Jo taught him that women weren’t to be trusted. The pain of the lesson was severe enough to keep him from ever allowing a woman to get the better of him. He always controlled himself where they were concerned. But with Hallie he had acted on pure instinct. Lusty, carnal instinct, with the daughter of his friend. And he felt guilty.
To relieve his guilt, he glossed over the incident. “Get your mind out of your pants, Prescott,” Kit said, arrogantly ignoring the fact that his own mind, at least during the kiss, had been in the very same place. Then he justified his actions, both mentally and vocally. “I was trying to scare the kid.”
Lee’s look penetrated right through Kit. “She’s not, you know.”
“Not what?”
“A kid.”
“Of course she is a kid. Just because her body has grown doesn’t mean her mind has. While we’re on the subject, I don’t think Jan would like the way you were ogling his daughter. I know I didn’t.” Lee just looked at him with a knowing expression. But before he could say anything, Kit added, “I mean, if she were my daughter.”
Lee had the good sense to be quiet, although from his wry expression, Kit knew he was jumping to all kinds of wrong conclusions. His thoughtful silence made Kit uncomfortable. Lee could be perceptive enough to realize that Kit was confused by his own unusual behavior.
Blast it all, he had enough pressures right now. He sure as hell didn’t need to stand here trying to buffalo his own friend. He settled for distracting him instead. He opened the office door. “Come on. Let’s pay a visit to good ol’ Abner Brown.”
Hallie walked into thedim house. Though the days were getting longer, a blanket of fog covered the town, dulling the afternoon sun with its damp mist and blocking the light through the narrow windows. The house was quiet.
Too quiet.
She walked out of the foyer and down a narrow hallway that ran alongside the steep staircase. A scream of frustration pierced the air. Hallie reached for the paneled door of the kitchen and pushed it open.
Inside there was a large tub half filled with water. Standing next to it, drenched from head to foot, was Dagny.
“You little monsters!” Dagny swiped her dark, dripping hair back and rubbed the water from her brown eyes.
Two identical white-blond heads popped up from the deep metal tub. “He started it,” accused the boy on the left.
“I did not,” came the indignant reply.
“Did too.”
“Did not,” Knut whined. “Gunnar kicked me first!”
Gunnar took offense and spit water all over his twin brother. “Tattletale.”
“You two stop it! Right now.” Hallie walked toward the soggy group.
Both wide-eyed, freckled faces turned toward her. Each pointed a finger at the other and spoke at the same time. “But he started it!”
“And I’m finishing it.” Hallie glanced at Dagny. “Let’s get them dried off, Duggie. Then you go change into some dry clothes yourself.”
“Stand up, boys.” Hallie grabbed a large piece of cloth, wrapped it around one of them and lifted his wiry body out of the tub. She rubbed his head vigorously and inspected his oversized ears. “Where is Liv?” she asked.
“Not in there.” Her little brother quipped and the boys both giggled.
“Hush,” Hallie scolded at their silliness, but she bit back a smile.
“Liv is upstairs, brooding,” Dagny answered. “You know how she’s been lately. All grumpy and gloomy.” She drew a flannel nightshirt over Knut’s head, picked up a pair of gray pants and held them out for him to step into. “Do you think she’s like this because Da’s been gone so long?” She pulled the pants up around the youngster’s waist, tucked in the shirt, and buttoned the pants closed.
“I don’t know,” Hallie replied. “I found her up in Mr. Brown’s apple tree again.”
Dagny shivered. “That man gives me the willies! Every time he comes here he’s always staring at me.”
“Well, hopefully Liv’s latest punishment will keep her away from his prized garden for a while. She hates sewing almost as much as she hates being indoors, so I told her to do all that mending that was stacked upstairs.”
Dagny smiled. “No wonder it’s been so quiet up there. It takes her half an hour just to get a knot in the thread.”
Gunnar was dressed, and Hallie gave his backside an affectionate pat. “You two go up and tell Liv to come down and set the supper table.”
