page37 (1/1)

The lengthy, handwritten letter Bree had sent her before she died had been full of apology for soined was the only reason that could have caused a wedge between herself and Alexis Bree was sad that they’d drifted apart the way they had but she’d felt, of all the people she knew, that she could still turn to Alexis in her hour of need

And Alexis hadn’t been there

She and Raoul both lived with their own sense of guilt, and it pulled at each of them constantly—drove them to make the choices they did, feel what they felt Alexis could only hope that, with its source being a common link for theether for the future

Catherine looked tired but happy when Alexis arrived at her house to collect Ruby

“Did you get done everything you wanted?” she asked after she invited Alexis in for a cup of tea

“I did, thank you”

Alexis looked at the woman who had been one of her own mother’s best friends and who had packed up her whole life in Blenheim to move to Banks Peninsula when it had become clear that Ruby needed a full-time carer other than her father Catherine smiled back

“I’? We’ve hardly had any chance to talk since I’ve been back ho?”

Alexis bowed her head and studied the fine china cup in her hands “I didn’t realize just how deterot hi much headway He cares about her, I know he does, he just won’t show it or even admit it to himself He’s so inflexible”

“Bree used to say that, too I think that’s why she never told anyone about the aneurysm She kneould have refused to have a family if he’d known, and she so wanted one with him”

“Have you told hi her head to aze

“Oh, I’ve told hiood dose of intractable thrown into the bargain Once he makes up his mind, it’s made up He still thinks he’s responsible somehow I believe he finds it easier to accept that than to think he had no control over what happened He’s not the kind of man who likes to relinquish control, is he? After all, while he won’t care for Ruby himself, he makes sure she’s cared for—and to his expectations He’s still superprotective, isn’t he?”

Alexis’s lips twisted into a rueful smile “Yes, that he most definitely is”

“Bree was always the one thing he could never control She would exasperate hihed “It used to puzzleout between theive her for keeping that inforoing to heal or o Oh, I know he thinks he’sforward, especially with the developh the motions His heart’s not really in it”

Alexis pondered her visit with Catherine later that night as she lay in bed, the book she’d planned to read lying open in her lap The older woiveness weighed heavily on her heart She understood what Catherine had said because, she’d painfully realized, it applied to her, too She’d never thought about it until now but she’d been angry with Bree for a long tiry that she found her happiness with him

It was petty and infantile but there it was And she’d stupidly let those feelings get in the way of a long-standing friendship, one that had seen the up So another part of her was angry with Bree for dying while things were still unsolved between the Alexis a chance to coe and renew their friendship

It occurred to her that while Raoul had to forgive Bree for not telling hiive herself for allowing her attraction to hi past her issues before it was too late Could she do that?

It wasn’t as if she could appeal to Bree herself any all she could to care for Ruby, to try to ignite a relationship between father and daughter as she knew Bree would want Was that enough?