Page 21 of A Spell of Midlife Mayhem

Raven? An unusual name, most often female, but he gave no sign of being self-conscious about it. I followed him in as if I was a guest at a country hotel. He was a lot more considerate than Terry had ever been.

‘Tea?’ he prompted.

My eyes must have been weary because my gaze had dropped again to the part of his broad chest exposed by his loose shirt. I lifted it upwards with effort. ‘I have to rest. It’s been a long journey.’

‘Sure. Let me help you with your luggage.’ Puzzlement swept across his face. ‘Where are your bags?’

‘The airline’s best guess is they are somewhere in California, which is amazing, considering that I flew through Asia.’

‘Crap. Sorry to hear that.’

I followed him up the wonky stairs. My stomach tingled with a strange anticipation. The muscles of Raven’s butt clenched and relaxed as he took each step. A warmness came over me as I neared the top, and my breath caught in my throat. Why was I physically attracted to this man? It was an odd and unfamiliar feeling, one I had almost forgotten.

I’m single now. A strange mixture of sensations washed over me: excitement, light-headedness, desire to move away because of his proximity... and desire to laugh at the absurdity of life because of the whole crazy situation. But it was life. This happened in life. You meet an attractive person and you are attracted to them. Yet, at this moment, it was unexpected.

Raven paused on the landing. ‘Are you okay?’

‘Just tired.’

‘Of course. Careful on the landing. It slopes a little down towards the far corner. This is your room here. It is—was—your aunt Ruth’s.’ He gestured to the second door along. ‘I have this one.’ He motioned to the one nearest. ‘They each have private bathrooms, so no worries on that score.’

I feared the worst when he said my room was Aunt Ruth’s, as in the past tense. The horror must have shown on my face because Raven added, ‘Don’t worry. Your aunt is fine. She’s due to leave the hospital in three or four days, actually. She wants to have the bedroom downstairs now that...’ His voice tapered off.

‘If she wants her room up here, I’ll investigate how to get a stairlift installed,’ I said. After thirty hours of travel with minimal sleep, the room was spinning, and my eyelids were drooping. ‘I don’t mean to be rude, Raven, but I have to rest, otherwise I’ll fall asleep on my feet.’

‘Right.’ He moved aside so I could get past him. ‘I might see you later, then. I’ll be downstairs most of the day if you need me. I left a key for you on the table next to the coat stand.’

‘Thanks.’ I entered my room. It was spacious and well-lit thanks to the large bay windows. I went to the bathroom and breathed a sigh of relief to find modern fittings instead of eighteenth-century ones.

I’d remembered to pack an adaptor for the UK with my phone charger and plugged it in. I quickly sent a text to Rachel and another to Rose to say, I’ve arrived, but sans luggage, talk soon. Then I closed the curtains and lay on the bed, fully dressed, and kicked the shoes off my aching feet. I was asleep in seconds.

Chapter 9

I UNDERSTOOD THE CONCEPT of jetlag, but I hadn’t experienced it before. Neither had I bothered to ask anyone how to avoid it. I soon discovered I’d done the wrong thing by lying down in the late morning, because I didn’t wake until evening. I’d slept nine hours straight, and now I was famished and wanted breakfast. My medications cycle was all out of sync too. No wonder my blood pressure had spiked.

Damn these time zone flips. Now I’d probably be awake all night.

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