Noah smiled at her. “You’re assuming I have an ex-girlfriend.”
“More like a legion of them,” Dylan muttered. When Olivia raised her eyebrows, he added, “Noah’s high-profile. A lot of women want to have a night on the town with him, at his expense. Deep down, though, he’s still the high school geek who was better at math than most of his teachers. I wasn’t, in case you were wondering.”
“In other words,” Noah said, his eyes on Olivia, “I have a low threshold of trust where women are concerned.” He sat back, wishing now he’d waited longer to have his pancakes. “I also get dumped a lot.”
“Because you don’t like being used,” Dylan said. “Maybe you flipped the switch of one of your actress’s crazy uncles, or someone is seizing the moment to see what they can get off you. We can speculate all morning. It won’t get us anywhere.”
“And it’s not a problem until it’s a problem,” Noah said.
“This man hasn’t made direct contact with you?”
“Not yet, no.”
“Maybe he sent you one of the emails you didn’t want to read this morning.”
“I’m not worried, Dylan,” Noah said truthfully. “If he wanted to physically harm me, he’s had several chances.”
“He could know you’re a master fencer and a brown belt in karate.”
“I hope he does.”
“What if he’s looking up dirt on you so that he can harm NAK?” Olivia asked. “What if he wants to harm you—your reputation?”
“Let him try. I have no skeletons in the closet.” Noah gave her a slight smile. “I’m not that interesting, Olivia. More than likely this man is just angling for money.”
Dylan eyed Noah. “Any chance there’s a connection to me?”
“I have no reason to think so, or that there’s a connection to Knights Bridge.”
“Knights Bridge?” Olivia sat forward. “Why would there be a connection to Knights Bridge?”
Noah regretted his offhand comment and tried to reassure her. “I’m sure there isn’t one.” He decided to change the subject. “Unless my princess is hiding there. Are you positive you two didn’t recognize her? She had quite arresting eyes. Almost turquoise. They reminded me of your friend Maggie’s eyes but the color was deeper.”
Olivia reached suddenly for the cream pitcher. “Really? I wonder who she could be.”
She greeted the waiter a little too cheerfully when he arrived with her and Dylan’s breakfasts. Noah glanced at Dylan and saw that he noticed her reaction, too.
The description of his dance partner had obviously struck a nerve with Olivia.
Noah smiled. His princess might not be so lost, after all.
*
Knights Bridge was even prettier than Noah remembered from his visit in early April. Having leaves on the trees helped. He sat up front with Dylan while Olivia pointed out various landmarks from the backseat. She explained that the building of the Quabbin Reservoir and the subsequent flooding of much of the Swift River Valley had changed the development of the town, putting it off the beaten track and giving it a “time has stopped here” feel that was, both Olivia and Dylan again insisted, deceptive.
Maybe so, Noah thought, but that didn’t mean he wanted to do more than float in and out again. He had a chartered jet scheduled to meet him at a nearby private airport that evening.
Of course, his princess could change everything. He’d hang out for a day or two in Knights Bridge and brave mosquitoes and its one restaurant if there was a chance he’d find out more about her.
Dylan turned onto a back road that wound toward Quabbin, his ease with the twists and turns suggesting a familiarity that reminded Noah that his best friend was, without a doubt, moving on from NAK. Less certain was whether he and Olivia planned to keep a home in San Diego. Noah would. Four New England winters during his years at MIT were enough for him.
Not that he had any reason to move to Knights Bridge or anywhere else in New England.
The Farm at Carriage Hill was located in a picturesque mix of meadows, woods and stone walls. Its hand-painted sign, decorated with a cluster of chives, worked with the 1803 house with its cream-colored clapboards and rich blue front door. As he followed Olivia through her kitchen out to the stone terrace, Noah could see that she was turning her vision for her historic house into a reality. Even subtle changes were infused with her sense of color and design, and her love for her hometown. According to Dylan, she’d always planned on returning to Knights Bridge to open her own version of a bed-and-breakfast, even if her departure from Boston hadn’t been entirely on her terms.
“Dylan and I will make lunch,” she said. “You can wait out here and familiarize yourself with New England herbs and flowers.”
“You’re assuming I want to know New England herbs and flowers.”