“She realized I’d become … involved in the, um,family business.”
“Ah.” Understanding seemed to dawn on her.
“Yeah.”
Addy fell silent for a moment, and I could practically hear her thinking. “I’m guessing she didn’t like that.”
“Mom never wanted this kind of life for me,” I said simply.
She hummed. “Then what happened?”
“She stopped visiting. Cut contact.”
“Shestoppedvisiting?” Disbelief, and dare I say it, even outrage, dripped from every syllable.
Despite the familiar twinge of pain, a smile tugged at my lips. “Yeah. I haven’t seen her in five years.” I blew out a breath. “Honestly, I’m not even sure where she is now.”
Addy was quiet for a few seconds. “Must have sucked.”
I huffed a quiet breath that might have been a laugh. “It was … not ideal.”
“That’s the most manly way I’ve ever heard of describing emotional trauma.”
I felt my mouth twitch again.
Addy shifted slightly, curling a little closer against me. Her fingers continued to drift absentmindedly along my ribs, and the quiet hum of the water outside filled the spaces between our breaths.
I already knew her father was dead but she hadn’t mentioned anyone else.
Something I absolutelyhadnoticed. I noticed most things about her.
Eventually, I broached the subject. “You never talk about the rest of your family.”
Her fingers paused for a moment against my ribs. Then they resumed tracing, but more slowly.
“There’s not much to talk about.” Her tone was light and breezy.
That answer didn’t satisfy me in the slightest.
“There’s always something to talk about.”
A strange mix of emotions swirled through me: curiosity, persistence and possessiveness.
“You’re very nosy,” she informed me.
“I’mthorough.”
Addy sighed, but it was more the reluctant acceptance of someone who knew she had already started answering the question in her head than any real resistance.
“My mom moved to England after my dad died.”
I frowned slightly. “England.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s kind of far away.”
“That’s where my grandmother — her mother — is from. When Dad died, she … well, Mom said she couldn’t stay,” Addy said, her voice softening. “Too many reminders.”