A festival certainly added a bit of silver lining to near-death experiences on a roof.
Arran followed Luke and Dave down the ladder, his movements much slower than four hours ago. They rounded the front of the house to find a woman with her back to them, pulling a few boxes of pizza from a little red truck.
Why did the truck look strangely familiar?
“Sorry I’m late, boys.”
The woman turned, and heat fled every part of Arran’s body.
The ball cap over brown hair.
The unusual silver eyes.
The heart-shaped face and little chin.
He’d seen her before. Though he didn’t recall the white bandage across her nose.
“Oh no, Charlie.” Luke rushed forward, tugging the pizza boxes from her arms. “Did the doc say it was broken?”
Arran pulled his attention from the woman’s striking eyes, his brain piecing together where she fit into his sketchy recollection.Broken?
The memory rushed to the front of his mind with full force.
He’d slammed his head into her nose, hadn’t he? His stomach seized as he replayed the incident in his mind with bone-aching clarity.
Charlie was... Charlotte. Luke’s cousin.
“Only a hairline fracture.” She turned back to the truck.
“No!” The word erupted from Arran in a shocked breath. He stepped forward as she spun around, a carton of canned drinks in her hands. “Was that because of me?”
Her averted glance proved the truth he feared.
“I’m so sorry.” His throat closed around a groan, and he took the carton from her. “Please forgive me.”
Something flickered in her gaze before she shrugged off his apology. “I know it was an accident, okay? Let’s move on.”
“But if I hadn’t behaved like a cretin in the first place, this never would have happened.”
She studied him, a curious crook to her grin. “I’ll be fine.” She dismissed him with a glance. “You boys hungry?”
What must she think of him?An utter failure and rake,is what.
And her response only secured his decision.
He’d prove to them all who he truly was: a man worthy of his position as a royal, a worker humble enough to learn a new skill and faithful enough to keep working, and—his gaze fastened on the woman—someone who knew how to treat a lady.
Despite first impressions.
It was the least he could do.
“Doc thought I ought to keep my feet on the ground for a few days, Luke.” She laid out a few plates on a makeshift table of “sawhorses,” as Luke called them. “Said my nose needs a bit more healing before I add heights to it.”
“Take as much time as you need.”
“I’ll keep working on orders from home, then.” Charlotte—Charlie—took a can from the drink container and opened it with aclick. “Which reminds me, Arnold down at the quarry said he can deliver your stone to the Foxes’ place at the beginning of next week.”
“Good.” Luke nodded, turning his attention to Arran. “That will be our next project. Laying stone for a patio and chimney. Tough work, but real pretty.” He took a can and handed it to Arran. “By the time we finish with you, Arran, you might even trade in that crown for some overalls and a hammer.”
