She’d also bought her parents some ostentatious mansion.
“They need to learn to fend for themselves and not depend on you.”
“I know.”
“Then why do you sound so unhappy? You changed your mind about moving to Sanctuary with me?”
“What? No, of course not.” She grabbed hold of his hand. “I want to do that. More than anything. Guess it’s just ingrained in me to feel guilty, to feel like I owe them all something.”
“You don’t,” he growled. “Anyone owes someone, it’s them owing you for the way they’ve treated you all these years.”
He was right. Of course he was right.
“I’ll need to talk to them at some stage.”
“Why don’t you forget about all of that for a few hours? Turn off your phone. I have something for you. Got Dominic to pick it up this morning.”
“Ooh, what is it?”
“Something that might help you relax. And stop worrying.”
She clapped her hands. “Can I have it now?”
“No,” he replied. “You can have it after you eat your lunch.” He looked pointedly down at her sandwich.
She wrinkled her nose. “Not that hungry.”
“Five bites. Big bites. Then you can have your present.”
She sighed. That didn’t seem fair.
“We can sit here all day until you eat it, little bit.”
He wouldn’t! Oh yeah, from the firm look on his face it seemed like he would. With a sigh, she took as small a bite as she dared. The sandwich he’d made her was actually pretty good, so she ended up eating half of it before setting it down.
“Ready!”
He shook his head, but he gave her an indulgent smile. “All right. It’s in my room. Go wait in your bedroom and I’ll get it.” With a squeal, she jumped down and raced off to her bedroom, leaving her phone behind.
“No running,” he barked. “Or you’ll get a red bottom instead of your gift.”
Oops. Well, that wouldn’t do.
Two hours later, she stepped back, looking at her masterpiece. It was missing something. It seemed too small for the space.
Hmm.
She looked down at the window crayons Bain had bought her. He was right. This had given her the break she needed. Concentrating on her piece of art on the window had slowly driven out all thoughts of her awful family and Larry. Her mother would be horrified if she could see the mess she’d made on the window.
Ari just grinned.
She tapped her chin. What did it need, though? The huge window in her bedroom was now covered in a picture of someone sitting under a tree, playing a guitar. Of course, she was no great artist, so it was a pretty simple picture.
Which is why it needed to be…
“Bigger!” she squealed. “That’s it. I need to go up. I need something to stand on.”
Bain had left her about ten minutes ago when his phone started ringing. She hadn’t paid too much attention. She knew he wouldn’t be long. She didn’t want to leave to go find a ladder. She wasn’t even sure she owned a ladder.