Then Simon rounded the corner. “Where’s my fa—?”
Olivia sprang from her seat. “Thank heavens.”
Simon’s gaze darted between her and Mrs. Vane, bewildered. Then Mrs. Vane stood beside him, an arm thrust in front of Olivia as if she had to defend the man. “This woman says—”
“I’ll handle it, Mrs. Vane,” he said, quickly regaining his composure.
The woman lowered her arm. “You know her?”
“Of course. Thank you.” He reached for Olivia’s elbow, directing her toward the door. “Let’s find a private place to talk.”
Her purse strapped over her shoulder, Olivia nodded at the secretary before accompanying Simon outside.
He pointed to a grassy plateau filled with tables, most of them occupied by students. “We can sit in the courtyard.”
But she was tired of sitting and even more tired of waiting for answers. “I want to keep walking.”
They circled the courtyard, Simon nodding at several students before he asked, “Why are you in Winfield?”
“As many times as you’ve visited me, Simon, I thought you’d be moderately pleased that I’d be willing to drive the opposite direction.”
“Of course I’m pleased.” He wiped his brow with a handkerchief. “I just wasn’t planning to see you until Easter.”
She focused her gaze ahead, trying to calm her anger by inhaling the crisp, spring air. “Your secretary didn’t even know you remarried.”
“My associates aren’t privy to my personal business.”
“Introducing your wife is polite, Simon. It’s like you’re trying to hide me.” From his family and colleagues and, in hindsight, from his housekeeper who’d never once called her Mrs. Farrow.
If he was keeping their marriage a secret, what else was he hiding?
“I’ll introduce you later,” he promised. “To all my colleagues.”
“And to your housekeeper.”
He stopped walking. “You met Izzy?”
“She answered the door and introduced me to her daughter.”
Simon scrunched his forehead like he was trying to remember that Izzy had a child. “Did you meet her husband?”
Olivia’s lungs deflated in relief. “No.”
“He’s my groundskeeper and handyman. I don’t have time, as you can imagine, to keep up with the maintenance and lawn. They live in the cottage behind the main house.”
Of course, he’d hired a couple to assist him. Why was she so suspicious? Just because he was different than Graham, even if things were different between them, she needed to embrace a modern marriage like he’d embraced having a writer instead of a homemaker for a wife.
“Can we please go back to your house?” Their home. She belonged in Winfield as much as he belonged at Haven House.
“I’d rather talk here,” he said, “without the extra ears.”
She stopped near a wisteria-draped wall, but she could hardly appreciate the beauty spilling over the stone. “Clinton called yesterday with surprising news.”
“Another movie deal?”
“No.” She paused, breathing in the honey-soaked scent. “He said he couldn’t loan me any more money.”
Simon angled his head like he’d misheard. “You were borrowing money?”
