when I come visit. And I will come. We had good years here, me and your da. I want what came from us to have good years here as well.”
She patted his hand. “Look out there, Hugh.” She laughed as she saw Cate do a handspring. “That’s the future out there, and I’m so grateful I had a part in making it.”
While Cate did handsprings to entertain two of her younger cousins, her parents argued in their guest suite.
Charlotte, her hair swept back in a chignon for the occasion, paced the hardwood, her Louboutins clicking like impatient fingersnaps.
The raw energy pumping from her had once enthralled Aidan. Now it just made him tired.
“I want to get out of here, Aidan, for God’s sake.”
“And we will, tomorrow afternoon, as planned.”
She whirled on him, lips sulky, eyes sheened with angry tears. The soft winter light spilled through the wide glass doors at her back and haloed around her.
“I’ve had enough, can’t you understand? Can’t you see I’m on my last nerve? Why the hell do we have to have an idiotic family brunch tomorrow? We had the goddamn dinner last night, we had this whole endless deal today—not to mention the funeral. The endless funeral. How many more stories do I have to hear about the great Liam Sullivan?”
Once he’d thought she understood his thick, braided family ties, then he’d hoped she’d come to understand them. Now they both understood she just tolerated them.
Until she didn’t.
Weary to the bone, Aidan sat, gave himself a minute to stretch out his long legs. He’d started to grow a beard for an upcoming role. It itched and annoyed him.
He hated that, at the moment, he felt exactly the same about his wife.
The rough spots in their marriage had smoothed out recently. Now it seemed they’d hit another bumpy patch. “It’s important to my grandmother, Charlotte, to my father, to me, to the family.”
“Your family’s swallowing me whole, Aidan.”
She did a heel turn, her hands flying out. So much drama, he thought, over a few more hours.
“It’s just one more night, and there’ll only be a handful of us left by dinner. We’ll be home this time tomorrow. We still have guests, Charlotte. We should be downstairs right now.”
“Then let your grandmother deal with them. Your father. You. Why can’t I take the plane and go home?”
“Because it’s my father’s plane, and you, Caitlyn, and I will fly home with him and Lily tomorrow. For now, we’re a united front.”
“If we had our own plane, I wouldn’t have to wait.”
He could feel the headache growing behind his eyes. “Do we really need to go there? And now?”
She shrugged. “Nobody would miss me.”
He tried another tack, smiled. He knew, from experience, his wife reacted better to the sweet than the stern. “I would.”
And on a sigh, she smiled back.
She had a smile, he thought, that just stopped a man’s heart.
“I’m being such a pain in the ass.”
“Yeah, but you’re my pain in the ass.”
On a quick laugh, she walked over, cuddled on his lap. “I’m sorry, baby. Almost sorry. Sort of sorry. You know I’ve never liked it up here. It feels so isolated it makes me claustrophobic. And I know that doesn’t make sense.”
He knew better than to stroke that shining blond hair after she’d had it styled, so he lightly kissed her temple instead. “I get it, but we’ll be home tomorrow. I need you to stick just one more night, for my grandmother, my dad. For me.”
After letting out a hiss, she poked his shoulder, then offered him her signature pout. Full coral lips, sulky and soft crystal-blue eyes dramatically lashed. “I better get points. Big points.”
“How about a long weekend in Cabo points?”
On a gasp, she grabbed his face with her hands. “You mean it?”
“I’ve got a couple weeks before I start production.” So saying, he rubbed a hand over his scruff. “Let’s say we hit the beach for a few days. Cate’ll love it.”
“She has school, Aidan.”
“We’ll take her tutor.”
“How about this?” Now she circled her arms around him, pressed her body, still in mourning black, against his. “Cate has a long weekend with Hugh and Lily, which she’d love. And you and I have a few days in Cabo.” She kissed him. “Just us. I’d love some just us, baby. Don’t you think we need some just us?”
She was probably right—the smooth patches needed tending as much as the rough. While he hated leaving Cate, she was probably right. “I can