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Where had she gone? When she left for the airport, she’d said she was going home.
And then it struck him. Home. Maybe not to her apartment but to her family home. Home. He wouldn’t be surprised. She was a people person, a family person, and it was New Year’s Eve after all.
He climbed back into the waiting town car, told the driver he needed to find an address, and after a little sleuthing, Alec found her father’s name on the university faculty page, and then did another search for residential addresses using her father’s full name, and came up with several addresses, but only one looked to be the closest to the university, and that was the address he wanted to try first.
The driver took the new address, input it into his GPS, and they were off, even as the rain continued to fall. It was a steadydownpour, cold and wet. Not even five minutes later the town car pulled in front of a rambling two-story house. It was an older home, a mix of shingles and siding with lots of windows that didn’t quite match, but it suited the Pacific Northwest and had plenty of charm. Cars filled the driveway. There were a lot more cars parked out front. Lights glowed from within the house. “Would you wait a moment?” Alec asked the driver. “I want to make sure someone is here before you go.”
The driver nodded and Alec headed for the front door. He used the knocker on the door, and then after moment pushed the doorbell.
The front door opened after a long minute, and a young woman who looked very much like Cara, except she had long curly red hair, looked up at him and she had Cara’s blue-green eyes, and the same slightly crooked smile. “Hello,” she said. “Can I help you?”
“Is Cara Roberts here?” he asked.
The pretty girl studied him for a moment, mischief in her expression. “Are you by chance his lordship?”
Alec couldn’t remember the last time he blushed, and yet his face grew hot. “I wouldn’t say lordship, no—but I am Alec Sherbourne.”
“The viscount? Of Langley Park?”
“Yes.” He couldn’t help smiling at her. She was very much like Cara—open, friendly, funny. “I have a feeling you are Eloise.”
“Everyone calls me Ella.” She had a dimple in her cheek. “Your lordshop. I mean, lordship.” She bobbed a curtsey.
“Cara didn’t say you were ruthless.”
“Well, that was probably before you sent her home with a broken heart.”
Alec’s amusement was fading. “I’ve come to make amends. Is your sister here, by chance?”
“Yes. Everyone is here.” Her eyes narrowed as she assessed him. “If I didn’t think Cara might be happy to see you, I wouldn’t let you in.”
At least there was some encouraging news there. “I love your sister.”
Ella’s gaze swept over him again. “In that case, come in. You’ll be able to meet the entire family. I imagine they’re all interested in getting a look at you.”
He didn’t miss her emphasis on entire family. “Let me just let the driver know he can take my luggage to the hotel—”
“Hotel? You’re not staying here?”
“Um, no.”
“Get your suitcase. If Cara doesn’t want to see you, I’m sure one of us can drive you to your hotel.”
Not so encouraging, but honest and direct. Just like Cara.
Alec retrieved his suitcase, and he slipped the driver a folded bill. “Thank you,” he said to the driver. “Happy New Year.”
Back on the front porch, Cara’s sister opened the door wider for him and then motioned for him to leave the suitcase in the hall.
Closing the door behind them, she whispered, “She’s been really quiet, hardly talking. That’s how you know she’s sad.”
“Thank you for the heads-up,” he said. “Hopefully, I can fix things. Should we go surprise her?”
Ella took his arm, led him down a short hall, and then through a kitchen into an American-style family room crowded with people.
Ella hadn’t been joking. The room was filled with people—fifteen? Eighteen? More?
*
