Page 11 of Suddenly Single
“Ah. Is there a driver?”
Edan stopped.“A driver?”
She nodded. “To drive the car.I don’t drive.And I obviously don’t have a car.” She laughed.
“Here’s an idea, then—walk.”
“Walk!” She laughed again.“I can’twalkthere.It’s like five miles! Granted, I am ingreatshape, but I can’t just walk five miles there and then five miles back. First, I’d be gone all day, which normally would be okay, but I really need to send that email to my dad, which between you and me is going to take some time to compose.I have to finesse it, you know what I mean?” she asked, wiggling her fingers.“And Isowant a long bath.A soaking bath. I like to take long baths and read.Realbooks, not an e-reader.I bought this great book at the airport.It’s a thriller.The girl gets on the wrong train and ends up in a place she’s never been.I’m dying to get into it, but I can’t do all that and walk five miles to East Beach and five miles back.” She threw up her hands and dropped them again, signifying that was that.
Edan stared at her.“It’sfourmiles.No’ five.”
“Itis?” she asked, looking at him skeptically. “Well, my point still stands.”
Edan carried on to the shed and left her point on the path with her.
She suddenly reappeared beside him. “I guess Icouldwalk four miles,” she said thoughtfully, following right along. “It’s notthatfar.”
It was precisely one mile less than the impossible five. Edan put his tackle aside and opened the door of the shed and walked in.He looked around.There was no machete and no pruner.
“I ran a half marathon once,” she said.
He glanced over his shoulder; she was leaning against the doorframe, holding a daisy.A bloody daisy.Where had she found that? Ah, of course—from the garden beds they’d passed.So she’d bent down and helped herself, had she? He’d have to keep an eye on her—he wouldn’t be the least surprised to see her wearing a wreath on her head made from all his daisies she’d pilfered.
“That’s thirteen miles. I was dating this guy who was into running, and it seemed like a healthy thing to do.So I signed up and did it! I had to walk some of it. Alotof it. But I did it.FYI, we aren’t dating anymore.”
“Non-negotiable, was it?” Edan drawled, and passed her in the doorway of the shed on his way to the garden shed a few feet away.
“I think you’re getting it,” she said. “But that was my choice.” She proceeded to explain her brief history of dating a marathon runner as Edan discovered the garden shed was locked. Of course it was—Hugh was very protective of his tools.Bloody key was probably hanging from his belt even now, and Edan wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Hugh had worn the belt on his wedding night.
“And who knows? They might swim across the lake.”
“Aye? Pardon?” he said, turning back to the daisy girl.Except that the daisy was gone.
“The bears.”
What bloody bears? He hadn’t been listening.
“Do you agree with me?”
What was he agreeing to? “Aye,” he said uncertainly.
Her face broke into a brilliant smile. “Fantastic,”she said, and her eyes narrowed. “Except that I didn’t actually say anything about bears or swimming.”
“Did you no’?”
“Nope,” she said pertly.“I was just talking about your adorable little dogs.But then I changed them to polar bears just to see if you were listening,” she said, pointing to his head and making a circular motion with her finger.“It’s a trick I use to see who is paying attention.”
“One I would guess you employ quite a lot.”
“Ooh,snarky,” she said, nodding approvingly.“Ilikeit.”
Aye, she was right.She was a guest at his establishment, the blue streak of words emanating from her lovely mouth notwithstanding, whether he liked it or not. “I apologize.But it’s a wee bit hard to listen to all you say, Ms. Turner.”
Her big blue eyes widened and Edan thought he’d offended her until she burst into gales of tinkling laughter.“I know,right? Don’t look so horrified, Edan.It’s sure not the first time I’ve heard that.”
Edan had to grudgingly admit to himself that he liked her laugh.It was light and almost lyrical.And he liked the way she had little patches of bird’s feet by her eyes when she laughed.“I’ll take you to the village,” he heard himself say.
She gasped with delight. “Youwill?”
