By the time he got home, it was late, his head ached and all he wanted to do sleep. He hoped his mother and Carys would be in bed. When he went into the house, he discovered his wish wasn’t granted. Carys was in the living room. The large screen television was on and the movie was watching her.
Rhys was tempted to head upstairs and let her sleep on the couch for the night, but he gently shook her shoulders. “Hey, Princess, it’s time to get up and go to bed.”
She slowly came awake with a stretch and a yawn. “Hey, Daddy. I was waiting for you.”
“You didn’t have to. It’s almost midnight and tomorrow is a school day, young lady.”
“No. My school is having an in-service day, remember?”
“Where’s your Nana?”
“She went to bed hours ago. She’s still getting over her jet lag.”
“I think you need to follow suit.”
“I wanted to see how things went with, Sadie.”
The expectant look in her eyes broke Rhys heart all over again. He knew Carys had been beating herself over the way things had ended between him and Sadie. She was trying so hard in therapy and she was rooting for him and Sadie to get back together. He didn’t know how he’d break it to her that it just wasn’t going to happen, at least not anytime soon. “We talked.”
“And?”
“We should probably leave it until the morning. I’m kind of tired and you’re not the only one who needs to go to bed.”
Carys’s face fell, her disappointment made him want to cry all over again. “She doesn’t want to get back together with you, does she?”
“We’ll talk about it in the morning okay?”
She nodded, seeming to be on the verge of tears herself. He grabbed the remote and turned off the television. Rhys escorted Carys to her bedroom and gave her a hug and kiss on the forehead before she entered her room. “Just remember, no matter what, I love you.”
Carys nodded, her eyes still glistening with unshed tears.
* * *
Sadie was glad to be home. Lily brought her back home the following afternoon. Daisy had flown back to L.A. and Rose had a flight to catch to Milan for a fashion show. Lily had to catch up on some work so Sadie was left alone which is what she wanted. The last few days were emotionally draining and all she wanted to do was sleep.
Someone else had other ideas for her, however. Just as she was about to lie down, her doorbell rang. She was tempted to ignore it, but the visitor would not go away. Sadie grumbled all the way to the door and looked out the peephole. She didn’t know who she’d been expecting, but this was the last person she thought she’d ever see on her doorstep.
Slowly she opened the door, not bothering to hide her surprise.
“Hi, Sadie. May I come in?”
Sadie hesitated for a moment before stepping back to allow her visitor to come in. “Sure, Carys.”