Unlike losing my concentration earlier in attempting to understand the life of the this-world Frey, I got quite lost in watching the this-word Lahn.
So much so I jumped when I heard Noc’s voice saying, “Ready to go find a house, sugarlips?”
I looked to the door to see him sauntering through.
Therefore I smiled and rose again from my seat.
He walked right to me, smiling back, rounding me with an arm and dipping his head to mine to drop a closed-mouth kiss on my lips.
After delivering me that morning from his home so I could have breakfast with Josette and he could leave to give her and I time to spend together, as planned, he’d returned to take us, what he referred to as, “house hunting.”
We’d been apart perhaps three hours.
I’d missed him.
“I’m ready, darling,” I answered.
His arm around me gave me a squeeze and I could feel him preparing to let me go but I lifted a hand to his chest to forestall him.
“Before we go, you must know I have news,” I shared.
“And that would be?”
Standing close together, I told him all I’d learned.
His joy at Finnie and Frey, Lahn and Circe and Apollo and Maddie’s news was unhidden, this one of the many things I loved about him.
There was no subterfuge with Noc. He did not feel it made him more of a man to hide his emotions. It was a thing of beauty, a gift he bestowed on anyone who was fortunate enough to witness it, and I treasured it for just that.
But when I told him of the Frey and Sjofn of this world, he burst out laughing.
When his mirth settled to chuckles, he said, “Well, that takes care of that.”
“Although I do believe I can put it together, can you explain what a sperm bank is?”
He grinned and explained.
When he did, it was I who burst out laughing.
When my mirth had settled to chuckles, I wondered if I looked upon him with the warmth that he was right then looking at me after he did the same.
I hoped so.
“This world has many conveniences,” I observed. “Many.”
“Yeah,” Noc agreed through a grin. “Now, after we look at places, we’ll go to the mall again. Get baby presents. See if we can wrangle five minutes with Valentine so she’ll deliver them.”
“What a lovely idea,” I murmured, not at all surprised that Noc had had it.
I had not shared with him about Valentine except to tell him I’d seen her and she’d given me the news I’d imparted on Noc.
I wouldn’t either, unless he asked about it.
That wasn’t what sisters did.
And I finally had sisters. I needed to take care of them.
And this, however I needed to do, specifically with Valentine, I would do.
* * * * *
“This is revolting,” I said under my breath to Noc.
“This is suburbia, Frannie,” he replied under his breath to me. “You told the agent you wanted greenspace, you aren’t gonna find much of that in a city.”
I tore my gaze from the personality-less room of what had been referred to as a “model home,” though my understanding of the word “model” did not reconcile with anything to do with the home we were in, and looked to Josette.
She felt my regard, turned to me and curled her lip.
I looked to the agent who was pretending she wasn’t trying to listen and stated, “I’m sorry for taking you so far away from the city to show us this property, but I’m afraid it won’t do.”
She forced a smile and moved my way, saying, “Well, now we’ve seen four properties so perhaps you can share what you liked, and didn’t, about each and maybe I can narrow my search.”
What I liked was Noc’s home and not because I wished that for Josette and me.
I liked it because there was great beauty in having all that was Noc surrounding me, making me feel safe and warm and peaceful, none of which I’d ever had. I loved being in his home in a way I knew that could be my home, far less grand than any I’d ever known, but indisputably far better as well.
But I couldn’t request from Noc that he allow Josette and me to live with him.
Firstly because it was far too small. For Noc and I to have what I wished Noc and I to have when we had our alone times, Josette obviously could not be with us.
Secondly, because this was an intimacy I felt—for some unfathomable reason I still understood as accurate—was one Noc needed to invite.
And he would not do that with Josette accompanying me.
However, I was Franka Drakkar and I knew what I liked.
So I shared it.
“The brick walkways of the first property you showed us, as well as the drive and garage, for Mr. Hawthorne will need somewhere to keep his vehicle that’s safer than the street for when he’s with us, as will Josette and I when we acquire our own conveyances,” I declared.
The woman stared fixedly at me, something she did often when I knew she found my speech odd.
I ignored it and carried on.
“The wrought iron around the veranda and balconies of the second, with the large tree in front that offered shade, its two stories and lovely cornices and ceiling roses. And the privacy and maturity of the garden in the courtyard of the third.” I drifted out a hand. “Alas, I’ve nothing to share that I like of this, except the large lawns, which I do believe I may need to relinquish in order to have other things that are priorities.”
“I like to find my clients exactly what they want, but I will say that’s likely,” she muttered.
“And lastly, proximity to Mr. Hawthorne, which I should have said first,” I finished.
At this, Noc slid an arm around me and pulled me close to his side. Therefore, I returned the gesture.
“I can work with this,” the agent said.
I should hope she could, she was being paid to do just that.
“I’ll sort some listings. Do you have a direct email or would you like me to continue sending them to Ms. Rousseau’s assistant?” she asked.
“Send them to me,” Noc answered. “It’ll all go faster that way. I’ll get your number from Franka and text you my email.”
“Excellent,” she replied.
“Not to hurry us along or anything,” Josette began. “But are we done here? Just because, you see, Noc said we’re going to the mall after this and there was that blouse I decided against that I haven’t been able to get out of my mind since, and I was hoping it’d still be there.”
“We’re done here,” Noc decreed, looked to the agent and lifted his chin. “Thanks for your time, and you send us some listings, we’ll be in touch.”
“My pleasure. I hope to see you again soon.”
Josette and I also gave our farewells and Noc guided us out.
We were in his SUV when he shared, “Babe, you don’t have to live in the city. You want nature around you, I’m sure they have places that might not be close but they’re not far.”
“Yes, but you’re in the city,” was my reply.
“Yeah, but I’m also not getting to you by sled, sweetheart,” he returned with humor. “It won’t take half a day to make an hour’s drive.”
I turned from viewing the road before us to look at Noc and only then did I repeat, but more definitively this time, “Yes, but you are in the city.”
He glanced at me and back to the road, but even with only having his profile, I watched his expression warm before he said, “Gotcha.”
I nodded smartly, looked behind me to smile at Josette, who smiled back, and then I looked back to the road.
* * * * *
I was engrossed in my perusal of a very attractive dress hanging on a rack in the mall when I heard Noc make a noise.
I looked up to him to see that his expression was no longer vacant (this being because I knew he was bored out of his mind, for we did not simply pick up some baby gifts and Josette’s blouse, we became distracted by other things
so our quick trip to the mall was nothing of the like).
Now he looked alert and I turned to see what he was regarding.
It was Josette, skipping toward us, waving her telephone and looking joyous.
I couldn’t help it, her demeanor made me smile.
My lovely Josette, she so enjoyed the mall.
She stopped on a sway and cried, “I have a dinner date tomorrow!”
My smile died.
“I beg your pardon?” I queried.
“Say again?” Noc asked.
“Glover,” she stated, rolling up to her toes, and back, and again, grinning like a lunatic. “That man we met on Bourbon Street. You know. The large, tall, handsome Maroovian-non-Maroovian one with the lovely smile?”
I knew no such man.
“No, I do not know,” I stated.
“That guy, baby, the one Jo was talkin’ to for, like, two hours,” Noc explained.
I turned to him, vaguely remembering, and back to Josette when she started talking.
“He gave me his number. I texted. He texted back. We’ve been exchanging them, like, bunches. He’s been being very sweet. I was looking at the jeans over there,” she tossed an arm behind her but didn’t turn that direction, she kept grinning at Noc and me, “and he called and asked if I wanted to go out to dinner tomorrow night. And I said yes!” She nearly shouted her last. “Isn’t that divine? He’s coming to pick me up at seven at Valentine’s.”
“He’s doing nothing of the sort,” I spat.
Josette blinked and her smile faltered.
I felt Noc move closer to me.
“I’m sorry?” Josette whispered.
“Am I to understand he’s arriving at Valentine’s home to put you in a car and take you for a meal?” I inquired.
“Yes,” Josette kept whispering.
“That’s unacceptable,” I declared.
Josette blinked again and her shoulders fell.
“Frannie—” Noc started.
I jerked my head his way. “It’s unacceptable.”
“You were drunk and unnecessarily flirting with me so I think you missed she’s into the guy and he was way into her,” Noc replied.
“I do not care,” I retorted and again turned my attention to Josette. “I forbid this to happen.”
“Franka,” Noc clipped as Josette’s entire expression fell.
I again looked to Noc.
“Josette was not a common servant with no one to look after her even when she was a servant,” I bit out. “She’s a young woman of means with family who cares for her. Thus, he will behave like she is as such, which means he will behave appropriately. In other words, he’ll arrive at Valentine’s home at seven tomorrow to sit with us for drinks and dinner. Through this time spent with him, I’ll understand what he does to make his living. I’ll ask questions to ascertain his moral character. I’ll observe his behavior toward Josette. And only then will I allow the possibility of a future dinner date. This being after he’s proved himself a gentleman in his intentions toward Josette once we’ve spent some time with him and he has our approval.”
Noc stared down at me.
I looked to Josette.
“Telephone him back and share this,” I ordered.
Josette stared at me.
“Sweetheart, that’s not how it’s done in this world,” Noc told me.
I returned my gaze to him. “This matters not to me.”
“The dude is gonna think you’re crazy, worse, he’s gonna think Jo’s crazy and he’s totally gonna beg off.”
My brows snapped together. “Why on earth would he do that?”
“Because, Frannie, this is not how it’s done in this world,” he answered. “A guy likes a girl, he texts her, calls her, asks her out, takes her to dinner, gets to know her better. They like each other, that keeps happening. Beyond that,” his eyes slid to Josette and back to me, “we won’t go there right now.”
I considered this information.
Then I turned to Josette and decreed, “Fine. Then telephone him back and share that Noc and I will be attending this dinner with you.”
Josette’s mouth dropped open.
“Frannie…” My name from Noc’s lips was shaking with mirth.
I scowled at Noc finding nothing amusing.
“What?” I clipped.
“You can’t invite yourself on a double date if the guy didn’t ask us along, especially on a first date.”
My voice was rising. “Why not?”
He shook his head, his amusement plain. “You just can’t.”
“Then who’s going to look after her?” I demanded to know.
Noc’s amusement didn’t leave but the warmth in his expression heightened.
“We’ll make sure she texts us, tells us where she is, how she’s getting on, when he brings her safe home.” He looked to Josette. “That cool with you?”
“Definitely!” she chirped.
“It’s not cool with me,” I put in and Noc looked to me.
“He’s not asking you out,” he noted.
I continued scowling at him before I made a decision. “All right, then we shall go to this same restaurant and sit at another table so we’ll be close in case anything untoward happens or I observe something that displeases me in his behavior, or Josette needs me.”
Noc started chuckling as he got close and curved an arm around me.
Tipping his head down, he said quietly, “Right, Momma Bear, the gig is, you’re gonna have to let your little cub explore on her own eventually. I met the guy. We talked for a while. He seemed good to me. If he wasn’t, if I got a bad vibe from him, anything, I’d be the one throwing a wrench in on his action. But what I got from him, I liked. And what Jo got from him, she liked. So you’re just gonna have to stand down.”
I did not wish to stand down.
I stared into Noc’s eyes.
I turned my head toward Josette and saw the hope and excitement shining in hers.
Blast!
“Tell him he has you home by ten,” I demanded.
Noc burst into laughter.
Josette’s face became wreathed in smiles.
With the side of his fist under my chin, Noc turned my face to his and tipped it up so he could drop a short kiss on my lips.
When he finished doing that, he looked to Josette.
“I’ll talk her into letting you have until midnight,” he said.
Well!
“Now I gotta teach you two something else women do in this world,” Noc continued, no longer sounding entertained, now sounding beleaguered. “That being the fact that a woman has a first date with a guy, she uses it as an excuse to buy a new outfit. You both got more new outfits than you can get through in a month. But I’m thinking none of them at this point are the right one for dinner with Glover.”
“You’re correct, Noc, I’ve been going through all of them in my head since I said yes, and Frannie, we must find something he will most like to see me in,” Josette declared.
Gods, now Josette was calling me Frannie.
I sighed.
But she was quite right.
Nothing we’d bought previously would do.
Thus it was time to get to work.
* * * * *
“Have you lost your mind?”
Much later, after Josette had insisted Noc and I have an evening alone together, we left her at Valentine’s and returned to Noc’s where I now sat on the sofa staring up at him standing in front of me holding one glass of wine (mine, which he had halted in delivering to me after I’d said what I’d just said) and one bottle of ale (his).
“No, I have not,” I pointed out the obvious.
“You are not gonna do that,” he declared, still standing several feet away from me and not offering me my glass. “More, I’m not gonna do that, but you definitely aren’t gonna do that so to make myself perfectly clear, we are not gonna do that.”
“May I have my wine, darling?” I requested quietly.
br /> He looked down to his hand like he forgot he was holding it before he took the last step toward me and offered me my wine.
I took it and immediately sipped.
“Confirm you heard me, Frannie,” he demanded, not sipping his beer, instead glowering down at me.
“Come sit beside me,” I invited cajolingly.
“Nope,” he shook his head. “I gotta cook but I’m not doin’ that either until I know we’re both on the same page with this.”
“Noc, my dearest, I am quite good at this,” I assured. “I’ve had years of practice and I can’t imagine the skills I have do not translate to this world. I’ve watched carefully and I’ve planned everything precisely.”
“Right, this is the deal, babe,” Noc returned tersely. “You go into an attorney’s office, any attorney, but definitely an attorney known as the fuckin’ Savage, of all fuckin’ things, create a distraction in hopes that I’ll be able to follow you and go unseen into his office to hack into his computer to get his schedule so you can set something up so he runs into Circe, you’re an accessory to the crime I’m committing. A crime the fuckin’ Savage will lose his fuckin’ mind about if one of us is caught. And you do not piss off an attorney, Frannie. My guess, and I’m betting a pretty damn good one, you especially don’t piss off one known as the Savage.”
“It’s a crime to look at someone’s, erm…computer diary?” I asked.
“It’s a crime to break and enter, even if you don’t do any breaking in order to enter, and it’s also a crime to help yourself to unauthorized access of a private or business computer.”
I thought of all the many times I had found my way (stealthily, I will admit) into someone’s study to peruse their engagement diary (or into another room to view an altogether different kind of diary) and shivered at the idea of it being a criminal act.
“Find another way,” Noc demanded as he turned and prowled toward the kitchen.
I pushed up from his sofa and followed him, explaining, “I’m uncertain how to do that if I don’t know where he’ll be. In my crystal ball, they’re always tapping at their computers, but obviously they don’t dictate aloud what they’re tapping. I can hone in on it but when I succeed, I don’t understand what I’m seeing, and most of the time, by the time I acquire the vision, the screen doesn’t display the diary since the person I’m watching has moved on to something else.”