Chapter Twenty-Six #2
She smiled as she parked the car. The little mite had come running to her, wagging his tail. Sabine and the woman who worked in reception had both smiled and given her meaningful looks. Sabine had even told Bea that she was his person now.
As she closed up the car and went to unlock the front door, she was debating with herself again.
Sabine had already told her that if she wanted to adopt him, it would be the best outcome Sifis could hope for.
And over the last few visits, she’d already talked Bea through most of the practical concerns that had made her hesitate.
The biggest was that she wouldn’t be here all the time.
She’d have to go back to the UK sometimes.
But Sabine had said Sifis could come and stay at the shelter for free whenever Bea had to travel.
And honestly, that had been her only real obstacle. He was such a dear little thing.
She set her bag on the counter and took out the small bag of baklava she’d bought that morning.
She planned to go back for another, much larger bag on Monday, which she would post to Blane and Brooke again.
She still needed to answer his text and send him her address for Brooke.
He’d sent a photo of the two of them together the other day, and she now felt as though she knew Brooke in some small way, too.
It was silly really, but she’d started replying to his messages only when she thought there was a possibility he might see it and reply there and then.
The rest of her day was set aside for a little housework.
She wanted to wash the covers from all the outdoor cushions, so she ran upstairs to get the ones from the bench on the balcony.
When she stepped out through the French doors, she hesitated.
There was a figure out by the shepherd’s hut.
It wasn’t Pericles. No. It was definitely a person.
She peered out, as though that would somehow give her a better view.
If she had to guess—and she probably shouldn’t, since it could just be her imagination—the man out there really did look like the same one she’d seen standing in the lane a few times now.
She frowned, her indignation rising before caution had a chance to catch up with it.
If he was the man claiming an interest in the land, why on earth hadn’t he simply come and spoken to her in the first place?
Even if he’d chosen to go through lawyers, he could have arranged to meet with them present.
It wasn’t right to keep lurking around like this.
And if he thought he could intimidate her by frightening her, well, she wasn’t going to let him.
It was unnerving. She wouldn’t deny that.
But she went back inside and hurried down the stairs.
Perhaps he’d be perfectly open to talking like a rational human being if she gave him the chance.
She made it as far as the gate and stopped. By then, some of the indignation had drained away, leaving enough room for caution to return. She didn’t actually know that he was the man involved in the land dispute—he could be anyone.
She stood there for another moment, then turned around and went back to the house.
After she picked up Blane’s baklava on Monday morning, she’d stop at the lawyer’s office as well. Everyone seemed to know everyone here. Perhaps if she described the man, her lawyer would be able to tell her whether he was the one making the claim.
Back in the kitchen, she spotted him again through the window.
He was closer to the house now, and a shiver went down her spine.
Just as she reached for her phone, it beeped with a text.
When she saw Blane’s name on the screen, she almost answered him, but deliberately stopped herself.
She didn’t trust herself not to ask him what he thought about the man outside.
And just because he was a security expert, that didn’t mean she should start pestering him with every little concern.
He was too far away. She didn’t want to worry him, and besides, her safety wasn’t his responsibility.
She called the lawyer instead. “Hello, this is Bea Hartley. I’m sure you’re not working today, with it being Saturday, but I wondered if you could give me a call on Monday, please.
I’d like to know exactly who the man is who’s filed the claim over the land.
If it’s possible, I think I’d like to speak to him directly.
Anyway, call me back when you can. Monday is absolutely fine. ”
She ended the call and stood there in the kitchen, feeling a little dismayed. She’d been in such a lovely mood when she arrived back. Then she remembered why and smiled—Sifis.
Perhaps she didn’t have to decide anything permanent yet.
Sabine had already suggested a trial run.
She could foster him for a while and see how they got on together.
And, she admitted to herself, there were worse things than having a little dog in the house who already distrusted strangers—especially men—and wasn’t shy about saying so.
~ ~ ~
When Blane finished running errands in town on Saturday morning, he loaded two huge ready-to-bake pizzas onto the back seat of his truck before climbing in. Living forty miles down the valley from town meant take-and-bake was as close to delivery as he was going to get. And he loved his pizza.
They weren’t both for him, though. Tanya and Alana loved pizza too, and he was going to stop in at Emmett’s place on his way home and hang out with the girls for a while.
If Harper had a problem with him showing up with pizza, she could stick one in the freezer.
But he wasn’t going down without a fight.
She was the one who’d told him yesterday that the girls were missing Uncle Blane.
When he turned into Emmett’s driveway twenty minutes later, it dawned on him that he was a little early for lunch.
He chuckled. It probably didn’t matter; Harper likely wouldn’t let him stick the pizza in the oven right away anyway.
He could hang out with the girls for a while, then go back to the ranch and eat his own.
Mav would give him shit for it—he seemed to be on some kind of health kick these days, but Blane didn’t care.
It wasn’t like he didn’t work out most days, and good pizza was a worthy reason to add a couple of miles to his run in the morning.
He was glad to see both Emmett’s and Harper’s trucks outside, and before he’d even parked, Tanya came running from the greenhouse.
“Uncle Blane! Uncle Blane! Mama Bear said you might come soon. I’ve missed you.”
As soon as he was out of the truck, she wrapped her arms around his waist.
“Missed you too, Button. How’re you doing?”
She kept her arms around him and tipped her head all the way back to look up at him. “All the better for seeing you. How are you doing? Have you been busy?”
“Yeah. Guess I have.”
“You train all the teams, don’t you?”
“You know I do.”
“Can I come to some of your training? Especially when you teach them rappelling and stuff?”
He chuckled and ran a hand over her hair. “Not sure I want you in on a training session with all the guys. But if your dad says it’s okay, you and me can go out one day and I’ll teach you.”
“Yes!” She let go of him to punch the air. “That’d be awesome. Can Nat come too?”
He cocked an eyebrow. He knew who she meant—Nat was Ford MacFarland’s girl—but he wasn’t sure he wanted to volunteer himself to teach two thirteen-year-old girls how to rappel down the side of anything. Tanya was enough trouble on her own.
Before he could answer, Emmett came out the front door. “Tanya, let the man get out of the driveway before you start organizing his life.”
“But he said he’ll teach me to rappel!”
Emmett stopped. “He did, huh?”
Blane scowled at Tanya. “Said if your dad says it’s okay.”
She grinned. “He’ll say yes.”
“Will he?” Emmett asked.
“Eventually.”
Blane laughed.
Tanya peered into the truck. “Are you staying for lunch?”
Blane opened the back door just far enough for her to see the pizza boxes.
Her eyes widened. “Mama Bear!”
“Don’t you dare get me in trouble,” Blane warned, already laughing as she took off toward the house.
It was almost two by the time he left, promising he’d be back again soon.
He climbed into the truck and glanced at the second pizza on the back seat.
These days every time he ate pizza, he thought about Bea and that poor excuse for food he’d been served in London under the name of pizza.
Before he started the engine, he took out his phone.
She hadn’t answered his last text yet, but he didn’t see any harm in sending another.
Blane: Hey, darlin’. How was your day?
He hit send and waited for a moment, but nothing came back. It was Saturday night in Crete by now. She could be doing anything. He hoped she was doing something fun—getting out and about, building the life she’d gone there to build. He started the engine and headed back down the valley.
~ ~ ~
By the time Bea started closing up for the night, she’d almost managed to convince herself that she’d made too much of the man she’d seen earlier.
The trouble with having a boundary line halfway across a field was that anyone working on the other half might not know exactly where it was, and just because she’d seen the same man out in the lane more than once didn’t mean anything at all.