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“You aren’t going to hold that against her?” I leaned forward, resting my forearms on my knees.
His glare was lethal. “Of course not.” He relaxed, slinging an arm around Vivian. “She’s just never done anything like that before.”
“I’m guessing you haven’t kept a murder confession from her before either.”
He shot me an unimpressed look. “I’m doing what I have to do.”
I hung my head to collect my thoughts before I lifted it again. “I’ve got a brother and a sister. Both pains in my ass.” I couldn’t help but smile at that. “We’ve done more stupid shit to each other than I care to admit. But in the end, we always worked it out.”
“How? I’m an only child.” Daniel ran a hand through his hair.
“Me too,” Vivian volunteered.
“Mitch and I beat the hell out of each other. Mulaney beat the hell out of me because I couldn’t hit a girl back. Or my grandmama threatened us, somebody said they were sorry, and we got over it.”
Every family wasn’t like ours. There was some stuff that was unforgivable. Fortunately, I hadn’t experienced that yet and prayed to God I never would.
“She’s been irritated with me before, but this is different. She—” He gripped his thighs, at a loss.
“Sorry’s a good place to start.”
“I apologized,” he argued.
I pressed my lips together. “Not exactly.”
“The hell I didn’t. I told her I didn’t want to hurt her, and she went ballistic.” He shot from the sofa and paced in front of the fireplace.
“Give her a minute to cool off and then actually say the words. ‘I’m sorry’.” I spoke slowly to emphasize them. “Practice with Vivian if you have to.”
Daniel balled his fists at his sides.
“I could stand to hear it again,” she said with a shrug.
“The problem is going to be building back the trust you broke.” I leaned back in my seat.
He stalked over to the windows. Kept his rigid back to both of us.
I stood, exhausted. “I’m gonna take off.”
Vivian leapt off the couch and threw her arms around my neck. “I’m so glad you’re back.”
I squeezed her. Damn, I needed a hug more than I realized.
She jerked back. “I completely forgot to ask. How’d the date go?”
“Hell if I know. I thought it was decent, but the way she just asked me to leave, I don’t think I made any progress.”
She patted my face. “Keep working at it.”
“Yeah.” I hugged her again. “Let me know what’s going on,” I said, raising my voice loud enough for Daniel to hear.
He didn’t respond, and I kissed Vivian’s cheek before I let myself out. As I waited for the elevator, the theme fromDallasstarted playing in my pocket. I cursed my sister for messing with my phone, even though I was the one who hadn’t changed it in six months.
“Hey, Granddaddy.”
“Hey, son. Is this a bad time?”
“Nah. How is everybody?”
