He was looking at her in speculation. “How are you going to move boxes when you have stitches in your side?”
“Carefully.”
“I’ll come and help you. We’ll weed out the money documents, all the boring stuff, from the others.”
Gemma started to protest but stopped herself. “Okay,” she said at last.
For a moment they looked at each other, then Colin said, “Sure you don’t want me to help you clean up this mess?”
“I’m sure. I’m going to make myself a pot of tea and see what I can find out about your Heartwishes. Think it’s like the Stone of Scone? Big enough to sit on?”
“I don’t know. What exactly did your research say?”
“I don’t remember it verbatim. I was a bit nervous when I read it, too worried about the job to concentrate. I mostly remember names. Winnie, Tamsen, Ewan, and poor Julian.” She glanced at the table and the countertop with its food and dirty dishes, then back up at Colin.
He seemed to understand what she’d just thought. “You go find the letter and I’ll clean up,” he said.
“What about your office?”
“It was just paperwork, and Roy probably already took care of it. She loves that stuff. Give her a computer and she’s happy. That and a large sidearm.”
Gemma laughed. “I like her already.”
“I’ll make some calls, clean up in here, and I’ll meet you in the library,” he said.
“You’re sure?”
“Positive,” he said.
Gemma waited until she was out of the room before she let herself smile—and then it was so wide she was afraid her skin would crack.
9
GEMMA LEANED BACK against the bookcase and looked at Colin. It was a sunny afternoon, and they were eating sandwiches she’d made from what had been put in the refrigerator. Colin had fixed them glasses of iced tea.
Surrounding both of them, as though they each were on an island, was a sea of letters, diaries, journals, deeds, legal papers. Anything anyone had thought was important at the time had been saved.
“This is ridiculous, you know that, don’t you?” Gemma said.
“Which part?” he asked as he took a bite of his sandwich.
“This disorganization. I need to put these papers in chronological order.”
“I thought you wanted to . . . What was it you said? ‘Explore a family myth.’” He smiled. “Or maybe you want to find the Stone so you can make a wish.”
She motioned her arm about the pretty library. “This is my Heartwish.”
“So you’d be content to live in somebody’s guesthouse and sort papers for the rest of your life?”
Gemma took a deep drink of her tea.
Colin waited, but she said nothing. “Come on, tell me what your life plan is.”
“What about yours?”
“You’ve seen my life,” he said. “I want to know about yours. What do you plan to do after you finish your dissertation?”
“Get a job, of course.”