Veronica had stripped away everything in the divorce papers, leaving herself with nothing. No claim to assets, no fight for custody of little Sabrina. She thought Cullen would leap at the chance to sign and be done with her.
Three months had crawled by since she'd placed those documents in his hands and fled across the ocean. Radio silence from his end.
She tilted her chin up, ready to corner him about the delay, when knuckles rapped against the door.
"Heard you were under the weather, Veronica. You doing alright?" Leo's voice drifted through the gap.
Cullen beat her to the punch. "Get in here."
The constant parade of visitors had left the door hanging open like a broken wing.
Leo stepped inside at Cullen's invitation. "Hey there, Cull."
His attention shifted to Veronica, and awkwardness filled the space between them. They barely knew each other beyond polite exchanges. She decided to throw him a lifeline. "Much better now, thanks."
Leo's hand found the back of his neck, a nervous habit. "Good, that's real good."
"Been back long?" Veronica offered him a genuine smile.
"A few weeks now. Was craving Mom's cooking something fierce, so I flew back for a visit. Soon as I walked through the door, Grandma told me you were burning up with fever."
Cook appeared in the doorway, relief washing over her weathered features when she saw Veronica sitting upright. "Antonio says the soup's ready and you can handle it now. Want to come down, or should I have Cullen haul it up here?"
The room pressed against Veronica's chest like a weight. Her appetite had vanished hours ago, but the walls felt like they were closing in. "I'll come down."
They made their way to the dining room, and Leo's eyes swept the empty chairs. "Where's Sa hiding?"
"Had a snack earlier. Her stomach needs a break before more soup."
Veronica lowered herself into her usual spot. The butler handed her a bowl, and she blew gentle puffs across the surface, cooling the broth before taking careful sips.
Cullen claimed the chair next to hers. His phone buzzed, and he angled his body away from her, fingers dancing across the screen. The gesture was subtle but deliberate, like he was guarding state secrets.
Veronica watched from the corner of her eye, spoon moving mechanically from bowl to mouth.
Cook's patience snapped. "Can't that wait until she's finished eating?"
"Just wrapping up," Cullen muttered, still typing.
The soup disappeared faster than Veronica expected. Cook hovered nearby. "Want seconds?"
"I'm set, thanks." Veronica pushed back from the table.
Even with Cullen's careful positioning, she caught fragments of his screen. Messages flying back and forth with Niall about some business deal. He was walking her through numbers and strategies.
When he noticed her looking, Cullen shifted even further away.
Veronica had already lost interest. She wandered into the living room, settling into the couch with the day's newspaper spread across her lap.
Leo appeared moments later, carrying a plate of fruit that glistened with water droplets. "Hungry?"
She glanced up from the headlines. "You go ahead."
Movement in her peripheral vision caught her attention. Cullen was climbing the stairs, phone still glued to his ear like a lifeline.
Leo dropped onto the cushion beside her, stealing glances when he thought she wasn't paying attention. His fidgeting was impossible to ignore.
"Something on your mind?" she asked.
"Well, you know how it is." He rubbed his palms against his jeans. "I'm not the brain in the family like you and my brother. Never was much good with books either. Got some physics problems that are kicking my ass."
The admission surprised her. Before she could respond, Leo kept talking.
"Was gonna bug my brother about it, but he said he was tied up with work stuff. Told me to come to you instead."
Veronica felt something twist in her stomach. Cullen pawning off his brother's request, too busy with Niall's crisis to spare five minutes for family. The familiar sting of being the convenient backup plan settled between her ribs.
"What kind of physics?" she heard herself ask.
Leo's face brightened like someone had flipped a switch. "Motion and energy stuff. Velocity calculations, that kind of thing. I can grab my books if you don't mind taking a look."
Through the ceiling, she could hear Cullen's voice, muffled but animated as he continued his phone conversation. Probably still coaching Niall through whatever emergency had captured his complete attention.
"Sure," Veronica said, folding the newspaper with deliberate care. "Let's see what you're working with."
Leo practically bounced off the couch. "Really? That's great, thanks. I'll be right back."
As his footsteps thundered up the stairs, Veronica remained on the couch, staring at the closed newspaper in her lap. Three months of silence about the divorce papers, but he could spend hours walking someone else through their problems. The irony wasn't lost on her.
Cook bustled through the room, collecting empty glasses and straightening cushions. "That boy's been struggling with school since he got back. Good of you to help him out."
Cook paused in her tidying. "Cullen's been distracted lately. Business picking up, I suppose."
Veronica made a noncommittal sound. Business. Right.
Leo's voice echoed from upstairs, probably grabbing his textbooks from whatever room he'd claimed during his visit. Cullen's voice continued its steady rhythm from behind his closed door, still deep in consultation with Niall.
The house felt full of people but somehow hollow at the same time. Everyone moving in their separate orbits, occasionally bumping into each other before spinning away again.
Leo returned with an armload of books and papers, his earlier nervousness replaced by something closer to hope. "Okay, so the first problem is about this car accelerating from rest, and I can't figure out how to calculate the distance it travels."
Veronica shifted to make room for his materials on the coffee table. "Let me see what you've got."
As Leo spread out his homework, she caught another drift of Cullen's voice from upstairs. Still talking. Still solving someone else's problems while his own sat untouched in a manila envelope somewhere, gathering dust.