Griffin nodded. “I’ll go with you if you don’t mind walking.”
Aaron moved to gather his horse’s reins. He carefully maneuvered the animal so that he was between him and Griffin. But over the animal’s back, he saw Griffin’s smile thin, his gaze turn away.
Aaron let out a long sigh as they walked in silence back to the house. He had apparently hurt Griffin’s feelings by placing the horse between them, but what else was there to do? Between Society and their shared relationship with Letty, there wouldalwaysbe something between them.
And it was better to remember that now rather than fall into flights of fancy that there could ever be anything more between them.
Letty laughed at something Aaron had just said, pouring him more tea and placing three lumps of sugar in it, just as he liked.
“I don’t know how you stand it so sweet,” she said as she passed the cup back to him. “Even after all these years.”
He took a long sip. “I like it.”
They were alone in the parlor. Jack had taken Griffin and gone up to the main house to join the rest of the Woodley clan. That left time for Aaron and Letty to reconnect, and he was pleased about it.
She reached across and touched his hand with a smile. “I’m so happy you came. I miss seeing you.”
“As I do you. You hardly ever come to London anymore.”
She shrugged. “There was never much for me there to start with, wallflower that I was. I love living out in the country. Even if I didn’t, Jack is so busy with the horse breeding and breaking. He and War and Claire and I hardly have a moment to come to Town.”
“Well, it leaves me at sixes and sevens,” Aaron admitted. “There are friends to be had, of course, but none so good as you.”
Tears brightened her eyes at the compliment he meant wholeheartedly. “We’ve been through quite a lot together, haven’t we?”
He nodded slowly. “A lifetime’s worth of things.”
“Do you still think of Noah?”
Aaron stiffened at the name of his best friend, her former husband…his lover. When she had found out the truth, it had devastated her, and yet she had come to understand, perhaps in a way no one else ever had.
In the end, Noah and his death had brought Aaron and Letty together, their friendship born out of their shared love for him, as well as their shared secret of who and what Noah had been.
“Yes,” he said softly. “Do you?”
To his surprise, she nodded. “Of course. He was my first husband. He was my great friend. And though we didn’t suit and that brought me pain, it does not change that he meant a great deal to me during the time we were together.”
Aaron sighed. In truth, Letty was the only person he could speak to about Noah. The only one who understood. It was part of why they were friends, he supposed.
“The sharpness of it has faded, but the pain remains for me.”
She cleared her throat and once again her hand covered his. This time she squeezed gently, and it made him lift his gaze to hers.
“I have been wanting to speak to you for some time about a subject we tend not to broach.” She leaned forward. “I worry about you, Aaron.”
He let his eyes come shut gently and sat that way for a moment, trying to find peace. Comfort. “Worry? Why?” he said, allowing himself to look at her once more.
“You lock yourself away, busying yourself with work. Do you keepanycompany?”
His eyes widened. “Are you asking if I have a…a lover?”
Her cheeks colored dark red and she turned her face slightly. “I don’t know that I would have been that blunt, though I suppose thatiswhat I meant. A lover, yes, for that physical connection is important. But I think I meant more of a companion. A friend. Someone you care for and who cares for you in return?”
Aaron’s mind slipped, against his will, to thoughts of Griffin. Griffin’s smile, which seemed to draw his own out of the cobwebs and shadows. Butthatwas not possible.
He drew in a long breath. “No, Letty. No one like that.”
Her frown drew down deeply. “You must be very lonely.”
