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“No time like the present since you’re finally awake. Not that she is. She’s lovely, by the way. Oh, and the reason I asked about the cottage. She’s a theology student, whose fondest desire is to become a vicar. I’ve arranged for her to meet with Reverend Primrose.”
I lowered my mobile from my ear and studied the screen. The conversation we were having was so unlike any Niven and I had ever had that I wondered if it was really him on the other end of the call.
“Last night, you said we’d meet for dinner. What’s changed.”
He sighed. “Everything.”
“I’ll be around in an hour.”
“Brilliant. I can’t wait for you to meet her.”
While I had direct access to his flat, I wondered if I should ring Niven to say I was here. On the other hand, he hadn’t asked me to. It would be far more entertaining to catch him and his paramour unaware.
“She’s here!” I heard Miss Bardwell, my cousin’s housekeeper, squeal when the lift door opened. She raced from the kitchen to embrace me. “Not eating again, I see,” she said, stepping back and inspecting me from head to toe.
I laughed. “I’m confident you’ll see to it I have plenty while I’m here.”
“There you are,” said Niven, smiling broadly in the same way Miss Bardwell had when she’d greeted me. “Come, I’ll introduce you. Where is Harper?” He took my hand and pulled me in the direction of the kitchen when his housekeeper pointed to it.
“Miss Godfrey, may I present Eliza Fox? Eliza, Harper,” Niv said when the woman stood. While she wasn’t beautiful in the traditional sense, there was something about her—her aura, perhaps—that made her almost angelic.
“It is such a pleasure to meet you,” I said, stepping forward. Rather than shake Harper’s outstretched hand, I embraced her and kissed her cheeks. “You were right,” I said, turning to my cousin. “She is lovely.”
She looked between Niv and me. “Wait. Are the two of you related?”
He put his arm around her shoulders. “My apologies. I should’ve said. Eliza is my cousin. My only cousin, in fact.”
“I heard you had the pleasure of meeting my father,” I said, rolling my eyes. “My apologies if he said anything offensive. Which, clearly, he is prone to do.”
“I’m attempting to beg off dinner with your parents for that very reason. However, now that you’re in town, that may prove harder to do,” Niven said, leaning down to kiss Harper’s cheek and leaving me stunned.
“I’ve a better idea. Let’s plan a dine out. That way, we can rest assured he won’t cause a scene.” I turned to her. “We will also be sure to put Harper and him on opposite sides of the table.”
Niven kissed her temple for a second time and gazed at the woman he’d plastered to his side.
“I love seeing you this way,” I said, meaning every word. Not that he appeared to have heard me. Miss Bardwell seemed to notice as well and offered to help me get settled.
“I’ll take care of it,” Niv said, kissing Harper’s temple a third time before leaving the room with Miss Bardwell in tow.
I plucked a piece of bacon off his plate. “So, I hear you’ve an interest in becoming a vicar.”
“Ministry of some sort. Yes. At least, that’s how I felt before the wedding.”
Wedding? My eyes opened wide.
“Wait. That isn’t what I meant. I was supposed to be married, but my ex-fiancé decided he didn’t want to go through with it.”
I put a hand on my heart.
“What?” asked Niven, rejoining us.
“I thought you’d neglected to tell me you and Harper were wed,” I said, looking up at him.
“I was just saying that before the ‘non-wedding,’ I’d been reconsidering whether I would go into ministry.”
I suddenly felt like an interloper when he looked at her and said, “Are you leaning against it now?”
I could never have predicted the scene before me. It was as though my cousin had morphed into someone I no longer knew.