Page 39 of A December to Remember
“Trust me, burning your world to the ground is not as exciting as it sounds.”
“Are you speaking from experience?”
“Maybe.” He was looking at her in the same way he had been studying the vase. She didn’t know if she liked being appraised. “You come across like someone in control of their destiny.”
“Are any of us in control of our destiny, really?” he asked.
“Maybe not, but you seem like you’d have a better chance of choosing your own fate than most.”
“Thank you, I think.”
“What happens if you get bored?” She was curious.
“What do you mean?”
“Do you go wild and tear up the town, or do you flop about like a slug?”
“I don’t know that I do either. I get restless, I suppose. That’s why I knit; it occupies me. What do you do?”
“I make unwise choices,” she said, and was rewarded with him raising a quizzical eyebrow. “But I’m trying to make changes on that front. I’m trying to be less impulsive, to stick at things rather than moving on when they get tricky. Would you teach me to knit?”
“Yes, if you’d like.”
“Thank you, I would like. That’s two things you’re going to teach me, now we need to think of something I can teach you.”
Duncan smiled. “Perhaps you could show me how to look less like my superpower is concentration.”
“Perhaps,” she replied, though she was beginning to hope that some of his focus would rub off on her. “Right, well, I’m going to start hunting for a strongbox.”
“I thought you were going to clean the silver.”
“Oh, yes. You see, short attention span. When I’m bored of looking for the strongbox, I’ll clean the silver.”
“Deal.” Duncan smiled at her, and she returned it. They stayed that way for just a little too long, as though they each had an inkling that they’d found a friend.
16
The grocer’s wasquiet when Maggie got back from the solicitors’. Joe was creating a bounteous display of fresh produce in the window. He smiled knowingly when he saw her.
“Still suffering?” he inquired.
“I think it was the whisky that pushed me over the edge. I may never be the same again.”
“The shop’s been very busy. Lots of people popping in for ‘just a few bits’ and ‘just wondering what that business was about outside North Novelties & Curios last night.’ ” He gave her a wry smile. “And apparently there were ‘high spirits’ in the early hours.”
She grimaced. “My singing voice has been likened to mating foxes.”
“I’d have gone with coyotes myself.”
She laughed half-heartedly.
“How did you get on with Vanessa?” he asked.
“We gave her the houses; she gave us a key to an elusive strongbox. God, I feel like death.”
“What if there was something I could do to take your mind off it?”
She managed a half smile. “I’m not sure I’m up to it.”
