SAFELY HOME: (FRIENDS AND LOVERS Book 2) by Lyn Denison

Author:Lyn Denison [Denison, Lyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2021-05-03T14:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

‘In case you haven’t noticed, Ms Wainwright, it’s raining,’ said that wonderful voice.

There was an atmospheric rumble of far-off thunder.

‘Oh.’ Tess looked skyward.

‘You can’t stand out here in the middle of a storm. Come in and wait it out on the veranda. It should soon pass.’ She opened the gate and Tess gave a shiver as she stepped inside.

Carolyn moved the umbrella and indicated Tess step under it, close to the other woman, and Tess’s slight shiver took on a far different meaning. She tried to hold herself away and she breathed a quiet sigh of mainly relief as they stepped up onto the veranda.

‘You might as well sit down.’ Carolyn indicated the patio chair as she folded the umbrella, stood it against the wall, and joined Tess. She put her mail on the table. ‘So who goes running in the rain?’ she asked lightly. ‘Only the dedicated, it would seem.’

‘It wasn’t raining when I started out.’ Tess chuckled and indicated the letters. ‘And who still gets snail mail?’

‘Touché.’ Carolyn laughed, too. ‘It’s mostly junk mail though.’

That delightful sound of Carolyn’s laugh teased over Tess’s damp skin. She ran her fingers through her hair, hoping it would spring back into some order as it dried.

‘Do you need a towel?’ Carolyn asked and Tess shook her head.

‘No, it will dry.’

Carolyn ran her gaze over Tess’s shaggy hairstyle. ‘I wish mine was like that. In fact in this humid air I can feel it beginning to frizz. It’s a mess.’

Tess glanced at Carolyn’s hair. It was pulled back into a loose, low ponytail and a few strands had indeed curled away from Carolyn’s head. She wanted to reach out, wrap those errant wispy curls around her finger.

‘It’s not messy. You have really nice hair. It always looks in place.’

‘Thank you. You mean I always look cool and unapproachable,’ Carolyn said, a little self-derisively. ‘So I’ve been told, but I’ll take that comment on face value.’

‘Oh, no. I didn't mean that. You aren't unapproachable,’ Tess put in hurriedly. How could she think she was unapproachable when Tess had touched her breast? She felt her cheeks redden as she tried to quieten that inner voice. It surely wasn’t helping her outward calm. ‘I just meant…’

Carolyn laughed again. ‘I’m sorry, Tess. I was teasing. Myself more than you. I’ve always felt the need to present a professional image and fly-away grey hair doesn’t make the grade.’

Suddenly Tess wanted to see her hair down, unconfined, and she wanted to run her fingers through it. She swallowed. ‘It’s a lovely colour.’

‘Old lady grey?’ Carolyn raised one eyebrow.

‘No. Of course not. You may have grey hair but you could scarcely be called an old lady. You’re not that old.’

‘Old enough.’ She held up her hand. ‘But in my defence, my hair went grey ten years ago. It's a family trait. My father was grey at thirty, as was my brother.’

‘Really?’ Did that make Carolyn forty then?

‘Do you know you have a very expressive face?’ Carolyn grinned.

Tess blushed, almost swooning.

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