Chapter 22 #2
“It’s good to see you up and moving,” Ronan said, crouching to pet Diver as the puppy came barreling over to him. “How’re you both feeling this morning?”
Etta got up from the table, grabbed a plate from the counter, and put it down in front of an empty chair. “Cressida made breakfast, so I’d say she’s feeling a lot better.”
Cressida laughed and nodded, finishing her food and starting to clean the dishes before Etta swatted her out of the way. “I’m perfectly fine with doing the dishes, and I feel better than I did yesterday, even if I don’t feel entirely well yet.”
“Which means that you’re going to sit down and get more rest while I do the dishes.”
Ronan sat down with his plate of food while Cressida sat beside him. Etta placed a cup of tea in front of Cressida, nodding to it without a word.
Rolling her eyes playfully, Cressida started drinking her tea before looking at Ronan. “Thank you for all your care yesterday. You really don’t have to stay here, though. You could go back home.”
“I could, but I like being here.”
He swallowed hard, the taste of the eggs and bacon turning vile in his mouth.
He hadn’t told Tobin the entire truth about his past, leaving out as many details as he could.
He hadn’t told Tobin that he would be leaving either, though the thought had been playing in the back of his mind since the moment he arrived in town.
Now that feeling was cemented.
As he watched Cressida sip her tea, the sunlight streaming through the window and making the paler strands in her hair shine, all he could do was think about what would happen if Ambrose’s men came for him. If they found Cressida instead.
He swallowed hard. He couldn’t let that happen, and he knew it. This would be the last day he would spend with them, and then he would go.
Even though he was sure leaving Cressida would feel like ripping his heart out of his chest.
Cressida sighed and leaned back in her chair, dark circles still beneath her eyes. “I should go out and collect the eggs.”
“I can manage that,” Etta said, glaring at Cressida over her shoulder. “I mean what I said about taking it slow and getting some rest today.”
“I can go out and collect some eggs.”
“Sure, you could.” Etta dried off her hands, flicking the water from them into the sink before grabbing a towel. “But I’m already on my way out the door to collect the eggs, which leaves you no choice but to stay in here and entertain our guest.”
Ronan coughed, covering a laugh before finishing off his breakfast, while Etta scurried out of the kitchen, the door slamming shut behind her.
Cressida rolled her eyes. “She’s going to hurt herself if she keeps pushing herself too hard.”
“She’s fine. You don’t give her enough credit for all that she’s capable of.” Ronan leaned back in his chair, glancing out the window and seeing Etta stepping into the chicken pen, though he doubted she would have the problems he’d had with the chickens escaping.
“I know she’s fine, and I’m trying to relax more. If there’s anything this has taught me, it’s how much I hover.” Cressida laughed, but there was still a hint of trouble etched into her face.
“You care about your sister, and there’s nothing wrong with that,” Ronan said, crossing his arms and looking for any sign of the fever still on her face. “But you do tend to take it a little too far. It’s good that you’re starting to realize that now, though.”
“I know. I’m still worried that I might step back too far, though, and then there’s going to be a time she needs me, and I’m not there. And it scares me more than anything else. I want to be there for her all the time.”
“People need room to grow.” Ronan stretched from one side to the other slightly, his back still a little stiff. “You’re a good sister, but you need to give her that room.”
Cressida smiled, eyeing him over the rim of her teacup. “I like that you’re not afraid to tell me the truth,” she said, putting the cup down. “When I was married, my husband—as good a man as he was—was the kind who liked to placate people instead of telling them what they needed to hear.”
“There are times when I think I might be too blunt. Not a lot of people like to hear things that they’ve been avoiding telling themselves, but it comes with being in the line of work I was in.
” Ronan looked away from her, clearing his throat and wanting to change the subject before they could talk more about his life.
He might be willing to lie to a lot of people about who he was and the things he had done, but he couldn’t lie to her. Cressida was the one person in the world he wanted to let in, to allow her to know him and everything he was—the good and the bad parts.
“How’re you truly feeling?” he asked, suspecting that she might not have been telling the entire truth with Etta around.
“I feel like I could spend the entire day sleeping. The fever feels like it sucked the life out of me, and only sleep is going to bring it back, but if I go back to bed now, Etta is going to worry more.”