“Thank you.”

Pandora went to sit on the opposite side of the bed. Luna came trotting to her side, sniffing, allowing Pandora to pet her.

“Are they gone?” asked Linnea, tearing open the packet of chamomile tea.

“Oh, yes. Anna and Cooper cleaned up the broken glass. That mirror is a goner, I’m afraid.”

“Oh no,” Linnea said. “Cara won’t be happy.”

“I think you have bigger things to worry about than a mirror.”

“Not tonight.”

“Yes, tonight,” Pandora persisted.

Linnea looked at her questioningly. She was exhausted. Worried about Flo. She didn’t have the bandwidth.

“You had to know this was going to happen.”

Linnea let her head fall back against the pillows. “You think I wanted them to fight?”

“Linnea, you’ve been dangling those two men in the air for the past few months! Leading them both on.”

“Wait a minute,” Linnea said, feeling her anger rise. Luna, hearing her tone, hurried back to her side of the bed. “I have not.”

“Linnea, I’m your friend and I’m going to spell things out for you. I should’ve told you before.”

Linnea looked at her warily.

“It’s about Gordon.”

Linnea set her jaw. “You take a pretty strong interest in him.”

“I do,” Pandora admitted. “That shouldn’t come as a surprise. I liked him last summer. I’ve had a thing for him for years, as a matter of fact. You stole him from me, remember?”

“Oh, please! I didn’t steal him from you. He was never yours to begin with.”

“You never gave us the chance. You swooped in and made him fall in love with you.”

“You can’t make someone fall in love with you. It happens.”

“Look, Linnea, I’ve tried to be a good friend. Better than you were to me. I didn’t come on to him—”

“What?” Linnea said incredulously. “You’ve been hanging all over him. Flirting. ‘Gordon let’s do this, Gordon let’s go there.’ ”

A flush crept up Pandora’s cheeks. “Yes, I admit it. I’ve been going after him. Why not?” Her eyes flashed. “You’re dangling him like a cat playing with some mouse.”

“I’m not playing with his affection. We’re still trying to figure things out. He came here to see if we could make it work. What’s the rush? I’m hoping he’ll stay on beyond the summer. Maybe take a teaching job here. Any place would jump at the chance to have him. We just need time to see where this is going.”

“Hold on,” Pandora said, sitting back with a look of wonder on her face. “Do you think, for a moment, that Gordon would even consider moving to the United States? Permanently?”

“I know he loves Oxford. But it’s possible.”

Pandora looked at the ceiling, her lips tight together, and it seemed she was going through some kind of personal struggle. When she looked at Linnea again, her eyes were hard with decision. “You really don’t have any idea, do you?”

Linnea’s face went still. “About what?”

“Darling, there’s no possible way in the world that Gordon could leave England. His family is there. He has an important family.”