Page 29 of Hard Road Home

“Booking guests in and out isn’t everything. What about shopping? Cleaning? What about picking up vegetables from Briar?” Bonnie wasn’t sure how much Xander had kept in touch with Briar Appleton. He never talked about the past, but he had to remember the younger man from when they’d both been children, living at the commune.

For a moment she thought he’d lost colour. Resisting the thought of visiting the farm maybe, but he rolled his shoulders in a half shrug. “I can do those things.”

“Tomorrow?”

He was silent, the corners of his mouth turned down, his eyes oddly blank.

“Is that a problem for you, Xander?”

He shook his head. “No problem. What’s the plan?”

“Once I clear up after breakfast, I take your granddad’s four-wheel drive out to the Appleton place to pick up the organic fruit and vegetables and the honey. On the way back we need to drop into the butcher to stock up on meat.”

“You usually do it by yourself?”

“Briar or one of his workers loads the boxes like a gentleman, and Don unloads them at this end.”

His eyes flicked over her and she knew he was wondering about her fitness.

“I’m strong as a horse. I do have to pace myself with physical stuff, but I’ve been managing for a while. I don’t have a problem, usually. It’s not about me needing you to do the jobs. It’s about you learning what has to be done and maybe spending time together. Out of bed.” She added the last when she saw the corners of his mouth tilt up.

He nodded, pushing himself up from the seat. “All right. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Her heart thumped uneasily. “You’re going out?”

“I thought I might drop over and see Gordo. I haven’t had a chance to talk to him since I arrived home.” He hesitated for a moment. “Tamara is going over to Trudie’s place to watch Netflix after Colin goes to bed. I should thank you for introducing them on a social level. She would have been too shy to approach any of your friends without the icebreaker.”

“I didn’t expect them to click so well. Trudie seems so absorbed with her animals and her business.”

“She’s a nurturer. Sunny was her friend more than me; I was too young. The pair of them looked out for me. They were better parents than any of the adults, apart from the Appleton women.”

“I never met them. I only met Briar once he started coming in to school and selling his organic veggies around town.”

“He and I used to play together a fair bit when we were younger. Recently I’ve met him here in town, but mostly its emails. It’s years since I went to the farm.”

“You’ll see him tomorrow.”

The reminder didn’t sit well with Xander, his face closing up. He glanced at his watch. “I should give Gordo a ring to see if tonight’s okay.”

He was gone almost as soon as he finished speaking, his boots clattering down the narrow wooden steps. Bonnie finished tidying up and, with her albums stacked in her arms, she made her way downstairs. It was going to be a quiet evening. Which was odd, because before Xander came home, a lot of her evenings were solitary. She didn’t like to intrude too much on Flo and Don in their private sanctum.

*

It was latewhen Bonnie decided she should go to bed. She’d kept busy writing up shopping lists and menu plans. Not that the menu was complex. Breakfast was fairly standard and the rest of the meals were family favourites. Occasionally she liked to drop something different into the mix. Briar would have fresh mushrooms she could add to the breakfast menu and she could use leftovers for a soup.

She turned off the lights as she went, checking all the public rooms. There was no hurry and she half acknowledged she hoped to see Xander when he arrived home. In the library, a cosy room with glassed-in bookshelves and deep green velvet curtains, a fire had been lit earlier. There was still a glow in the darkened room and she went closer to put the fireguard across.

A dark figured loomed in one of the wing chairs drawn up in front of the fireplace and she stifled a scream. A half hope it was Xander died as Mr Tsiarkas rose to his feet with a courteous bow. No wonder Flo called him vampire guy. In the flickering firelight his pale skin gleamed, accentuating the hollows around his eyes and under his cheekbones.

“Good evening, Miss Callaghan. I’m sorry I gave you a fright.”

Bonnie settled her breathing. “It’s all right. I didn’t realise anyone was in here.”

“I should go.”

“No. Of course not. You’re welcome to use the room.”

“I was thinking of having a hot drink. Will you join me?”