Page 108
“A few things.”
“And this all started in London?”
She nodded.
“I knew you’d find it inspiring there.” Following Evie’s lead, Nick turned left onto Broad Street, skipping Marwick’s altogether.
“It was for a while, but the noise, the crowding—got old really fast.”
“How long have you been back?”
“It’ll be four years in December.” She adjusted the tote on her shoulder. “I came home after I was mugged.”
Halting midstride, Nick reeled with shock. “Holy shit! Where?”
Evie stopped. “Ladbroke Grove. I was walking to work one Sunday morning and a guy grabbed me, held a lead pipe to my temple and demanded my phone.”
“Bloody hell!” Nick covered his mouth as they set off again. “Did he hurt you?!”
“Just mentally. On the spot, I decided, I’m done. I quit my job and flew home a week later.”
“That’s terrible.”
“Scariest moment of my life,” said Evie. “In hindsight, though, it was the kick in the pants I needed. London was just another attempt to be someone I wasn’t. I mean, seriously, cut me and I bleed salt water and groatie buckies, standing stones and the Ba’. Orkney is home and always will be. London was fun and somewhat inspiring, but in the end it wasn’t for me. Not in the long run, anyway.”
Evie’s distaste for London post-mugging was hardly surprising, and yet, disappointment brewed in Nick’s chest. London would always be his home, regardless of where he rested his head at night.
They crossed Castle Street and sauntered beneath the colorful bunting stretching from one side of narrow Albert Street to the other. Evie greeted almost everyone who passed by with a bubbly “Hi.” For Nick, many of the storefronts were unfamiliar, owing to the changing tides of taste and commerce on a small island; however, two things set off his nostalgia: Kirkwall’s much loved Big Tree, a two-hundred-year-old sycamore leaning precariously into the street, and a familiar model of blue SUV parked close by.
He gestured toward the vehicle. “Now that takes me back. Sitting behind the wheel, you giving me private lessons.” His gaze locked with Evie’s as their swaying hands almost touched. “And the driving tips were great, too.”
As her lips parted, a blush reddened her cheeks. “We had some great adventures, that’s for sure.”
And some horrible misunderstandings. Fiddling with his bag of shopping, Nick flashed a tight smile then peered ahead. The only way to move forward is to discuss them, but how? When?
Out of the corner of his eye, Evie seemed restless, too, her fingers curling and uncurling along the strap of her tote.
Nick cleared his throat and chickened out, resorting to a safe topic. “I meant to ask, how are your parents?”
“Good. They’re on a cruise right now, somewhere between Hawaii and Australia.”
Australia. Nick’s pulse ramped up.
Evie must’ve felt the tension in the air as soon as she said it because she quickly chirped, “Next stop,” and darted through the bookshop’s door.
Once inside, Nick lingered by the bestseller shelves, relieved for the respite. Evie walked up to the counter and greeted the blonde clerk with a smiley “Hi, Peggy” in exchange for a jovial “Take your time, love” and a towering stack of novels.
Picking up an acclaimed thriller, Nick spied Evie flipping open the cover of a Cordelia Ross romance novel. She wrote something inside with a Sharpie.
What the…? Breath catching, his jaw slowly dropped. He set down the thriller and meandered over as she signed another copy. “Oh my god, you’re—”
“Cordelia Ross.” Evie closed the cover and moved on to the next book.
“Historical romance author.” Nick blew out his lips. “I narrated your audiobook.”
“I know, two years ago. My third novel.”
“I had no idea Cordelia was you! The dedication and acknowledgments were pretty vague. Why don’t you use your real name?”
