“Yes, but nothing is more important than family. Nothing. I could not ever come between you.” Her voice was fierce and he saw her knuckles whiten as she gripped the glass in her hand.
“Relax. The reason I don’t come home often has nothing to do with you. It’s mostly work pressure.”
“Mostly, but not all.” She thumped the glass down on the table. “When are you going to fix things with your grandfather?”
He didn’t tell her he’d been about to do exactly that when Walter had laid into him. “I’ll do it when the time is right.”
“That time should be now.” Something shimmered in her eyes and she blinked, stood up and reached for his empty plate. “Do you want more?”
He caught her hand. “Why should I do it now?”
“Because a conversation as important as that should never be postponed.” Her voice was husky and he wondered why she cared so much about his relationship with his grandfather.
“I’ll wait until he’s stronger.”
She pulled her hand away impatiently and cleared the table. “The problem is that you are both so alike and neither of you can see it.”
“Alike?” He was genuinely astonished at the suggestion. “We’re not alike. I am nothing like my grandfather.”
“You both have a passion about something and that is all you see. With him it is Snow Crystal, for you it is your job.”
“That’s different.”
“How is it different? You are both single-minded in the pursuit of what you want. You both find it hard to compromise. It is perhaps not so surprising that you clash.”
He’d only ever thought about the differences. Never about the similarities.
“We clash because families always clash.” How could she think he was like his grandfather? It was ridiculous of her to suggest it. “All families are complicated.”
“Are they?”
“Isn’t yours? You don’t have warring uncles or disapproving grandparents? Come on—th
ere has to be someone you avoid at family gatherings.”
“There are no gatherings.”
Sean lowered his glass, watching her hair shimmer in the sunlight. “You’re not close to your family?”
“I don’t have a family.” Reaching out, she took the empty glass from his fingers. “I’ll take that if you’ve finished.”
“You talked about your mother. You told me she was your inspiration.”
“She was. She died when I was eighteen.” She balanced the glasses on the plates. “I need to get back to work. There’s still lots to do here.”
“Wait a minute.” He tried to imagine a life that wasn’t crowded with siblings, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents. True, they drove him crazy half the time but he couldn’t imagine a life without them. “There’s no one?”
“That’s right. Just me. But I’m very happy so you don’t need to wear your concerned doctor face. I am surrounded by people I care about and who care about me. And I borrow your family. I love them very much.” She gave a faint smile. “You should fix this thing with your grandfather. Whatever it is that keeps you away from Snow Crystal, you should mend it.”
“What keeps you away from Paris?”
“I have no reason to go back. My life is here. This is my home.”
He noticed she didn’t describe it as her job. “There’s a difference between not going back and staying away.”
Her eyes met his. He saw shock there and something else he couldn’t interpret and then it was gone.
“Are you really going to lecture me on going home when you can hardly remember the last time you were here? Fix things with your grandfather. Don’t wait.”