Page 289 of Lodestar

“In that line of work, it’s not like love would serve a purpose. If anything, I’d imagine it was an inconvenience.”

“Yes,” I choked out, taken aback by her understanding.

“You’ll come to find it’s less of a cancer eventually and more…” She blinked. “Like when you’ve had a vaccine and it stops you from catching a deadly disease.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Trust me. It grows on you with time.” She turned to make me another coffee. “And I won’t hurt Conor. Or Finn. I love him.

"Did he let me down? Yes. Did he choose Lena over me? He did. But…” She sucked in a breath. “She was his mother. His only source of stability in an ever-changing world as a boy where he’d learned that family could and would do heinous things to him.

“She represented hope and love, protection and support. When it came out, he chose me, and in the future, I know he’ll keep on choosing me.

“So, using Ellie's Bakery as a front is very fortuitous because I’ll make a hell of a lot of money, and if Jake decides he wants nothing to do with the Five Points, I’ll be able to bankroll him with my personal funds.” She shot me a smile as she set the now-full coffee mug in front of me. “Savannah talks a lot about women having their own bank accounts, and it’s always been important to me. Finn has had a joint account for us since the beginning, and I know that I can buy whatever I want?—”

“But nothing beats knowing you earned that cash and that it’s yours and that no one can question what you do with it,” I finished for her.

She nodded. “Exactly. So, no, I’m not going to leave. I just like to have a backup plan because Finn, if he’d had a choice, would never have gone into the Five Points.

“What Jake chooses to do is down to him, and no one will influence his decision.”

“From one momma bear to another,” I said easily as I raised my mug for her to tap with her own, “I approve this message.”

We shared a smile.

Friendship took time, but we’d sowed the foundations of a relationship together.

And not just for Conor’s sake, either.

8

CONOR

LATER THAT DAY

Lyra was shy.

Beyond shy.

It was only then that I realized I wasn’t used to shy kids. Jake was rowdy, Seamus’ confidence was that of a politician in the making, and even Victoria was self-assured. As for Kat, she had the confidence of all three of them, but Lyra was more prone to hiding in corners with her nose buried in a book, a stone’s throw from Troy’s side, than stepping into the spotlight.

“I’ve tried,” Kat wailed, drawing my attention away from the little girl who wore noise-canceling headphones and was reading a paperback thicker than her waif-like frame.

Star huffed. “Kat, she’s my cousin. You can’t say ‘tried’ as if you can’t try again. Don’t you want her to feel comfortable with us?”

Katina pulled a face. “What if she doesn’t want to be comfortable with us? What if she wants to just read her book and I’m disturbing her? It’d be like me trying to yap at you when you’re coding. Don’t you get mad at me when I do that, huh?”

I hid my smile by pretending to rub my fingers above my upper lip.

Star, of course, noticed and glared at me. “That’s a dumb example, Katina, because youofteninterrupt me, and do I ever not answer one of the million questions you ask on a daily basis?”

Katina’s nose crinkled but she mumbled, “She doesn’t like me.”

“How do you know?”

“She takes ages to talk, and I have no idea if she’s being rude or just…” Her small pout spoke of her uncertainty with the situation. “I tried to get her to playMario Kartwith me, and last night, I heard her tell Troy that I was annoying and loud-mouthed.”

Star grimaced. “I’m sorry she said that, Kat. That was very rude of her.”

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