no good to spend time thinking about it.
The car came to a stop before Uncle Mick’s house, pulling my thoughts back to the present.
I turned to the major, unsure of what to say. I settled on something professional. “I’m sorry we didn’t find the documents.”
“Not for lack of your skills,” he said. “You did well tonight, Miss McDonnell. Once again, you held up admirably under pressure.”
“And this time I wasn’t sick afterward,” I pointed out.
He smiled. A full, amused smile, the first one I had ever earned from him. “I shall take it as a compliment that you weren’t.”
I laughed then, realizing how it had sounded. “What I meant to say is that tonight was infinitely preferable to finding a dead body.”
“It was indeed.” His eyes caught mine, and I felt the flush creep up on my neck again. I needed to get out of the car before I managed to embarrass myself. Luckily, Jakub opened the door just then.
I held out my hand to the major. “Good night, Major Ramsey.”
His warm fingers closed around mine. “Good night.”
I got out of the car and went into the house, my head all in a whirl. It had been an eventful evening. We might not have found the papers, but I had proven that I was a valuable asset. What was more, I had to admit to myself that I was beginning to relish the thrill of this job.
It was well past midnight, but I was much too excited to sleep. So I went to put the kettle on. I was surprised when, coming out of the kitchen, I heard a tap at the door.
My heart fluttered for just a moment. Had the major returned? No, of course, he hadn’t. He could have no reason to.
I walked to the door and pulled it open, surprised to see Felix standing on the step, hat in hand.
His eyes ran over me and he let out a whistle.
“I was … out tonight,” I said.
“So I see.”
“I’ve just come home. I’ve got the kettle on. Will you come in?”
He glanced at his wristwatch. “Do you think I’d better? I didn’t realize how late it was, and we can’t have the old man making trouble for us. I was just walking by and thought I’d see if you were up. I can come back tomorrow.”
I glanced at the darkened house. Had Uncle Mick returned from his own adventure? It seemed likely, for he had started out before we did. I supposed he would give his account of what had happened tomorrow.
“Uncle Mick’s gone to bed, and, anyway, he knows he doesn’t have to worry about you.”
“Are you sure?” Felix asked with a wink. “With you looking like that, I may be hard-pressed to behave myself.”
I shot him a look as I pulled the door open fully and stepped aside so he could enter. “I can take care of myself, and don’t you forget it.”
“I won’t,” he said with a laugh. “You’ve landed me a solid blow more than once, after all.”
“Not in several years, but I haven’t forgotten how,” I said as we moved to the sofa. “What are you doing walking around London at this time of night?”
“Stopped at a pub for a pint. I’ve been walking all over the city looking for a job all day and just happened to be passing.” He paused, sighed. “No, that’s not entirely true. There’s something that’s been weighing on my mind. Something I need to talk to you about.”
“You know you can talk to me about anything,” I said, but I was a bit surprised—even unnerved—by the seriousness of his expression. Felix was usually so cheerful, so completely at ease.
“I’ve found something out. Or, at least, I may have. I…” His eyes came up to mine. “It’s about your mother.”
There was a moment of silence. Of all the things he might have said, this was the last I had expected.
My family never talked about my mother. She was like something from a history book, a fact from long ago that we knew and brushed aside. A relic of another time that sat in an attic corner covered in cobwebs. There was good enough reason for the way we danced around any mention of her, but sometimes I felt the weight of that history bearing down on me until I thought I might be crushed by it.
One such time, when I was feeling especially weary and heartbroken, I had cried on Felix’s shoulder and the story spilled out. He