‘Unusual job for someone your age,’ Farlan was saying, leaning back against the sofa cushions and stretching out his long legs. ‘Was it always the plan?’
‘Yes.’ Finn nodded, then frowned. ‘Actually, that’s not strictly true. It was my plan. My parents wanted me to be a lawyer, and I did do a term at Edinburgh, but it wasn’t what I wanted.’
Nia felt rather than saw Farlan lean forward.
‘So…what? You dropped out?’
‘Yeah, my parents went ballistic. They’re all lawyers in my family, and they tried every which way to talk me out of it, but…’ She shrugged. ‘I wasn’t going to change my mind.’
Farlan’s eyes were fixed on her face. ‘“I have dared to do strange things—bold things, and have asked no advice from any.”’
The sudden intensity in his voice made Nia spill a little tea in her saucer.
Diane looked up and sighed. ‘That is so beautiful. Is it Robert Frost?’
‘Emily Dickinson.’
Nia and Farlan both spoke at the same time.
His eyes locked onto hers, and for a few pulsing seconds it was as though they were alone in the vast book-lined room.
‘Oh, I almost forgot.’ Diane put her cup down with a clatter. ‘Finn, we have a book of photographs we want to show you. The packers put it in the wrong crate, but you must see it. Farlan, could you help Tom get it down for me?’
Nia watched as everyone left the library.
She took a shivery breath, feeling the gap in the room where Farlan had been.
Nobody had asked her to go too. And nobody would notice that she hadn’t followed them.
Picking up the pile of books she’d brought back, she made her way to the spiral staircase that led up to the galleried second floor of the library.
She felt adrift.
Her body felt as though it had short-circuited.
She couldn’t do this—couldn’t just sit by silently and watch Farlan fall in love with someone else.
Her heart twisted.
How could he not fall for Finola McGarry?
She was beautiful, and passionate, and she knew her own mind. Finn had followed her heart, and Nia knew that to Farlan that made her irresistible.
Slowly, she made her way along the shelves, sliding the books carefully back where they belonged. Typically, the last one, the biggest and heaviest of all of them, came from a higher shelf.
Glancing down at her high-heeled court shoes, she frowned.
She could just squeeze it in anywhere—only then finding it again would just be down to luck. Picturing her mother’s face, she sighed and, gripping the ladder with one hand and clutching the book in the other, she began climbing.
Annoyingly, it was still a little out of reach, but if she just leaned over—
‘Nia!’
She jerked round, her foot slipping sideways, and suddenly the book was sliding from her fingers and she was grabbing for the ladder.
Strong hands grasped her waist and she felt her body connect with a hard chest.
‘What are you doing?’