Jackson, mid-bite into a crusty bread roll, paused with wary confusion. “I’m sorry?” he said carefully, when he’d swallowed.
Leah dragged her eyes away from his throat. “That’s one of Hazel’s favorite conversation starters—usually she asks, rather than allocates. ‘If you were a tree, what tree would you be?’ Or flower or animal. Once a car. That really confused the roadside recovery guy.”
“‘One that works.’” Hazel snorted. “He missed the point completely.”
“And the point is?” Jackson sounded like he didn’t want to ask but couldn’t help himself.
“You can tell a lot about a person from how they perceive themselves.” The old lady gave an innocent smile.
“Hmm.”
“You see, Leah herethinksshe’s a willow when it’s abundantly clear she’s a copper beech.” Two pairs of eyes swung toward her, both blue—Hazel’s were tender, Jackson’s searing. Leah wriggled under the spotlight.
“One of us needs to be the strong one, Lee. You’re too sensitive for it to be you.”
She flinched at the sound of Matt’s words in her brain. Belittling comments had fallen from her ex-boyfriend’s mouth like raindrops.
“I do see.” Jackson’s voice was contemplative.
“I’m so glad she’s staying here to work on Esther’s book. I was worried Marj might stage a lynching if you came between her and her next Clayborne Knight fix.” Hazel shot him a no-nonsense look and Jackson’s expression shut down quicker than a clapperboard on a perfect take.
“I’ll just, uh—” He gestured vaguely toward the living room, eyebrows knitted.
“Take a seat right here? Yes, do.” Hazel pulled out the stool next to hers at the breakfast bar. “Has Leah told you about the last time your grandmother and I took a trip back to England and got stuck on a train to Brighton with some lovely boys from Billericay? They were on a stag weekend.”
Jackson opened the fridge, grabbed two bottles of Fruit Belt Cider, and held one up for Leah. At her murmured “Yes, please” he flipped both caps, before refocusing on Hazel’s lurid description of Pin the Tail on the Best Man.
“Two whole hours we spent going nowhere fast, thanks to an issue with a powerline, but we pooled our supplies of Mini Cheddars and Carlsberg and taught those lads a thing or two about gin rummy. One of them was sick but he did it in his own jacket pocket, which was thoughtful at least. In the end, we only had three-quarters of an hour in Homesense before it shut, but we stayed for fish and chips on the beach and got an invitation to the evening wedding reception in the post a week later. The bride looked absolutely gorgeous.”
She carried on in much the same vein until a short, sharp toot on a car horn cut through the air outside. As headlights lit up the drive, Hazel climbed from the stool.
“That’ll be Marj and Gerry—they’ve come to pick me up for a spot of supper—and my cue to leave you lovely ones to your pasta bake.” She kissed Leah on the cheek and gave Jackson’s shoulder a squeeze. “See you soon!”
Leah waved from the door, shivering a little as a biting breeze tugged at her shirt, and closed it swiftly when the car headed away down the drive.
“Right, dinner should be ready, if you’d like some?” She still wasn’t entirely sure he’d take her up on the offer, but it seemed the Hazel Effect had left him dazed. Jackson rubbed weary hands overhis face, palms grating against the stubble on his jaw and sending electricity running over the surface of Leah’s skin.
“Yeah, that’d be great, thanks.” He stood to grab the plates and cutlery they needed.
She stared at his back. For all that he was so big and imposing, there was something far less intimidating about this man who’d stroked a half-wild cat so gently when he’d arrived for the weekend looking drained and exhausted. She’d watched his shoulders drop inch by inch throughout the day, while he covered himself in filth.
Maybe Jackson needed a safe space as much as she did.
Leah spooned a large helping of pasta onto a plate and held it out.
“Thank you.” His eyes met hers in a brief hooded glance, and there was no snark in them.
“You’re welcome.”
They ate in near-silence, and it was comfortable.
When she brushed her teeth in the bathroom before bed and glanced up at the corner above the shower, it was empty.
Chapter 12
Jackson
The problem with boundaries once they started to crumble was that rebuilding them took twice the effort.
