Page 106 of Not So Very Sensible

“Yeah.”

He held out a sticky note with a phone number scrawled on it. “You want this then?”

What could Ethan have to say to her? Nothing good, she bet. Besides, he was engaged to be married, so it wasn’t healthy for her to allow herself to get caught up in feelings for someone she couldn’t have.

“No thanks.”

“Okay then.” He screwed it up, then lobbed it towards the bin, giving a fist pump when it went in. “Score!”

“Gosh, anyone would think you played basketball on the weekend.”

He grinned. “Every weekend.”

But later that night, she wondered whether she had made the right decision. What if things had somehow changed and Ethan wanted to connect with her? Could she run back to the office and have a look through the rubbish and see if she could find the sticky note?

Then she remembered it was bin night and all the rubbish would’ve been collected anyway. So that was that. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be retrieved now. Just like whatever she had thought she had shared with Ethan couldn’t be retrieved. God might be able to do exceedingly abundantly above all she could ask or imagine, but He also knew when time needed to be called.

The next day she was working at The Silver Teapot when the door opened. She blinked. “Chris!”

Chris Brandon smiled. “I wondered if you’d remember me.”

“Of course! Katie and I were talking about you just the other day.”

His eyes lit, even as his face remained grave. “How is she?”

“She’s doing okay. Trying to figure out what to do with her life. Still.”

He smiled. “It’s hard when you’re young. You feel like you have so many choices.”

“Exactly. But that’s actually why we were talking about you. She mentioned that she was interested in knowing a little bit more about cold cases and how you went about solving them. Which is why having you stop by is a lovely timely surprise.”

“I was on my way to Goulburn to the Police Academy, and I remembered that you’d mentioned at the Hydro Grand about your family having a tea shop around here. I don’t think you ever said the name, so when I called in at the pie shop down the road and mentioned you, they sent me here. I’m glad to see you.”

He’d be even gladder to see Katie, she bet, but she’d take it. “Well, here I am. And if you like, we could even make you a cup of tea.”

“I’m usually more of a coffee man, if that’s okay.”

“Whatever you wish. Are you hungry?”

“I could eat.”

“Sweet or savoury? We have some pies that have won awards during Pie Time in the Highlands.”

“Then a steak pie would be great. And a flat white.”

“Coming right up.” She bustled back to the kitchen, where Katie was working. “You’ll never guess who is here.”

Her sister’s eyes widened for a moment, then she shook her head. “If it’s Jason, then I don’t want—”

“It’s not Jason,” she hastened to reassure. “It’s Chris Brandon. Remember? The detective who solves cold cases.”

“Oh!”

“Well, how about you go out and talk to him while I get his pie and coffee order sorted.”

“Do I look okay?”

“You look great. Go. He’s on his way to Goulburn, so you might as well make the most of the time he’s here and ask all the questions you can. I’m sure he’d love to answer them.”