Page 5

Her heart tugged in sympathy. “I’m sorry, that must have been tough. Can I ask what she died of?”

“You can ask.” The kettle whistled and she watched him pour boiling water into the mug, then set it aside and lean back against the counter, legs crossed at the ankles.

“You’re not going to squeeze the bag?” Or answer my question.

“You don’t squeeze, not unless you want your tea to taste bitter.” His eyes rested on hers. “Cancer.”

She blinked, then realized it wasn’t a statement, it was an answer. And very possibly a reason why this man was the way he was. “That’s awful. The same as Colin or—”

“Breast cancer.” He turned his back on her, an obvious signal the conversation was over.

As he finished doing whatever Brits did with tea bags, she picked up the advent calendar. “Your turn to open the window.”

“But we both know what’s inside it.”

“You still have to open it.” She waved the calendar at him.

He set his mug on the table with a grunt, leaned over her—wow, how did he smell so good? He had to have showered already—and peeled back window number two.

“Put up Christmas decorations,” she read out loud.

One of Luke’s epic sighs filled the air, followed by what she thought was a gruffly muttered, thanks bro.

“I’ll get the boxes.” It felt good to have something to do, something positive.

“We’re doing it now?”

“Well, I’m going to get dressed first but yeah, we need to get started as soon as we can. It’s going to take all day.”

“All day?”

“Did you see how big the living room is? And how big the tree is?” Because she couldn’t resist poking him, she winked. “You asked for the biggest that would fit on the car, remember.”

He grunted, picked up his mug, and took a long swig before settling his gaze on hers. “You really think Colin devised this calendar to help us mourn?”

“I think he had a reason behind it, and that’s the only one that makes sense. We both loved him, so he probably thought we would take comfort from spending time together.” She took a sip of her coffee and studied him. “I don’t know your circumstances, but he would have guessed Mom and Dad would be on a plane again as soon as they could.” Emotion lodged in her throat. “I think he didn’t want me to be alone.”

Those sharp green eyes narrowed on hers. “You don’t have a boyfriend? Girlfriend? Significant other?”

“No. Boyfriends and me are a bit of a sore point.” She was pleased with how mature that sounded. Like it was no big deal she kept getting dumped. “I have friends, in fact my best friend, Charlotte, is a Brit, like you, but she lives in London. And most of my local friends are married. What about you?”

“I had Colin.”

His tone was flat, his face devoid of all expression. It made her wonder if she’d got him wrong and that he wasn’t unfeeling, unemotional. That in fact sometimes he felt too much, so he slid on a mask to hide it.

It was time to lighten the atmosphere. “And there was me thinking a bundle of laughs like you would be inundated with girls wanting to comfort you.”

His lips curved in what was more smirk than smile. “Comfort isn’t the first word that comes to mind.”

“So there are lots of girls?”

Another small tilt of his lips. “Define lots.”

She decided she didn’t want to know. “You know what, forget it. I’m going to take a shower and find the decorations.” She glanced down at her flannel pj’s with the cheery reindeer. For the first time since she’d come to live here, she regretted not bringing more elegant sleepwear. “Meet you at the tree in half an hour.”

“Make it an hour.” When she frowned, he slotted his hands on his hips. Big hands with long, strong looking fingers. “I’m not going to run off. I’m going for a run. Though the first one sounds tempting.”

“You haven’t already showered?” The question left her mouth before she had time to consider the advisability of it.