Page 25 of Falling for the Grumpy Stranger

“He was released shortly after, so I assume there was nothing to the arrest,” Luke said.

“Or he just had a very good, very expensive lawyer,” Isla noted.

The front door opened, and Layla came in with a burst of energy. “There are lights on in Audrey’s cottage,” she blurted as she struggled to shed all her layers.

“Really?” Isla pulled out her phone. “Audrey owns the cottage on the right side of us,” Isla explained to Luke. “Her husband died three years ago, and she moved in with her daughter, but she kept the cottage. Her husband built it with his own hands, so she didn’t have the heart to sell. She rents it in summer, so it’s unusual for there to be lights on at other times. We keep an eye on the place for her.” Isla sent off a text.

Audrey’s cottage held little interest for me at the moment. I’d learned some incredible details about the man I’d spent the lasttwo days with, the man I’d formed somewhat of a crush on, the man who seemed to be an endless river of secrets.

Isla got a return text. “Interesting,” she said as she looked at the screen. “Audrey says she rented the cottage to a woman for the next month. She said she warned the woman that the weather would be cold and wet and that some of the beaches down south would be warmer, but she insisted she wanted to stay in Whisper Cove.” Isla looked up. “That solves the mystery.”

“One mystery, anyway,” I muttered mostly to myself.

“Is everyone hungry?” Isla asked.

“Yes!” the others answered. Except me. Not that I wasn’t hungry. I was starved. But I had a lot of other things on my mind. This first assignment was getting more interesting by the minute.

Chapter Nineteen

RHETT

Ilooked out the window for the hundredth time. No sign of Ella. She left so hastily after my grumpy, cold dismissal of her that she forgot her scarf. While I was sure she was done with me, I hoped she’d at least return for the scarf. I badly wanted to apologize. My scar was always a sore subject. Sometimes I could get through an entire day and not think about it or notice it, but seeing the way Ella looked at it made me hate it even more. I would never be whole again because the flesh on my arm had been disintegrated by fire, and while the physical pain was mostly gone, the mental anguish that came with it would follow me the rest of my life. The scars would always be there to remind me of the betrayal and hurt I felt that day.

My phone rang. I pulled it out angrily, certain it would be Christine. Her ill-timed text yesterday was the second, bigger catalyst that shifted my mood and sent Ella scurrying from the house. I was relieved to see it was only a contractor returning my call. As badly as I wanted to block Christine’s calls and texts, we were still tangled in a legal battle—our divorce. And Christine had been dragging her feet, working atreigniting what we had. But there was nothing there. In fact, the more I thought about our marriage, the more I realized there was never anythingthere. I supposed I had her to thank for so plainly pointing that out to me.

The phone kept ringing in my hand, but I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone about this wreck of a house. It almost suited my mood better in this state of disrepair. For a moment, I’d been bitten by the renovation bug. Fixing this place up, returning it to its former glory, sounded fun, exciting even. That was all because of Ella. Her bright presence in the house made me think I needed to fix the old place up. The dilapidation just didn’t look right around someone who was pure beauty.

I let the call go to voicemail. I’d called several contractors, mostly local and one who was part of a nationwide renovation company. One of the local contractors immediately balked at the idea of working at Grimstone. He told me he wasn’t sure he could get some of his usual sub-contractors up to the manor due to its reputation of being cursed. The guy laughed, acting as if the curse meant nothing to him but the others might say no.

The knock at the door pulled me from my thoughts. I hurried to the entry and opened it. Huge relief washed through me. Ella was wearing a thick winter coat and a tartan plaid beanie. “My scarf,” she said curtly. “I’ll just grab it and be on my way.”

“No,” I said too quickly.

She peered up at me with her doe eyes. “No? But it’s my scarf.”

“Yes, your scarf is here and of course you can have it, but—” The words were stumbling out of my mouth. “It’s cold. Come inside. I need to apologize.”

Ella hesitated, and I was stunned at how profoundly that small pause affected me. I’d really blown it. She was right. I was angry and grim and strange and not worthy of a friendship like hers.

After giving it some thought, she stepped inside.

“Coffee?” I asked.

“That depends. Does it come with a big spoonful of grump? Because I don’t need that. My sister Layla couldn’t find her keys this morning, and I’ve already had enough grump for the day.”

I nodded. “I’ll keep the grump under wraps.”

She hung up her coat.

“I guess I have that scarf to thank for getting a chance to apologize,” I said. “You weren’t planning to come back.” It wasn’t a question. “I don’t blame you.”

“I’m not sure if I would have come back.” She led the way to the kitchen and left a faint scent of perfume behind her. It was pretty and bright like her, a mood lightener—something that had been lacking in my life lately.

I walked over to the coffeepot. “I could make up the excuse that I was tired from bad sleep.” I poured two cups of coffee and carried them to the table. Ella was holding back her usual smile. That was my fault. I set the coffee down. As my sweater sleeve inched back, my scar reared its hideous head. Ella made a point of staring down into her cup. I hadn’t meant for the scar to become a part of my apology, but I didn’t like the new strained tension between us. I’d enjoyed the past few days, even smiled, something that I’d nearly forgotten how to do, and it was all because of Ella. I’d moved to a remote place, a place where I knew no one, far away from my past life, for a reason. Only Ella made me realize that I didn’t want isolation. I’d punished myself long enough.

“Good coffee,” Ella said with a weak smile.

“It was an accident,” I started. “A car accident. But I wasn’t in the car.” I shook my head once to get my thoughts straight. Aside from telling the police everything I remembered from that day, I’d never actually told the story out loud to someone who wasn’t a stern looking official in a uniform. Heck, Ella was far from that. She was so different than most people and so full of life, I could almost see a glow around her as she sat in my dimly lit kitchen.

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