And maybe a tiny part of him that wouldn’t mind seeing Thea Fox, too.
7
THEA
Thea dumped the basket of clean washing on the kitchen table, the plastic rim hitting the wood with aslap. Thank goodness she’d got back from school in time to rescue the clothes from a passing spring shower. With laundry not being her forte or her chore of choice, she’d set aside the next half hour to fold. An old Barbie movie played on the sitting room TV, and Ammy sat on the couch, watching and nibbling on carrot sticks.
With a sigh, Thea picked up an old pair of knickers. They’d seen better days. Their original white now resembled a murky grey. The lacy trim had pulled away from the seams, and tendrils of thin elastic escaped from the waistband. She couldn’t remember when she’d bought them. Perhaps around the same time Noah sent out invitations to the Ark.
A knock at the front door broke her train of thought. She wasn’t expecting anyone. Maybe the scouts were out peddling cookies again. Perhaps some of the local kids were dropping off carrots for the donkeys. If she ignored it, they would leave them on the step and go away. But the rapping came again, muchlouder. More insistent. With an eye roll, she walked down the hallway towards the front of the house.
On her way, Thea almost tripped over an abandoned bucket and spade. She placed a hand on the wall to steady herself, recovering just in time to see Felix Walsh’s unsmiling face as he stood in the open door. She rarely closed it if she was at home.
Her stomach lurched. What on earth was he doing here? Was he hoping for another round of “Why we will never be friends” or “Do you think you can match wines to my silly gourmet menu?”
“Do you always leave your front door wide open? I could have been anyone,” he snapped.
Thea tutted. That was it?Thatwas his greeting? How typical. “Err, yes. We all leave our doors open. It’s Tottenbridge. Nothing ever happens here.”
His fair eyebrows rose skyward. “So you can just walk into each other’s houses, willy-nilly?”
“I suppose so. But really, who’d want to?”
Felix’s eyes drifted over her shoulder, down the hallway, and a slow burn crept over her cheeks. From memory, the floor currently resembled a medieval battleground. Shorn and Sharpie desecrated Barbies, some with missing limbs, littered the carpet. Not to mention the entire contents of her daughter’s pencil case. Thea gritted her teeth together. She really must learn to tidy up more often.
“Indeed,” he said, his eyes returning to hers.
Thea took a breath, about to defend her lacklustre housekeeping skills, when she noticed a small, pale boy standing at his side, one hand gripping Felix’s trousers. In the other, he held a stuffed white rabbit that’d seen better days. Thea drew her brows together. It looked just like Mr. Tibbins, Ammy’s favourite soft toy.
As if reading her thoughts, Felix spoke. “We’re here to return something I think belongs to your daughter.”
The little boy looked terrified, so Thea gave him a smile before turning her eyes back to his dad.
“This is my son, Lucas.” He put an arm around the little boy’s shoulders. “Your daughter lent him her toy today. To cheer him up. We thought it best we bring it back before lender's remorse kicks in at bedtime.”
The corners of Thea’s mouth flickered. Ammy would indeed find it hard to sleep without Mr. Tibbins. The lack of her bunny would mean a night in Thea’s bed, along with tiny kicking feet and blanket hogging.
“Thank you, Lucas,” she said. “Ammy will appreciate it.”
The boy stood frozen, so Felix bent down and extracted the rabbit from his fist before passing it to Thea. Without thinking, she reached out to take the raggedy toy, but when his gaze fixed on her hand, she looked down, too.
“Oh!” she squeaked out before lifting her wide eyes to his. Felix pursed his lips together, and the corners of his lips trembled.
A burn crept up Thea’s face. She still held her old grey knickers. Although partially scrunched in her hand, it was obvious what they were. Why the hell hadn’t she left them back in the kitchen? Well, at least they were clean.
“Part of your spring wardrobe?” Felix asked, a smirk growing on his lips.
With a huff, she screwed the knickers into a ball and stuffed them into the back pocket of her jeans.
Thea’s mind scrambled, searching for a reasonable excuse why she was holding what were potentially the oldest knickers in the country. Perhaps she could pass them off as Ammy’s? Make a joke of it? Nope, they were far too big to belong to her daughter. She’d just have to brazen it out. If asked, she’dpretend that saggy, grey parachute pants were about to storm the next Victoria’s Secret catwalk.
Blood simmered in her veins, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her rattled. Thea plastered on a breezy smile and took the bunny from Felix. “I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s laundry day. Some of us don’t have the budget for a housekeeper. Remind me. Do you have one butler or two at Walsh Towers?”
Okay, maybe her snarky commentdidhint at her being rattled. Still, when the middle of his fair brows pinched together, she gave herself an imaginary high five.
A screeching came from the kitchen, and Ammy erupted into the hallway. After a trip-fee run over the Barbie body count, she flung herself at Felix’s son.
“Lucas!” she squealed, almost knocking the boy off his feet by giving him a massive hug.
