All They Need - By Sarah Mayberry Page 0,41
his political ambitions. That she deliberately went out of her way to anger him. That she’d never even tried to learn how to fit in with his world.
She sighed heavily. So much anger and unhappiness. For both of them, really. She wondered if Owen was any happier now that he was free of the wife who had “done nothing but hold me back.” She doubted it, because he would always have his rapaciously ambitious mother’s voice in his ear, urging him to be better, do better, and Diana Hunter would never be satisfied. Ever.
Mel almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
Finally she drifted off to sleep. When she woke again it was morning. Judging by the state of the bedcovers, she’d barely moved. She showered and wrapped herself in her Thai silk dressing gown before making her way to the kitchen. She was trying to decide between porridge or peanut butter toast when the doorbell rang. She answered the door to find Flynn standing there.
“Flynn,” she said, her voice high with surprise.
“Hi. I hope it’s not too early.”
His gaze drifted over her dressing gown. She was instantly acutely aware of the fact that she was naked underneath.
“No. Of course not. You’re here for your keys, right?” she said, one hand instinctively lifting to the neckline of her robe to ensure it wasn’t gaping immodestly.
“Yeah. When I thought about it again this morning I realized there was no point sending a courier when I needed to get the car sorted out, too, so I grabbed a couple of hours to make it happen.” He gave her what could only be described as a polite smile.
She stepped away from the door, waving him inside. “Come in.”
She led him to the kitchen and grabbed the keys off the counter, handing them over. “Would you believe they were sitting there all night and I forgot to give them to you?”
“Thanks.” He offered her another polite smile.
She frowned. Maybe she was reading too much into things, but he seemed different. More distant. Less warm. Not that that was a bad thing, all things considered, but it seemed out of step with the way they’d parted company last night. The way he’d kissed her cheek. The way he’d looked at her.
“Also, I was hoping there was a mechanic you can recommend locally. My regular guy’s in the city and I don’t particularly want to have Gertie towed all that way.”
“There are a couple of workshops in the village. Barry Cassidy has a good reputation. And the other guy is my father.”
“Well, that makes it easy. Obviously I’ll go with Barry Cassidy.”
Her mouth curved up at the corners. “Naturally. That seems like the obvious choice.”
“That’s what I was thinking.” His smile was more genuine this time and some of the stiffness had gone from his face.
“You want Barry’s number?” she asked.
“Sure. But I guess I might as well speak to your father, too.”
“Good plan. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”
Flynn pulled his phone out and took her father’s number down as she reeled it off.
“In all seriousness, my dad is a good mechanic. He does a lot of work with classic cars—he and my brother restore them as a hobby. I would have mentioned him to you earlier but I figured you probably had some NASA-trained mechanic in the city somewhere.”
“As I said, I do have a guy but I believe he may have skimped on the NASA training.”
“It’s so hard to get good help these days.”
“Tell me about it.” His gaze dipped below her face for a second and she crossed her arms over her chest, conscious of the fact that she wasn’t wearing a bra.
“So, um, how did you get down here this morning?” she asked. She could feel her heart beating out a hectic, nervous rhythm against her breastbone.
“I borrowed Dad’s car. He doesn’t drive anymore. I’ve been putting off selling, so at least it’s earning its keep this week.”
She nodded, thinking about what he’d said in relation to the conversation they’d had last night. “It’s what you were talking about last night, isn’t it? Taking away his freedom. I guess selling his car would really drive home the fact that part of his life is over, wouldn’t it?”
The tight look came back to his face. He cleared his throat. “Listen. About last night.” He shifted uncomfortably. “I wanted to apologize for dumping all that stuff on you…?. That was really uncool.”
It took her a second to process what he’d said and another