Richard said nothing, waiting for me.
I could have sent him away. Maybe I should have. But something in Daniel’s expression stopped me. He wasn’t curious in the hungry way people became when family secrets cracked open. He looked worried.
“It’s okay,” I said.
He stepped inside slowly, as if entering a room where something sacred had been damaged.
His eyes went first to Noah, then to my cast, then to the dark bruising along my cheek.
“I’m so sorry, Claire.”
The tulips trembled slightly in his hand.
“Thank you.”
He looked at Richard. “Colonel Hayes.”
Richard gave a small nod. “Daniel.”
That surprised me. “You two know each other?”
“Not well,” Daniel said. “My father knows your uncle.”
Richard’s expression told me there was more to it, but he did not explain.
Daniel placed the flowers on the windowsill because there was no vase. The gesture was awkward and sincere.
