Chapter 5

Evelyn hovered at the entrance to the stables, a neatly folded pile of clothes in her hands. She pulled open the door, gently knocking on it once it was fully open.

"Anyone here?" Evelyn asked.

Claire's voice drifted down the stalls. "Yeah, I'm down at the end."

Evelyn found her brushing one of the horses, her black hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was dressed in a black tank top that clung to her figure and faded jeans.

"Hi," Evelyn said with a smile, the familiar scent of the horses bringing back memories of her childhood and all the time she spent in the barn taking care of them.

Claire looked up, a warm smile on her face. "Hey. How are you? Over the jet lag?"

The last time Evelyn saw her here, she was starstruck and flustered, but now she seemed completely at ease, and a feeling of relief washed over Evelyn. It was rare for her to meet someone who treated her like a regular person instead of a celebrity, and Evelyn was so thankful that she wouldn't have to spend the next six months avoiding her.

"Good," Evelyn said, glancing down at the clothes in her hand. "Yeah. I've just about adjusted to the time difference I think. I just wanted to return these, and thank you again for lending them to me."

"It was no trouble." The horse she was brushing neighed, and Claire laughed softly. "Guess, I'm not allowed to stop." She met Evelyn's eyes. "Thanks for bringing them back. You can just leave them on that stool."

Evelyn did just that and leaned against the stall, watching as Claire continued brushing the horse.

"Are you settling in okay?" Claire asked as the horse shifted its weight from one hoof to the other.

"Yeah," Evelyn said with a sigh.

"Everything okay?" Claire's lips curved into a smile.

"Sorry. I guess, I've run into one problem. I'm nearly out of the fresh meat and vegetables that the owner of the house left for me."

Claire nodded. "Well, the best shop is about twenty minutes away. Did you rent a car?"

"No," Evelyn confessed. "I didn't really think that far ahead. And to be honest, I don't really want to risk anyone recognizing me. But this is also a problem."

Claire's hand stilled. "Well, I get my shopping delivered from a local organic farm every week. On a Tuesday. If you'd like, I could ask them to double the order. That's the same day the butcher from town comes out with his van. I can get a few bits from him too. You can let me know if there's anything you'd like in particular, but then I can just drive it all over to the main house. I've a quad so I can just take the short cut without going all the way around."

"You would do that for me?" Evelyn asked, hardly believing that the solution would be this easy.

Claire shrugged, a slight blush coming to her cheeks. "It's not a big deal. I'll be over to your back door in less than five minutes on the quad."

Evelyn nodded, a warmth spreading across her chest. "Thank you. You have no idea. I guess, I've been so stuck in my ways all these years that I forgot about the kinds of problems I run into when I get away from my everyday life in Los Angeles."

"I can't even imagine," Claire said quietly, going back to brushing the horse.

Evelyn was about to say goodbye when she realized that she should have Claire's number. For the food delivery, but also if anything else cropped up at the house. "Can I get your number?" she asked after a moment.

Claire's cheeks darkened. "Eh, yeah… Sure." She nearly dropped the brush as she slid her hand out from underneath the strap and reached for her phone, sliding it out of the back pocket of her jeans.

Evelyn took out hers, and listened as Claire called out her number, reminding her to use the international code. Evelyn tapped on the new entry, and Claire's phone chimed.

"Maybe for this week," Evelyn said as she put her phone back in her pocket, "Just get me whatever you're getting. And let me know what it costs."

"Okay." Claire ran her hand along the horse's neck. "I'll drop it over to you Tuesday?"

"That would be great." Evelyn exhaled. "Thank you. I know this isn't part of your job description. But I really appreciate it."

Claire nodded. "Let me know if you run into any other problems."

"I will." Evelyn held her gaze for a second longer than was necessary, almost wishing she had a reason to stay, which was strange, because three days ago she was mentally cursing the fact that she essentially had a neighbor that she hadn't asked for. "I'll let you get back to work."

Evelyn left, ignoring that feeling that Claire's warm smile had awoken after so many years of being pushed down. She was so used to hiding anything that might even remotely look like attraction to another woman, that she'd gone into defensive mode without even thinking about it, but on the walk back to the house, Evelyn remembered that there was no one to witness it.

If she thought Claire was an attractive woman, what was the harm in that? It wasn't like she was ever going to act on it, or that someone like Claire would even be interested.

This was probably the first time in her life that she could allow herself to feel drawn to another woman without worrying about who might notice. She didn't need to put on a show. She didn't need to make sure that she was seen out with a man every few weeks. She could just be herself, and as she followed the path back to the house, her steps felt light, a smile tugging at her lips as a misty rain started to fall.