She nodded again, but couldn’t muster an answer. She knew what her night would offer. Whispering ghosts and shadows of the past would be her bedfellows tonight, if they let her sleep at all. Since she’d seen that article, she just couldn’t settle. She wondered whether the huge slab of dread she felt in the pit of her stomach was fear alone. As she thought again of the voice, the shadow watching her depart, she knew it was far more complicated than that. The truth was, Martha didn’t know quite what to hope for.
Chapter 10
‘I’m still not convinced that this is strictly necessary,’ April protested as they locked up the games room and started to walk across the park towards their homes. ‘I’m fine. I have a headache, but I’ll just take something and go to bed.’
‘That’s the perfect way to slip into a coma.’ He chuckled. ‘You’re stubborn – I get it.’
April narrowed her eyes at him, but his face was lit up with mischievous humour.
‘Just indulge me, okay? No boss, no home, no job. Besides, you need the cut washing out and covering over. You’ve been painting and rolling around here all day.’
April felt her lips tighten together. It made sense, but the thought of the close proximity was still making her panic. The way he’d held her to him on the games room floor had her head spinning. She’d felt completely safe and protected, the opposite to how Duncan had made her feel in those last weeks. She’d not even been here a week yet, and she was snuggling up to a man who was fascinating the hell out of her. He made her so nervous, so awkward. More socially awkward than normal, and yet he made her feel safe too. She realised to her horror that she missed it, and the thought kept her quiet the rest of the way. It was one night, and then everything would go back to normal. Normal as things were for her, anyway.
Cillian opened his front door and stretched his arm out theatrically.
‘After you, Bambi.’ He knocked his knees together, pretending to wobble and she rolled her eyes at him. A flash of pain shot through her head, and she winced. Cillian was at her side in an instant, one hand on the small of her back, the other cupping her cheek. ‘Hey, hey. Shit,’ he muttered under his breath. ‘Listen, shall I phone the doctor?’
April was already shaking her head, gingerly due to the wave of pain that still shot through her skull.
‘No, it’s okay. I didn’t get knocked out. I’m really okay, I can …’
She made a move from the porch area to her own chalet, and Cillian’s hand tightened around her back, the other moving to her side as he softly blocked her exit with his own body. She caught a waft of aftershave and what smelled like baby powder. A clean, fresh smell that fitted him perfectly. As soon as she caught a whiff, her nerve endings felt like they were on fire.
‘I don’t think so, April, come on. You can have my bed, I’ll take the couch.’ He was inches away from her now, leaning in so close she could have counted the bristles on his thickening five-o’clock shadow. His eyes were full of concern and she felt her stomach flip. She licked her lips without thinking, and his pupils dilated as his gaze followed the tip of her pink tongue.
‘April, I—’
The crunch of gravel made them both freeze as the lights from a vehicle lit up the main road into the park. A taxi, pulling up outside Martha’s chalet. Cillian frowned, muttering something under his breath before releasing April a little. He didn’t completely let go of her and she found that she was glad of it. They both turned, their shocked expressions mirroring Martha’s as she got out of the car. Cillian stepped forward towards her, but she raised a gloved hand and stopped him.
‘I’m fine thank you, dear. Just fine.’ The tone of her voice sounded off, even to April. It was weaker than usual, the usual sting in the tail of her words absent. ‘April, I wouldn’t mind a word if you have a moment.’ April’s shoulders went up over her ears at her request. Why did she always feel like a prize idiot around people here, like she dare not say no? It was bad enough that she was hot for her handyman, or was after he had practically dry humped her with concern after her fall. She could still feel his touch on her back, and she relished the feelings it evoked. Or she did when they were happening. Now she was just a bumbling tit with a head wound and a feeling that she was about to get the second sermon of the day from one of the Lizard Point matriarchs.
‘Does it have to be tonight?’ Cillian asked softly, his head constantly flicking back to his own chalet, distracted by his daughter sleeping alone just feet away. April’s heart squeezed with something, but she didn’t try to identify it or assess the feeling. She couldn’t. What would be the point? ‘We have a bit of paperwork to do.’
It was a week off the planned opening, rushed due to finances, but they were still a way off before they could get open properly. She played along, wondering why Cillian hadn’t outed her as a doomed damsel in distress or used the opportunity to run back to his chalet away from them both.
Martha pursed her lips together, and then nodded slowly. She reached for a set of keys from one of her bags and waved them both goodnight.
‘I’ll come tomorrow morning, Martha,’ April called after her. Martha just waggled her fingers over her shoulder, and she didn’t stop till she was at the other side of the door. Within moments, Martha’s chalet filled with warm lights, and she was pulling her curtains as she went from room to
