Family Ties: Family Ties / Promise Of Grace

“Point taken. I just hope you don’t regret your offer.”

Regret. It was her constant companion, a reminder she couldn’t shake with hurricane force winds. But having become an expert at disguising her feelings, she only smiled, edging toward the kitchen. “I’d better check things out, start on dinner.”

“The floor’s clean,” he responded.

She glanced at the wreckage in the parlor and hall and nodded. “Well, that’s one positive.”

“Don’t worry, Cindy. I’ll put things back to rights.”

She disappeared into the kitchen. It wasn’t possible, she knew. Even if the house was fashioned into Architectural Digest perfection, things could never be made right. Not while he held her heart in his hands, and didn’t even realize he controlled its very rhythm.

Dinner was spectacularly uneventful. Only a few spoonfuls of mashed peas landed on the floor, soon wiped clean. Flynn wasn’t certain just how Cindy had accomplished it, but control prevailed throughout the meal. But it wasn’t a disciplinary nightmare. To the contrary, the girls were happy, easy to handle.

Perhaps it was a woman thing, he mused. Julia had always had just the right touch with the girls, as well. But that wasn’t something he expected Cindy to share with her sister.

Bathtime was also competently and quickly accomplished. Soon, the girls were snuggled in their sleepers, tucked into their matching beds.

More than a bit amazed, Flynn studied Cindy as they reached the bottom of the stairwell. He wondered if she was part magician, making the care of the triplets seem effortless.

Having reassembled much of the parlor, he began gathering some of the scarves still strewn across the floor.

Cindy stooped down, as well, carefully picking up each ancient slip of fabric.

“These are really…different,” Flynn finally decided aloud.

“That doesn’t exactly sound like a compliment.”

He held up one sheer red scarf, threaded with gold, edged with long strands of dark fringe. “They suit you.”

Her smile was wry. “Again, I’m not sure that’s a compliment.”

Flynn paused, the scarf awkwardly filling his hands. “Look, I know we don’t see many things the same way.” He held up the exotic red silk. “But I don’t have any frame of reference for stuff like this.”

“Granted,” she replied, a touch of a sigh flavoring the solitary word. “Julia was always practical, unlike me. Cotton versus silk, that was us.”

He studied the weariness she couldn’t quite disguise. “We haven’t gotten off to the best start, have we?”

She shrugged. “It’s a big adjustment. You’re used to running things your way.”

“And you’re used to being on your own.”

Cindy lifted her face, new shadows deepening her obvious fatigue. “Yes. That I am.”

Flynn sighed. “I knew this was a bad idea. We’re messing up your life, your home.”

“I’m not a neat freak,” she replied after the barest pause. Then her eyes shifted away. “We knew going in this wasn’t an ideal situation, but if it helps the girls, I can manage. How about you?”

He fingered the soft, exotic scarf. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make the girls happy.”

“Then there’s no more to say,” she responded.

Flynn wanted to search her eyes, to see how Cindy really felt, but she stood, turning to the brass rack. He owed her an apology, but it was difficult to spit out. He’d spent the better part of his adult life making certain he had nothing else to be sorry for. And he doubted even his unsettling sister-in-law could change that.

Cindy chose to be especially quiet the following morning as she worked in the downstairs conservatory. Not wanting a repeat of Flynn’s displeasure, she’d tiptoed around her bedroom as she’d dressed, then slipped silently down the stairs, knowing how to avoid the creaks in the ancient steps.

Her night had been restless, filled with dreams caused by thoughts she couldn’t chase away. So she’d risen early to escape them, needing to lose herself in activity.

Picking up a box filled with old photos, she started to put it aside. Then she glanced at the picture on top. Settling the box on top of the table, she withdrew the photo. It had been taken years ago. Her parents, Julia and herself. They were on vacation at Disneyland. Julia and their mother both looked pretty, smiling gracefully. But Cindy and her father were wearing goofy hats and glasses, wide, silly grins covering their faces. She eased a thumb over the slick surface, remembering the good times, the pain of loss that had faded, but never disappeared.

Flynn coughed from the doorway.

Startled, Cindy dropped the photograph.

He entered, reaching down to pick it up before she could. “Nice picture.”

She nodded, not willing to delve into her unreconciled loss. “Kind of early in the morning for reminiscing, isn’t it?”

“I wasn’t actually. Just saw that picture and it brought back a lot of memories.”

He looked at it again. “You and Julia were on different wavelengths.”

Cindy swallowed the pain of that comment. “She was always more like Mother, refined, graceful, elegant.”

“And you were like your father?”

“I guess so. He was the adventurer—the one who wildcatted after the days of oil wildcatting were past. He liked to pursue the impossible.”

Flynn’s gaze shifted between Cindy and the picture. “I’m not like my mother, either.”

Never having heard much about his family, she wondered about them. “What was she like?”

His face closed. Tossing down the picture, he shrugged. “Just a mother.” Then he glanced at the newly cleared desk. “What are you doing in here?”

“Making a temporary office for you.”

His eyes swept over the newly arranged room. “You didn’t have to do this—”

“You’re beginning to sound like a broken record,” she interrupted. “You need a place to work in until you get the office space you want.”

“I’m hoping to get that set up soon.”

“Fine. I’ll need the room back after a while anyway. It’s one I use sometimes for one of my volunteer functions. And in the future it may be the permanent spot for the class.”

He frowned. “Then why go to so much trouble?”

This time she didn’t shift her gaze, instead meeting his. “It’s who I am.”

He studied her, clearly baffled.