Page 137 of Make or Break

He chuckled. “I do when someone fucks with the people I love.”

That made me feel warm inside.

I grinned. “I appreciate that, but you should forgive him.”

“And that pisses me off, too.”

“What?”

“That’s why he came to see you. He knew you’d encourage me to let it go or go easier on him.”

I leaned back a touch, careful of my stitches. “He’s not that manipulative.”

He laughed. “You know better, Mick. Plenty of men out there manipulate people, and Lark’s more than willing to do that to you.”

My lips twisted as I considered that. “Well, maybe Ivy will encourage him stop doing that.”

“Hope you’re right, but that father-daughter relationship will be slow growing.”

“Hopefully not too slow.”

He shifted to look me in the eye. “Speaking of relationships - what’s going on with your sister?”

“That’s a subject change,” I said, sipping my soda.

“She didn’t come out here with your mom. What’s that all about? Does she have a job or some shit that keeps her from coming out?”

I moved to put my soda on the end table, but Tundra took it and put it on the end table on his side.

“We aren’t as close as we once were. She’s been difficult, and it’s part of why Mom encouraged me to go to school out here. She thought some distance would be good for us.”

“I thought you talked to her the day you were—”

I nodded. “Yeah. We had a brief conversation. She said Killian had encouraged her to stop being snotty with me…and him and Ry for that matter. I think she’s always felt a little left out because of the bond between the three of us.”

“I can see that, but why wouldn’t she come out here?”

I shrugged. “I’m not sure. You should ask Dad that, but she probably had her reasons.”

“What’s she like?”

I aimed a wry grin at him. “If you think I’m a wild child, I’m nothing compared to Mabel.”

He dipped his chin at me. “I bet you have something to do with that.”

“Why?”

“She looks up to you, right?”

“She used to.”

“If she wants attention, she’ll have to one up you somehow.”

I sat back. “I hadn’t thought about it that way.”

“Ask her to come visit. She can stay with us. If Mom’s cool - we could hit her place. Maybe Seth or one of the neighbors will take y’all out on the boat.”

My eyes lit up. “Oh, she’d love that. She’s a bigger mermaid than I am.”