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Was that a threat?
Will cleared his throat and continued, voice softened. “You’re as out and as proud as they come, but Darcy will never be. I know what it’s like to wish he returned my feelings. I would hate for you to waste your life chasing after him. I’ve seen him a few times this week, every time with Caroline. He might even fancy you, but he’ll end up with someone like her.”
Bennet smiled tightly back at him. He was in no mood to continue this. “Those clouds are thickening up. We’d better be on our way.”
Bribery didn’t work with Lyon.
He was absolutely determined to continue disliking Darcy.
But Bennet, in tune with every microscopic twitch in Lyon’s face, wasn’t so sure he meant it. His suspicion was confirmed two days later in the grocery store.
He’d sent Lyon to the cereal aisle to grab the muesli while Bennet waited at the checkout. When he didn’t return, Bennet bailed out of line with his basket and sought him.
He heard Lyon before he rounded into the aisle and stopped out of sight.
“But I suppose I can be civil. If you do that for me.”
“Deal.” Darcy’s firm voice sailed down the aisle. Bennet’s body flushed with curiosity.
“Good.”
“Excellent. I’ll be seeing you then.”
“Uh huh.”
Footsteps. Lyon’s. Headed away from Bennet thank God. Bennet raced back to the counter and plonked his groceries on the conveyer belt before Lyon got there. He glanced at his bright red brother. “You good?”
Lyon dropped the muesli onto the counter. “Sure.”
Bennet’s pocket buzzed.
Darcy: Making my favorite dish tonight. If you and Lyon want to come by again.
“Darcy wants us to do dinner with him,” Bennet said.
Lyon’s expression barely twitched. God, the boy could act.
“How do you feel about that?”
A shrug. “I mean. Like. Whatever.”
Bennet popped the top button of his jeans. Both the pie and the pavlova had been decadent; he might have over-indulged. “How will we get home?”
“Compact tractor with front loader. Let it scoop us up.”
Dinner had turned into three more over the past week and every time, Lyon tagged along without complaint. Albeit without much enthusiasm either, but whatever deal he’d made with Darcy, he was sticking to it. Thrice Bennet had tried to weasel out the specifics of their treaty, and thrice he’d been deftly ignored.
Now Bennet and Lyon sat nursing full bellies on the couch after their fourth dinner at Darcy’s while Darcy himself took an important call.
A flash of stern black and white passed by the living room door, and Bennet waited for it to come again.
“He’s on the phone. Not balancing a trapeze. It’s not that interesting.”
“Hmm?”
Lyon rolled his eyes. “You’re always watching him. It’s embarrassing.”
“I pay attention. It’s what friends do.”
“Brothers, too? Because I cut my hair today and you still haven’t noticed.”
Bennet stared at Lyon. True enough, it did look a half-inch shorter. “Look at that.”
Darcy’s urgent voice reached them. Whomever he was talking to, it sounded important.
“Good thing he has an English accent,” Bennet mused. “He’d be frightening otherwise.”
Lyon scoffed. “I can think of a lot of words for how you find Darcy but frightening isn’t one of them.”
Darcy’s voice stopped and he entered the room.
Bennet sat upright. “Hey.”
“Frightening my ass,” Lyon said under his tongue.
Darcy paced the rug, rubbing his jaw. His gaze skipped around the red room, never quite landing on them. Eventually he sank against the windowsill. The last dredges of light purpled the sky behind him. He folded his arms. Dropped them again.
“Everything okay?”
“A case has come up that I’m interested . . . that I need to take. I have to get back to Port Ratapu.”
Bennet felt hollow and cold, as though he’d briefly left his body and was watching the scene play out from above. “For good? I mean, this will end your sabbatical?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.” Bennet’s stomach lurched wildly. He wished he hadn’t eaten so much. “When do you leave?”
“Early tomorrow morning.”
“So this was our last supper.”
“It seems that way.”
They grew quiet, avoiding eye contact. Lyon stirred on the couch. “But we haven’t finished . . .”
Darcy inclined his head. “You’re doing well. You’ll be fine, Lyon. I believe in you.”
Busy trying to assemble a reasonable response, Bennet couldn’t concentrate on their words. “I hope your case goes well. Maybe once you’re done you’ll drop by again. For a weekend or something.”
He swallowed.
“I always come here for the Easter long weekend.”
Easter. That was . . . wow.
So Darcy was returning to his normal life, and their friendship would be sidelined to occasional long weekends and holidays. Bennet should have prepared for this inevitability. But he hadn’t. He’d let himself get swept up, as if it would be like this in perpetuity.
He laughed at himself and pushed to his feet. “We should get going. Give you time to pack.”
Darcy mirrored him. An entire two-meter rug separated them. “What about a cup of tea?”
