The Perfect Match (Blue Heron #2)(59)

“Hallo, darling. Here to cheer me on as I beat up your relatives?” He seemed completely unaffected, and Honor tried to snap out of it, dragging her eyes off his torso to his face.

“Well, technically, Levi’s not related to me, but, uh, what was the question?”

“What are you doing here, sweetheart?”

“I’m meeting Faith. Um, you looked good, uh, Pooky.”

“Oh, man. That’s not really what you call him, is it?”

Honor turned as her niece appeared at her side, Helena Meering, her best friend, in tow. “Hey, sweetheart,” she said.

“Hi, Auntie,” Abby said, then turned to Levi, her hands on her hips. “Are you already done? I thought you were supposed to teach us to protect ourselves, Levi. That’s why we’re here.”

Right. Prudence had mentioned that she wanted Abby to know a little self-defense before entering the world of dating.

“You’re an hour late,” Levi said, cocking an eyebrow. “I told you four o’clock. It’s now 5:07.”

“You look incredibly hot, Chief Cooper,” Helena said.

“Inappropriate, young lady.”

“And so do you, mister,” the girl added, ogling Tom, who was taking off his boxing gloves. With his teeth. She had a point.

“That’s Dr. Barlow to you,” Levi said. He paused. “Hey, Tom, I don’t suppose you’d be interested in doing a self-defense class with me, would you?”

“OMG, do it,” Helena said. “There’d be, like, a hundred girls signed up in minutes.”

From several yards away, Charlie sat up straighter and took out one earbud.

Tom glanced at Honor. She gave a little nod in Charlie’s direction, and Tom looked over. A hint of a smile flashed in his eyes, and that tingle of electricity sliced through Honor again. “Sure, I’ll help out,” he said. “I’d love to.”

“You’re British?” Helena squealed. “Hi. I’m Helena. I’ll be eighteen in seven more months.”

“He’s taken, okay?” Abby said. “Remember? He’s gonna be my uncle. He and Honor are engaged.”

Helena turned to Honor, her mouth hanging open most unattractively. “You? Seriously?”

Irritating. “Yes, Helena. We...we’re getting married.” Man. Hard to say that out loud, especially with an officer of the law watching. Her legs felt sweaty. From the corner of her eye, she saw Charlie approach.

“Tom Barlow. A pleasure,” Tom said. “And this is my unofficial stepson, Charlie Kellogg,” Tom said. “He’s a bit of a boxer, as well.”

“Cool,” Helena said.

“Hey, Charlie,” Abby said.

“Hey, Abby,” he returned. A flush crept up his still-boyish cheeks.

“All right, we’re off,” Faith said, kissing Levi once more. “I plan on getting all the juicy details on you, Tom, so consider yourself forewarned.”

“Thanks for the heads-up,” he said. He put a heavy arm around Honor. “Don’t tell her all my secrets, darling.”

Heat flared in Honor’s face, making her blotchy, no doubt. Tom was much better at this...this faking than she was. “Right,” she said, her voice too loud. “Okay. Off we go.”

And for the next few hours, she lied. To her younger sister.

Well, not lied, not exactly. She just didn’t tell her the full truth. Yes, it had been fast. Yes, his accent was adorable. Yes, he was quite attractive, wasn’t he? Yes, yes, yes.

The secret wriggled around inside her. But while she and Faith had been getting closer since the youngest Holland had come back home, Honor couldn’t ask her sister to keep something from her police chief husband. She couldn’t tell Pru, either, as Pru tended to blurt out information like a bleating goat. Jack, forget about it. She might’ve considered Jessica Dunn, but Honor was Jess’s boss, and it didn’t seem fair to put her in a position where she’d have to conceal fraud.

Not so long ago, she would’ve told Dana. It was an odd thought.

* * *

ON WEDNESDAY EVENING, Blue Heron hosted Kites and Flights, one of the off-season events designed to keep people coming to the vineyard all year-round. It was a singles event; a couple of weeks ago, Honor had seen some people flying kites and came up with the idea—kite flying, then a flight of wine in the cask room afterward.

As she finalized some tasting notes, she remembered what Tom had said—what if she met someone while she was with him? Someone single and age-appropriate and straight, someone employed. This imaginary man would be good-looking, but not too pretty, and he’d be smart and well read and...and...he’d talk to her, as Tom did precious little of that. No. Only when they were in public did he turn on the charm.

Her imagination (and eggs) had told her that she and Tom would move in together and start growing closer immediately. They’d laugh and have a good time. The chemistry would be undeniable. Before long, it’d be the real thing.

Yeah. Not yet. Not even close.

Spike licked her thumb, and Honor stroked her head with one finger. The dog had come a long way from when Honor had first met her. “Look at you,” she said. “Love has changed you, am I right? It’s time to go herd the singletons. Are you ready?”

If there was a more perfect afternoon for kite-flying, Honor couldn’t imagine it. The early April sky was achingly, perfectly blue, the sun was warm—it was fifty-two degrees, in fact, though she knew quite well it would snow again before spring decided to stay. A brisk breeze gusted from the west, and the sweet smell of the vineyard permeated the air as she walked up to Rose Ridge, where the single kite flyers milled around.