Page 80 of An Orphan for the Broken Duke

“Well, this is a rather pleasant sight.”

Rhys snapped his head up, and he started when he saw Rose standing in the doorway.

“Rose!” Lucy cried out with joy. She then tried to climb down from Rhys’ lap.

“Careful…” Rhys wrapped her in his arms and lifted her up, then he gently placed her on the ground. As soon as her feet touched the ground, Lucy scrambled across the morning room, her arms held wide.

“Oh, look who it is.” Rose bent down and lifted Lucy into the air. “My, oh my, you have gotten so big!”

Lucy giggled.

Rhys stayed where he was as he watched Rose hug Lucy, and as he watched Lucy adore Rose. The last time he had seen them together, it brought on feelings of jealousy because he wanted what they had. But now… well, he felt happy for Lucy, that she was able to feel such joy.

As for how he felt concerning Rose…

“What are you doing here, Rose?” he asked, not meaning to sound as if he was accusing her, even if it came out that way.

Rose tore her gaze from Lucy and looked at Rhys. “There were a few more items I needed to collect.”

“Is that so?” He scoffed.

Rhys felt mixed reactions upon seeing Rose.

He had spent all week doing his best not to think about Violet, which was easy to do because he was so focused on Lucy. Now that Rose was there, however, she brought to the fore emotions and feelings of loss that he could have done without.

Rhys still missed Violet. Oh, how he wished that he did not. How easy it might have been if he had moved on. But if this last week had taught him anything, it was that he was capable of love. What was more, it taught him that he need not fear feeling that way.

Did she miss him too? Is that why Rose was there? To ask about Violet… to pretend that he did not care either way? Rhys knew not what to do, and he hoped that Rose might provide some answer for him.

Rose grinned. “Well… to be truthful, I did have another motive for coming to visit you.”

“I suspected as much.” Rhys’ chest grew tight with anticipation.

“How are things here?” Rose started as she put Lucy back on the ground. To Rhys’ delight, Lucy waddled towards him and he scooped her up as if he needed to prove something to Rose.

“They are going very well,” he said simply.

Rose’s smile was honest. “I can see that. I had worried that I might find this place in disarray but now I see…” Her smile grew as she watched Lucy snuggle into Rhys’ chest. “Now I see that I was wrong to think that. You really have taken to fatherhood.”

“I have,” Rhys said.

She watched him and Lucy together for a moment longer; her brow furrowed in thought and Rhys braced for what he knew was coming.

“I think that you should pay a visit to Violet and me sometime soon,” she said.

Rhys withheld the urge to wince. “And why would I do that?”

“Many reasons,” Rose said. “And I am not going to guess at how you’re feeling but I know that Violet wants to see you. And before you say anything else, I am not suggesting that she wishes to return, or that you want such a thing.” She raised an eyebrow as if for an answer.

Rhys hesitated…

Did he want Violet back? He knew that he did. While things had been so good between him and Lucy this past week, he knew that they would be even better with Violet here.

What he did not want was to beg her… to force her to return. He had changed so much, and he knew that if she saw him now, she would realize that. But he did not want that to be the reason that she came back, as if she was only doing it because she thought that they could finally get along. He wanted her to want to return to him and Lucy, to understand that it was not an obligation but something that she needed.

“Does Violet wish to return?” he asked carefully.

Rose shrugged. “She has not said as much.”