Alison was quiet for a while before she said, “When Calypso died, we had a devastated Jake and a tiny baby Esme. Jake and Danny, they’ve always been tight. Friends as well as brothers, and Danny stepped up there—he was the driving force to get his brother playing again. Because he knew how important rugby was to Jake, and more than that, he was Jake’s friend when Jake needed it most.”

“I don’t think he’d see that as any kind of sacrifice.” Catie remained confused. “He knows his brothers have his back anytime. It’s just how they are. Like me and Ísa.” There wasn’t a ledger.

“Oh, I know. And I’m so proud my boys have that.” Alison rearranged a few of the salad bowls. “I just worry that because Danny’s so even-tempered and easygoing, we forgot to watch out for him as much as we should have during those years.”

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about.” Catie hugged Alison, the scent of her warm and familiar. “Seriously, I’ve never seen any sign that he feels ignored or sidelined.”

Alison hugged her back. “Thank you, sweetheart. It does feel good to hear that… but there are things I wish I’d done differently regardless. I suppose parents always question themselves. One thing I do know about my boy—he never asks for anything, so I have to figure things out myself.”

After Alison left to fuss with her secret salad dressing in the kitchen, Catie glanced over at Danny. Alison was right in one sense: Danny was the most easygoing of the four brothers. The kind of kid who was so chilled out that it’d be easy to forget he had needs too.

Not that she thought Alison or Joseph had done that.

Catie had been in the stands at Danny’s first professional game—and so had they. Jake, too, had come, while Grandmother Esera babysat Esme for a couple of hours. No, she didn’t think Alison had any reason for guilt. But that she did showcased the difference in who she was as a mother compared to Jacqueline.

Probably not fair to make that comparison, but Catie couldn’t help it. The last time her mother had come to one of her childhood meets… was never. Not even when Catie had been up for a championship title.

So Catie was probably not the best person to understand Alison’s worries.

A muscled arm around her shoulders that made her stomach dip. “Why the frowny face?” Danny rubbed at the frown lines with one gentle finger. “You hangry?”

“If I am, you shouldn’t be anywhere near me,” she said, eyebrows lowered and teeth bared. “I can be dangerous when hangry.”