“Still going on about that, are you?”
Mercy emerged from the back of the house, tipping her head to the side as she considered him. “Boy, you really do like to hold on to grudges, don’t you? You shouldn’t, though. It’s bad for the digestion.”
“I’m not holding on to a grudge,” he told her, so annoyed he wasn’t above arguing. And yet, at the same time, he was oddly pleased to see her. There was something about her, a sense of warmth and comfort, that was strangely enticing. “If you had people tramping through your land looking for rare, quasi-obscenely named birds, not to mention having your plans altered by a batty old woman—speaking of that, what do you know of bats?—then you’d feel the same way as I do.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” She struck a thoughtful pose, and Alden was instantly aware that he was standing there, in the hot summer sunshine, chatting with a woman. His palms pricked with sudden perspiration. “I think I’d welcome the change. I try to do that, you know—embrace change. I mean, lifeischange, isn’t it? What’s the use in trying to force everything into little cubbyholes when it all comes bursting out the next minute?”
“What bursts out?” he asked, mildly confused. A faintsheen of sweat started on his back, not just from the effect of wearing a dark shirt on a hot day. He fought the urge to stammer, and forced himself to speak slowly and calmly. “And I’m not forcing life into cubbyholes. I couldn’t if I wanted, since your friends refuse to cooperate.”
“Employers,” she corrected gently, giving him another considering look.
Alden wanted to bolt, and had to physically force himself to stand still, damp palms, sweating back, and trembling legs notwithstanding. “Just so.”
“Life bursts out of cubbyholes is what I meant. If I were you...” She leaned in, dropping her voice to an intimate level that seemed to go straight to Alden’s groin. He was horrified at such a reaction to a woman he’d just met. He was even more horrified at the thought that she might notice he was having a physical reaction to her. “I’d stop fighting what life hands you, and instead make the best of the situation. You never know. Some good may come out of it.”
“Erm... if you’ll excuse me. I believe... er... something... er... needs me.”
“Somethingneeds you?”
“Yes. Something is... it’s on fire.”
“What?” she asked, and he had a fleeting glimpse of disbelief on her face before he hurried past her, running down the gravel path that curved around the side of the house and led toward the front expanse.
He knew he was being insufferably rude, but he couldn’t stand there in the sun with Mercy that close to him, so close her breath softly caressed his cheek, the scent of a sun-warmed woman seemingly wrapping invisible tendrils of sexual awareness around him tighter and tighter until he felt he couldn’t breathe.
“Bloody hell,” he swore to himself, stopping to lean against a sheltered wall. “Bloody, buggery hell. You’re a fool. A big fool. A colossal fool. All she wanted to do was talk, and you start babbling and run away....” He suddenly remembered the phone, now gripped tightly in his hand, and lifted it to his ear. “You still there, El?”
“Yeees,” Elliot drawled. “That was quite a scene. Almost as good as the Hairy Tit man, but not quite. I agree that you were a colossal fool.Issomething on fire?”
“No,” Alden answered miserably, and slumped to the ground. Rocks poked painfully at his legs, but he felt it was just penance for treating Mercy to such rudeness. “But any hopes I had of trying to speak to a woman without making a complete ass of myself have gone up in flames.”
“Possibly, but I don’t think it’s quite as dire as that. What was she doing that made your voice go up an octave and sound like you were choking?”
“She leaned in to say something.” He gave a little shudder at the way he’d run off. “The look on her face when I bolted... El, I’m doomed, I’m just doomed.”
“Don’t be maudlin. You just need practice talking to women. Once you realize they’re just as scared of you as you are of them, you’ll be fine.”
Alden uttered a strangled little laugh.
“There, now, you see? You’re laughing. All is not quite as lost as you imagine. What did you think about the offer on your north acres?”
“I don’t think anything of it. I’m not going to sell.”
“It’s a nice chunk of money,” Elliott said thoughtfully. “It could come in handy with your remodeling.”
“I’m sure it would, but I’m not going to sell something I just went through hell to buy.”
“Well, it’s your decision. If you intend on selling the house once you’ve fixed it up, you’ll likely be happy you kept the land.”
“That’s assuming I can do everything I need to do with a medieval fair running in the garden.”
“Ignore them, and focus on your work. Their lease on the garden will be over with before you know it.”
“You’re right,” Alden said, getting back to his feet and brushing off his trousers. “The house is what’s important. Everything else is just distraction. Especially Mercy. I can tell she’s going to be pestering me a lot.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. She says she’s a middle-child peacemaker.” Alden snorted. “She clearly is one of those bossy women who likes to take charge of things and run them. Well, she’s not going to run me. I don’t need her or her interfering ways.”
