39

A loud cough jolted them apart. Jack stood glaring at them from the kitchen doorway.

Evan’s cheeks burned as he wished the floor would open up and swallow him whole.

“Dad…” Lou’s rosy cheeks and wide eyes probably matched his own.

“Jack, I can explain.”

Jack held up a hand. “I hope you can. Don’t hurt her. Oh, and if you intend to sleep with her, you have to marry her first.”

“Dad!” Horror and embarrassment covered Lou’s face as she jumped down off the work top. “It was one kiss.”

Jack raised an eyebrow. “Really? One very heated, passionate kiss from where I was standing.”

Evan swallowed hard past the lump in his throat. He hadn’t thought of marriage as the eventual outcome, but the general was right. Kissing like that usually led to something else. He needed to pull back, treat Lou with the respect she deserved, and lead them to the proper conclusion to this tentative relationship they were starting out on.

Lou still appeared indignant. “And if you must know I kissed him first, so don’t you go blaming this on Evan.”

Evan’s gaze hit the floor. “Your dad’s right. I should know better. I’m sorry.”

Lou rounded on him. “You’re sorry? For what? Kissing me?”

“No.” He paused. “For not thinking before I acted.”

Jack shook his head. “I’m too old for this conversation. Suffice it to say, sex is a wedding gift for your husband or wife. It’s not something to be given away lightly.”

“I couldn’t agree more. I won’t put either of us in this position again.” He glanced at Lou and pressed his lips to her forehead. “At least not where he can find us,” he whispered.

Lou giggled.

“Behave, kiddo.” Jack frowned. “I do not want to have to tell your mother.”

“You wouldn’t?”

“Tell her I caught you kissing a tall, dark stranger? No. You can tell her when the time is right. I’m going to bed now. Can I trust you two to behave?”

Lou nodded. “I’m going to bed anyway. Evan, what time do you need to be at the dam tomorrow?”

“First light to see what damage this storm has done. Why?”

“I want to go over the notebook with you.”

He glanced at his watch. “OK, so how about half six? Should give us an hour before I need to leave. Oh, I’m setting the burglar alarm tonight and the motion detectors. So if you need to come downstairs for whatever reason before I’m up, do it very carefully and keep to the walls. Stay out of the study and the library.”

“Sounds good. ’Night.”

“’Night.”

Evan waited for Jack to follow her, but he didn’t. Silence fell, broken only by the rain and thunder. Evan’s stomach clenched, expecting a lecture or at least a stiff talking to.

With a mercifully short glare, Jack pivoted and left.

Evan sank into a chair. He had to be more careful around Lou. He was too involved. Before he met her he’d thought he’d stop at nothing to keep her quiet. This started out as purely business, but now?

Now he’d let the little archaeologist into a tiny crack in his heart, and she was splitting him open as surely as that tiny crack had split the Aberfinay Dam wide open. And as surely as one would fall, he knew the other would also come tumbling down.

The question was which would fall first? Although a small voice inside him told him it was too late. Part of his heart was Lou’s and always would be.

Either way he had to date her, to keep her in his life at all costs. He rose and ran into the hallway. “Jack?”

Jack paused halfway up the stairs and peered down at him.

“Can I have a word?”

“Sure.”

Evan made his way up the stairs and leaned against the wall. “I’d like permission to court your daughter.”

Jack raised an eyebrow, his expression quizzical. “Court her? As in…?”

He pressed his heels firmly into the carpet. Nervous didn’t even begin to cover the state his insides were in and the fear of rejection overflowed from every pore. “She thinks I’m quaint and old-fashioned. Courting seems to be the right way to go about this, as does asking your permission first. So, yeah, court, as in the old-fashioned way of dating.”

The older man held his gaze for a long moment. Then a smile crossed his face. “The ultimate answer will come from her, but I don’t have any objections. Just keep in mind what I said back there.”

“I will.” His heart leapt as he headed back into the study to get an update on the dam.

The phone rang before he reached it. “Close.”

“Boss, it’s me.” Ralph’s voice vibrated and ended on a high note. “Did you ask for extra water to be diverted to the dam? Because we’re getting an influx from somewhere and it’s compounding the problem.”

Evan hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. “I’d forgotten about that. I did that last week, when the dam levels fell. Cancel it. The numbers are in the blue folder I left with you. Call them now.”

“Sure thing. I’m increasing the overflow to compensate.”

“Thanks.” He slumped at the desk and rubbed the back of his neck. “Keep me informed. Oh, and I’m ignoring the evac orders and staying put in the manor.”

“I hate to disagree with you, but this Sparrow bloke may have a point.”

“And as I explained to the military blokes that came, he has a good reason to want the area empty as well. No one is getting into the manor to get their hands on the documents here.”

“No offence, boss, but we need you alive. Take the documents and get out of there.”

Evan shook his head. “No can do. Can’t explain over the phone, but I have a good reason for staying.”

~*~

Lou lay awake most of the night, tossing and turning. Lights flickered and rotated in the corner of her left eye, but the sleep that would avert the coming migraine eluded her. Around three she rose, showered, and dressed. She downed headache meds and then settled on the bed to read over all her notes.

When her alarm went off at five, she grabbed the notebook from the box, along with her camera and headed carefully downstairs to the kitchen to make some tea.

Evan glanced up as she came in. “Morning. You’re up early.” He moved over to her and kissed her gently. “I’ve just made a pot of coffee if you want some.”

She shook her head. “I prefer tea. I only drink coffee to be sociable; despite living in the States for several years, I don’t really like the stuff.”

“One pot of tea coming up.” He moved to the side and switched on the kettle. “About last night…”

She leaned next to him. “Don’t worry about it. Dad takes his role very seriously.” She giggled. “He’s even worse with Emily. She brought a boy over once, and Dad gave him the third degree over the tea table.”

“How old was this kid?”

“Nine or ten I think. I would love to be a fly on the wall when her prom date comes to pick her up in a few years.” She threw her head back and laughed. “Dad’ll probably stand there, gun in his hand, and demand Emily be home before ten.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” Evan made the tea. “But I’d like to think I’d be protective of any daughters I may have in the future.” He flicked her nose and then tucked her hair behind her ears. “You look dreadful. Did you sleep any?”

“No, my mind is too active. I also have a headache, which doesn’t help any.”

He grazed his knuckles against her cheek and kissed her forehead. “I’m sorry.”

Lou leaned into his touch, allowing the comfort and pleasure to mix. “It isn’t your fault. It happens some nights, especially this time of year. September 30 was the day I lost my leg. It’s also the date of Mum’s and Dad’s wedding anniversary, which is why he has to be home by then.”

Evan laid the tray with cups and pastries and picked it up. “Let’s take this into the den. I’ve lit a fire in there.”

She followed him, passing Zach in the hallway.

“September 30 is also the day the village flooded. And the date of the fire in the west wing.” He set the tray down and paused. “It’s almost as if everything is conjoining and centring around the same date.”

She smirked. “This isn’t a disaster movie, you know. The world won’t end on September 30.”

“It might.” He plated the pastries and handed one to her.

“Thank you, and I hope not. But it is a little weird how all the dates are the same.”

“Tell you something else that happens on September 30: my birthday.”

“Fancy that. And how old will you be this year?”

He grinned. “The same age as my tongue and a little older than my teeth.” He caressed her cheek with his thumb. “A lady should never ask.”

She struggled to keep a straight face. “I’m no lady. I’m an archaeologist, and strangely attracted to old things.”

Evan’s eyes widened in shock. “Old?”

She waved a hand, clicking her fingers. “Yes, I went there. You walked straight into that one, mister.”

Evan wrapped his arms around her and laughed, the tension between them falling away. “I’ll have you know, miss, I’m not that old. I’ll be thirty-four.”

“Still older than me.” She leaned against him, one hand holding her side. “I have a stitch from laughing too much.”

“That will teach you to pick on older men.” He kissed her forehead. “Does that make me a cradle snatcher?” he whispered.

Lou raised her face to his. “Not that much younger than you.” She kissed him gently. “Are those pastries to be eaten or for looking at?”

He chuckled. “We can eat them.” He let her go and moved to the tray. He poured the tea. “Did you bring the notebook?”

She nodded. “I figured we could read it aloud and record it. I have photos of each page, but it’d be good to have an audio recording as well.”

“Sounds good but we should eat first.”

Lou curled up on the couch and took the mug from him. “Thanks.”

Evan said grace and began eating.

“Dad rubbed off on you.” Her lips curved into a wry smile.

He shrugged. “An old habit I’d gotten out of. I was thinking maybe I should pick it up again.”

“It’s a good one to have. I’ve been thinking the same thing. Maybe once all this is over…” She wiped a crumb from her lips and licked her fingers. “Are we still checking out those caves you mentioned?”

“They’re probably still sealed,” he said in between bites.

“They might not be. Chances are the rocks moved during the land movement caused by the explosions. Or there may be a way in despite the rock fall.”

He swigged his coffee quickly and topped up the cup. “I’ll need to check in at the dam first so probably won’t be until the afternoon.” He paused. “I’ll tell Zach to stay in the hallway, even though we’ve shut the door. I don’t want any of this overheard.”

They finished the meal in silence. Evan piled up the plates on the tray and refilled their cups. He rose and spoke quietly to Zach, before shutting the door. Then he settled on the couch next to her. “OK. Are you ready to do this?”

“Yup.” Lou picked up the book. “There’s a note at the start of the book, which states this is a private journal. I’m guessing the other one we found was the public one kept in the house. I’m also hoping this one will fill in the gaps caused by missing pages and faded ink in that other one. This one is in two sets of handwriting which, from what I’ve gathered, are his and hers. Fancy a bit of role play?”

His hand ran over her arm, before entwining in her fingers. “Why not? I’ll be my great-grandfather and you can be my great-grandmother.”