“Nope.” Frieda sashayed to the sofa’s end table and plucked a few tissues from the colorful dispenser. “Life’s been enough of an educator for me, thank you very much.” She handed over the tissues and crossed her arms over her chest. “Feel better?”

Cassie wiped the rest of her tears and blew her nose. “More like I watched a four-day marathon of weepy chick flicks, but I don’t think I’ll go off on anyone at dinner.”

“Good, then my job here is done.” She waved Cassie toward the stairs. “How about if you go take a minute to unwind and get your face put back together. If the last few days are anything to go by, your guy is gonna show here in another fifteen to get us both to dinner. I’ll stall for an extra ten or so.”

God, she loved her aunt. Loved that, just like the people in Kir’s family, there wasn’t an ounce of pretense to her. What you saw with Frieda Shalaway was 100% what you got and that made being with her all the more sweet.

“Thanks, Aunt Frieda.” She pressed a shaky kiss to her aunt’s cheek. “Not sure what I’d do without you.”

Frieda scoffed and trounced back to her wingback. “You’d be bored, probably. Or maybe pursuing a degree as a neurosurgeon.”

“Eww.”

“I know, right?” She grabbed a battered paperback romance novel off the table beside her and cozied in. “Now skootch. I’m gonna get a good part in to take the edge off before your man gets here.”

“Right.” Cassie headed up the stairs.

“And put a cold compress on your eyes before you fix your makeup,” Frieda added. “Kir’s a charmer, but I don’t think I’d like being around him if he thinks I’m the one that made you cry.”

She wasn’t wrong on that score. If Kir had demonstrated nothing else in the last three weeks, it was that he was the fiercest of protectors. “Duly noted.”

Chapter Fourteen

It was hours later, the lively conversation that always surrounded dinner winding down, the delicious Mexican food heavy in Cassie’s belly and the churros’ lingering cinnamon and sugar still on her tongue when Evette asked, “Long day at work, Cassie? You seem tired tonight.”

Kir had said the same thing when he’d come to retrieve her from her bedroom for dinner. He’d also paired it with a long, suspicious study of her face, but had let her have her space rather than dig for details.

The truth of the matter was, she felt lighter than she had in a very long time. Free of the rigid restrictions she’d kept herself bounded with for years and strangely open and more receptive to the people around her—even if the sensations were overwhelming. Much like taking noise-cancelling earphones off after a long flight, or exposing winter-protected skin to the first rays of summer.

She doubted anyone around the table would get such an explanation, though, so she gave Evette the same answer she’d given Kir. “I think it was the heat this afternoon. The Caribbean Festival starts tomorrow, and my crew was in the field for four hours talking to organizers and vendors.”