Instinct edged me closer to Erin. “As long as it stays a cuddle,” I warned.
Mim waved me off and smiled sweetly at my girl. “I’ve been told not to ask too many questions about why you’re here without thathusbandof yours.” The caustic bite to her voice when she said “husband” wasn’t lost on me. My mother had never warmed to that bastard, either. “We’re so happy you’re here…for…a few weeks?”
“Oh.” Erin’s eyes flitted to me. “Um…”
“Mim,” I hissed.
My mother smiled as if she hadn’t been caught fishing for information. “If you need someone to look after Til, you drop her off to me. That precious little darlin’ wouldn’t be worse off with more cuddles from her Mim. I picked up some good movies at the church fete we can watch.”
“I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Erin said.
“You’re not askin’. And I know you well enough to know you wouldn’t either. That’s why I’m offerin’. You’ll find me over at the old gardener’s cottage most of the time. Simon and I live out by the river now, you know. We thought we’d give Cal…” Mim’s gaze drifted to my hand. I wasn’t touching Erin, but my fingers hovered, waiting below her elbow, just in case. “Some space…”
I took a step away from Erin to put more distance between us, but there was too much emotion on my face. There must’ve been. Mim’s eyes widened. She’d caught me.
“Bron!” she called over her shoulder.
“Yeah?” came the voice from the kitchen.
“I think we might go out tonight!”
“What about the ham?” Bronte shouted back.
“Yeah, Mim.” I glared at her. “What about the ham?”
“I’m feelin’ like a steak. You gotta keep your iron up when you get to my age.” She laughed nervously. “Yeah. A big steak.” Her megawatt smile landed on Erin. “You and Til should stay for dinner. Keep Cal company.”
“Mim,” I warned through gritted teeth.
She instructed me sternly, “Take the ham out of the oven in thirty minutes,” and saved her kindness for bundling Erin in another hug. “We’ve been missin’ you. I got so used to havin’ you around the last few months before… Well…” Mim swiped a tear from her eye. “It’s good you’re home.”
Erin’s teeth buried in her lip. She was like Cole. The grief still hung like a black lead coat on her shoulders. On top of everything she was going through, Lila’s passing was the lastthing she needed to be reminded about. The shake rattling through her was enough for me to forget about hiding my true feelings and get my arm around her. I pulled her close to my side.
“What do you say?” I asked her gently. “Reckon Til will want to stick around for some honey-glazed ham?”
“Yeah.” Erin smiled. “She’ll work up a big appetite after doing a few laps in the tub.”
I laughed. “Get on with you then.” I nudged her toward the stairs. “You two come down when you’re done.”
And I’d avoid my mother’s misty eyes and the guilt squeezing around my heart by keeping busy. Ham out of the oven. Dinner on the table. Feelings in check. The hopeless beast who dreamed of coming home to Erin’s smile after a long day on the farm was caged again. She deserved a night off without worrying about another complication.
But Mim had noticed. She knew my secret.
How long would it take before Erin realized, too?
8
That Humiliating Appointment in Winter
Erin
Jeremy
I can’t do this without you.
Two weeks ago, Iwould’ve leaped over the moon if Jeremy had sent me a text. He rarely bothered.Appointments—that was his usual excuse. I couldn’t deny he was busy taking care of his patients, but somehow, he always found time to text his friends on the rare Sundays he came to brunch with Matilda and me. When had Jeremy stopped being my lover to become the person phoning in his life beside me?
“Mummy!”
