“I’m sure. Well, I will let you get back to your walk. Have a nice afternoon.”
Her lips parted as if to say something, but then she turned and all but raced away.
Fool,Christopher condemned himself. Why had he done that? He had so much he wanted to talk to her about, so why hadn’t he tried?
She might have walked away, but she might have stayed. She might have been willing to simply stand with him and talk.
He hadn’t even given her a chance. He made the choice for her.
Christopher spent a little bit more time in the garden, resolve forming in his mind.
He would talk to her at dinner. It had been a while since he’d been able to bring himself to dine in company. She wouldn’t be looking for him any longer; perhaps he should send word ahead of time that he wanted them to have a meal together. As he made his way back to the house, he resolved to do just that.
And so, later that evening he found himself pacing the dining room, waiting on her. The silence echoed in his mind. What if she didn’t come? What if she came, but ate in frosty silence and only spoketohim, notwithhim?
But before he could worry about that too much, the door opened and Veronica stepped inside.
His breath caught in his throat when he saw her. “You came.”
She crossed her arms, a tight smile on her face, “Of course I came. It has been a while since we’ve had time for a dinner together.”
“I–” He swallowed. “Please, have a seat.”
She did just that then the two of them were served their food. As they ate, silence stretched between them. Christopher had so many things he wanted to say. He wanted to ask her how she was doing, why she had been so busy, if she had been avoiding him, but couldn’t bring himself to say any of it.
Instead, he just sat there, eating and avoiding her eyes almost as much as she was avoiding his.
In the end, she was the one to speak first. In a quiet voice, she said, “Thank you for allowing my family to stay. I’ll try not to let them interrupt your routine too much.”
“It’s your home too, and I was happy to help. And you don’t need to worry about them too much. I doubt it will be that much of a disruption.”
Veronica shot him a disbelieving look. “You’ve never been around a house full of girls before, have you?”
“Obviously not.”
“I can assure you, it may seem like there won’t be many of them, and they can’t get up to that much, but as soon as you see Milly, you’ll know better.”
“Then I look forward to the chance to learn.”
“We’ll see how you feel about that when the time comes.”
“Is there anything I should know before they arrive?” he asked.
“Like what?” she frowned.
“Anything you might want me to do or expect of me.”
She shook her head. “Like I said, I don’t want this to affect your routine more than it has to.”
He studied her for a moment, “But do you-” he hesitated.
“What is it?”
“Do you want me at all the meals or would you prefer to have time alone with your family?”
“Of course I want you there!” she said, seeming almost shocked by his question. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“I wasn’t sure if you would want to spend time alone with your family.”
