“Of course I am. And here, aren’t I?”
“I wonder wherehereis.” She sighed again, and I heard the pain in her tone. She was worried about me.
Hell, I didn’t blame her, and yet I didn’t care. I wanted to care, but it was hard to do so, not when the numbness that I was so used to was settling in again. It had vanished briefly after everything that had happened with Archer. But there was no going back now—no changing this. So I ignored it. It’s what I was good at.
“Killian. You need to answer your phone.”
“The cell tower was out. It’s not like I purposely ignored you.”This time.
“I don’t like the idea that the phone was off and you couldn’t get a hold of anyone. What if there was an emergency? What if you fell off that roof that you’re building?”
This time my lips did quirk, the action stiff, different. If my sister only knew who had fallen off the roof.
“I’m fine, Ann. Cora and I are just working.” At the sound of her name, Cora let out one good bark, that doggy grin coming back, and my sister sighed into the phone.
“Is she okay? We miss the both of you.”
“I know you do, squirt.”
“I am a mother of two and a wife. Please stop calling me squirt.” She paused. “Scratch that. Call me squirt all you want. Justcallme.”
“I’m okay, Ann. I’m just working.”
“You’re not. You’re scaring me, Killian. It’s been three years. You’re allowed to breathe.”
Anger soared through me and I wanted to yell, curse at my sister, but that wasn’t fair to her, and I didn’t hurt my baby sister. No matter that she was my only family left other than Cora. But she had a family of her own. She was making a family of her own. I didn’t need to be part of that, but I also didn’t need to be cruel to her. I’d already been an asshole to someone today. That should be my quota.
“Cora and I are doing just fine. I’m building. Working. Getting ready for winter.”
“Will you come down for birthdays? Holidays? Can we come up to you? I know you say the cabin’s not ready, but we can rent another one, get a hotel. I don’t know…camp? Just let us.”
“Ann.” My body hurt, and not just from the fall. “I need time.”
Ann was silent so long that I was afraid the tower had fallen again and we had lost our connection. “Okay. I’m going to tell you that you have all the time you need. It’s just, I don’t know how much time you want. I love you, Killian.”
I closed my eyes, the pain slashing through my heart once again as if a thousand shards of glass were cascading through my soul. “I know.”
I tried to say it back, but there was nothing left in me, and I hoped to hell my sister understood that. When she finally hung up after a moment of silence, I put my phone in my back pocket.
I looked down at Cora.
“I keep fucking up.”
She tilted her head at me, her face so expressive.
“I’m trying.”
Cora didn’t say anything back, and so I sighed and went to clean up my mess.
“I brought cookies.”
I whirled as Cora barked, then ran over to the one person who thought that they could walk on my property without a care in the world.
Of course, Penny could do whatever the hell she wanted. She was either in her forties, fifties, sixties, or nineties. I wasn’t sure. She was a hippie, Boulder born and bred, and not always in her right mind. At least, that’s what she liked to pretend.
And she had made me her pet project. So I didn’t get a say about when she made her appearances. I had to put up with her whenever the hell she wanted. Then again, I got cookies out of the deal, so maybe this wasn’t all that bad.
“Something is going on with you, honey.”