her, and she hadn’t responded. Aside from it being a blow to my pride, it proved that I had been right about her priorities.

“I think if Eoin wanted you to get in touch with him, he would have provided you with a number himself.”

That earned me a glare. “What, exactly, are you accusing me of, Alec?

I responded to her question with one of my own. “Why do you want to speak to my brother?”