“That was a long time ago. People change.” Magenta turned her focus back to the underwear as she quietly worked at getting her body back under control.
“Yep, they do. And Harry has changed for the better. You may as well give in and meet with him. See what he wants. You might actually enjoy hanging out with him again.”
“Yeah, right. And pigs might fly over Invertary dropping free bacon on everyone.”
Magenta turned her back on her boss and concentrated on her work. She didn’t know why Harry was so interested in spending time with her. She’d made sure to burn the bridges between them when she was thirteen. It had ripped her apart, but she’d known that it was the right thing to do. For both their sakes.
“How did it go?” Lake asked as Harry let himself into the security shop.
Harry used his hand to mime a plane flying, crashing and exploding.
“That good, huh?” Lake’s mouth twitched as it tried to smile.
“Isn’t it time you gave up?” Rachel said. “It’s obvious she isn’t interested in you.”
They were sitting at a round conference table in Lake’s back room. Harry pulled out a chair, flipped it, straddled it and leaned on the backrest. “She’s interested. When I bumped into her sister a few months ago, she told me Magenta used to write our names together in hearts all over her books. She said Magenta still keeps a scrapbook about me. She’s interested, all right. She’s just scared.”
There was cackling from the corner. “Not a lot scares that lassie,” Betty said.
Harry grinned at the eighty-seven-year-old. Betty had always fascinated him. She was known for her lies, her sick sense of humour and her willingness to meddle for entertainment’s sake—and she didn’t give a damn who knew it. Lake had inherited Betty when he’d bought her shop, and seemed to treat her like some sort of mascot. She was currently installed in her tatty old armchair, feet on a stool, reading a magazine. Harry cocked his eye at the magazine title—Survivalist Now. He gave Lake a questioning look.
Lake’s lip twitched. “She saw that movie with Will Smith, the one where zombies take over the world. Now she’s preparing for a zombie apocalypse.”
“Aye, you laugh now, son, but you’ll tell a different story when they’re out to eat your brains, and the only thing between you and being somebody’s snack is the preparation I put in.”
Harry stifled a grin as Betty turned her attention back to him. “You need to stop trying to talk to that girl in the shop. You need to get her alone somewhere. A lingerie shop is no place for a heavy discussion.”
“Getting her alone is hard. She’s either at the shop or in the house she shares with the twins.” He shuddered. Dealing with his twin cousins was worse than dealing with the UK government. “Plus, I asked her out to dinner tonight and she turned me down flat.”
Betty shifted in her chair, then tugged her hairnet down over her mostly bald head. “That’s where you’re going wrong. You don’t ask her to go out with you. You surprise her when she’s alone, preferably in a place where she can’t run away.”
“Please tell me you aren’t taking relationship advice from Lake’s Hobbit,” Rachel said.
“Hey,” Betty snapped. “Lake’s the only one allowed to call me that.”
Rachel rolled her eyes dramatically. “Can we please go back to London, where we belong?”
“Aye.” Betty gave Rachel the evil eye. “Send her back. She’s too stuck up to fit in here.”
“So,” Harry said loudly to ward off a counterattack from his business manager. “Got any suggestions on how to get her alone?”
“Well, it just so happens that I do.” The look on Betty’s face was pure mischief. She was clearly up to something, but Harry was too desperate to let it worry him. “Saturday afternoon, Magenta is going into the old mine to take some pictures. She’ll be alone. I reckon you should make a picnic and surprise her there.”
Huh. That wasn’t a bad plan. He looked at Lake, who shrugged. “I wouldn’t take relationship advice from Betty either,” he said, making Betty grin with pride.
“That’s my boy,” she told him.
“So where in the mine is she taking photos?” Harry asked.
Betty gave him a toothless grin. “I can’t rightly explain it. Best if you pick me up on Saturday and I’ll show you the way. There are a lot of mine entrances; it’d be easy for you to go to the wrong one.”
“It’s a deal,” he told her.
“Idiot,” Rachel said.
Lake just grinned.
2