Page 61 of Broken Vows

I laugh. “No. It’s my neighbor’s little brother. All his clothes were too small, so I took him shopping.”

“With your card?”

“I was reimbursed.”

“Alright. As long as no one stole it.”

“I’ll pay you back.”

“It’s fine,” he says firmly. “I won’t have it.”

The familiar guilt tugs at me anyway.

Finn takes a long breath. “Dad’s been…strange lately.”

“Strange how?”

“One of the cleaners broke that vase you got in Versailles. He went mad.”

“I hope he wasn’t too hard on them.”

“He said you’d be upset.” Finn pauses. “When you come back.”

For a moment, I don’t answer.

Maverick hasn’t said a word to me since I left. He didn’t ask me to stay. He didn’t fight for me. He just stood there with that cold expression and said, If that’s what you want, as if my leaving was nothing more than another inconvenience he didn’t have time to deal with.

Then he listed all the reasons I was foolish to go. I was too old. Too difficult. No one else would want me.

I didn’t take any of it in. I knew he was only trying to hurt me.

But now he thinks I’m coming back?

Maybe Finn misheard him.

“You’ve heard about Grace?” I ask, changing the subject.

“Yeah. She called me.”

“Have you told your father?”

“Not yet.” He sounds tired now. “I’m waiting for the right time. There’s this competitor taking low blows at us in the press, and Dad’s already in a mood about it.”

“Low blows?”

“She’s a real piece of work. Smiles for a camera and pretends she’s only concerned about ethics while casually implying we’re poisoning children.”

I go still.

“We’re not,” he adds quickly. “Obviously. But she knows exactly what she’s doing, and it’s working. So it’s not a great time. But I’ll tell him.”

The line goes quiet for a moment.

There’s always something with Maverick. Some crisis. Some mood. Some carefully timed reason everyone else has to wait.

I look toward the dark window, where the reflection of my living room hovers on the glass.

“Are you going to visit me soon?” I ask. “It’s been a long time.”