The coat wasn’t quite her style, but as expected, it fit. It would do until she could replace it, Drina decided, and then blinked in surprise as Harper stepped up behind her and pulled a white wool hat over her head. He took the time to tuck her hair under it, and then smiled at the results in the mirror.
“It’s cold out,” he said for explanation, then held up a pair of flat-heeled, black leather boots. “Try these. They’re Elvi’s, but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind, and they look like they’ll fit.”
The moment she turned to take the boots, Harper moved back to the closet to continue his search for treasure. Drina slid her feet out of Teddy’s huge boots, and leaned against the wall to try on one of Elvi’s, smiling when she found it fit almost perfectly. It was perhaps half a size large but didn’t slide around on her feet as Teddy’s boots did.
“Good?” Harper asked as he shrugged out of Teddy’s other coat and tossed it on the suitcases as well before pulling on his own.
Drina nodded and set to work pulling on the other boot. “Very good. Thank you.”
He smiled faintly and turned back to the closet to quickly find his own boots and switch them for his borrowed ones, then collected Stephanie’s boots and new coat.
“Is there anything else we need?” Harper asked as he closed the closet door and carried Teddy’s boots over to the suitcases.
Drina considered the question, but shook her head. “Not that I can think of. We can always come back if something comes up.”
Nodding, Harper snatched his car keys from the key rack beside the door and began to gather his suitcase and Teddy’s borrowed clothes. He managed everything but one pair of boots and her suitcase. Drina picked those up and followed him out into the garage.
They quickly stowed everything in the trunk of Victor’s car, then got in.
“Chocolate and Coke?” Harper asked as he hit the button to open the garage door, and then started the engine.
Drina opened her mouth to answer, but paused as the garage lights automatically came on, and she recalled his worry about using electricity and sparking another fire.
Harper grimaced, but then sighed and simply shifted the car into gear and pulled out into the driveway. He hit the button to close the door then, and they glanced back to watch it lower and the lights go out.
Frowning, he eyed the house warily, muttering, “I don’t think the garage is probably on the same circuit as the porch. At least I hope not. And I’m not an electrician, so might be completely wrong about the possibility of a fire, but . . .”
“Why don’t we sit here for a minute to be sure nothing happens,” Drina suggested. “Better to be safe than sorry. I’d feel awful if we left, and something happened.”
Harper nodded and shifted the car into park, then drew one leg up and turned sideways in the seat so that he could see both her and the house. Reaching out, he took her hand in his and drew it onto his knee. He began to toy with the fingers as he asked, “Do you think Lucian will want you and Anders to take Stephanie back to Toronto?”
Drina sighed and leaned back in her seat. “Stephanie asked me something similar earlier, but I don’t know. We can’t stay here until the house is repaired, so he probably will unless he finds somewhere else in town for us to stay.”
They were both silent. Drina was wondering what Harper would do if that happened. Would he want to come with her? She thought so, or hoped so, but—
“Maybe he’ll replace you now that there is a threat and you’re a distracted new life mate like Mirabeau and Tiny,” Harper commented, sliding his thumb back and forth over her palm. He glanced to her, and asked, “Would you stay here if he did that?”
Drina hesitated. She wanted to say yes. Truthfully, she wanted to pull him back inside the house, drag him to bed, and simply stay there . . . forever. However, she couldn’t do that. As for saying yes, while she wanted to with all her heart, she didn’t feel she could. She had assured Stephanie that she would be with her if she had to go back to Toronto and didn’t want to let her down.
Aside from disappointing the teenager, though, Drina was worried about what would become of the girl once in Toronto in close proximity to Lucian. If he decided she could go no-fanger and was a possible threat, he might . . . Well, at the very least, he would probably insist she remain at the enforcer house, and the kid would be miserable there, with no chance at any kind of normalcy. Drina didn’t even want to think about the worst of what he could do.
Harper released her fingers suddenly and turned to shift the car into gear again. “We’ve waited long enough. I guess we’d better get Stephanie’s stuff and head back to the house.”