Chapter Thirty-Two
Lilith
A delicious scent lured Lilith into the kitchen with Dragon at her heels like a little shadow.
“Smells amazing,” she commented.
Asher waved a hand at the pan with gravy-laden beef atop a bed of potatoes and carrots. “Roast and veg. Proper comfort food.”
A flush of pleasure warmed through her chest. “You didn’t have to cook for me.”
“It’s the least I can do.” Asher gave her that lopsided half smile that was far too appealing. “After helping with Aunt Jacqueline
and Dragon.”
Hearing his name, Dragon propped his front paws on the cabinet doors.
Lilith brushed off the compliment even as she flushed with pleasure. “It was really no trouble at all.”
Asher popped open two cans of food and set the bowls to the ground, which Dragon and Toby fell upon with indecent enthusiasm.
“Aunt Jacqueline ate a little earlier.” Asher pulled two plates from the cupboard. “I think she’s still quite exhausted from
yesterday, though she won’t admit it. She’s been more active than usual lately.”
“That might be my fault,” Lilith said slowly. “Aunt Jacqueline seems to think there’s a reason I’m here.”
“Dragon would agree with her there.” He winked.
Lilith’s stomach fluttered with a whole mess of butterflies.
She bit her lip, hating her next statement before it was out of her mouth. “She says the house has been waiting for me…”
Asher stilled, his expression tense. A beat passed. Two.
Then he smiled in a way that was too quick, too easy, and passed her a plate.
Lilith took her food with thanks and they settled at a round wooden table in the kitchen with heaping servings and a bottle
of wine.
Rather than press him for more information, she let an easy conversation fall between them, about his vet practice he’d started
ten years ago, how Savannah compared to England.
Though she’d only been in England a few days, there was something comforting that felt more like home while Savannah somehow
seemed foreign.
As the wine disappeared from the bottle and their questions flowed smoothly, an urgent nudge remained in the back of her mind.
The manor.
August 27.
How quickly time was running out.
A shuffle sounded behind Lilith. Aunt Jacqueline entered the kitchen in her nightgown, her hair like loose cotton around her
shoulders.
She extended a small burlap pouch toward Lilith. “Dried hops for you. For a restful sleep.”
Asher quickly leaped to his feet. “Do you need something, Aunt Jacqueline?”
“Just delivering a gift.” Her eyes sparkled as they met Lilith’s, like they were in on the same secret.
Aunt Jacqueline exited the kitchen and Asher shook his head. “Sorry. You can just toss that in the rubbish bin if you’d like.”
“It was sweet of her to think of me.” Lilith set the small bag aside and the dried flowers within crackled at her touch. “Something
tells me she always keeps you guessing.”
“That’s one way to put it.” He cleared away the plates and indicated a bottle of wine on the counter. “Shall we open another?”
Before Lilith could reply, Dragon hopped into her lap, his belly round and full as he fell instantly asleep, purring in contentment.
“It appears I’m not going anywhere for a while.”
“Ah, yes, the cat on the lap excuse.” He chuckled.
She liked the timbre to his warm laugh and the way it made her want to tease more out of him.
Asher popped the cork from the bottle with a hollow plonk sound. “I suppose I’ll have to join you. After all, it’s been nice to have company.” He filled their glasses with a rich
red cabernet. “For the record, I was talking to Dragon, not you. You know I’m better with pets than people.”
He winked.
Oh, he was definitely flirting. And the low chuckle rising in her throat betrayed that she was not indifferent.
And how could she be?
He cared for his aunt with kindness, saved animals, and still found time to cook.
“Well, thanks for putting up with me.” Lilith stroked a hand over Dragon’s vibrating form.
“It’s amazing how quickly he’s latched onto you.” Asher smiled at the little cat sleeping in her lap. There was a gentleness to his tone when he spoke, a warmth to his expression. “I think he suspects you’ve never had a pet before and wants to set the standard.”
“He’s set the bar pretty high.” She scratched under Dragon’s chin, and he lifted his face, eyes closed in pleasure as his
throat vibrated under her fingertips. “I’m in love already.”
“Do you typically fall in love that quickly?” The corner of Asher’s lips lifted, and Lilith suspected he’d had a bit too much
to drink.
But, then, she had too. “No, actually.”
The statement hadn’t meant to be so sobering, but the smile fell away from Asher’s face. “Why?”
She frowned in thought. “Why?”
“I’d say it’s as easy as not having found the right chap…” His eyes narrowed in a way that suddenly felt overly perceptive.
“But you’re not a simple woman. I imagine your reasoning is complicated. Deep.”
Lilith swallowed, hating that he saw her so easily. But also grateful.
No one had cared to see her in far too long. Essie was the only one who even really knew her. Well, her and Daddy. But Essie
was so busy these days and Daddy was gone…
Lilith chose her words carefully. “I didn’t have a great example of love growing up.”
“That can be hard.” Something flashed in Asher’s eyes. Pain. Understanding.
Lilith considered that look, dissected it to unearth its meaning. “My Mama,” she said slowly, her tongue loosened by the hope
that he actually did get her.
She took the first sip of her third glass, letting the heady taste of wine sit on her tongue before sliding down her throat. “Mama wanted a better life than she was dealt. Daddy was a lawyer and she thought she hit pay dirt. But then…”
Lilith set her glass down and lifted her hands in a helpless little ta-da. “Surprise! I showed up and ruined everything.”
“What about your father?” Asher asked.
“Daddy chose me.” A twinge pinched inside Lilith’s chest. “He stopped trying to climb the corporate ladder so he could spend
more time with me.”
Asher tapped a finger on his wineglass. “I wager your mother didn’t take too kindly to that.”
Lilith took a hearty swallow of wine, letting what she once savored burn a path down her throat. “Mama never forgave me.”
The recollection of the journal floated into Lilith’s mind. The way Mama confessed to never feeling complete. How she envied
Lilith’s interest in the supernatural, how she resented it.
With the trip to England and impending doom, Lilith had scarcely thought about the journal.
“I’m sorry,” Asher said quietly, breaking into Lilith’s thoughts.
She lifted a shoulder. “Mama grew up poor. Like, real poor.” A Southern lilt bled through Lilith’s words, the crisp edges
of her speech softening with the wine. “Sometimes a hard life makes people better, sometimes it makes them bitter. And Mama
was a real lemon.”
She smiled as if she’d cracked a joke, but neither of them laughed.
And maybe there was more to Mama than that bitterness.
The corner of Asher’s lip tucked down. “Difficult families can be…”
“Difficult,” Lilith finished for him.
They both chuckled, the kind of laugh you give because it’s easier than embracing the pain.
Lilith took another sip of wine. “Was your family…?”
“Difficult?” Asher finished with a sardonic grin.
“Yeah. Because you’re pretty complicated yourself, sir.”
“Complicated?” Asher arched his brow, making him look more debonair than skeptical.
“Do you fall in love quickly?” she asked with a grin, firing his question back at him on a slingshot of flirtation.
“With animals, always.” He reached down and rubbed a hand over Toby’s belly, earning him a grunt of happiness from the slumbering
dog. “With people…I didn’t have the best example either.”
Lilith sat forward. Maybe she would finally get some answers from Asher.
And as much as she wanted—needed—to find out more about the manor, she realized she wanted just as badly to find out about
the man.