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“Nice day out at the Wildlife Center,” he remarked in a casual tone.
She nodded without looking at him. “Yes, it was.”
“Don’t you think we should talk?” Liam slightly raised his voice over the sound of the water from the sink.
“About what?” Ruby asked without turning around or shutting off the water. She continued to scrub the dishes.
“You’re still angry with me. I get that. But we have to extend each other an olive branch. Sooner or later Aidan will pick up on the tension between us.”
Ruby snapped her head in his direction. “That’s a cheap shot, throwing Aidan into the situation.”
“It happens to be the truth,” he said in a curt voice. “Don’t be so prickly about everything just because you’re upset with me.”
Ruby bristled. “I don’t like being angry. It doesn’t sit well with me.”
“I don’t like seeing you this way, either,” he admitted. “It’s not your way.”
She turned off the water and wiped her hands on a dish towel. “I’m not backing down from my stance,” she said. Her expression showed a fierceness he hadn’t seen since she had returned. It was classic Ruby.
“Neither am I,” he replied. “I’ve always done what’s best for our family. You may have been the professional at saving lives, but I’ve always served and protected our family.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “We can agree to disagree. Life’s too short to harbor grudges or carry around negative energy.”
“I agree. I know what it feels like to have the bottom fall out of my world in an instant. It feels silly to waste time being angry at each other.”
“Ditto,” she said.
She bowed her head. “But I’m still bent out of shape about the way you acted the other day. Not only toward me, but your father, as well.”
His father? There wasn’t time enough in the world for him to explain all the nuances of their fractured relationship. As a result, he looked like the bad guy in the situation.
“I’ve always regarded myself as your protector. Old habits die hard.”
“Being protective is one thing, but bossing me around is another. Something tells me you didn’t get away with that before the accident. Am I right?”
“You always gave as good as you got,” he admitted. “You’ve never been the backing down type.” They both laughed, which managed to ease the lingering tension a little bit.
“That’s good to know,” Ruby said.
“I’m sorry about what I said about you leaving Aidan motherless. It wasn’t right.” Just remembering his dig made his skin crawl. There had been some truth in his statement, but he’d known it would hurt Ruby to utter those words. That alone made him feel ashamed.
“Apology accepted,” she said with a nod. “I would never willingly hurt Aidan. And I have to live with the fact that the repercussions of my career
choices left him motherless for a time.” She quirked her mouth. “Honestly, I didn’t really need the reminder.”
“Losing you in a rescue mission...that was always my worst fear. Then it happened. And just the thought of what might happen if you go back to search and rescue makes me crazy.” He shuddered. “It plays on all those fears and the nightmare we’ve already lived through.”
Ruby nodded. “I get where you’re coming from, but it still isn’t something you can lecture me against doing. That’s not going to fly with me.”
Although Liam liked the way Ruby was standing up for herself in true Ruby fashion, he hated that she was sticking to her guns about the possibility of returning to her career. As far as he was concerned, it was a no-brainer. Hadn’t they decided Aidan’s needs came first? Why tempt fate? They had already been put through the ringer because of her job.
Rather than stir up the hornet’s nest any further, he needed to get a few things off his chest about his father. The topic of Gareth Prescott was one he usually avoided like the plague. But he needed Ruby to know where he was coming from so she didn’t write him off as a jerk.
“With regard to my father, the friction between us goes back a long time. Whether you realize it or not, he came here with an agenda, Ruby. And that is galling to me, considering he was MIA for the past two years. Not once did he ever call to check in on us. Not an email or a text or a letter. Not even a smoke signal.” He let out a harsh laugh. “And when Jasper had a heart attack, it barely registered with him.”
“I’m sorry, Liam. That sounds awful. Has it always been like this?” Ruby asked, her expression radiating compassion.
“Pretty much,” Liam admitted. Even though he had convinced himself over the years it no longer hurt, the piercing sensation near his stomach proved otherwise. Even as an adult, Gareth Prescott still managed to tie him up in knots.
