“Okay.” He just nodded and proceeded to give me estimates for everything else on the table.
Attempting not to be too obvious, I ushered him toward the exit once we were finished. I needed alone time pronto.
“So, how about that dinner?” Edward persisted as I opened the front door for him.
“Did I miss it?” London’s American-accented voice sent relief rushing through me. I jerked toward the open door as London hurried up the front walk and inside.
Her red hair was tied up in the bun she wore when working, and her cheeks were flushed. She looked like she’d run here.
At the sight of my pretty roommate, an idea occurred.
“London.” I smiled, and something must have been off about it because she frowned and turned warily to Edward. London had a very recent awful history and was wary of most men, but this was different. It was as if she could sense my vibes.
“London, this is Edward White, the antiques dealer who was kind enough to give me estimates. Mr. White, this is London … my girlfriend. With whom I live.”
My roommate didn’t even balk. She instantly slipped her arm around my waist, going with the lie. “Hi.”
Edward pursed his lips as he took us in. “Girlfriend?”
I squeezed London to me. “Yep.”
His displeasure couldn’t have been any clearer. “Well, good day to you, Ms. Macbeth, and good luck with your items.” Without another word, he marched out of the house and to his car. He slammed the driver’s door as he got in.
My body sagged with exhaustion and relief. London released me but turned to me, eyes searching. “What the hell was that?”
I explained to her what had happened, and London’s features tightened with displeasure.
When I was done, she bit out a curse. “I should have been here. I tried to get away from the B and B as quickly as I could.”
“Don’t.” I patted her arm as I walked back into the living room and collapsed on the sofa. “Mrs. Gilchrist recommended him. We weren’t to know he was a slime.”
“But we knew he was a strange man.” London sat down in the armchair opposite. “Going forward, neither of us is to be left alone with a guy we don’t know. Okay?”
I nodded, scrubbing a hand over my face. “I think I’ll need a second opinion on a vase. He acted shifty about it being a fake and then asked where I’m selling it. I think it might be worth more than he let on, and he’s intending to bid on it.”
“Oh, well, that’s good. Not the creepy, devious antiques dealer part but that you caught his vibes about the vase.” London frowned. “You look exhausted.”
The truth was I’d never been a particularly sociable person. I’d had to be as operational director at the charity, so I could smile and socialize with the best of them, but afterward I’d come home and feel like I could sleep for a week.
Since losing Mum, I felt like my battery drained twice as fast.
“Hey, are you okay?”
I knew I could tell London how I was feeling and she’d get it. Since moving to Leth Sholas, she’d become something of an introvert herself. From Tierney’s story about their time growing up in New York together, I knew London hadn’t always been that way. She’d been sociable and loved working as a chef in a Manhattan restaurant. Life had chipped away at that. Changed her.
She’d get it.
But I didn’t want her to take the words the wrong way, so instead I looked around the living room and at the notepad onthe dining table with the list of items I needed to sell. I’d written four pages of estimates. It felt like a mountainous task to get through.
“There is a lot to sell.”
Start small, I heard my mum say.
When I was younger and found myself overwhelmed with a big project for school, she’d tell me to take one tiny aspect of it first and work on that before moving onto the next piece.
It always worked to calm me down, and I’d taken that process into my adult life.
“Start small,” London said, making my head jerk toward her in surprise. Her eyes rounded. “What?”
