Hold Me (Fool's Gold #16)(32)

“She needs to know she’ll always have a place with you.”

Destiny nodded slowly. “I know. But I haven’t figured out how to make that work yet. My job requires me to travel all the time. I can make sure I have an assignment that covers most of the summer months, but then I’ll be moving on.”

“Which makes boarding school practical,” he said. “Does she like it?”

“She hasn’t really said. You’re right. We need to talk more so she can feel safe. The whole conversation about Carter really threw me.”

“I’m sure they’re just friends.”

“That’s what she said. Six weeks ago I barely knew who she was. Now this. It’s too much.”

Instinctively, he pulled her close. She went easily into his arms and hung on to him.

They fit well together. He breathed in the scent of her hair and enjoyed the warmth of her body. When she stepped back, he let her go.

He knew not to read too much into her willingness to get close. She was hurting, and he was an available shoulder. But he found he liked being Destiny’s shoulder to lean on, at least for the moment. Because like her, he was always moving on. Emotionally if not physically.

“Making friends with people her own age is the best thing for her right now,” he said. “So she can feel like she belongs.”

Destiny nodded. “She did seem really happy yesterday when she came home from camp.”

“One of my partners has a daughter about her age. Why don’t I call Ethan and see if we can set something up for Starr and Abby the night of The Man Cave opening? The girls can go to a movie and hang out. You can come with me. You’ll both have fun, and being away from the situation at home will give you both perspective.”

She gave him a smile. “Always with the fixing.”

“But you’ll admit it’s a good idea?”

She paused for a second, then nodded. “It’s a very good idea.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

DESTINY SAT IN the living room and waited for Starr to get home from camp. She’d been doing a lot of thinking about what had gone wrong between them. Talking to Kipling had really helped. She appreciated how nice he’d been about the whole thing. She tried to remember the last time she’d had someone to lean on, however briefly, and couldn’t think of when it had happened. Because she didn’t have friends, she realized. Her friendships were of the brief, temporary kind.

There were probably a lot of good reasons. She was always leaving for the next assignment. So why get too involved? And while that was a great idea in theory, in practice it meant she was always starting over, and she had no real continuity in her life. Not emotionally. Not only was that not particularly healthy, it was also kind of lonely. Something she hadn’t seemed to notice until the blowup with Starr.

She hadn’t had anyone to call. No one to talk things over with. She could have phoned her mother, but wasn’t sure Lacey was the best person to give advice under the circumstances. Lacey loved her daughter and stayed in touch, but Destiny didn’t think her mother would want to be pulled into a situation involving her ex-husband and one of his mistresses’ children. As for her other half and step siblings—she barely knew some and hadn’t met the others.

Kipling had been an unexpected rock.

The front door opened, and Starr walked in. Unlike the previous night, she didn’t look the least bit enthused or happy. She glanced at Destiny then away. But instead of heading directly for her room, she sat on the sofa and stared at her hands.

“How was your day?” Destiny asked.

“Fine.”

“Still liking camp?”

Starr nodded.

Destiny wished for wisdom, but there wasn’t any. And despite Kipling’s great advice, she couldn’t imagine what Grandma Nell would say, mostly because she was too smart to ever get in this situation.

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” Destiny told her sister. “About what I said. I blew the whole thing with Carter out of proportion. I have my own worries and fears, and I shouldn’t project them on you.”

Starr raised her head. “You’re afraid of men?”

“No. Just of making a mistake. Of being swept away. And that doesn’t matter. I want to talk about you right now. Us. Starr, you’re my sister.”

“Your half sister. That’s how you always introduce me.”

Destiny felt her eyes widen. She wanted to protest, only she had a feeling that Starr was right.

“I’m sorry for that,” she said. “I won’t ever do it again. Because we’re sisters. Not half or three-quarters. Just sisters.”

The teen stared at her for a long time. “Okay.”

“This is a difficult situation for a lot of reasons, but mostly because we don’t know each other. I want that to change. I want you to be happy here. With me, I mean. We’ll be leaving Fool’s Gold when my assignment is finished.”

“Where will you go after that?”

“I don’t know.”

“You move around every couple of months?”

Destiny nodded. “I can try to be in one place for the summer, but other than that, my job means I’m always somewhere new.”

“That means boarding school for me.” Starr studied her hands again. “I guess that’s how it’s going to be.”