His brows puckered. “You want to call her?”
“Maybe she’ll find it harder to turn me down.”
Roane’s lips twitched as he slapped the cell into my palm. “Aye, anyone would.”
I couldn’t help my answering smile, even though I shouldn’t encourage his flirtation. He’d already pulled up Caroline’s number, so I just hit the call button. After a few rings, she answered, “Hi, Roane.”
“No, it’s Evie using Roane’s cell. How are you?”
“Oh. Oh, I’m very well, thank you, Evie. How are you?”
God, I loved the way she talked. “I’m good but I’d be even better if you agreed to join Roane and me for dinner tonight at my place. Roane’s cooking. We’ll pick you up in”—I glanced at the time and calculated how long it would take us to get the groceries and return to Alnster—“an hour. Okay? Great. We’ll see you then.” I hung up before she could respond.
Roane stared at his cell as I held it out to him, and then me, then his cell, then back to me. Suddenly he burst out laughing as he took it from me. Throwing his arm around my shoulders, Roane pulled me into his side to kiss my temple. “You’re mental, lass,” he declared, still chuckling.
“It worked, didn’t it?”
“We’ll see.” He released me to push the cart up the aisle. “If she doesn’t call back in the next fifteen minutes, it worked.”
Turns out . . . it did work.
* * *
• • •
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that making connections with anyone in Alnster was akin to running with a knife. At some point I was going to trip over and land on the pointy end. It would be painful, even debilitating.
Yet I couldn’t seem to stop myself.
Not with Roane.
And apparently not with Caroline.
I’d stopped thinking about time and what it meant. Quantity didn’t matter in life. Quality did. Roane was a quality human being, and there was something about Caroline that drew me to her. Maybe it was because they were cousins and for some reason I could sense they both possessed a soul-deep kindness. Surprisingly, I’d also stopped questioning my own naivete. I was choosing to risk following my instincts, and there would be no more second-guessing.
I would befriend Caroline just as I had Roane, even if it hurt when I had to say goodbye.
How much could it hurt after only a month anyway?
Roane had been amused when we pulled up to a large cottage on the outskirts of Alnster. A tarmac road led all the way up to the house through the woodland. I could see from the SUV that the woods ended here, the view beyond the cottage that of fields.
“It’s a pity it’s one story. An upper floor would give views of the village,” Roane had told me just before he opened the door to get out.
His actions had been halted by the sight of Caroline bursting out of the front door, Shadow bounding at her back. She wore a calf-length navy skirt, the same Mary Janes from before, a navy sweater with a Peter Pan collar, and a pink long-line cardigan over the ensemble. In her hands was another Tupperware box.
Yay!
Shadow had jumped into the back of the Defender, saying a happy hello to Roane before giving my neck a swipe with his tongue. I’d giggled and scratched his ears, giving him the attention he desired as Caro got in beside him. She’d helped Shadow settle into the back seat and beamed brightly at Roane. Her smile had dimmed when she turned to me, but I hoped it was out of shyness and not dislike. “Hello. Let’s go.”
“Helena all right about this, Caro?” Roane had asked as he turned the SUV around. I’d caught a glimpse of a face peering out from the front window of the cottage as we left.
“Well—”
“Be honest, treasure,” Roane had coaxed softly.
Hearing him so tender with his cousin made my heart squishy.
He called her “treasure.”
“S-She wasn’t entirely on board with the idea,” Caroline had admitted quietly.
I’d twisted around in my seat to meet her gaze. “You told her I didn’t give you a choice, right?”
Her answering smile had been more confident, even a little mischievous. “I did. Very clever of you.”
Grinning back, I’d replied airily, “I do try my best.”
The cousins had shared a smile, and when we arrived at the bookstore, I’d tried to ignore the meaningful look of gratitude that bordered on adoration from Roane. He’d squeezed my hand before hopping out to get the groceries.
He really had to stop looking at me like that.
Over an hour later we were seated at the small dining table in the apartment above the store, talking and laughing as the cousins shared stories about village life and growing up there. Shadow was sprawled in front of the wood burner despite the fact there was no fire blazing in it. His light snoring was a gentle backing track to our conversation.
Sometimes the cousins would share these secret, wary looks and seem to hesitate before talking, but I gathered it had something to do with the way Caro had been raised. Roane was probably checking with her before speaking to reassure her that he wouldn’t mention how it was for her with Helena.
At least that was my guess.
As for me, I spent time waxing lyrical about living life as an independent woman. “I come and go as I please. I get to travel. Right now, I’m working on making my editing business a full-time gig.”
“You’re doing it then?” Roane asked, sounding pleased.
“I’m going to try. It probably won’t be feasible, but at least it’s something to concentrate on while I try to find another editing job in Chicago.”
Roane frowned a little but nodded. “Good plan.”
Was it the mention of Chicago that made him frown?
It was making me frown too.
Two weeks would be up before I knew it, and I still hadn’t figured out what I wanted from my life.
But Caro didn’t need to know that. “It was really scary moving out on my own at first, but I love it now. The sense of freedom is amazing.”
This time Roane shot me a knowing, teasing look, but I ignored it. I was determined to plant as many seeds in Caro’s mind as possible about grabbing hold of the reins of her life from her controlling aunt.
We were eating the light-as-air Victoria sponge cake Caro had baked when Roane excused himself to use the restroom.
As soon as he was out of earshot, I turned to his cousin. “Your baking is off-the-charts delicious, and Roane says you’re good enough to bake professionally. Have you ever considered approaching the baker for a job?”