An awkward silence descended on the room. Corbin and Arthur exchanged a glance. I wanted to sink into the floor.
Way to bring the conversation to a grinding halt, Maeve.
“I have tea.” The fourth guy was back. He mumbled his words into the floor as he sat down opposite me, balancing a delicate tray filled with a painted china teapot and tea cups.
“This is Rowan.” Corbin nudged the fourth guy with his elbow. “Rowna, meet Maeve.”
“Hi,” I said, watching him lift the pot and fill one of the cups, which he set on the table in front of him.
Rowan leaned forward, dreadlocks flopping over his face. He had a wide, toothy smile that peeked out from behind the curtain of his hair and set my stomach aflutter. His hand slid against mine, and when he spoke his soft voice was smooth as silk.
“Hey, Maeve, welcome to Briarwood. It’s brilliant to have you here at last.”
Thatat lastwas weird. After all, no one could predict that my parents would be killed and my scholarship rescinded and my childhood home taken away.
My parents are dead. I’m an orphan for the second time in my life.
The force of that realization hit me again, and I jerked away. Here I was, smiling and flirting with these guys in the home of the woman who’d birthed me but who I never met, and all the while on the other side of the earth, the Crawfords lay under six feet of dirt.
And I still couldn’t cry.
The horrible, consuming numbness clung to my body, and I struggled to breathe against the tightness in my chest. I dug my fingers into my palm, but even that pain felt remote – something that was happening to some other girl in some other place.
Rowan shifted, his gaze falling back to the floor. “I said something wrong. I’m sorry.”
I shook my head, tearing my eyes away from him and staring at my palm. My nails had drawn a drop of blood. “No, it’s… my parents only died two weeks ago, and I’ve left them five thousand miles behind me. It’s still pretty raw.”
“Then it’s lucky for you that you’re here with us fine lads.” Flynn flopped down beside me, his arm slipping around my shoulder and pulling me against him. “We’re here to do all the cheering up you need.”
“Wait a sec…” I scanned Flynn’s face, and suddenly, it came to me. He was a little older, more filled out, more rough-around-the-edges, but itwashim. “I know where I’ve seen you before. You went to my…”
“High school.” Flynn ran a hand through his wild red hair as he held out his hand. “A few weeks of senior year. You caught me, Inspector Morse.”
“Inspector who?”
Corbin laughed. “It’s a detective show on the telly. You’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”
“You were an exchange student,” I went on, trying to remember the loud, obnoxious boy who’d disrupted my classes and who made my heart beat uncomfortably fast every time I passed him in the halls. “But you had a different name?—”
“Same name my mam gave me, but most of the kids called me Irish, or Red.”
“I can’t imagine why.” I reached up and ruffled his red mop. “I remember you being an absolute terror. I was relieved when you went home.”
I had been, in a way. It was much easier to focus on my grades and MIT application without the hot exchange student distracting me. And it’s not as if I ever spoke to him. I was far too nervous around pretty, popular boys.
Except, as it appears, when they’re my tenants.
“Aw shucks,” Flynn grinned wide. “Mission accomplished.”
“This is such a crazy coincidence.” I took another sip of my mead and tried not to focus on just how close Flynn’s leg was to mine. “I’ve met two of your before – in Coopersville, of all places. It’s not exactly a happening metropolis.”
Flynn and Corbin exchanged a look. Flynn started to say something, but Corbin talked over top of him. “It’s not as strange as you’d think. Both of us have friends in Arizona, so we visit a lot. Flynn wanted to do a year overseas, and it seemed a logical place to go, but it turns out that he doesn’t really have the attention space for school. But that’s a story for another day. You must be knackered from the flight. Do you want to take a kip?”
I shook my head. Weirdly, as soon as I’d stepped into the house, the weariness of the journey lifted from my shoulders. “Research shows that the best way to combat jet lag is to sync with your destination’s schedule as quickly as possible. I’ll stay up as late as I can. What time is it now, anyway?”
Corbin checked his phone. “It’s just on half twelve.”
“I don’t know what that means.” I didn’t know what half the things they said meant.Knackered. Kip. Eccles cakes.It was like they were all speaking another language.
