Page 243 of Lodestar

The words drew my attention. “When did you last have an aunt?”

“When I was really little. She was super nice,” she said absently. “Do you think Aoife will give me a brownie?”

Tension filled me. “What was her name? You never mentioned an aunt before.”

Her brow puckered but not in sass this time. A strange blankness filtered into her eyes as if she were shielding her thoughts from me, but I could sense it was outside of her autonomy. Like her subconscious was protecting itself.

Fuck, what was wrong with my kid?

I’d seen her do this before, seen her just check out, but never this deeply.

Blankly, she muttered, “I-I don’t remember.”

I dropped into a crouch and reached up to cup her chin. “How come? Because you were so small?”

“I guess,” she whispered, her fear obvious. “Why can’t I remember, Star?”

My smile was easy when, deep inside, I felt anything but. “You were so little, kiddo. I don’t remember things from when I was that young. Do you, Conor?”

“No.” He cleared his throat. “Aoife will definitely give you a brownie, Kat, but probably not until after we’ve eaten. Are you ready for dinner?”

She turned to reply to Conor, “I-I guess.”

A dimness had settled in Kat’s eyes, one that replaced the wall of before. It concerned me because it reminded me of the times when she woke up from a nightmare, and the idea of sending her back home with the potential for another episode—one we hadn’t had to deal with in so long—put me on edge.

“Brennan and Eoghan’s sister-in-law, Victoria, she’s here too. She’s younger than Shay. I know Shay brings a Switch with him if you want to play games?”

That seemed to perk her up some and, silently, I thanked him for easing her distress.

“If Seamus is your nephew, does that mean he’s my cousin?”

He cast me a look. “Well, yes.”

“He’s really pretty.”

I snorted at her wistful tone. “I thought you had a soul mate in your class.”

Kat frowned. “You’ve been gone too long, Star. We moved on. It was time.”

“Soul mates don’t move on,” I pointed out.

“Of course they do,” she chided me like I was the idiot here. “Life’s too short to just have one soul mate. That’s why Camden is so perfect for me.”

“It helps that he’s about twenty-five years too old for you and doesn’t know you exist as well.”

“Savannah told me she’d introduce us,” she crowed.

Apparently sensing we were going to start bickering, Conor chuckled. “I think your opinion on soul mates will change when you watchThe Notebook, Katina.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course, you’ve watched that.”

“Meaning you haven’t?” he sputtered. When I shook my head, he gaped at me. “We’re changing that. At some point, youarewatching that movie with me.”

“I can watch it with you,” Kat declared, sounding more like herself. Thank fuck.

“I think you’re too young, Kat.” He pulled a face. “I don’t know the age it’s rated for. I mean, there’s no…”

Stifling a laugh, I replied, “You’ll just have to wait, Kat. It’s like the rides at the amusement parks that are too big for you.”

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