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I feel her gaze penetrating me as if she’s trying to see some crack in my façade. “Not other than to check on how she feels. What else are we supposed to talk about? I mean it’s still early, but she knows how I feel.”
Cat raises her eyes. “And how is that exactly?”
I push away from my desk in aggravation. “Like I’d do any fucking thing to make her happy. Like I’d move heaven and earth to give her and our child everything. This baby makes Grace family. It’s that simple. I really hope you don’t have a problem with that.”
Cat holds up her hands. “Not at all. I love Grace. I’m going to love her baby. Just wondering where you guys were on all of that.” She motions her hand as if there is something in front of her that she’s pointing at.
“All of what?”
Cat smiles. “The baby. The relationship. Living arrangements.”
“It’s been one damn day, Cat. I haven’t even seen her since Hayden fucking interrupted us last night.”
Cat’s eyes narrow. “Did he?”
I sigh. “Yeah. He called at the worst time.”
Cat shakes her head. “On second thought, don’t share that with me. I don’t want to know what you were doing when he interrupted.”
I smirk. “No, you definitely don’t. Anyway. I…” I exhale and shake my head. “I’m just trying to take it slow. I’m trying to let her lead.”
Cat smiles. “I hear that. And I understand, one hundred percent, but hear me out…” She shimmies her shoulders in excitement. “It’s Christmas in five days. We are all going to Bristol and Grace is going to be alone.”
“What do you mean she’s going to be alone? Isn’t Marion or Tessa around?”
“Nope,” she says popping her lips on the p. “Marion is in France, I think,” she says with a tap of her finger on her chin, “and Tessa is in Tahoe through the New Year.”
“Well, what the hell was her plan?”
Cat shrugs. “She doesn’t have a big family like us, Cash,” she says on a sigh. “I’m guessing she planned on relaxing in her apartment. But you can’t let her do that.”
“Well, no shit. Even if I didn’t care about her being lonely, which I do, I wouldn’t let her be alone after the hospital scare.”
Cat jumps up. “Good, I was hoping you’d say that. So it’s okay if I invite her to Bristol for the holiday?”
I lean back in my chair and laugh. “I see through you.”
She looks at me innocently. “Huh? What?”
“Hanson is coming, and you’re hoping Grace will distract me from fighting with your fiancé.”
Cat shakes her head. “Honestly, I don’t care what you guys do. I just don’t want Grace to be alone.” My sister who never gets emotional gets a glimmer of a tear in her eye, and she squeezes her nose, trying to control it. I stand up and walk around the desk, pulling her against me. “She’s just…she’s the first person who knew Mom, ya know. It feels…” she pushes for a breath to keep from crying. “It feels like Mom would want her there. Like Mom had a hand in all of this.”
I think of the picture I stole from the engagement party. The one of Grace kissing my mother’s belly. I couldn’t have said it better myself. I nod and pull Cat’s head against my shoulder, squeezing her tight. “You know you have me too, right? Always, Kit Cat.”
Cat lets out a tortured breath against my shoulder and in a muffled voice says, “I know that, Cash Money. But sometimes a girl needs a sister. Could you work on that for me?”
I stroke her hair and kiss her head. “I’m trying…believe me, I am trying.”
Cat allows herself a few more seconds of being hugged and swayed by me and then she pulls back and meets my gaze with a shaky lip. “So, we’re inviting her to Christmas, right?”
I smile. “Yeah, we’re inviting her to Christmas.”
“And we’re not taking no for an answer?”
I chuckle. “No, I’ll drag her out of there kicking and screaming…but Cat, I have a feeling she will willingly come knowing you want her there.”
I rub my knuckles against her cheek, and she smiles. “I think you underestimate how much she loves you, Cash.”
