Well, she'd let him get away with it, because she was his little girl and she forgave him things people probably weren't supposed to, and even that was a relief. There had been fear, nested deep in his gut, that four years - even one year - might have been enough to change that fact, that he would come back to a stranger who no longer cared to see him. It had been a fair reason to stay away.
A reason other than the fact that he'd seemed a stranger to himself, in the days after Nola had passed, like someone had gone and smashed the mirror of his life and left him with jagged pieces, bleeding palms and a reflection of it that made no sense anymore.
There was a shimmer of glass in his eyes even now, Eavan here before him looking like an uncanny mirror of her mother."Well -" Conall said, rubbing his thumb over the hand with which she'd covered his and clearing his throat, "I've missed you too. Missed you plenty." He sighed, and let out a breath at getting to confess it aloud at last.
"Nice place," he added, glancing around the hall. He'd got here later than he'd meant, and oughtn't stay long, but couldn't fathom stepping outside again so soon in the face of his daughter's company. "You look - settled," he said, with an encouraging smile. Like she was happy here. "How've you been? Well?" Conall meant in recent weeks, recent days, but at this point he wasn't sure he'd be opposed to a retelling of her whole time here: letters were not nearly the same.
A reason other than the fact that he'd seemed a stranger to himself, in the days after Nola had passed, like someone had gone and smashed the mirror of his life and left him with jagged pieces, bleeding palms and a reflection of it that made no sense anymore.
There was a shimmer of glass in his eyes even now, Eavan here before him looking like an uncanny mirror of her mother."Well -" Conall said, rubbing his thumb over the hand with which she'd covered his and clearing his throat, "I've missed you too. Missed you plenty." He sighed, and let out a breath at getting to confess it aloud at last.
"Nice place," he added, glancing around the hall. He'd got here later than he'd meant, and oughtn't stay long, but couldn't fathom stepping outside again so soon in the face of his daughter's company. "You look - settled," he said, with an encouraging smile. Like she was happy here. "How've you been? Well?" Conall meant in recent weeks, recent days, but at this point he wasn't sure he'd be opposed to a retelling of her whole time here: letters were not nearly the same.
