26. Thought Is Always More Important

26

THOUGHT IS ALWAYS MORE IMPORTANT

" I 'm sorry about this," Aster said to Raine on Sunday morning.

"Don't worry," she said. "It's your job and it's fine. I've got this and I'll work on Daphne."

He leaned down and kissed her. "I really appreciate it. Of all the rotten luck for something to break on the weekend. I've got parts and think I can fix it, but I know it's going to be a few hours easily."

"Stop, Aster," Daphne said, coming out of the bathroom. "I don't need you to hold my hand and give me a guided tour while I'm here."

"I know," he said. "But you're here to visit and now I'm working."

"Then go work," Raine said. "You're off the next three days while I'm working. Maybe I want this time to bond with your sister and find out all your secret mischief as a kid."

"None of it is secret," he said, smirking.

"He's right," Daphne said. "Not that Aster was a troublemaker either."

"I'm out of here," he said. "I'll text you when I'm done."

"Don't worry about us," she said. "We are going shopping and then I'm going to show Daphne around the area. Not just tourist attractions either. If she's going to move here she should know more."

"True," he said. "You can show her more than me, but I'll be bringing her to the shop tomorrow. Lily, Poppy, and Rose want to meet you."

Raine thought that was nice that Aster's bosses wanted to meet his sister.

Aster left after that and Daphne turned to her. "Is it me or is it weird that his bosses all want to meet me? I could understand Lily because of Zane. Aster did say he'd introduce me to Zane too. I asked if I could meet some of the guys he served with. Maybe I want to thank them for taking care of him. Or taking care of each other."

Which was even sweeter. "I know Aster isn't much of a talker, but it's a really special place that he's working for. I know what I do from Ivy."

"Ivy is marrying your brother, right? And she has two sisters that work at Blossoms too?"

"Yes. There are a lot of other relations there or best friends or people that became best friends. It's complicated but in a good way. I'm not even sure I know it all, as I've heard more from Ivy in passing than anything else."

"Aster doesn't share all that much," Daphne said. "Our conversations are mainly about how we are doing. I like to know how he's feeling and I know it annoys him, but he scared me."

"I can't even imagine," she said. "But if it helps you any, I've never seen anything to show what he's gone through other than the scar."

"Yeah," Daphne said. "He never says anything. Though he told me you had the flu on New Year's Eve and wouldn't let him near you."

"He was mad about that, but I told him to get over it. He says he doesn't have a compromised immune system, but I don't care. You know my brother is a doctor. He may be a radiologist, but he's still a medical doctor. He said that, yes, anyone that has major surgery like that, their body fights to recover for months and that could knock their immune system down."

"I know," Daphne said. "It's been almost a year and I'm glad I get to see him with my own eyes. He looks great. Not just physically but he's also more relaxed."

"Why don't we go check out the Olde Mistick Village? We can chat while we go through the shops. I find them quaint and love to browse more than shop. It drives your brother nuts that I don't buy much."

She'd gotten thrifty in her life and only bought something when it was a good deal or she needed it and had no choice.

Though she was more financially secure, she couldn't break the habit of a lifetime. She didn't think it was that big of a deal either.

"You sound like me," Daphne said.

They left Aster's and drove to the village of shops and spent time moving in and out of them. Aster told her to use his credit card to buy his sister something if she wanted it. She'd pushed the card back at him and he'd laughed and stuck it in her purse.

She told him she wouldn't promise anything. She knew what it was like to have someone pressure you with gifts or to spend money. She didn't want Daphne to feel bad that maybe she wanted something and couldn't afford it.

"Those are pretty, aren't they?" she asked of the box of Christmas ornaments in the Christmas shop they were in.

"They are," Daphne said. "But Christmas is over and it's not like I've got a tree to decorate. I put our tree up this year and did the decorations. My parents stopped caring years ago."

Raine frowned. "What do you mean?" she asked. "They sent Aster gifts. I'd seen it."

"I mailed them," Daphne said. "This is horrible. I bought them too. I mean, that's wrong. My mother gave me money to order something. She didn't know what to get, so I picked it out and wrapped and had it shipped to him. My parents would have just ordered something online and had it shipped from the store not even wrapped. That used to drive me nuts."

"It's convenient for people. And it costs a lot to ship things too."

"I know," Daphne said, putting the ornaments back. No reason for her to buy them because they wouldn't be practical by the sounds of it. Nothing she'd use anytime soon either. "When Aster was in the service, my mother and I would put together care packages, but I'd spend more time and wrap everything nice. He was there fighting and missing all the holidays. Not that we did much for them. I'm sure he's told you that. But I still wanted him to know there was some care put into it. Some thought."

She rubbed her hand on Daphne's arm. "That is what I'd do too. I agree with you. The thought is always more important than the value."

"And Aster does so much for me and my parents. But they expect it."

She turned and looked at Daphne. "Expect it? Why? Because he never had many expenses in the service and probably put all his money away? I get mad when he wants to pay for everything, but he always argues that he hardly spent any money for years. That Zane's cabin is the first place he's lived in that he had to pay for."

Daphne hesitated. "Yeah. They've been like that for years. My parents aren't rich, but they aren't hurting for money. I'd say we are middle class. Working middle class. But they've always been the type of people who spend the minimum on living costs for the family and the most on just having fun. They shouldn't be paycheck to paycheck, but they pretty much are by their own choices."

"Some people are like that. I see it with my students. Maybe their sneakers are worn out or the car they drive is falling apart but they'd come back from spring break at Disney. It's everyone's choice how they spend their money."

"It is," Daphne said. "My parents spend it on themselves. We never had any big family vacations or anything. They've got friends and do adult vacations all the time. They wanted Aster to give them a cruise for Christmas. I just about died when my mother told me she asked for that."

Her jaw dropped. "That's crazy, but it's not my business either. I mean, last year we bought my parents a new couch and recliner. But my brothers paid more of it. It was frustrating. Brooks threw his credit card at me on Thanksgiving to take my mother shopping. I knew how much it all cost, but when it came time to give him my third he wouldn't take it."

It still annoyed her that Brooks and River paid the chunk of it.

Sure, they had a lot more money than her, but it wasn't fair and she argued that.

She'd learned a long time ago there was no arguing with Brooks so she gave up and then bought her parents a few more gifts to personalize things.

"That sounds like something Aster would do."

"I find that at first Aster was more like my brother Brooks, but the more we are together, he's turning out to be like River."

Raine felt she got the best of both worlds and couldn't ask for anything more.

"I'm happy to hear that," Daphne said. "I know Aster would hate me saying this."

"You don't have to tell me something that makes you uncomfortable. I don't want that. We are just chatting and I want you to know that Aster seems to be doing well and not to worry if you are."

"I appreciate that," Daphne said. "What I was going to say was that Aster never really had a serious relationship that I knew of. He knew he was going into the service when he was a junior in high school so he didn't want to get attached to anyone. I knew it. And then in the service, he said he was never anywhere long enough. I know he dated some women in the service now and again, but then they'd be deployed in different places and it'd end."

"Oh," she said. "That has never come up."

"It's nothing to think about. I'd hear a name now and again and ask who it was and then never hear it again. I'm only saying that he's not someone to just pick up a random woman that I know of on leave or out on the town at night. But he's never been committed to anyone before. Not like he is with you. And maybe it's the best thing in the world that he needed in his life."

Raine felt her eyes start to fill. "That might be the nicest thing anyone could have said to me."