Away With the Fairies (The Swallow Barn Cottage Series, Book 2)

Second Visitor

Fiona opened her eyes. She must have fallen asleep. It made sense considering she'd only gotten three hours the previous night. She stretched and looked around. The room was dark.

When she came downstairs, he wasn't in the lounge. She heard quiet noises in the kitchen. She peeked, and saw him stand in front of the stove. He grumbled something under his breath.

"You'll have to turn it on," he said without turning, and Fiona giggled.

"How do you do that?" She shook her head. "And what's the oven for?"

"Pies. They're frozen."

He pointed at neat uniform pies in a shallow cardboard box. Fiona edged by him and pressed the buttons. He pushed a little piece of paper towards her - with the instructions for baking - and she adjusted the temperature.

"It'll be no time," she said. "It's a very good oven."

He looked at her askance. She felt suddenly shy - but not uncomfortable - and busied herself with a kettle.

"Your phone rang," he said. She could feel his gaze on the side of her face. "There," he said and pointed at the table.

She put the kettle on the hob and picked up her Samsung.

"It's your brother," she said. "Must be worried about me," she said and threw him a cheeky glance. His face was cold, and she immediately deflated. "Sorry, I didn't mean– I'll ring him up and explain that I'm alright, and that we're–" He lifted an eyebrow. "Getting along," she finished awkwardly.

"Are we now?" he asked sarcastically, but his features softened.

Wow, she can now distinguish two emotions in him at the same time: annoyance at his brother's intrusion, and– something else, towards her. And just twenty four hours ago she compared him to a carved stone statue. And twenty five hours ago she didn't know he existed.

"Aren't we?" she asked, mimicking his tone.

His eyebrow rose even higher, and Fiona snorted.

"I drugged you with tea, you drugged me with coffee," she said. "Accidentally," she added. His lips twitched. "So I think we're getting along fabulously," she sing-songed.

The kettle started to whistle.

"Would you like some tea?" she asked, and he nodded.

She checked her emails and her Instagram, and then the oven beeped signalling that the pies were ready. They once again sat down in front of each other and ate quietly - except this time the silence felt somewhat charged.

Eventually she just couldn't help it and pinned the dishevelled silky crown of his head with a stare.

"So, lovely weather we're having these days," she drew out, and his eyes flew to her face.

She gave him an innocent look. He chewed his food, keeping their eyes locked, and then swallowed. Why is this suddenly a staring contest? Fiona tried not to blink. 

"That Tom lad said there's a lake, and a skating rink apparently," she said. "I've always wanted to learn to skate."

"Everyone in the village skates," he said and popped the last piece of the pie crust in his hand into his mouth and licked the crumbs off his thumb.

Oh god. There was no question whether he affected her, anymore. What boggled her mind was how different it felt from the previous times.

"Clem has skates," he said. "You should borrow them."

"Well, I don't know..." She shied away and looked down at her tea. "I've already invaded her cottage, and–"