Cricket’s face lit up when Lady jumped off the bed and went straight for her. She knelt down and picked the puppy up, drawing her close with maternal affection before moving to the small sofa and settling in. “They are not my blood. Now, don’t think that blood is the only thing important in families, but most of the members of the Darois family believe in blood. By their reckoning, my family is in Dallas and Colorado. And I’m going to be honest, with the exception of some of the younger cousins, I don’t want any of them. But this little girl, oh, she can be a part of my family. Yes, she can. How is she doing with the medication?”

In the week since Rene had brought Lady home, Sylvie had spent time learning about the dog’s heart condition. It was easily treatable with diet and medication—both expensive, but not when one could swim in Scrooge McDuck–style pools of cash the way the Darois family could. “Her bloodwork was fine. The vet is thrilled with her progress. We have to watch her weight and bring her in for regular checkups.”

It was amazing the things money could cure. It might not equal love, but for Lady it meant she got to live a healthy life.

“I’m happy to hear that, and I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to see Rene taking such an interest in her. When he told me what he’d done, I thought he would leave her to you most of the time. You or me. Now he’s got that dog with him every time he’s home. I caught him trying to teach her how to come down the stairs. He was flat on his belly with a scared dog.” She breathed what almost felt like a sigh of relief. “He’s going to be a good father someday.”

“You sound surprised.”

Cricket’s head shook. “No. No, of course not. His father was a good daddy, but he wasn’t as affectionate as I wish he’d been. He pushed Rene hard, and I will be honest, I worried that would affect how he viewed parenting. I worried he might not want children of his own.”

“That is not the problem.” She knew she was wading into deep waters, waters she should likely try to keep placid. But she’d been stewing for days on what Charles had told her about Cricket and Ross Darois. She hadn’t flat out asked Rene if he knew because she rather thought he did. Rene tended to know everything, and if he wasn’t ready to tell her that particular secret, then she could wait.