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“Mother, she only got here yesterday. I haven’t spent much time with her. Besides, you’re the one who made me go through with the service, saying that Suki needed a nanny. Another female.”
“And do you disagree?”
“No, I don’t. I just don’t see why you feel it is so necessary. She has you.”
“Kael, I can’t always be there, and with what she’s learning? It’s way beyond what I can help with. This Sarah seems qualified from what the agency had said.”
“She is.”
“Then what’s the issue?”
Kael looked at his mother, confused and unsure of where the harshness in her tone was coming from. “What issue? It’s been less than one day, and things are …”
“Fine. I know. But I also saw how it looked yesterday with you three all together. I know you have a brisk military side, but you seem to be extra cold to this being who is only here to help you and your daughter on a foreign planet.”
Kael stared at his mother. He was used to her being blunt, but she seemed to be on a mission now. “I don’t have time for this today.” He pushed himself away from the counter he was leaning on.
“Don’t you disregard my concerns.” Her tone was threatening, one she used when Kael had been a young boy. He stopped in his tracks.
“I’m not disregarding them. I just don’t see your point.”
“My point,” her voice raised slightly, then went back to the quieter demeanor, “is that you need to pay attention to how you act around this woman. She doesn’t know you and is here on your behalf. While watching you yesterday, I can tell she’s uncomfortable around you.”
“Why is that my worry if she’s uncomfortable? Her comfort is her business, not mine.”
“You act as though you disapprove of her.”
“But I don’t,” Kael objected.
“Listen, honey.” She stood and walked over to look her son in his golden eyes. Her hand rested on his shoulder, and she held his gaze to make sure he was paying attention, one of her many motherly techniques. “I know you have been in pain since Petal. I can’t imagine how hard it is for you to lose your mate like that and be left to raise Suki all on your own. But you can’t shut off your emotions forever.”
Kael took a step back. “I haven’t shut myself off.”
“Yes, honey. You have. Even with Suki. You can’t forget that that little girl lost someone, too, and needs you more than ever to show her it will be okay.”
“That’s exactly what I have been doing,” he defended himself.
“But Suki isn’t one of your men that you lead. She’s your daughter, and Drakonian or not, she needs her father and to know it’s okay to miss her mother.”
Kael knew she was right. He hadn’t thought that he’d changed when it came to interacting with his daughter, but the truth was that he didn’t know how to have a relationship with Suki without Petal. His mate helped him be a good parent. And looking at Suki just made him think of Petal and all the memories they would never make. It wasn’t fair to hold that against a nine-year-old.
His shoulders slumped slightly in defeat. “I don’t know how,” he finally admitted.
His mother set her mug down. She grabbed her bag and headed toward the door. Before leaving, she turned. “You start by watching how your nanny interacts with Suki and how much lighter your daughter seems now that she’s here. Take notes. And Kael?”
“Yes?”
“Pay attention to how you present yourself to the nanny and Suki. Keep the coldness and pissy attitude for your officers. Don't scare her off.”
The door shut behind her, leaving Kael standing alone in his kitchen. His mother had a point. He needed to face reality.
Suki deserved better. Kael owed that to his mate and daughter. His mother was right. It was past time Kael got his personal life together.
FOUR
SARAH
Sarah awoke in her own chamber as dawn crested over the horizon. She was normally a person who rose on her own, as her nanny hours were often inconsistent. But the Drakonians didn’t work like that. Not only was the sun a blazing shade of canary yellow, but it was forced to spill over her face as curtains shot up with a crashing, metallic smack.
