‘Smart move...’ Rafe bit his tongue. He wasn’t in a position to give Mimi advice on what to do with her life any more. All the same, he’d thought more than once that if the roomy cottage they’d rented ever came on to the market they should put in an offer for it.
She nodded as if she didn’t want to discuss it any more, and rather unnecessarily pointed to the driveway of Charlie’s one-storey house, right across the road. It had only been five years, not a century. And Rafe hadn’t forgotten.
He got as close to the front door as he could and switched the engine off, leaning back in his seat in an unequivocal signal that he’d wait. Turning up here with Mimi wasn’t the most tactful of things to do.
‘Come and say hello to Charlie.’ She shot him a pretty fair counterfeit of a welcoming smile.
‘I thought... Wouldn’t you prefer me to stay here?’
‘I told him you were here when I spoke to him. He’s not going to eat you, Rafe.’
Maybe he would and maybe he wouldn’t. But Rafe had often wondered how Charlie was doing and he wanted to see him. Mimi had alr
eady got out of the car and was running up the ramp which led to the front door, her jacket over her head. It opened as she approached and Rafe saw Charlie inside.
Rafe swung out of his seat, following Mimi to the front door. Charlie looked great. Strong and smiling as he pulled Mimi down for a kiss. ‘You just couldn’t resist, could you...’
‘What?’ Mimi broke free, giving a look which was far too innocent to be believed, and Charlie grinned at her.
‘Couldn’t resist checking up on me.’
‘All I want is coffee. Then we’ll go. If you want you can go lie on the floor and I’ll step over you on the way out.’ Mimi turned her back on her brother and walked towards the kitchen area at the far end of the open-plan space.
‘You can finish making the sandwiches...’ Charlie called after her and then turned his attention to Rafe, his face suddenly impassive. ‘You’re back then.’
‘I’m here to help out, that’s all.’ Mimi seemed to be busy in the kitchen and Charlie was showing no inclination towards following her. Rafe sat down. If Charlie wanted to give him the third degree, he could do it face to face.
‘I hear that Jack’s marooned, and the ambulance was towed?’ Charlie seemed to be fishing for information, and Rafe guessed that Mimi hadn’t told him the whole story.
‘Yeah, that’s right. The river broke its banks near Holme and the bridge has been washed away. Jack got pretty wet, but we hear he’s okay. Mimi had walked back up the hill to make a phone call.’
‘Yeah. That’s what I heard too. Did she try to get across the river?’
‘She... Perhaps you should ask her.’
Charlie leaned forward. ‘I’m asking you, Rafe.’
‘I thought she might. I didn’t give her the choice.’ Rafe decided that telling Charlie he’d had to lift Mimi off her feet before she ran headlong towards a wall of water wasn’t a particularly good idea. And if she hadn’t mentioned anything about her plans for getting across the river he’d keep quiet about them as well.
‘Yeah. I reckoned that’s what happened.’ Charlie seemed to relax a bit. ‘Thanks.’
‘My pleasure. Although I’m not sure it was Mi...Miriam’s.’ Mimi’s full name sounded strange and very cold on his lips, but Rafe had made up his mind to play it safe and use it, since she seemed to object so much to his using her nickname.
‘Miriam...?’ Charlie’s face broke into a grin. ‘She is giving you a hard time, isn’t she?’
‘Do you blame her?’ Somehow Rafe couldn’t quite leave it at that. ‘There were reasons, Charlie. For my leaving...’
‘I dare say there were. That’s between you and Mimi. She told me to mind my own business enough times.’
A quiver of unexpected warmth jabbed at Rafe’s heart. Mimi could have said whatever she liked about him, and it was only to be expected that she’d bad-mouthed him to Charlie. He hadn’t realised until this moment how much he’d wanted her not to.
‘Do me a favour, though...’ Charlie interrupted his reverie.
‘Of course.’ Rafe had absolutely no intention of trying to rekindle anything between him and Mimi, and sex for old times’ sake definitely wasn’t on his agenda. He could reassure Charlie on that score, at least.
‘I know Mimi’s job has risks attached to it, and I also know she doesn’t tell me about half the scrapes she gets herself into...’
‘They’re not scrapes, Charlie, and she doesn’t get herself into them. She’s a trained professional.’ Rafe surprised himself by springing to Mimi’s defence.