Shattered Mirror (Eve Duncan #23)(19)

“Never.” He pulled her over on top of him. He kissed her, long, deep, hot. “Not in this lifetime or the next, Eve.”

*

“She is beautiful, isn’t she, Mama?” Michael was standing by her worktable gazing at the Sylvie reconstruction when she hurried out of the bedroom the next morning. Joe had let her sleep late, and she had only woke when she’d heard Michael’s voice in the hall. “I told you she would be.”

“Yes, I remember.” She came to stand beside him. “And you had remarkable judgment considering what I had to work with. It just goes to show you that if you work past the ugliness, you can usually find something special.”

“What happens now?”

“The photos I always take, so I can find where she belongs.”

“May I have one?”

“I don’t see why not. Why?”

“That way she’d kind of belong to me, too.” He reached out and touched Sylvie’s lips. “I think she wants to belong.”

Trust Michael to have sensed that same vulnerability of which Eve had been so poignantly aware. “I’ll make sure you get one.” She dropped a kiss on the top of his head. “Have you had your breakfast?”

He nodded, his gaze still on the reconstruction. “Dad made me pancakes.” His finger went up to the right eye. “Why did you put in the wrong eyes?”

“What?”

“It’s the wrong color. They should be blue.”

“Brown are more common.”

“They should be blue.” He turned, and his arms slid around her waist as he hugged her. “Make my photo with blue, okay?” Then he was running across the room to pick up his canvas bag from the couch. “Dad’s waiting in the car, I just ran back for my book bag. Bye, Mama.”

“Bye.”

She watched the front door slam behind him.

Then her gaze shifted again to Sylvie.

She should really keep the brown eyes. It was practical, and the odds were they were correct.

They’re wrong. They should be blue.

Oh, what the hell.

She went to the drawer in her desk and pulled out her eye case.

CARNEGIE RESIDENCE HALL NEW YORK CITY

“What the hell’s wrong? You’re too quiet, Cara.” Jock was frowning as he stopped at the bottom of the stairs in the reception room. “I don’t like it, dammit.”

“Maybe I’m tired.” She smiled with an effort. Lord, she’d tried to avoid this. But Jock was always conscious of her every mood. She’d hoped that Darcy would be able to join them again for dinner, but she’d had a voice lesson already scheduled. So Cara had been forced to face Jock by herself. Ridiculous to feel this strain after all the years of being together. But it seemed as if just trying to pretend an emotional change had not taken place was making it more acutely obvious that it had. It would be okay, she assured herself. She just needed a little more time to make the adjustment. “Or maybe you’re too sensitive. You’ve been on edge since you got here. I’ve only seen you for a few hours a day, and the rest of the time you’re running around with that man Stanton or on the phone.” She moistened her lips. “Maybe it’s good that I’m leaving for home day after tomorrow. It will give you time to decompress.”

“Not long.” His lips tightened. “Not if you’re set on going to New Orleans the week after. You haven’t given me your word that you’ll call Kaskov and cancel.”

“And I won’t. I still have a week to decide.” She shrugged. “And maybe you’ll be able to find a reason why I shouldn’t go in that time. I haven’t seen any sign yet that anything Stanton told you had anything to do with my grandfather.” She took her violin case from him and turned toward the stairs. “Until then, I’m not going to think of anything but being with Eve and Joe and Michael. I can’t tell you how I’m looking forward to it. It’s been a tough quarter for me.”

“And I didn’t make it any easier.”

“No, you didn’t,” she said. “But perhaps I didn’t react as reasonably as I should have done. I have to realize that you have a life that has nothing to do with me. I’ll try to do better.”

“What?” He was frowning again. “That’s pure bullshit. Since when have you ever been coolly reasonable? There’s nothing cool about you, Cara.”

“Then I can’t blame you for feeling that being around me is sort of overwhelming.” Everything she said appeared to be upsetting him, and that was the last thing she wanted. She was only trying desperately to give him his space so that he wouldn’t think he’d have to take it. She’d better get away from him before she completely blew it. She quickly started up the stairs. “Good night, Jock. Will I see you tomorrow?”

“You bet you will,” he said grimly. “I’ll be close as glue to you until I put you on your flight to Atlanta.”

“That’s nice, I’ll miss you when I’m at Eve’s.”

“Will you?” His gaze was narrowed on her. “Then why do I feel you’re trying to escape?”

She was ruining everything. She stopped on the steps and turned to smile at him. “Why would I do that? You’ve always been my best friend. You always will be.”