Saving a Legend(14)

Then he moved, and she felt cold again.

“You’re doing an amazing thing for that girl,” he whispered in her ear as he finally pulled away and caught her gaze.

Fiona was surprised to find a lump forming in her throat and emotion swelling in her chest. She spent most of her life hiding in the background, doing her best not to be noticed.

Kieran didn’t allow that. He saw her, and he was telling her he appreciated what she was doing. This was already more than anyone had ever done for her in her life, and this man didn’t even know her.

“Thanks.” Fiona took advantage of his loosened grip to pull free. She couldn’t break down right now, not in front of him. Not when he thought she was so strong and amazing. “Um…I should probably catch up to Shea.”

“Fiona!” he called after her.

She turned slightly to look back at him, blinking rapidly, hoping he wouldn’t notice the tears welling in her eyes.

His expression was coy but serious as he raised one brow. “I’m still waiting on your answer, flower girl.”

She felt her cheeks flush in response as she quickly turned and headed into the center. She had already told him she didn’t date, and now he had met the main reason why. The second reason was too hard to admit, even to herself.

—



“Go wash your hands, Shea. Dinner will be ready in a few,” Fiona instructed her sister as they entered the small apartment they occupied quite a few blocks away from the flower shop. Shea had spent the entire bus ride home talking about mixed martial arts, fighting, and karate. Fiona had let her play around on her smartphone, so Shea had taken the opportunity to Google the topics and read out loud everything she could find.

“Not mixed,” Shea reminded her as she dropped her backpack onto the side table and headed to the bathroom.

“I know.” Fiona sighed. It had been the same every day for years. Six chicken nuggets on the same plate, in two rows of three. Two dots to the side of mustard and ketchup, close enough but not touching. If Fiona accidentally mixed the two together, Shea wouldn’t touch the plate. She tried to entice her sister with some vegetables on a separate plate next to it, but Shea was stubborn in her routine. Thank goodness Shea was fine with drinking pediatric shakes to supplement some of the vitamins the chicken nuggets were missing.

Fiona busied herself warming up the plate of food and dished some carrots out for Shea as well, depositing it all on their small fold-up kitchen table just as her sister returned.

“Earmuffs off at dinner.” Fiona motioned for her to remove them. Frowning, Shea followed her instructions and placed them on the table beside her before turning her attention back to her plate.



“One, two, three, four, five, six.” Shea counted out each one and reordered them before she ate all six in quick succession.

“Did you have fun at the center today?” Fiona asked, wondering if she was doing the right thing by leaving Shea with Nora every day. She had tried bringing Shea to the flower shop, but it became too much to watch her and manage customers at the same time.

“I’m getting a new book tomorrow,” Shea responded, not clarifying further.

Most of the time, Shea was easy and rarely took much work. She spent most of her time reading and really was the sweetest little girl Fiona had ever met. However, the few times when things went south, it was almost more than any one person could handle alone. Shea wasn’t able to communicate her feelings or needs, so if she was tired or hungry or too hot or too cold, she would have a complete meltdown. Fiona did her best to keep any of that from ever happening by trying to anticipate Shea’s needs, but it still happened more than she’d like.

Fiona watched her sister eat and wondered if she was doing a good job caring for her. The love was there—that was the easy part. She loved Shea with every fiber of her being and couldn’t imagine being separated from her.

“How about some milk?” Fiona poured a small glass of milk for her sister as she tried to push away the self-deprecating thoughts in her head.

“Okay,” Shea agreed uncharacteristically, not meeting her gaze.

“What? Really?” Fiona handed her the glass, smiling from ear to ear, as if Shea had given her some huge treat. “That’s so great, Shay-Shay.”



Her sister nodded slowly, then tipped the glass to her little lips and downed the milk in a few gulps. She placed it down on the table, then stared at the bowl of carrots for a moment. Fiona held her breath, as if one wrong exhale would ruin the moment.

Shea picked up a carrot, examining it carefully, then bit it in half and chewed. Apparently, she decided she liked it, because she lined the carrots up in a rectangle before finishing.