Page 128 of Rough Around the Hedges

He closed his eyes for a moment. “That’s where you’re supposed to say, ‘Me? Fall for that lunatic? Don’t be stupid.’”

I shrugged on my jacket. “What would my mother say if she heard me lying?”

“Are you telling me you’re in love with that nutcase?”

“I’m trying not to tell you that, actually. I fear you may keel over and die if I say the words out loud.”

“Eleanor!” Luke stormed out of my dressing room, and I followed him, sighing.

This was why I wasn’t going to mention my feelings for Rose.

I thought I’d just tell him later.

Like after we got married.

Providing Rose agreed, of course. I was a bit crazy when it came to her, but notthatcrazy.

Not quite.

Not yet.

For all I knew, she might like it if I kidnapped her and promised her a life of orgasms in exchange for doing absolutely nothing.

“Eleanor! Have you heard this?” Luke asked.

I strolled leisurely into my living room where my mother was sitting on her phone. “Calm him down, would you? You look lovely, by the way.”

She put her phone down and beamed at me. “Thank you, dear. What’s wrong, Luke?”

Luke gripped the back of the sofa. “Eleanor, you have to talk some sense into him. He’s been in Hanbury too long and lost his damn mind.”

“I’m of perfectly sound mind,” I said, mindlessly picking lint off my trousers.

“Oh, dear,” Mum said. “What’s he done now?”

“He’s telling me he’s in love with that lunatic, Rose Matthews.”

Mum paused and tilted her head to the side. “Oh, is that all?”

“Is that all?” His voice practically squeaked. “She’s insane. She has a jail cell with her name on it, for the love of God.”

“We’ve all done wild things in our youth.”

And my mother continued to do wild things, despite her advancing age, so he was really barking up the wrong tree here.

“Besides, she’s a darling,” Mum continued. “She’s kind, she’s thoughtful, she cares about the people around her, and she always goes out of her way to lend a helping hand. Yes, she’s a little brash sometimes and one could call her a troublemaker if they were so inclined, but it’s not as though she does what she does to make people’s lives hard.”

I cleared my throat. “Actually, she told me directly she was trying to make my life hard.”

“Unless they deserve it,” she added, then cocked her thumb in my direction. “If you ask me, she’s far too good for this useless toad over here.”

That checked out.

Rose was her favourite child.

“You’re acting like she’s your favourite child,” Luke said, shock written all over his face.

“She is,” Mum answered shamelessly. “Or I’d like her to be, but I’m not allowed to get involved in their relationship. They both told me off.”

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