if his constant thinking and daydreaming had conjured her up, Holly walked into his office. It shouldn’t have been such a profound moment, but it was. Her, there, in his space for once. Surrounded by his life, the sounds, scents, and general mayhem of it. Like this perfect little island of serenity in the midst of turmoil. Only, once the haze wore off and Mick closed the door behind her, did he see that she wasn’t, exactly, looking all that peaceful.
“What’s wrong?”
She didn’t even take the time to notice his office, which was probably just as well. He knew where everything was, amidst the piles and stacks, but that was the extent of his organizational skills. “Can I—” She motioned to a stack of files and order forms on the only chair facing his desk. He was already shoving back his chair, prepared to leap over his desk if need be, to make room for her, but she carefully shifted the pile to the floor and took a seat. Then immediately sprang up and began pacing.
Sean frowned. “Holly? What’s going on?” He stood and came around the desk more calmly this time, then finally stepped in front of her, effectively cutting off her path.
She paused, then abruptly said, “I had a lot on my mind. When I left your place. I woke up happier and more confused than ever. And I—didn’t know where to go next, what to figure out first. Oh, and thanks for the car. I hadn’t thought about it, and I had a meeting with the lawyer, so it was really great of you to do that, and—”
“Did something happen at the meeting? Did you figure out about the lease?”
“I did and no, that wasn’t it. Actually, I think that’s going to be easier than I thought. And Mrs. Gillespie is helping me with setting up having a few buyers come in, and an auction house appraiser to look at the stock she doesn’t want. I—I think it’s going to be okay.”
He tipped up her chin. She was talking a mile a minute. “Something rattled you, was it—” He really hesitated bringing up the night they’d spent together. It had meant everything to him, and he knew he was possibly setting himself up, allowing himself to hope like he was, but he couldn’t seem to stem it. He wanted her. He wanted a chance to see what they could have together, and no amount of rational deliberation or commonsense talks he’d had with himself today was going to change that, apparently. “What’s going on?” he finally asked.
“I—even with the solutions for the shop issues, I…I had so much on my mind. Mostly about you, about my life in London, my job, what my life here would even be like if I tried…I just—I needed out. Away. I needed to focus on something else. This morning I watched you sleeping, and I felt this need, this overwhelming urge to sketch, to draw, to create and I know it’s all this uncertainty and that’s how I vent.”
“So…did you?” The idea of her watching him while he slept, much less drawing him, should have been disconcerting, and he supposed it was. But mostly it was an incredible turn-on.
She shook her head, clearly still distracted by whatever was really on her mind. “I didn’t have the supplies, at your place or the store. But that was probably a good thing…or maybe not. I really don’t know. If I’d spent time working things out with paper and charcoal, or some watercolors, then I probably wouldn’t have grabbed the diary instead.” She held his gaze again now, only more directly this time. “And gone to St. Francis with it.”
He had no idea what he’d been expecting, seeing her so atypically rattled, but that hadn’t even occurred to him. “This is about the diary?” Enormous relief coursed through him. She was thinking about staying here, about moving her life here; those were the tidbits he’d gleaned from her burst of chatter; that’s what stuck in his head. That she’d woken up happy.
“Sean, it’s about more than the diary. It concerns you. Your family.”
“What?” He tried to clear his head, pay attention to what she was saying. “How? I mean, I know you said my grandmother was the one who helped get the baby to the nuns, but what else could that have to do with my family, especially now?”
“That’s just it, I don’t think they gave the baby to the nuns.”
Sean frowned. “What in