She probably should have felt embarrassed and awkward, but for some reason she didn’t. Maybe it was because he didn’t seem bothered about it.

“I owe you a shirt.”

“Forget it. I’ll fetch those painkillers.”

“No painkillers. But water would be great, thank you.”

He left the room and returned moments later with a cool cloth for her head and a glass filled with ice water.

She sipped it gratefully and closed her eyes as he pressed the cloth to her forehead.

“I’m grateful to you.”

“For what?”

“For answering your phone when I called. For letting me stay here. For listening.” Her eyes filled again. “After Milly walked out I felt so bad. I didn’t want to be on my own. It’s not her fault, by the way, so don’t blame her. It’s my fault. All of it.”

“Don’t think about that now. We’ll figure it all out, and you can stay here until we do.”

She sniffed. “I’ll book a flight later. I’ll go home to California.”

“Why would you do that?” He grabbed the box of tissues from the nightstand and put it on her lap. “You told me last night that you haven’t slept a single night in your house since the intruder incident. You said that California doesn’t feel like home. That you’ve been happier here than you’ve been anywhere.”

She’d told him all that?

“That’s true. But I can’t exactly hang around Forest Nest, can I? I let Milly down. I wasn’t there for her when she needed me.” She’d failed her friend, and that was the worst feeling because Milly had been there for her when no one else was.

He took the cloth from her. “Let’s see how that works out. No need to make any quick decisions.”

He was so calm and measured, treating everything as if it wasn’t that big a deal, that she started to feel her panic recede.

She pulled a tissue from the box and blew her nose.

“Why did you sleep in the chair?”

“Because you were upset, and I didn’t want to leave you alone.” He brushed damp strands of her hair away from her face. “Also, I figured that this way I could still tell my grandkids that I spent the night with a famous look-alike actress. You need to drink all that water, Wendy. Every drop.”

“I don’t even remember going to bed.”

“I carried you. You cried for a long time. You were exhausted.”

“You put a blanket over me.”

“Yes. And I took your shoes off. I hope that’s okay. I drew the line at undressing you.”