Page 104 of Crystal Iris
“You’re my boss, but she’s yours,” Broc replies, walking off to check on something else.
Hoyt opens Blackwater’s door and leads him outside.
“I’ll see you later,” Hoyt says. I watch as he rides away.
I know we’re both still processing the words from last night.
I walk away from the barn when my hands start to ache. I don’t know how many hours of work I plan on doing each day, but I figure it’s enough for today. I head straight to the bathroom. I stink.
When I come back downstairs, Hoyt waits for me in a chair.
“Can we talk?” he asks.
“Sure.” I sit down across from him.
“I’m sorry, Iris. I should have told you. All of it.”
“When we were at the museum, you said... you could talk to me. I thought you meant it.”
“Iris…” He starts to move closer, and when I inch back, he backs off. “I did mean it,” he says. “I’m just not used to... I’ll do better.”
“Okay.” My short words aren’t convincing. I’m not convinced.
“I will… do better,” he says again.
“Okay,” I repeat.
I’m hoping he’ll invite me to do something together, go somewhere, but he doesn’t. Instead, he says he has a meeting with the lawyers. I nod and walk upstairs to read.
I text him an hour later.Laundry?
He tells me where the machines are, though he mentions Rosinda can do it for me.
Rosinda?I ask.
She will be around today and tomorrow to clean and do the laundry. Leave whatever you want washed in the hamper in the closet.
Rosinda is the absolute nicest person I’ve ever met. I want to get up and help her, but I know I’d only offend her. Hoyt tells me she’s been working for them since he was a kid, that she took it personally to care for him and his siblings when his mother passed. I understand she’s more than a housekeeper.
She holds my hands and tells me it’s good for Hoyt to have me here. She ends with, “He’s lonely.”
I call Akira and read some more, only stopping to eat.
Hoyt stays busy all day, but I know he’s home. His truck is still outside.
I find him in the study, hunched over papers,wearing glasses.
“Can I come in?” I ask.
He looks worried. “Of course.”
“Everything okay?”
“Same bullshit—government wanting what’s not theirs, lawyers wanting more money, horses needing more care… you know.”
“Can I help with anything?”
“You already are.” He motions to my red hands. He takes his glasses off and throws me a pair of gloves. “I was going to bring these upstairs for you.”
