River looked straight at Raven. She swallowed back more tears. “Agreed.”
Once River broke down what their life was going to look like, not twenty-five years in the future, but day by day, week by week, and month by month. It gave her a semblance of peace.
Rowan, ever stoic Rowan, surprised Raven the most.
“A mistake was made tonight. A big one, and I believe it will eventually come to light. But know this sister mine, our parents are proud of us, Nan is proud of us, and I’m sure as fuck proud of us. Whatever we put our minds to will not only work but flourish. I’m ready for a new adventure.”
River whooped it up, and Raven even managed to laugh through her tears.
This hadn’t been the plan a few hours ago, but Rowan and River were right. No one, and nothing would break them.
20
“You’re sure this is what you want to do?”
Jo had spent the night with them, and all agreed that nothing of a serious nature would be discussed until this morning. River did make sure Jo understood that she and Rowan weren’t simply backing up Raven because they were sisters. Raven had done none of the things Bran had accused her of.
“I haven’t known you three for long, but I sure as fuck know that the load of bullshit someone fed Bran is just that. I had zero doubts last night and none today.”
Raven needed to hear Jo say that. Having someone besides a family member believe her was relieving.
“We aren’t rash when it comes to business, Jo. You’ll have to trust that we wouldn’t make this drastic change if we weren’tmostlysure of success,” Rowan explained.
“It’s a big change, I agree,” Raven admitted. “River’s already made a gazillion spreadsheets. Our chance of success is high.”
“So, would you mind breaking it down for me in a bit more detail. I support you guys, but I also don’t want to walk out of here worrying.”
“River, this is your brainchild.” Raven nodded to her sister to take the floor.
“I wish I’d had time to put a PowerPoint together, but I’ll muddle through. Oh, before I get into the good stuff, Raven, did you know you’ve been using my toiletry bag? You know I hate you using my makeup brushes.”
“They must have gotten swapped when Jo packed. I’ve had that same one for weeks. I checked the initials.” Mom had made the girls matching bags in her favorite French toile pattern. They had several pockets and special inside bags. The only difference is the initials.RSB.RAB.RCB. Raven Sorrel Byrne. River Aster Byrne. Rowan Clary Byrne. Mom and Dad wanted their children’s names to be unique and meaningful. The first names honor the family’s Native American heritage, and the middle names were all flowers native to Ireland. Mom’s name was Lily. Always connected.
“The stitching is worn. No matter, I just noticed a couple things I don’t usually use. Maybe we accidentally swapped them when we used the same bathroom to change. I put it in your bathroom before I came down and grabbed mine.”
“Thanks. We really should get different colored bags, but I can’t bear not to use the ones Mom made. Did you take my birth control out of your bag before you made the switch?” That’s all Raven needed, to screw her periods up and deal with hormone imbalance for days.
River gave her a weird look, a slight thinking frown. “I’ll make sure after the meeting.”
Raven smiled. Her face was still swollen from crying and the extreme stress of the night before. She felt as though she were wearing her body, but not...heranymore. Time. She just needed time. And distance.
“Okay, so I’m getting ready to puke a plan all over your lap. Try to hold comments, questions, or suggestions until the end.”
Jo nodded, very used to Riverisms.
“First, because we’re damn good designers, we already have detailed notes of the bulk of what we committed to for the Wolves project. What has been ordered and what needs to be ordered. The vendors we have already vetted and approved included.
If we work from the moment we’re done with this meeting, possibly into tomorrow morning, as some of us are psycho about detail...” She glanced at Rowan. Her peaceful expression remained unfazed. “We’ll have our part of the promised design work complete.
“We realize you may have to hire another firm to finish the project, and though we hate the headache this may cause you and James, we are more than confident with what we’re providing, which will include renderings, etc., making hiring anyone else, hopefully, redundant.
We are also signing a document that makes it clear, very clear, that we will accept no payment for this job. Not for hours of research, shopping vendors, work completed, or the files and notes we will turn over to you by tomorrow.”
Jo tried to interrupt at this point. They knew she would balk.
River held her hand up to stop any interruptions. “No payment is an absolute, nonnegotiable, ironclad footnote to this plan, Jo. We will not accept one— single— cent from the O’Faolains. I don’t know how Hugh or Pat feel, but we know how Bran feels.”
River jerked her head to Raven when she heard a small gasp. “I’m sorry. I should have worded that more kindly.” She bit her lip in remorse.
