That Night on Thistle Lane by Carla Neggers Page B

Olivia and Maggie with their costumes.”
    “More O’Dunn sisters?” Noah asked.
    “There are four of us. Ava and Ruby are twins. They’re home for the summer but they’re in graduate school. They’re studying theater. They’d have gone last night if they’d had the time.”
    “Maggie seemed to enjoy herself,” Olivia said.
    Phoebe smiled. “Oh, good. She’ll be back home soon. I can’t wait to hear how her night on the town went. I’m sure it was a fantastic evening.”
    Noah sat back on his chair. There. He could rule out Phoebe O’Dunn and her turquoise eyes. Not that he’d seriously considered her, given her penchant for gardening and hammocks and her willingness to take on slugs. That didn’t fit with his princess.
    So what did Olivia know that she wasn’t saying?
    Noah ground his teeth. What was he doing? The woman he’d danced with and then abandoned last night was as much a fantasy for him as her swashbuckler was for her.
    He was no swashbuckler.
    Right now he was just bored. After the months of tension and the grueling pace of taking his company public, he finally had time to come up for air. He’d even looked forward to a few days hiking in the White Mountains.
    His princess was a mirage, and maybe so was his mystery man.
    He needed to head back to San Diego before he conjured up real trouble.
    Except he didn’t want to go back.
    He felt his spine stiffen at the thought of staying in Knights Bridge. On the one hand, it felt like the right thing to do. A fun distraction. On the other hand…it was totally insane. The only person he really knew there was Dylan, and Dylan and Olivia were joining him on the flight back to San Diego tonight. She wanted to see NAK and her fiancé’s home.
    Noah watched Phoebe O’Dunn kick a chunk of dried mud off one sandal and found that he wouldn’t mind getting to know Knights Bridge’s slug-hunting librarian.
    Three nights in the White Mountains must have affected his brain cells.
    When he tuned back into the conversation, Olivia and Phoebe had started to cross the terrace, chatting as they disappeared through the screen door into the kitchen.
    Noah frowned at Dylan. “What did I miss?”
    Dylan sighed. “Phoebe rode her bike here. That’s why we didn’t see her car.”
    “Ah.”
    “This is why you study fencing and karate. They force you to stay focused. If your mind wanders, you get stabbed or punched.”
    “It’s not that simple.”
    “Nothing is with you,” Dylan said without any hint of criticism.
    Noah stood. Except for a few holes in their waxy-green leaves, the flowers where Phoebe O’Dunn had done her slug work appeared fine to him. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen a slug. He stepped off the terrace onto the soft grass. Buster rolled out from under the table and followed him, then settled onto his stomach in the shade.
    “I could always watch Buster while you and Olivia are in San Diego,” Noah said.
    Dylan scratched the side of his mouth. “Dog sit? You’re kidding, right? You’ve never even owned a dog.”
    “What difference does that make? How hard could it be to keep an eye on Buster here? Feed him, water him, walk him. Done.”
    Dylan didn’t bother to hide his skepticism. “What are you thinking, Noah?”
    He didn’t really know what he was thinking. Sometimes he came up with a solution before he had fully, consciously grasped the problem. Buster yawned, then stretched as he relaxed completely. “What if I told you I want to make sure our mystery man isn’t here?” Noah asked.
    “In Knights Bridge, you mean?”
    “Correct.”
    “Is that a hunch, or do you have evidence he could be here?”
    “It’s not even good enough to be a hunch.”
    Dylan didn’t respond for a moment. They’d had similar conversations many times over their long friendship. “Is there any possibility this guy is connected to my father?”
    “For all I know he’s connected to the man on the moon.” Noah reined in his frustration. “I have