19. Daphne
Chapter Nineteen
DAPHNE
“Flynn! I told you I was at Sara’s. I wasn’t with Jonathon.” Cat spun around with an irritated huff and stalked out of the kitchen.
I kept busy at the counter, where I was adding spices to a dip.
Nora’s dry reply reached my ears. “You know she gets upset when you don’t just check before giving her a hard time about something.”
I didn’t even need to look to know that Flynn most likely threw a withering glare in Nora’s direction. “I know. I’ll go call Sara’s mom now. Parenting a sixteen-year-old isn’t exactly easy,” he muttered.
He walked away, going through the door that led into the private area where he and Cat lived. I looked up to see Nora looking worried where she stood by the table. She glanced up just as I did, meeting my eyes. “Those two.” She gestured to where Flynn had just disappeared.
I shrugged lightly. “It’s not easy being a teenager. I can’t imagine it’s easy for Flynn to be in charge since he’s her brother.”
Nora crossed the kitchen, sliding her hips onto a stool on the other side of the counter. “No, it’s not. Flynn didn’t sign up for this.”
“I don’t sense that he resents the responsibility at all,” I offered. “Even people who did sign up to be parents don’t usually enjoy dealing with their teenagers.”
“Of course not. I just wish Flynn didn’t work so much. It only adds to his stress.”
I nodded and turned to check on something in the oven. I had a million and one questions about Flynn, but assuaging my curiosity by asking them would only create curiosity about why I was so curious. There was way too much curiosity going on.
“Flynn and Cat will be fine,” I commented as I turned back to snag a baking pan. Setting it on the counter, I began to spoon the red pepper spinach dip into the pan.
“I know they’ll be okay. Cat adores him. It’s been good to have you here. Aside from the food, which is awesome by the way, Cat really likes you,” Nora said.
I smiled. “I like her too. She’s so funny. She wants nothing more than to fly planes like Flynn and Grant.”
“I know. She also wants to have more freedom than Flynn gives her.”
“Shocking,” I returned dryly.
“She also wants to join the Air Force like Flynn. Needless to say, Flynn is totally against it. They’ve been arguing about it off and on for the past year.”
My heart squeezed for both Cat and Flynn. “I can see why Cat would want to do what he did. But I can see why Flynn would be worried.”
Nora nodded. “I get it too, so for now, I’m staying out of it. Plus, Flynn’s just cranky lately. I wish he would find someone to lighten him up. But he refuses to consider it. He doesn’t believe in love because of our mother and her shitty luck with men.”
Okay, now my million and one questions ballooned to two million questions about Flynn. Saving me from my curiosity, Flynn opened the door at the back of the kitchen and came striding out with a dark expression. He said nothing to Nora and me as he strode by. Nora cast me a concerned look and pushed away from the counter to follow her brother.
A few minutes later, Cat came out. “Flynn’s being an asshole,” she announced.
I was putting dishes in the dishwasher and glanced over my shoulder. “He’s gone now, so no need to make a scene about it.”
“Ever since I forgot to tell him Jonathon would be at Sara’s party last weekend, we’ve argued three times. Will you talk to him for me?”
Startled, I lowered my hands and turned to face her. “Definitely not.”
“Daphne, please,” Cat implored.
“Cat, there’s no way I’m talking to your brother about this. It’s definitely what I would call a family matter.” I reached for a clean towel from the stack I kept on the counter beside the dishwasher.
“But Flynn likes you. He’ll listen,” Cat protested.
My mind flashed to exactly what we did on the kitchen counter a few nights prior. Since then, Flynn had reverted to his distant reserve with me and only called me princess once. I didn’t think what happened here in the kitchen—which I prayed to every God possible that Cat didn’t know about it—was what she meant about Flynn liking me.
“Hon,” I said as I crossed the kitchen to her. “I work here now, and Flynn has a habit of running his chefs off. I’d like to stay on good terms with him. I am absolutely positive trying to talk to him about anything you’re arguing with him about isn’t a good idea. Plus…” I paused and lifted a hand to lightly squeeze her shoulder. “You’re sixteen. You’re going to mess up in big ways and small ways. Just be patient.”
Cat’s blue eyes, so similar to Flynn’s with that smoky rim, scrunched up as she wrinkled her nose and let out a dramatic sigh. “Why does everyone tell me to be patient? It feels like it will be forever before I’ll be old enough to just do what I want.”
Nora happened to return to the kitchen at that moment. Cat swung in her direction. “Even Daphne won’t talk to Flynn.” At that, she stormed off.
I met Nora’s worried eyes and lifted my hands in the air before letting them fall. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to upset her more. I just told her I wouldn’t interfere between her and Flynn.”
Nora sighed. “If she’s gonna listen to anyone, it’s you. She adores you, you know?”
“She does?”
Nora smiled. “She asks to go to town with you every chance she gets. She loves having you here. She doesn’t warm up to people easily, so the fact that she wants to spend any time alone with you is a miracle. I think she sort of thinks of you like a mother.”
I absorbed that startling observation quietly. “Want some fresh coffee?” I asked when Nora leaned her elbows on the counter.
“Yes, please.”
Nora and I were sipping coffee a few minutes later when she commented, “It’s not like any of us had the greatest role models for parents. That’s why Cat looks up to you so much.”
I thought of my own appearance-obsessed parents. “What do you mean? Y’all are so close.”
Nora nodded. “We are. Our mom was great; it’s just she didn’t have good luck with men. Flynn’s father never stuck around. We’re close to Flynn now, but we weren’t when we were younger. He was too much older. Our dad was an asshole,” Nora said, her lips turning down. “He never stuck around, just came and went. He was really a jerk to Flynn because he hated that my mom had ever been with anybody else. Mind you, we probably have half siblings somewhere because that man couldn’t keep it in his pants.”
“Was he abusive?”
Nora drummed her fingertips on the table. “Not physically, if that’s what you mean. Definitely emotionally with our mother. He jerked her chain all the time. When she got sick, he could hardly be bothered to be there for her. She inherited this property from her parents when they passed away. Lo and behold, he showed up then. They had started this resort way back when but never quite finished it. The one thing he did was construction, so he did a lot of the work on this place. As far as us kids, he was just a big ball of couldn’t-be-bothered. With Flynn, he was kind of mean. Flynn had it out with him a few times before he died. Flynn is the closest thing any of us have to a father, but I’m not sure how he feels about being in that role. He’s intensely loyal and protective, so I think it’s been hard on him sometimes. He works his ass off for us. Cat looks up to him so much. That’s why she wants to join the Air Force. She doesn’t understand it worries him. If you didn’t catch this detail yet, all the guys that fly here for us followed him here after they got out of the Air Force.”
“I figured that out. I noticed they’re all pretty tight.”
“I just wish Flynn would let somebody take care of him the way he takes care of everybody else. Everybody comes before him.”