by Saba Sparks
was okay. Doing their duty as good landlords. And Anna was so raw right now, so prone to wild swings of emotion, that it would be easy to start mooning over them. Darn, it would have been easy to do that even before Grand.
Anna knew she was a bit odd in terms of relationships, and it was due almost entirely to Grand’s part-conservative, part-deeply feminist influence. But here she was, twenty-seven years old, and still a virgin.
She knew, was aware of herself enough, to know that it was all a dangerous combination. The grief. The lack of direction. Couple those with the unfulfilled physical desires she’d battled for so long as she waited for that elusive spark…she shook her head. Now more than
ever she needed to be careful with herself, with her actions.
“So be careful,” she muttered to herself. “Be polite. Be nice.
Leave it at that.”
“You need a hand there, Anna?”
Anna practically jumped out of her skin at those words. She
turned, coffee mugs in hand, to see Lee at the doorway. He’d pushed his hair out of his eyes, and Anna was once again struck by just how green they were.
“I’m fine, thanks,” she said quickly even as she hoped to holy
hell that he had not heard her mutterings.
“Here,” he said. “I’ll take this one.”
He leaned forward and took the pink spotty mug, leaving a hand
free for Anna to grab the yellow one. As he took it, his long fingers brushed against the back of her hand. Anna almost squeaked.
Almost as if he was aware of it, Lee shot her a grin before
moving back into the sitting room. Anna followed, mugs in hand, her skin hotter than it had been when the wall of warmth had hit.
Her heart was thudding in an uncomfortable way. Her throat felt
oddly dry. But more than that, more than all the odd physical
reactions Anna was having to these two men, was something else
entirely.
When Anna came to a halt in the sitting room she realized exactly what it, that unfamiliar emotion, was. Lee had taken the spot on the far end of her pink couch. Jack was on the other end. That left only the middle for Anna to sit in…right between them both.
It was excitement, and somewhere, deep inside, buried beneath the grief and the pain, Anna felt something stir…something that
seemed very much like a spark…
Chapter Four
The look on Anna’s face as she glanced between him and Lee
captivated Jack. It wasn’t the look he would usually associate with an attractive woman when she set eyes on the two of them. Those looks usually conveyed an interest coupled with a clear desire. Anna’s look held something else entirely. If Jack had to classify it, he would probably have said it was confusion. And yet, underneath that there was something else…
“This room is pretty small,” he said. “No wonder you only have
one couch.”
Anna nodded and looked around the room. Jack wondered if she
was considering where else she could sit. Her gaze fixed on the chair next to her desk. It sat in the little alcove just off from the window.
She shot them both a tight, little smile, before grabbing the back of the chair and turning it around. She placed her mug of coffee on the desk and then turned to face them.
Jack couldn’t help but grin at his friend. They had taken either end of the couch in order to have Anna sit between them, but she had seen through their ruse, and no wonder, Jack could see the
intelligence bubbling under the surface. As well as being unbelievably cute, Anna it seemed, was also smart.
“It is a little small,” she said. “But I like it. The town house I have in the city has oodles of space. We never used most of the
rooms.”
We. Her casual use of the word had Jack trying to recall everything Sally had told them about Anna. She’d said her friend was spending the winter outside of the city to get over a bereavement, but Jack could not remember asking who she was grieving for. He wished he had now because if she was grieving for a husband he had no
business thinking the thoughts that were now racing through his mind.
And yet…how exactly could he broach the subject without being
insensitive? She wore no ring, but that didn’t mean anything. The only way to know for sure was to ask. Only, it was not a territory Jack was comfortable with and it was not one he had expected when he’d cajoled Lee into making this trip. Anna was so much younger than he’d expected. She was in her mid-twenties, at most. Her hair was a beautiful honey shade, and she had eyes the color of chocolate. They were wide, expressive, and filled with a pain that Jack recognized well. If he could go back in time and catch sight of both himself, and Lee, when they arrived home, he knew their eyes would have looked pretty much the same. Losing your entire friendship group in a
roadside bomb would do that to a man.
Grief.
Jack and Lee were intimately acquainted with it. It had brought
them to this place, out here in the middle of nowhere, finding peace in the simple things, and slowly coming to terms with the fact that they were alive when their friends were dead.
Would this place help Anna too? Jack did not know and he
wasn’t sure how to ask, or even what to say. Lee saved him from
working it out. Always the smoother of the two he jumped straight in with the small talk.
“You make perfect coffee.”
Anna smiled, obviously pleased with the idea of small talk.
“Thank you,” she said. “But I can’t take credit. It’s the machine. I bought it a few years ago and no matter how many newer versions
they bring out I will not trade this one in.”
Lee nodded and took another sip. “It’s exactly how I like my first coffee of the day. Sat up in bed, a warm mug in my hand...”
Jack wanted to groan. Seemed that his friend, smooth or not, was thinking along exactly the same lines that he was. Hardly a surprise.
Anna was too pretty not to rouse both their interest.
“I…”
“Do you like it here, Anna?” Jack asked.
She turned to him with something that looked suspiciously like
relief. It was then that Jack realized. Whether she knew it or not, Anna was aware of their interest.
“Absolutely,” she said. “It’s so beautiful. When I imagined
leaving the city this was the exact sort of place I wanted to come to.”
“Why?” The word left his lips before Jack could stop it. He
silently cursed his lack of tact even as he felt pleased that the question was now out there. Anna could chose to answer it or not, but at least they would all be clear on the situation.
“Excuse me?”
“Why out here in the middle of nowhere?”
“He’s right,” Lee said. “You seem pretty young to be shutting
yourself away.”
Anna frowned. “I’m not that young.”
“Exactly how old are you?”
She didn’t tell Lee to mind his own business, though she would
have been well within her rights to do so. “I’m twenty-seven.”
Lee grinned and took another swig of his drink. “You barely look it.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Do.”
Silence settled between them for a moment, but it was not an
uncomfortable silence. Instead, it felt to Jack more like a pause. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, and locked eyes with Anna.
Hers widened, she looked away almost immediately, pretending
interest in her coffee mug.
Yes, she was interested.
So was he.
“So, Anna,” he asked because he’d started now and there was no
point in going back. “Why the middle of nowhere?”
“I wanted to get away from the cit
y,” she said. “It was too…”
She placed her mug back on the desk and frowned. That echo of pain was back and suddenly Jack felt bad about pushing her for answers.
He shot Lee a look. His friend nodded. He knew exactly what
Jack was thinking, didn’t need to be told.
“I spent the past twelve months nursing Grand.”
Anna’s words came out of nowhere. Both men whipped around
to look at her.
“Grand?” Lee asked.
She smiled. It was a sad smile. “My grandmother.”
Was it wrong that Jack’s heart seemed to clench? Probably, but
there was no help to be had for that. Anna wasn’t grieving over a husband and that realization gave him an immense sense of relief. It was then that he realized just how attracted he was to her. Odd
considering they had only just met, and it usually took longer for Jack to know whether he wanted a woman or not.
Anna defied his expectations.
With her he just knew. There was no thinking about it. No considering what exactly about her was making him feel this way. He wanted her. That was simply a fact.
“She passed on several weeks ago,” Anna added, her voice low.
“And being in the same house…”
“It was difficult?” Lee asked.
“It was painful,” Anna said. “She raised me from a baby. My mom died when I was just a few months old. Grand was my only
family. Practically my mom more than anything.” She paused. “That was why I called her Grand. When I was little I called her mom
thinking that was what she was. But one day she told me that my
mom was in heaven and we’d need to think up a new name.” She
smiled. “If you’d met her you’d know why ‘Grand’ was perfect. She was a hell of a woman.”
“You loved her a great deal,” Jack said.
“Yes.” Anna took a sip of her coffee. “Which is why being out
here is necessary right now. I was…struggling…in the city. I thought a winter away from it all, from the well meaning friends, and the sympathy.” She pulled a face. “I know it sounds mean but I couldn’t bear it. I want time by myself. Time to just be.”
“We know that feeling well,” Lee said.
Jack frowned at his friend. Though their families knew a little
about what had happened when the roadside bomb had detonated they never talked about it, so for Lee to do so now, with a woman they had just met…
“We came out here originally for pretty much the same reasons,”
Lee added. “I was passing this way on my bike, just wandering, and I saw this place for sale. We pooled our money and bought it a couple of weeks later. Spent months getting it in order.”
“It still isn’t in order,” Jack said and the relief in his voice was due to the fact that Lee had stopped his explanation at only the barest of details.
“So…are you a couple?”
Lee started. “A couple? Heck, no. Jack’s never been my type.”
Anna shifted on her seat. “I’m sorry, I just assumed…”
“We pooled our resources because it made sense,” Jack
explained. “We’ve been friends for years, and we had no problem
living with each other.”
“So it’s just the two of you?” she asked.
Jack nodded. “In the main.”
“The main?”
“We have the odd visitor.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh…”
“Family mostly,” he added because it seemed that Anna was
thinking something else. “In fact, they usually end up staying here, but brutal winters take their toll on the place. It’ll help you being here.
Give us less to do to get it in order for the summer.”
“I’m happy to do any odd jobs that need looking at,” she said
quickly. “It’s a shame I didn’t choose the summer. It would have been a pleasure to put some order into the garden.”
“You’d regret it. The garden is wild in the heat.”
“There’s a lot out here that’s wild,” Lee said and even Jack
picked up on exactly what his meaning was. “This place brings it out in you.”
Chapter Five
That blush on sweet Anna’s face was doing something to Lee that
he didn’t want to look at too closely. Not now at any rate. Later, when he was back in his studio, he would probably put something down on paper. The sweep of her jaw, the way her brow furrowed when he said something that shook her up. Now though, well, now he was content to simply look at her, because Anna was sure something to look at.
Lee hadn’t been sure what to expect when they’d arrived at the
cottage. It had been empty, and he had been all for simply carrying on driving back to the farmhouse. But Jack had pointed out Anna’s car, an odd little hatchback in a vibrant blue, and suggested they wait.
“Where could she possibly be without wheels?” he’d asked.
Lee had stayed only because he didn’t much fancy walking
home. He was so fucking glad he had. Anna was stunning. There was simply no other word for it. Lee wanted to run his fingers through her golden hair, kiss the frown from her plump little lips, hell, he could spend all night looking into those big, brown eyes of hers.
He wanted her.
And unless he was much mistaken she was thinking along the
same lines. Whether it was him or Jack he wasn’t sure, but there was interest there, whether she knew it or not.
“So what have you been doing with yourself these past weeks?”
he heard Jack ask.
Anna shrugged and gestured to the table next to the couch.
“Walking, reading, knitting. I watch some TV as well. Sally said there was no signal so I brought a booster aerial. I have my laptop too.
Again Sally said there wasn’t a WiFi connection. It’s fine though, I have a dongle for it.”
“A dongle?” Lee asked. “I don’t even know what that is.”
“For Wi-Fi.”
Jack grinned. “I’d stop there, Annie, he’s technologically dumb.”
“It’s Anna.”
Jack’s grin widened. “I prefer Annie.”
So Jack was interested as well… Lee took a deep breath and tried to work out how he felt about that. Not surprised, that was for sure, he and Jack had fairly similar tastes and Anna fit them to a tee. What that meant in terms of his own interest he didn’t know. He guessed, in the end, it would all come down to Anna.
“Annie is not my name,” she said.
“It suits you though,” Jack said.
She sighed. “Grand used to call me Annie.”
Jack was instantly contrite. “I’m sorry…I…”
“No.” She took a sip of her coffee. “It’s fine. It just sounded
weird for a moment there.”
“Then Annie it is. So, Annie, come and have dinner with us tonight.”
Lee smiled. Jack, damn him, was one hell of a fast worker.
“We have some steaks in,” he added.
Anna looked confused for a moment. “Dinner?”
“Yes,” Jack said. “Tonight.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “Why not?”
“Sally said…”
“What?” Jack asked. “What did Sally say?”
“She said you were both reclusive. That I probably wouldn’t even get to meet you. That you liked to keep to yourselves.”
“Sally was wrong about that,” Lee said slowly. “We like some
company now and then.”
Jack nodded. “Lee can show you his paintings.”
“Paintings?”
Lee placed his now cold coffee on the table and shot Jack a glare.
There was a reason his studio was closed off to the rest of the house.
“It’s just a hobby.”
Jack snorted. “He se
lls them for ridiculous amounts of money.”
“That’s what you do for a living?” Anna asked and there was no
extra flare of interest in her eyes as she did so. Lee was not unduly surprised. Her clothes, the car, the furnishings she had brought with her from the city, he’d pegged Anna as someone financially
comfortable for the start.
“In the main.”
“And you, Jack?” she asked. “What do you do?”
“This and that,” Jack said.
Turnabout was fair play in Lee’s mind. “He sells shit on the
internet.”
“Like eBay?” Anna asked and Lee only just stopped himself from
laughing at the look on Jack’s face. “I have a store on there too,” she added. “Just for my small pieces not for the big jobs.”
“Pieces?”
“I knit, sometimes I crotchet too,” she said. “Blankets, scarves, sometimes clothes. Mostly I make them to order, but I tried eBay out and I had quite a few orders. Do you have a store on there?”
Jack grinned. “Not quite. So, dinner?”
“I don’t want you to feel obliged,” Anna said.
“Obliged?” Jack asked.
“Yes. I’m content here by myself. I’m happy to spend my
evenings knitting and reading. It’s so peaceful here. The hours drift by, and I’m happy enough.”
Lee leaned forward so that he too was on the edge of the couch.
“You’re too young for pastimes like that.”
“I enjoy them. The city is…” She paused, her pretty face
scrunching up. “It’s so hectic. I don’t know why it bothers me so much now. It didn’t used to. I love the noise and the smells, but now it just feels like too much.”
Lee sighed. “It’s because you’re grieving. It’s a funny thing, and it does different things to us. Some people shut themselves away.
Some go a little bit wild. It can go either way.”
She shrugged. “I guess.”
And how would she go, Lee wondered? She’d already shut
herself away, but would that be enough to help her heal? Or would she need more than that? Suddenly, Lee wanted to know. He wanted to spend more time with this woman. To hear her talk. To see her face change expressions. What better way than for her to accept Jack’s invitation.
“Jack makes a mean steak,” he said. “Better than his chili at
