Page 35 of A Chance to Believe

‘A funny mood. Like he’s thinking about something and doesn’t want to be interrupted.’ She raised the hand with the box and vanished into the lounge area, the door to the corridor snapping shut behind her.

Cassie wondered if his mood was because of her. He’d been distant since their conversation the previous weekend. Not that he’d been around much, with so much happening on the farm. After insisting she eat with the family, half the time he wasn’t there. Maybe an exaggeration, but he hadn’t been home tonight. How much was work and how much him pursuing a social life, she did not know.

Dragging herself up, she headed for the bathroom. A shower and bed would ease the ache in her legs. The last thing she wanted was varicose veins developing because of pressure in her pelvic area affecting her circulation. It had been good to talk to Kimberley. After months of obsessing about herself and her own health, it was nice to be helping someone else.

She heard the knock when she turned off the hair dryer and automatically called, ‘Come in,’ as she walked into the bedroom, expecting it to be Kimberley again.

It was Shayne, still in the jeans and button-up shirt she’d seen him wearing from a distance when he left the house late in the afternoon. She’d been beside the pool when he headed for the garages, but he hadn’t noticed her, a frown on his face and his mind clearly elsewhere. His expression now was not friendly.

‘I thought you were Kimberley.’

His brows rose. ‘Really. Were you planning to give her more advice on going out and getting laid by some hormone driven teenager?’

‘What? No.’

He held up the box of condoms so recently taken by Kimberley. ‘She said these came from you.’

Cassie couldn’t understand why his daughter would lie. ‘Is that what she said?’

‘That they were in the bathroom here. But she said you were happy for her to take them. That you talked.’

‘I don’t know about happy, but I wasn’t in a position to forbid her to take them. I’m not her parent.’

His brows drew together, reminding her of his daughter in a snit. ‘Are you saying you didn’t give them to her, or did she steal them?’

‘She retrieved them from this bathroom, but they aren’t mine. I believe they might have belonged to a Nate.’

‘My cousin?’ He stared at the box. ‘They were here when you moved in?’

‘In the bottom drawer of the bathroom cabinet. There’s some shaving gear and toiletries.’

‘He must have left them here when he left after the last visit. I’m sorry. I’ll have them collected and put in the upstairs spare bathroom.’

‘Have I taken his space?’

‘Not really. He’s used it a couple of times when visiting recently, but only for convenience. He rarely sleeps here. It’s somewhere to keep his luggage and clean up before he goes out again.’

‘He sounds like a charmer.’

Shayne’s mouth twisted into a crooked grin. ‘All the girls think so.’

‘I see.’ She pursed her mouth, wondering if Shayne joined this cousin on his revels.

‘He’s about your age, or a little older, and he’s still a bachelor.’

That wasn’t that old for a single guy. But coming from a man who’d taken on the responsibility of a daughter in his early twenties, maybe it seemed that way. ‘And you think he’s likely to remain that way?’

‘We all get caught in the end.’

That was a loaded statement, if anything was. ‘You came to talk about Kimberley?’

He sobered. ‘Perhaps you could explain what went on.’

‘She came for the condoms, and I let her have them. That’s all.’

‘What was she talking about?’

He seemed calmer now, but it wasn’t really her place to say. ‘Didn’t Kimberley tell you?’

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