“No, what?” Kit asked, his undivided attention focused on Knut’s excited face.
“Liv’s gonna give one to Hallie for her birthday.”
“Knut!” Liv cried. “That was a surprise, and you ruined it!”
He hung his head. “Sorry.”
Kit pinned Hallie with a heated look.
The room was suddenly very warm, and Hallie began to sweat, almost as if her body were melting under his scrutiny.
“What day is her birthday?” he asked, his eyes never leaving Hallie’s face.
She was silent, but Liv answered. “The twenty-seventh.”
“Then she’ll be older. Almost as old as you,” Knut said.
Kit chuckled. “Nineteen? Boy, that is old.”
It was hard for Hallie to watch this side of Kit. It reminded her of the marbles, and that memory always made her heart sing. When he was kind to her, it was all she could do not to throw herself into his arms and declare her love, and when he showed a vulnerable side, as he had when he asked her to help him make the best of their marriage, the strength of her love for him was frightening.
So, here she was again, needing to put some distance between them to keep safe the secret of her heart. She murmured some excuse and started to leave, but Kit straightened and used his tall body to block her exit. She could feel his eyes boring into the top of her head, as if he could stare her into looking up. She fought the urge to do so with every bit of her willpower.
“I wanted to thank you,” he said.
It was the last thing she expected to hear. “What for?”
“Letting me sleep in the bed.”
She turned away, embarrassed and uncomfortable. “It’s a big bed.” Her words seemed to echo in the heavy silence that followed. Uncomfortable, Hallie searched for something else to say and finally blurted, “Besides, you were... clothed.” Then she ducked under his arm and fled to the kitchen.
Hallie went straight to the table and busied herself by clearing it. Then Kit came in, whistling. She ignored him as best she could, treating the cleaning job as if it were tantamount to her existence. She grabbed the paper, but Kit plucked it from her hand.
“I need this,” he said, looking excessively pleased. “Well, I’m off. I’ve got something to take care of, so I’ll see you both later.”
He was looking at her when he spoke, but Maddie, who was busy baking, muttered a “humph,” her usual good-bye. Hallie picked up the butter crock as Kit reached the door. Out of the corner of her eye she caught his hesitation.
“Hallie?”
She looked up at his grinning face.
“You looked.”
What was he talking about?
He leaned a little farther into the room and whispered, “Under the covers.”
The door closed, shutting out the sound of the butter crock as it crashed onto the wooden floor.
“Ohhh no, not again!”Hallie bent down to pick up the pieces of the teapot. It was the fourth thing she’d broken today. She bundled the broken china in her apron and stood up, intending to throw them away before Maddie saw her latest accident. Unfortunately, Maddie stood by the back door with a heavy laundry basket wedged on her hip, surveying the mess. “Oh Maddie, I’m sorry.” Hallie dumped the pieces into a waste barrel near the dry sink, then grabbed a cloth from a wooden peg and sopped up the tea. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me today. I’m—”
“A mess—a nervous wreck,” Maddie finished, setting the basket on a table and walking over to help Hallie to her feet. Maddie took the wet cloth, tossed it near the pump, then grabbed Hallie’s hand and led her to the table. “Sit!” she ordered.
Hallie sagged against the chair slat, folded her arms and felt completely useless.
Maddie sat down across from her. “Now, what’s bothering you?”
“Everything.” Hallie stared at the dark wood grain of the tabletop, distractedly running her finger along the lines.
