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Daphne waved a hand and sank down opposite me, her own cup of coffee in her fist. “So how’s the organization going?”
“It’s very good, high stress right now, but we’re growing and expanding,” I said. “This business deal I’m about to sign with Rhys Cardiff once Clara is officially engaged will pay for the new training base.”
“I wish I could go out there,” said Daphne wistfully. “Just to see it.”
Ophelia sent her a sharp look. “You’re retired, love.”
“I know, I am.”
I shifted in my chair, turning to face Daphne fully. “Ophelia will kill me, but a spot as a teacher at the base here is always open for you. You know they still call you a kingmaker.”
She laughed and waved a hand airily.
“I made one king and that’s enough for me,” she said.
It felt good to just sit in their kitchen. We bickered good-naturedly back and forth for a bit and had a few more cups of coffee between the three of us. I told them more about Clara and Osian, but they didn’t seem very happy about the match.
After a while, I pushed back my chair and stood. “I need to be getting back. Clara is probably home and she’ll want to have dinner together.”
Ophelia was loading the dishwasher and she glanced up casually.
“It’s sweet you two spend so much time together,” she said.
“We’re good friends,” I said. “I like her company.”
She exchanged that look with her wife again, the annoying one that let me know I was out of the loop. Daphne got to her feet, moving slower than she had the last time I’d visited.
It was hard to see them age. A part of me had hoped they’d never get old, never have to leave me.
“Let me get some jam for Clara,” Ophelia said. “I just picked the blackberries in the south field and made so much jam I don’t know what to do with it all. I know you won’t eat it, but she will.”
I ignored the side of guilt she served that statement with—it was out of love and I appreciated it.
Ophelia disappeared down the cellar stairs with a basket and I stepped out onto the porch. Daphne joined me, passing me a cigarette. She made her own, rolled them herself. I accepted it and we smoked in silence for a long moment. Looking out over the rolling fields and woods in the distance.
“You’re looking for something,” Daphne observed.
Her dark eyes roved over my face and I felt naked. She was sharp as a razor and could read complete strangers like a book. Despite my best efforts, I’d never been able to conceal my thoughts from her piercing gaze.
“Can I tell you something?” I said softly.
“Anything.”
“It’s…a bit embarrassing,” I said, keeping my eyes on the horizon.
She narrowed her eyes and released a stream of smoke. But she didn’t speak and I was grateful for that. Daphne had never judged me, no matter how many times I’d screwed up.
And I’d screwed up a lot.
“Clara’s birthday party was last week. Osian Cardiff was there and we were wearing the same watch. At one point in the night, I came up behind her to get my drink and she did something to me, thinking I was Osian.”
Her brows drew together.
“She…ground on me. I disappeared before she could turn around so she doesn’t know it was me.”
Daphne shrugged once, her brow arced. “It was a mistake, right?”
I nodded hard. “But I…um…I had a bit of a reaction to it.”
