“Sounds like a much healthier option,” he assured her with a smile.
“Feel free to have ice cream if you want.”
“As tempting as it sounds, I’d better skip it tonight. I’ve had more than enough sweets today.”
“I see applesauce on the dessert bar,” she teased.
He chuckled. “Maybe I’ll have some of that. What do you think, Daryn? If it’s good enough for you, it should be good enough for me, right?”
Daryn babbled at him in response. He thought he probably should have been grossed out by the mouthful of pureed peas revealed by her grin, but she just looked too darned cute.
Kim swiped efficiently with a napkin, encouraging her daughter to swallow. Figuring he’d better let the kid finish her dinner, Tate concentrated on his own.
Kim seemed to have relaxed a little by the time they were on the road again, which pleased him, but he thought he still sensed a little melancholy in the car.
He gave her a few more minutes, then spoke quietly over the softly playing radio. “Want to talk about it?”
“About what?” she asked without looking away from the side window.
“The weekend. Your mother. Whatever you might need to talk about.”
She shrugged. “I’m good, thanks.”
Keeping his eyes on the road ahead, he said casually, “I’m a good listener, you know. I’ve heard you vent about other things before, just as you’ve heard me complain about various annoyances in the past, so if you want to unload…”
She glanced back at her snoozing child, then faced the front again. “Really, I’m okay. But thanks.”
“Anytime.”
Another three miles passed before Kim spoke again. “It’s just so messed up.”
He murmured something both unintelligible and encouraging, leaving it entirely up to her how much she wanted to share.
“My grandmother is in terrible health, my brothers don’t seem to like me very much, my mother is bug-nuts and my cousins are probably going to hate me when they find out Grandma gave me her ring when I’m not even married.”
Out of that spate of words, several things stood out to him, but one phrase in particular made him have to fight an inappropriate smile. “Um—bug-nuts?”
“It was one of the kinder descriptions I could come up with,” Kim muttered.
Replaying her other words in his mind, he decided to try to address a couple of her concerns. “As for your grandmother’s ring, she has a right to give it to whomever she wants. It made sense that she would pass it down to the daughter of her older daughter. Your aunt and cousins will probably pout some, but honestly, wouldn’t one or the other pout no matter who got the ring?”
“Well, yes, but—”
“Let them argue with your grandmother if they’re unhappy with her decision.”
“They wouldn’t dare.”
“Exactly. And they know you’d have no more success in doing so.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
He could think of nothing to say to reassure her about her grandmother’s health. Instead, he asked, “What makes you think your brothers don’t like you?”
Her hand fluttered in her lap. “You saw them. Stuart wouldn’t even get up from the couch to say goodbye.”
“First, Stuart is a teenager. Teenage boys aren’t known for being warm and demonstrative, especially with their older siblings.”
She gave a little sigh. “I know. I guess I was just hoping for a little more.”