“Including in Knights Bridge?”
Gabe hesitated but nodded without going further.
“I swear this town has a tractor beam,” Russ said. “It keeps pulling people in. I feel it. So does Kylie, and we aren’t from here. I can’t imagine what the pull would be with family in town.”
As if to emphasize that point, Mark came out of his office. Gabe chatted with him for a few minutes after Russ excused himself. Jess was feeling better today, hoping she was over the worst of her morning sickness. Mark, too, queried his brother about how long he’d be in town this trip. Gabe didn’t have an answer.
“The beauty of not having a nine-to-five job,” Mark said. “Heading back to Felicity’s place? Tell her hi for me.” He paused, eyes narrowed. “And behave, Gabe. Breaking her heart twice is two times too many.”
Twice? Felicity?
“I’ve never broken her heart at all.”
His brother didn’t bother to hide his skepticism, but he said nothing further.
Gabe, truly mystified, headed to his car. He saw a flash of lightning and heard a crack of thunder as he jumped behind the wheel.
Twenty-Two
There was nothing like the smell of freshly picked wild blueberries bubbling in the oven, Felicity decided as she pulled the cobbler from the oven. The tart-sweet scent permeated the kitchen and living room, making her house feel homey and welcoming. It’d started to rain, but the worst of the storm had slid to the south. She’d pulled out the dry ingredients for the cobbler and measured the flour, sugar and butter, so everything was ready when Gabe walked through the door.
He’d looked preoccupied but insisted he didn’t want to talk about whatever was on his mind, not with a cobbler to get in the oven. Felicity assumed the “whatever” involved his meeting with Dylan McCaffrey and Nadia turning up again, but she didn’t press him for details.
“We can’t eat a whole cobbler by ourselves,” she said.
“We can’t?”
“Correction. We shouldn’t eat a whole cobbler by ourselves.”
“I promised to stop by Red Clover Inn. I don’t know about Samantha, but I don’t see Justin turning down blueberry cobbler.”
“We shouldn’t dig in first. That would be rude.”
“I’ll call them.”
While he made the call, Felicity covered the cobbler with foil and wrapped it in a towel. Gabe rejoined her. “That was quick,” she said.
He grinned. “It didn’t take much convincing.” He lifted the cobbler but stood still. “Felicity...”
“What’s on your mind, Gabe? Besides wild blueberry cobbler.”
“I can’t have it both ways,” he said. “I can’t stay in town for a few days and bunk with you. We need space—not just because of town gossip but because of us.” He steadied his gaze on her. “I want to get this right.”
She nodded. “I do, too, Gabe.” She left it at that. “Where will you stay?”
“I’ve accepted Justin and Samantha’s offer to stay at Red Clover Inn.”
“Okay. Good. Makes sense.” Felicity cleared her throat and pointed at the cobbler. “I’ll limit myself to one helping of cobbler. You guys can polish off the rest and bring me back the pan.”
He winked at her. “We’ll wash it first.”
* * *
The next days were a whirl of work, walks and getting to know Gabriel Flanagan again. Felicity wondered if it was the same for him in getting to know her again. They drove out to her parents’ house for a picnic with her brother and his wife and two small children. Gabe visited his father on his own, met his father’s new girlfriend, worked on old motorcycles with him. He called Felicity one evening, and they played Clue with Justin and Samantha in the musty, charming library at Red Clover Inn.
She and Gabe made love, too—sweet and intense and wonderful, Felicity thought as she walked to the covered bridge, clearing her head after a packed work day. Last heard from, Gabe was reading a book in the hammock at the inn. He was definitely ready to get back to work, but he was taking his time, not plunging in with his usual impatience.
She didn’t linger at the covered bridge. As she approached her house, she smelled smoke and assumed Gabe was there, but she didn’t see another vehicle in the driveway. She went down to the fireplace. The fire was dying down on its own and posed no danger. An expensive handbag was plopped next to an Adirondack chair. Felicity recognized it as Nadia’s and bit back her irritation. Nadia had promised she was going home to Malibu to hit the reset button on her life.
Felicity headed onto the deck and saw the doors were open. She poked her head inside and saw the living room was a mess, as if someone had started searching for something and then decided just to grab decorative pillows and throws and heave them onto the floor in frustration.
She ran back outside.
Where was Nadia now?
Felicity spotted footprints in the muddy path that led down to the river. She and Gabe had slipped off to the swimming hole twice since he’d moved into Red Clover Inn. They’d stuck to leaping into the river from the rope, swimming, sunning themselves on the rocks like a couple of happy seals. It was as if by unspoken agreement they’d decided to be friends only while at the swimming hole, test out what that was like. As far as she was concerned, it was great but not enough. Not that she had any plans to skinny-dip.
When she reached the swimming hole, the rope was dangling from its branch, out of reach from the riverbank. The river was high, muddy from yesterday’s rain. She didn’t see more footprints but noticed a towel floating in shallow water by the rocks. She got closer and realized it was hung up on a branch in the water. She didn’t recognize the towel as one of hers. Had Nadia come down here with her own towel?
She jumped onto the boulder and peered up
