was serious.
She also didn’t know if she’d be enough for them. They had reverted in many ways, painful to see, since Conall left. Not entirely; she’d been right to encourage him to befriend them, but they were suffering in his absence.
She thought they would have been suffering more if he’d disappeared entirely. As it was, he emailed both every few days and had called a few times. They knew he still cared. Their voices sounded different when they were talking to him than any other time. If he’d wanted them, she would have let them go.
The first time he called had been bad. Her home phone didn’t have caller I.D., so she had no warning.
“Lia,” he’d said, and she would have sworn her heart had stopped.
It resumed, of course, because life did go on. Time passed whether you were happy or unhappy.
“Conall,” she had managed to say pleasantly. “Let me get the boys.” She set the phone down before he could say anything and hurried to call Walker and Brendan. Anxiety—or something else—tingled through her the entire time the boys excitedly talked to him. What she should have done was go out of earshot, but it didn’t even occur to her to do that. And somehow she wasn’t surprised when Brendan told her Conall wanted to talk to her now and she had to take the phone back.
“Is Bren really okay?” Conall asked without preamble.
“Yes, I think so. He doesn’t like to talk about what happened. The other day Walker asked what it looked like when a person got shot and Brendan got mad.”
“What did he say?”
“He wouldn’t tell Walker what it looked like.”
“I can’t imagine that anything is worse than watching their mother die inch by inch was.”
“No.”
“Lia…”
The way he said her name made her feel light-headed. It was what she thought of as his nighttime voice, low, husky, intimate. Tender.
She felt a sudden surge of rage that he would use that voice.
“Oh, gosh,” she exclaimed, “something is boiling over on the stove. But I’m glad you called. The boys loved hearing from you.”
But I didn’t. Which was self-deceit, of course.
She dodged his second call entirely, making an excuse to the boys about why she couldn’t come to the phone.
A week later, he called again and didn’t ask to speak to her.
Niall and Rowan had her and the boys over for a couple of casual gatherings, which helped. Jane called twice. Even Duncan came by one day, midmorning, driving his black SUV and dressed in a well-cut charcoal-gray suit.
“I was in the neighborhood,” he said with a shrug so casual it immediately made her suspicious.
“Were you.”
He studied her face for a moment, then flashed a grin so like Conall’s it made her heart squeeze. “Conall says you’re not talking to him. He wanted to be sure you were all right.”
“Exactly why is it he thinks I wouldn’t be?” Then her breath quickened. “This doesn’t have anything to do with the people next door, does it?”
Duncan smiled at her and said gently, “You know it doesn’t, Lia.”
Struck mute, she stared at him.
“You blindsided my brother. He’s having to work through it.”
She’d blind-sided Conall? “Sure I did.”
Duncan only smiled again, chatted about some community happenings, and departed. Lia was left wondering what he’d report to Conall. Was she all right?
Not really, but it would get better. It had to.
She was occupied filling out reams of questionnaires about why she wanted to adopt and why she thought she could provide the boys a superior home.
She’d also been browsing for job openings, but didn’t see anything that felt right until Rowan called to let her know the middle school psychologist had resigned unexpectedly.
“I thought of you,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s anything like you have in mind, but just in case…”
“It actually sounds interesting. I like kids that age.” Although she hadn’t worked in a school before, her graduate degree and experience working with kids might qualify her.
“I know you do.” Rowan laughed. “Just think. Brendan is only a year away from middle school.”
The realization took Lia aback. He seemed so young. But he was turning eleven in August and starting sixth grade this fall. Oh, heavens; almost a teenager.
She applied right away, liking the idea that her working schedule would be so similar to the boys’. Her days would be a little longer, but they could go to after-school care or simply walk over to the middle school and do their homework there while they waited for her.
Assuming, that is,