Close to You

the one who seems taken with her.”
    He looked skyward, as though he was
exasperated. “Mother—”
    The front door swept open and the
topic of their discussion walked in. Eve’s frown deepened when she
saw Treat. “What are you doing here?”
    Before either one of them could say
anything, Eve walked to them and put a hand on Treat’s arm. She
said in what could only be described as a lover’s voice, “I told
you I’d take care of this. You didn’t need to come
here.”
    Margaret looked between the two of
them. Their body language suggested intimacy, but it was the way
they looked at each other that made her gasp. They were in
love.
    She focused on Treat. She’d never seen
him look at a woman that way, not even his ex, whom Margaret hadn’t
liked from the start. Her mother’s heart clenched with a mix of
emotions, from happiness to jealousy and everything in
between.
    He touched Eve’s hair. “I have
something to tell you, and you aren’t going to be happy about
it.”
    Margaret realized suddenly that the
girl didn’t know she was Treat’s mother. She looked at her son, who
shot her a quelling glance. Hurt spread through her slowly, like
bile.
    Eve shook her head. “I know you came
over here to talk to her for me. You like to take care of people.
But I’ve got this.”
    “ You don’t—”
    “ Really.” Eve turned to
her. “I told Treat I think you’re the one responsible for
everything happening to my shops, including the flood.”
    Margaret squared her shoulders. “You
have no proof.”
    “ No, I don’t,” she
admitted, “but my gut says it was you, and I’m here to tell you
it’s enough. I also want to know how you knew my coffeehouse was at
risk for flooding.”
    “ I told her,” Treat
said.
    They both looked at him.
    He only had eyes for Eve though. He
took her face in his hands. “Margaret is my mother. I should have
told you earlier—”
    “ You think?” Eve exclaimed,
her face paling. She stepped back, horror dawning on her face.
“Were you in on it?”
    “ Of course not.” He scowled
at her. “I would never do anything to hurt you.”
    “ Except lie to
me.”
    “ Eve—”
    She held her hand up. “Stop while
you’re ahead.”
    “ You have every right to be
angry at me, but I didn’t want your feelings for my mother to
interfere with what we had growing.”
    She snorted. “But you went back and
reported to her how to get me to close down.”
    “ Of course I didn’t.” He
pointed at her. “You know better. You know me.”
    “ I thought I knew you.” She
looked back and forth between them both and then shook her head.
“You’re banned from Grounds for Thought. Find someone else to
ruin.”
    Head high, she walked out of Crumpet.
Margaret watched her son’s gaze follow the girl until she was out
of sight.
    And then he turned to her. “Did you do
it, Mom?”
    She swallowed, trying to frame the
jumble of emotions in her chest. How could she make him understand?
“I was afraid.”
    “ Afraid of
what?”
    She winced at his harsh tone. “Afraid
to lose what little I have. Crumpet, but especially
you.”
    “ You know the irony there,
Mom? By acting this way, that’s exactly what you’re doing. Driving
me away.” Shaking his head, he strode out of the store, the soft
click of the door shutting behind him sounding so final.
    Panic flooded her. Instead of feeling
empty, she felt full of all sorts of emotions, none of them were
good.
    What had she done?
    She realized she was clutching the
damn pearls, like they were a lifeline to Harry, like somehow he
could magically fix everything for her.
    Only Harry was never coming back, damn
him.

Chapter Twenty-five
     
    Eve flipped the sign in the
window to closed with a huge sigh. Normally she’d spend an hour cleaning and
prepping for the next day, but this evening all she wanted was a
hot bath. She could mop in the morning.
    She headed to turn the lights off when
someone knocked on the glass of the door. Turning, ready to motion
to whoever it was that, no, she wouldn’t make one last cappuccino,
she saw Olivia waving to her through the window.
    Unlocking the door, she let the woman
in. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
    “ Taking you out for a glass
of wine. Get your coat. My chariot awaits.”
    Eve frowned. “What about Romantic
Notions?”
    “ I closed early today.” She
shrugged. “It was obvious something’s bothering you, and you looked
like you could use a friendly shoulder.”
    “ Do I look