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Juliet bit her lip for a second. “I know. I forget that I’m doing it. It must be so loud if you could hear me! I know it’s annoying.”
Noah caught her by the arm. “Who told you that?”
“What?”
“Who told you that your humming was annoying? Because a) they’re wrong, and b) why are you hanging out with anyone who would say such a thing?”
“I’m not … I mean, I’m not hanging out with anyone these days. Except ghosts.”
“I’m serious, Juliet.”
Did she dare? Juliet swallowed, keeping her gaze locked on Noah’s kind hazel eyes. “My ex-husband was a fan of silence. Except when he was talking. I used to sing to myself when I was alone, ever since I was little. Most of the time, I honestly don’t realize I’m humming. I’m sure it can be irritating.”
He dropped his hand but remained standing near enough for Juliet to see the rise and fall of his breath even beneath his coat. His eyes were so unfairly lovely, but it was his expression that stopped her. Had anyone ever looked at her with such a mix of affection and concern? It caught at her throat, and she almost turned away.
“Juliet …”
Her phone rang, breaking the moment. Juliet fumbled to get it out of her coat pocket and stared at the unknown caller alert. At least answering would give her something to do. Noah had already turned his attention away to a grave by the north wall, dropping to hands and knees to feel along the base.
Juliet answered. “Hello?”
“Hello. Is this Juliet Whittier?”
“Stratford,” she corrected. “Who is this?”
“Right, sorry. This is Kelsey Thorn? Ummm, from the university?”
Duncan’s Kelsey, the one with the new baby—no wonder she sounded tentative, as though she expected Juliet to scream and throw things at her even from across the Atlantic.
“What do you want, Kelsey? If it’s congratulations on your—” She choked on the word son.
“No! No, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I know the last thing you must want is to hear from me, but there’s something I thought you should know.”
“What?”
In a rush of words and breath, Kelsey said, “Duncan’s looking for you. He’s angry. Really angry. Mostly he’s angry at me at the moment—I wasn’t thinking when I posted the photos, the university saw them and figured out he’d been … that we’d been … while I was still his student. Anyway, he thinks it was you who told them. He’s been suspended, pending an investigation into our relationship. When he found out, he was gone for two nights. Then he came home furious and drunk, and I threw him out. He was ranting about you, about how this would never have happened if only you’d understood him, you should never have left him—”
“I’m well aware that Duncan blames me for everything.” Juliet paused, an unwilling concern prompting her to ask “Are you safe? You and the … he hasn’t hurt you?”
“Pushed me against the wall. But I’m okay. I’ve gone home to my parents. He can’t get to us here. But I think he’s determined to get to you.”
“I wish him luck,” Juliet said drily, thinking of the ocean between them. “I suppose I should thank you for thinking of me. Finally.”
She could hear the flush of shame in the girl’s voice. “I really am very sorry. I didn’t mean to … He can be very persuasive.”
Juliet closed her eyes, remembering Duncan’s gift of focusing on you so intently that you believed there was no one else in the world he’d ever looked at in the same way. His teasing, caressing hands, his voice smoky with desire … She suddenly snapped into anger. “You should keep away from him, Kelsey, for good. I’m not saying that as a jealous ex-wife either. I’m saying it as a woman. Keep clear of Duncan Whittier.”
She cut off the call even as the girl fumbled out a thank-you.
“Juliet?”
Noah’s voice wasn’t smoky in the least. It was bright and clear, like sunlight dancing on a stream.
She prepared to make excuses for the interruption, but despite the heated conversation he’d heard half of, Noah wasn’t even looking her way. He squatted next to a grave slab, his hands resting on the top edge. No, not resting—lifting. She came closer as he lifted and shoved the slab away from him to reveal a hole. But not a hole filled with a coffin or bones.
“I think we found it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
