She slumped backwards in her chair. It was said that actions spoke louder than words. If that was right, then maybe she needed to put the brakes on, stop worrying...
They’d abandoned the bed as the last wisps of daylight had melted into darkness. He’d wanted to cook for her, but she’d had to get back to feed Cleuso, so he’d driven her home. In the car she’d stroked the back of his neck; on the barge he’d kissed her dizzy. He’d said he’d fetch her bicycle from across town where she’d abandoned it, so she’d given him the key to the padlock. The next morning she’d found the key underneath the designated plant pot, the bike secured against the railing of the barge. The punctured tyre had been fixed.
‘I’m buzzing!’ Ash’s eyes were bright with excitement, his smile wide and white. He took a long swig from his beer bottle, set it down on the wooden planks of the dock. ‘That was such a great meeting, Mia. Theo’s techies are awesome and the atmosphere at MolTec is fantastic. There’s a real can-do vibe.’
She squeezed his shoulder, ruffling his over-long hair affectionately. It was good to see him like this. After ‘Halgate’ he’d lost his sparkle, but this was the old Ash—handsome, happy, brimming with optimism. He’d propped her up when she was little, carried her emotionally, been her rod and staff. Her heart swelled for him and swelled for Theo, too, for giving her brother a boost just when he’d needed it the most.
He raked his hair back into place. ‘It’s a pity Theo’s away. I was going to ask him to join us for a cold one.’
She toyed with her beer bottle, took a small sip. ‘He’s in Hamburg...and then he’ll be Paris. He won’t be back until Friday.’
Ash was staring at her. ‘And you know this how...?’
She angled herself towards him. ‘Because... I’m sort of seeing him.’
‘Oh.’ Ash picked up his bottle, lifted it to his lips lowering it again without drinking. ‘Since when?’
‘Um...since Monday—officially—but things have been heading that way since I ran into him at a charity event...’ She told Ash about the fundraiser night; about Cleuso in the canal; about having lunch and about going to look at Theo’s canal house. She didn’t tell him how things had ended up. Too much information! He listened with interest and he didn’t bite his thumb, which she took as a good sign. ‘I was a bit worried about telling you, to be honest.’
‘Why?’
‘Can’t you guess? Déjà vu!’
‘It’s not the same situation.’ He swigged his beer. ‘Theo’s not my business partner, and my gut tells me that, even if things don’t work out between the two of you, he wouldn’t let it affect our business dealings.’
The breath caught in her throat. It hadn’t occurred to her either until that very moment and now her heart was flapping like a fish in a landing net. If things didn’t work with Theo, would Theo want to maintain a business connection with her brother? Feasibly Ash could come a cropper all over again and it would be her fault—again! Ash’s faith in Theo was admirable. If only she could share it to the same degree, but suddenly she was thinking about Eline again, the feeling she’d had that Theo wasn’t telling her everything about why his wife had had an affair. She pressed her beer bottle to her forehead and rolled it slowly. Right from the start, she’d had the feeling that Theo was a man with something to hide but she couldn’t share her misgivings with Ash. He’d only say that if she felt like that she shouldn’t be getting involved with Theo at all.
‘Mia...?’
She came back to herself, meeting Ash’s concerned gaze. ‘I’m fine.’ She lowered the beer bottle and smiled. ‘I’m relieved that you’re okay with it.’
‘It’s your life, Mia.’ He slid a beer-chilled hand over hers. ‘For what it’s worth, I like Theo. He seems like a decent guy.’
A decent guy...
Theo had been involved with the women’s refuge for many years; he’d rescued her cat; he’d fixed her puncture... Decent acts. Her tension eased. Ash always did that: made her feel better. She smiled, leaned closer. ‘He’s not only a decent guy but he’s a decent guy with a famous sister...’
Ash’s eyes widened. ‘Who...?’
She lowered her voice: ‘Madelon Mulder.’
‘No!’ His eyebrows leapt up. ‘No way...’
She nodded deeply. ‘It’s true.’
‘Jeez, that’s really something.’ He tipped the remains of his beer into his mouth. ‘In London, Theo told me he had a sister and a brother, but he didn’t give me the juicy details!’ He paused for a moment, thinking. ‘He did say he had to dash because he was meeting his sister for dinner...’ His eyes locked on hers. ‘That was the night of the fundraiser, when you bumped into him.’ He grinned. ‘So weird.’
A brother?
Theo hadn’t mentioned a brother. She racked her brains, trying to think of any moment when it might have been relevant to their conversation, but she drew a blank. So many blanks, like the walls of his canal house.
Ash was snapping his fingers in front of her eyes. ‘You need something to eat, sis. You keep zoning out. It’s a sign of low blood sugar. We should go inside and order. Pizza would totally hit the spot right now; what do you reckon?’
She let him take her hand and pull her to her feet. ‘Pizza sounds great.’
Theo dropped his key card onto the console table and contemplated the room. Trude had done well; had found him another of the small, exclusive hotels he liked. He didn’t care for the huge
