In front of the rail, there was a trio of huge copper pots, greening softly in the weather. She’d been charged with selecting and planting the flowers in them this year, and was always thrilled to see the thriving mix of color, shape, and texture.
“I don’t mind the heat, not this time of day anyway.” She leaned down to sniff a purple bloom. “The sun goes down a little more, the lightning bugs’ll come out, and the cicadas’ll start singing.”
“Gave me a scare when Mama called earlier.”
“Guess so.”
“So here’s the thing.” He ran a hand absently along her arm. “You shouldn’t stay here after tonight. You can move on over to Logan’s tomorrow. Take some time off,” he continued as she turned to stare at him.
“Time off?”
“The nursery’s the same as Harper House, as far as this goes. Best you steer clear of both for a while. Mitch and I’ll see what we can do about tracing the bracelet, for what that’s worth.”
“Just pack up and move to Stella’s, quit work.”
“I didn’t say quit. Take some time off.”
There was such patience in his voice, the sort of patience that raised her hackles like fingernails on a blackboard.
“Some time.”
“Yeah. I talked to Mama about that, and to Stella about you staying with them for a while.”
“You did? You talked to them about it.”
He knew how a woman sounded when she was getting ready to tear a strip out of him. “No point getting your back up. This is the sensible thing to do.”
“So you figure the
“No one’s kicking you out. What’s the damn big deal about staying with a friend for a while?”
It sounded so reasonable. It was infuriating. “Because this is my home now. This is where I live, and the nursery is where I work.”
“And it’ll still be your home, still be where you live and where you work. For Christ’s sake, don’t be so pigheaded.”
The lash of temper delighted her. It meant she could lash right back. “Don’t you swear at me and call me names.”
“I’m not—” He bit off the rest of the words, rammed his hands in his pockets to stride up and down the terrace while he fought with his temper. “You said she was getting stronger. Why the hell would you stay here, risk what happens to you, when all you have to do is move a couple miles away? Temporarily.”
“How temporarily? Have you figured that out, too? I’m supposed to just sit around at Stella’s, twiddling my thumbs until you decide I can come back?”
“Till it’s safe.”
“How do you know when it’ll be safe, if it’ll ever be safe. And if you’re so damn worried, why aren’t you packing up?”
“Because I . . .” He cleared his throat, turned to glare out at the gardens.
“That was a wise move. Choking back any comment that resembled because you’re a man. But I saw it on your face.” She gave him a hard shove. “Don’t think I didn’t see what almost came out of your mouth.”
“Don’t tell me what almost came out of my mouth, and don’t put words into it. I want you somewhere I don’t have to worry about you.”
“Nobody’s asking you to worry. I’ve been taking care of myself for a lot of years now. I’m not so stupid, or so
“Next time? Listen to yourself. I don’t want her touching you.”
“It’s not your decision, and I’m no quitter. Do you know me so little you’d think I’d just, yes, Harper, and trot along like a nice little puppy?”
“I’m not trying to run your life, goddamn it, Hayley. I’m just trying to protect you.”
Of course, he was. And he looked so aggrieved, so frustrated, she had to sympathize. A little. “You can’t. Not this way. And the only thing that you’re going to accomplish by making plans around me that don’t include talking to me first is piss me off.”
“There’s a news flash. Just give me a week then. Just do this for a week and let me try to—”
“Harper, they took her child away. They drove her mad. Maybe she was heading there anyway, but they sure as hell gave her the last push over the edge. I’ve been part of this for over a year now. I can’t walk away from it.”
She lifted her hand, stroked the bracelet she continued to wear. “She showed me this. Somehow. I’m wearing what was hers. You gave it to me. It means something. I have to find out what that is. And I, very much, need to stay here with you.” She softened enough to touch his cheek. “You had to know I’d stay. What did your mother say when you said you were going to tell me to go to Stella’s?”
He shrugged, walked back to the terrace rail.
“Figured that. And Stella, I imagine said the same.”
“Logan agreed with me.”
“I bet he did.” She moved to him now, wrapped her arms around him, rested her cheek on his back.
He had a good, strong back. Working man, prince of the castle. What a fascinating combination of both he was. “I appreciate the thought, if not the method. That help any?”
“Not so much.”
“How about it’s nice that you care enough about me to try to boss me around?”
“It’s not bossing you around to—” He broke off with a curse and a sigh when he turned to see her grinning at him. “You’re not going to budge.”
“Not an inch. I think some of the Ashby blood, even as diluted as it is in me, must have stubborn corpuscles. And I want to be a part of finding the answers to all this, Harper. It’s important to me, maybe more important now that I’ve shared a kind of consciousness with her. Boy, that sounds pretty woo-woo, but I don’t know how else to say it.”
“How about she invades you?”
Her face sobered. “All right, that’s fair. You’re still mad, and that’s fair, too. I guess I don’t mind knowing you’re worried enough about me to be mad.”
“If you’re going to be reasonable about this, it’s just going to piss me off more.” He laid his hands on her shoulders, rubbed. “I do care about you, Hayley, and I am worried.”
“I know. Just remember I care about me, too, and worry enough to be as careful as I can be.”
“I’m going to stay with you tonight. I’m not budging about that.”
“Good thing that’s just where I want you. You know . . .” She slid her hands up his chest, linked them around his neck. “If we start fooling around, she might do something. So I think we ought to test that.” She rose on her toes, played her lips over his. “Like an experiment.”
“In my line of work I live for experiments.”
“Come on inside.” She stepped back, caught both his hands in hers. “We’ll set up the lab.”
LATER, WHEN THEY lay turned toward each other in the dark, she brushed at his hair. “She didn’t seem to be interested this time.”
“You can’t predict a ghost who should be haunting an asylum.”
“Guess not.” She snuggled closer. “You’re a kind of scientist, right?”
“Kind of.”
“When scientists are experimenting, they usually have to try more than once, maybe with some slight varieties, over a course of time. I’ve heard.”
“Absolutely.”
“So.” She closed her eyes, all but purring at the stroke of his hand. “We’ll just have to try this again, at some
