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Her breath caught as she approached, her heart suddenly beating way too fast.
Karl nosed at his hand for pats, which Finn duly gave; then, the visitor having been properly greeted, the dog disappeared back into the house.
Finn watched her, his dark gaze giving nothing away, but there was what looked like the beginnings of a smile at one corner of his beautiful mouth, and she was blushing like an idiot.
“For the record,” he said as she came up the steps to the deck, “yes, I do tell Karl what to do, and yes, he likes it.”
“Of course he does. He’s a dog.” Beth found herself full of awkwardness, her cheeks burning even more intensely. “Uh…so…how was your trek today?”
“It was good.” His gaze roamed over her as if he was hungry for the sight of her, and she felt herself get breathless.
This was stupid. It wasn’t a date. They were friends having dinner together while she looked over his house, that was all. So why she should be getting wound up about his sexiness and the way he looked at her, she had no idea.
“This is great.” Beth gestured at the house. “It’s kind of like standing in a…a crow’s nest or something.”
Unexpectedly and very badly for her poor heart, Finn’s mouth curved in a brief but blinding smile that momentarily stole what breath remained in her body.
“Yeah, it is, isn’t it? I like being able to see the landscape, and Sheri didn’t want to be buried in the bush, so we built here, where there was a view, and we didn’t have to do much clearing.”
“It’s honestly amazing,” Beth said quite truthfully, because it was amazing. Then she nodded at the wind sculptures twisting in the breeze. “Are those yours?”
“Gus.” The smile lingered around his sexy mouth. “She makes them and gives them to me for my birthday and for Christmas. She made the wind chimes too.”
Beth wouldn’t have thought Finn was the kind of guy who’d like such whimsical things, let alone display them, and maybe he didn’t. But he hung them out anyway for his niece because she gave them to him.
Are you sure he’s not the perfect man?
Beth shoved that thought aside.
“They’re really pretty,” she said. “I love them. And I like that bath too. Do you use it?”
Finn’s smile abruptly disappeared. “No,” he said, his voice getting that flat, uninflected note in it again. “Not anymore.”
Beth thought she knew why he didn’t use it anymore, but she wasn’t going to question further. Clearly it was a subject he didn’t want to talk about, which likely meant it had something to do with his wife.
And sharing griefs and their pasts wasn’t really what this evening was about. It was about seeing whether she could live here and having a companionable dinner, and that’s all.
So she left it, and when Finn gestured to the door, she stepped inside without another word.
***
Finn showed Beth inside, determined not to watch her expressions like a hawk, looking for signs as to her opinion on the house.
He’d thought he was fine with her choosing to stay at the farmhouse and him moving in there; in fact, he thought he’d maybe even prefer it, since this was the home he’d shared with Sheri.
Yet the moment he saw her come up the steps to the deck, looking so pretty in a light green sundress, her pale hair blowing around her face in the breeze, the color of her eyes enhanced by the color of her dress, he knew he wouldn’t prefer it after all. That somehow Beth belonged here.
It was a disturbing feeling and he didn’t like it, because Sheri had belonged here too and surely the two women couldn’t coexist in the same space, even when one of those women was a ghost.
He tried to ignore it, yet when she’d mentioned his house being like a crow’s nest, he’d felt a sudden rush of pleasure. Because the observation was exactly what he’d thought when the house had finally finished being built and he and Sheri had stood on the deck looking at the view, masters of all they surveyed.
He shouldn’t be pleased about that. Beth was supposed to be different so she could occupy a different space in his head from the space he’d reserved for Sheri. She wasn’t supposed to be the same.
Then she had to go and mention the bath, which wasn’t her fault; she didn’t know that it had been Sheri who’d had it put there, but still. That had only made him even more uncomfortable.
Perhaps having her come here was a mistake. Perhaps he should move into the farmhouse instead. Then again, he’d already prepared dinner for her and had spent a good half an hour this morning convincing Bill to make her some sausage rolls for hors d’oeuvres and eclairs for dessert.
Finn took her through the short hallway to the big open-plan living area, with a galley kitchen down one end, a dining table in the middle, and a couple of sofas grouped around a big wood burner down the other.
