Hallie waited for Kit’s bellow of anger, but it never came. He looked at Lee for an intense moment, and then Lee said the strangest thing.
“I just saved your ugly old face.”
And all Hallie heard was Kit’s ringing laughter.
Kit pushed open thebedroom door. Hallie sat in the overstuffed chair, her face blanched with fear. Her eyes darted to his loaded arms. “What are you doing?”
“Moving back in,” Kit answered, pointedly ignoring her gasp.
“Why?”
He dropped the folded shirts onto the dresser top. “I can’t very well sleep in the study. It’ll take days to air out.” The hellish smell still lingered in Kit’s nostrils. He glanced at Hallie, noting the dread in her pale face.
Raising a shirt to his nose, he sniffed. “Hallie, would you see if these smell like skunk? To me, everything smells like skunk.” Kit handed her his clothes and she sniffed at the shirts and then handed them back.
“They’re fine,” she said, still looking at him tentatively.
He bent and picked up his woolen stockings. “You didn’t check these,” he said, frowning to mask his smirk.
Hallie shot out of the chair. “I will not smell your socks!” She crossed her arms and glared at him.
This Hallie was much better than the frightened rabbit she’d been a few seconds before. He bit back his satisfied smile. He had to admit he enjoyed teasing her. “You’re shirking your wifely duties.’’
“I did not promise to smell your socks! Besides, the wedding was a farce. Your exact words, remember?” She plopped down on the bed.
Kit turned to face her. “I’m sorry you heard that, Hallie.”
“I bet you are. Sorry I heard, not sorry you said it.” Her chin lifted.
“That’s not what I meant.” Kit ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. “I am sorry I said those things, and that I hurt you.” He walked to the bed and started to reach for her.
“Stay away, Kit.” Hallie scooted back on the bed. “Don’t touch me.”
He stopped. “Hallie, please, I won’t touch you. I just want to talk about this.”
She crawled around to the other side of the bed, stood and went back to sit in the chair. She looked him right in the eye and waved her hand in the air. “So talk.”
“I’d like to start over and try to forget what happened.”
“I’d like to forget a lot of things,” Hallie muttered.
Kit sighed, looking for patience. Then he sat on the edge of the bed. “Okay, Hallie. You tell me, what can I do? I didn’t want to hurt you, and I still don’t. There’s nothing you can say that I haven’t already heard, either from Lee or from my own conscience.”
Silently, she watched and waited.
“We’ve gotten ourselves into this—”
“We?” she interrupted.
“Okay, me. I’m the one who made the mistakes. I’ll take the blame, but can’t you meet me halfway? I’d like to pick up the pieces of this marriage, and maybe we can reach some compromise.”
Hallie looked away, but she appeared to be thinking over his words.
“The damage is done, Hallie,” Kit reminded her.
When she turned back to him, her eyes revealed her pain. He knew he’d hurt her, but the knowledge didn’t make viewing the deep hurt any easier. His shoulders sagged and he tried again. “I’m sorry.” The words sounded empty and shallow, even to him.
Her eyes filled with tears, and she looked away, but Kit could see her biting her lip in an effort to hold them back. She was trying to hold her own, and her show of strength touched something in Kit. “You make the terms, Hallie. I’ll agree.”
