Slipping and sliding across the wooden floors, he raced to the first floor. He cornered into the back bedroom and dropped to his knees in horror in front of where Mia was curled up under the bay window, rocking back and forth as fat, salty tears rolled down her cheeks. She closed her eyes and pressed them into her bent knees at his arrival, as though she didn’t want him to see her.
Feeling completely helpless, he crouched down. She was trying to say something, but he couldn’t catch her words, which were muffled in the jumper and punctuated with sobs and gasps. Her distress was a palpable entity and it clutched at his heart. His instincts strained to gather her into his arms, but her defensive body language warned him off so he settled for a tentative hand on her back, which he moved in slow circles.
He didn’t speak and didn’t try to make sense of what she was trying to say, he just rubbed his hand around and around until the storm of her weeping lessened and finally eased to a few hiccups and gulps. He let his hand slide up to gently cup the nape of her neck and let it rest there.
Daniel let her settle until her breathing was back to normal before flexing his fingers, the briefest of coaxing movements. She scrubbed her face across her wool-covered knees and then inched her head up a little. He bent his head down close to catch her eye and she let out a whoosh of breath and a shaky laugh before speaking. ‘I’m sorry, you didn’t do anything wrong. I had no idea Madeline had plans to remake the covers for the chairs. Such a silly thing to set me off, but it’s more often the kindness of others that gets to me. I am pretty much inured to sad things after more than two years of blind grief, but when people do nice things it knocks the wind right out of my sails.’
‘Grief? You lost someone, didn’t you? Your husband? That’s the sad story that you’re so determined not to share.’ Daniel felt Mia’s almost imperceptible nod through his hand as he slid it up from her neck to cup her head and draw her closer to him. She resisted for a moment before her body went limp and she clambered into his lap.
He sat back, stretching his long legs in front of him, back braced against the wall, and squeezed her to him. She felt just right, and another little piece of his scattered self clicked back into place. They’d been joined at the hip for the past few weeks and he was finding it more difficult to imagine leaving Orcombe and this hidden treasure of a house. Waking up without a view over the cove didn’t bear thinking about.
There was nothing sexual in their embrace, a simple giving and receiving of comfort. It occurred to him he might be the first man to hold her like this since she’d lost her husband. A primitive and possessive part of him hoped it was true before his veneer of civility chased off the inappropriate thought. The primitive part gave a grunt of disdain and slunk off to its corner to wait patiently for the rest of him to realise that Mia was his. Civility rolled its eyes and assured Daniel that his feelings were entirely honourable, brotherly in fact. She shifted in his lap and civility fled as her bottom nestled a little too close for comfort.
Daniel bit down on his tongue and turned his thoughts outwards, giving all his focus to the woman in his arms. Perving on a grieving widow might be a new low, even for him. He rubbed his hands in soft, smooth circles on her back and let his body relax a little more, encouraging her to do the same. He turned his head to the side to rest his cheek on the soft down of her hair.
Feeling awkward over his inappropriate feelings given the source of her upset, he cast around for something neutral to distract them both. He spotted the notebooks and samples scattered beside them and, still holding Mia in place with one arm, he reached his other hand over to draw the books closer to them.
***
Mia raised her head from where it rested against Daniel’s chest as his movement stirred her back to attention. The sheer comfort of his warm body and the slow, steady rhythm of his heart beneath her ear had soothed the ragged edges caused by her sudden breakdown. She didn’t want to move and he seemed in no hurry to let her go as he flipped through one of her notebooks, pausing when a swatch of material or picture caught his attention.
She must look a fright. She was not a pretty crier—had yet to meet a woman outside the big screen who could do the sparkling tears and perfect lip quiver. Her face always turned blotchy with her eyelids swelling until it looked like she had two translucent slugs balanced on her face. Lifting her sleeve, she rubbed it across her cheeks to dry the last of her tears then settled back against Daniel.
Her gaze drifted over the well-thumbed images in her notebooks as she thought again about her plans for the empty room around them. ‘I’d like to be able to bring the beach in here. Does that sound silly? I want it to feel like the outside is inside; the walls should be the clear blue of the sky on a summer day. I’d cover the floor in soft rugs in shades of sand; the bed would be a darker blue with huge white pillows like clouds or the tops of the waves. The furniture will be white pine, and I’d add jars full of shells and bits of driftwood resting in the corner and along the windowsills. I want there to be a huge window seat here, a daybed, with the same dressings as the bed so guests can sit here and look out across to the sea.’
Mia leaned forward to grab her notebooks and Daniel moved his legs to accommodate her until she ended up sitting between his raised knees, back still to his chest. He peered over her shoulder whilst she showed him the colours on the paint charts.
‘Have you thought about draping the bed, creating one of those canopies maybe? If you use a soft, sheer material it could be really effective and capture that cloud-like theme you were talking about.’
Mia glanced back over her shoulder. ‘This is nice, you know? Having someone else to bounce ideas around with. It helps. I was so mad at Madeline when she dumped you on my doorstep, but I’m grateful now.’ She hesitated a moment then spoke the simple truth in her heart. ‘I’m glad you’re here.’
Daniel pressed a light kiss to her temple, barely a brush of lips against skin, but it lit her up inside like a Christmas tree. She sat up straighter—embarrassed at her reaction, feeling a little pang of regret when he dropped his arms from around her. Wanting to hide the rosy glow warming her cheeks, she busied herself gathering together her notebooks. Just like that, the spell broke and their perfect, peaceful shared moment vanished.
Mia swallowed a sigh of regret and knew that there was no-one but herself to blame. The kiss had been innocent, a fraternal gesture of comfort, and she’d made it into something else by her foolish reaction. She bit her lip, risking a quick glance at him as she rose to her feet, books clutched in front of her like a paper shield. The bay window framed him where he sat with his arms hooked around his raised knees. A frown creased his forehead, drawing his dark brows down to hood his eyes. The green of his irises seemed to change with his moods and they were growing stormy again as though something had disturbed him.
Plastering a bright smile on her face, she took a backward step towards the door. ‘I think I’ll go and do some shopping, strike while the iron is hot and the decorating muse is upon me, you know?’ she babbled, the intensity of his expression stirring anxious feelings in her tummy. Why didn’t he say something?
Mia edged further towards the door, feeling like a snared rabbit in the ferocity of Daniel’s gaze. ‘Um, right, so I’ll maybe put the kettle on and have a cup of tea before I go. Do you want one?’
He shook his head, the furrows on his brows lifting. ‘What? No. No tea. I’ll get back to the barn and finish those photos for Madeline.’ A hint of colour spotted his cheekbones and she couldn’t bear the strained atmosphere a second longer. Spinning on her heel, she ducked out of the door, heading up to the sanctuary of her room rather than the kitchen. She needed to wash her face, and if she stayed upstairs for a bit, she wouldn’t risk bumping into him on his way through to the barn.
She threw herself down on her bed and buried her head under the pillows. Try as she might, she couldn’t block out the thought running around in her head. She liked Daniel. Flipping onto her back with a groan, she stared
up at the damp patch on the ceiling. ‘What the hell have you gone and done, Mia Sutherland?’ she muttered to herself. But she knew the answer. Somewhere along the line she’d begun to fall for him. Now she recognised it, she would be able to put a stop to it. His friendship was too important for her to risk on a silly crush.
Feeling considerably better after a wash and brush-up, Mia hesitated on her way to the car. The barn door was open and she could hear Daniel moving things around. Driving off without saying goodbye would be rude. Cursing her good manners, she unlocked the car, tossed her bag onto the passenger seat then took a deep breath before crossing the yard to the barn.
The relative gloom compared to outside left her blind for a few seconds, so she stopped just inside. Her eyes adjusted to the change in light. The scrabbling noise of Daniel wrestling with the huge tarpaulin pinned over one of the rear windows drew her attention.
He let out a muttered curse as he barked his shin on one of the many crates littering the floor and she winced. Wondering if she would be more help or hindrance, she watched him adjust his grip on the covering. A sharp tug on the stubborn material and it pulled free from its anchor point in a cloud of dust that sent him staggering back as a flood of light poured into the barn.
‘Careful!’ She held out a hand when he almost tumbled backwards over an old, moth-eaten chair. They’d done her a favour although the hideous floral pattern must have given the poor creatures indigestion.
He shoved his sweaty hair from his forehead, leaving a thick streak of dirt on his skin. ‘Feeling better?’ He tried to approach her, but the tarp had tangled around his body and he couldn’t seem to kick free of the weight of the material. Mia moved forward to help, but he held his hand up to stop her. ‘I wouldn’t come over here. This thing is bloody filthy.’ He shoved and twisted until he finally untangled himself in another cloud of dust and dirt. He scrubbed his hands on the front of his sweater and closed the distance between them. Mia took an involuntary step back.
‘Off out then?’ He nodded at the keys dangling between her fingers.
‘Wh…what? Oh, umm, yeah just into town to grab a few bits and pieces. I want to follow up on some of those ideas we talked about for the back bedroom…’ Her words trailed off as she remembered that moment of innocent happiness sitting between his raised knees looking at colour cards and material swatches in her notebook. Barely an hour had passed since then and yet her world axis had lurched into an entirely different orbit.
Covered in dust, a huge streak of dirt across one cheek, which had a sweat trail cutting through it from his temple to his throat, he’d never looked sexier. The contrast between their sizes struck her. It would be so easy to step forward and let him wrap her up in his warm arms. Her upper body swayed forward unconsciously and he took a step nearer as though drawn like a magnet before stopping abruptly. She hovered, helpless for a moment then span on her heel and rushed from the barn, not stopping until she was cocooned in the safety of her car.
‘Shit, shit, shit!’ Mia banged her hand on the steering wheel in frustration as she fumbled uselessly with the other hand, trying in vain to get the key into the ignition. She pressed the back of her skull into the headrest and closed her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she held it before exhaling slowly to calm down.
She was acting like a fool, she knew, but the feelings Daniel stirred in her were so unsettling. He was a good man, thoughtful, kind, and she couldn’t deny good-looking too. She’d been on her own for so long, maybe she just missed being with someone and she’d latched on to him because he was there.
Until she could sort things out in her head, it would be best to ignore the idea of a connection. To act before she was sure would be disastrous, and he deserved better. A bit of distance and distraction would do them both a power of good. She opened her eyes, tilted her head so that she could see to guide the key into the ignition and fired up the engine.
She drew in another deep breath to find her centre as she tugged her seat belt across her body and engaged it firmly into the slot. She would not drive whilst upset; she owed it to Jamie’s memory to not risk an accident. Another breath and a quick flick of her eyes to the rear-view mirror assured her Daniel was still in the barn and hadn’t witnessed her foolish behaviour. She eased her car into first gear and bumped along the driveway and away into town.
Chapter Ten
Daniel wiped his paintbrush on the rag hanging at his waist before dropping it onto the newspaper beneath his feet. He stretched the kinks that had worked into his back over the past few hours of stooping awkwardly to paint the skirting in the beach room. That is what both he and Mia were calling it and it was starting to come together.
Jordy had been in to measure up and was working on a frame for the daybed that would fill the bay window. The base of the bed would incorporate shelves, which Mia planned to fill with books and also with random treasures gathered from walks along the shoreline.
A trip to the local junk emporium had yielded a bag of shells, which she’d glued around the frame of the large pine mirror they planned to hang over the bed, facing the window. The bedroom furniture was all made of a similar basic pine, which Mia had painted white and then distressed to give a bleached out, weathered effect.
The skirting boards and picture rail were coated in brilliant white gloss and the walls above the rail were duck-egg blue with a deeper azure shade covering the lower half. The floorboards had been stripped and sanded, a hellish job with a beast of a machine they had hired from the local DIY merchants.
It was filthy out. Daniel eyed the glowering clouds scudding across the sky as another fierce squall rattled rain against the window. On days like this, it was hard to imagine the vista would ever reflect the soft summer calm of the beach room colour scheme. The weather had closed in almost a week ago and they were both feeling a bit stir-crazy. Neither had spoken of their embrace, but a simmering tension lay between them.
Trying to ignore his attraction to her proved useless and he couldn’t stop finding little excuses to touch her, hoping to see an answering need in her eyes. There was nothing overt or sexual in his actions: a pat on the hand to thank her for another glorious home-cooked meal, a gentle brush of shoulders as they surveyed the design notes for the room, a paint smear wiped from her cheek. He needed to touch her, to reassure himself the ethereal little woman was real. That his presence in her life and her home wasn’t a fever dream.
His gaze moved across the rear garden towards the barn, drawn again to the plans that were slowly forming in his mind’s eye.
The basic structure was sound and the huge windows that faced towards the beach were a marvel once he had uncovered them. A huge run of light, the entire length of the wall. He could see the place divided into working units, perfect spaces for creative studios. He knew of at least a dozen of his artistic contacts in town who would relish a clean, quiet environment to recharge their batteries. The ever-changing sky and seascape would be a source of inspiration.
Daniel was a prime example of what could happen if someone with an artistic temperament didn’t take good care of themselves and their talent. He hadn’t discussed it with Mia yet, but he would soon. He wanted to talk to Aaron about the project too, get his input and assistance in putting some numbers together. His best friend’s younger brother, Luke, was an architect who was developing a solid reputation, stylish without the desire to over-engineer everything. If he could get them both down for a weekend to look over the barn and take some measurements, maybe Luke could make a start on drawing up some design concepts.
The building was certainly tall enough for a mezzanine floor, which could accommodate living space for the artists using the studios below. Daniel had more than enough money to cover the costs of the conversion and he hoped he would be able to persuade Mia that it would be a positive companion to her more traditional guest house.
A small creative enclave would be a draw to the more discerning guests and would perhaps offer an opportunity for an accompanying ga
llery to display some of the pieces created. There was a run of disused garages adjacent to the barn, which could be converted into a gallery or a small shop.
The more he thought about it, the more the excitement fluttered in Daniel’s belly. Part of him wanted to sprint down to the kitchen where Mia had escaped to do some therapeutic baking and blurt out his thoughts. He wanted to sit at his usual spot at the table and watch her soothing movements as she mixed and kneaded the most basic of ingredients into a mouth-watering selection of treats.
He was already addicted to her cooking and with every day that passed the feeling grew that fate had steered him to the exact place in the universe that he needed to be. He was also terrified of moving too soon on his plans for the barn. And for her. If she understood how much he wanted to make a permanent place for himself both at her table and in her life, she would run a mile.
Daniel also understood that what he needed and what Mia needed would not necessarily end up being the same. The last thing he wanted to risk was the friendship developing between them. Whilst he might want more one day, he was not prepared to lose what they had if Mia could not move past the loss of her husband.
A tap on the door turned him from the rain and his musings as Mia nudged the door open with one hip. She entered the room with a laden tray in her hands. Two steaming mugs of tea and a plate of shortbread biscuits brought a smile to his face as he realised that she was choosing to take a break and spend time with him. A small step perhaps but it warmed his heart just the same.
Flour dusted through Mia’s hair, which stuck up in all directions as usual. She had an unconscious habit of shoving at her hair, as though it hung in her face, even though the pixie crop she sported meant that it never did. He wondered how long ago she had cut her hair and whether the gesture was a hangover from days when it had fallen around her shoulders as in the picture pinned to the corkboard in the kitchen.
Sunrise at Butterfly Cove Page 7
