“Why didn’t you tell me?” Dan asked. “About being deaf?”
“Partially deaf—”
“Even so. It would have been good to know.”
“I don’t tell anyone. It doesn’t really affect me.” Dan gave her a disbelieving look. “We haven’t been sharing confidences, have we?” Claire challenged. “The only things I know about you are that you’re from Leeds and that you were in the army.”
“And I have a dog named Bunny.”
“Right.” They stared at each other for a moment; Claire felt as if Dan was weighing her up.
“All right,” he said. “What do you want to know?”
“About you?”
He shifted where he stood. “Yes.”
And of course now she couldn’t think of a thing. “Who’s Daphne?” she finally blurted, recalling his tattoo, and Dan stilled.
“My ex-wife.”
“Oh.” His tone did not encourage further questions. Still, an ex-wife. Claire wouldn’t have expected it. She could not imagine Dan Trenton with a wife, in love. Of course, there was a reason why the woman was an ex.
“Why do you have the word ‘sapper’ tattooed on your arm?” She’d stick to asking about the tattoos.
“Because I was one.”
“A sapper? What is that?”
“A position in the army. I cleared minefields.”
“Oh.” She blinked. “That sounds . . . dangerous.”
“It was.”
She couldn’t sound more inane if she tried. “Where did you serve?”
“Afghanistan.” He paused. “That was dangerous too.” And then he smiled, barely the quirking of the corner of his mouth, so tiny she almost missed it. She wasn’t even sure it was a smile, and yet...
“Do I sound as silly as I think I do?” she asked.
“Sillier,” Dan told her, and now he was definitely smiling. It looked strange, as if he were using muscles that were stiff and atrophied.
“Oh. Okay. Well, good to know.” Dan didn’t seem inclined to say anything else, and so Claire turned back to the milk. After about ten minutes he spoke again.
“You can do the stall at the Easter Fair if you want.”
She turned around, suspicion warring with hope. “This isn’t some... pity gesture, is it?”
“Why would I pity you?”
She hesitated. “Because... because of my ear.” Among other things.
“Get over it, rich girl. I knew plenty of soldiers who had it loads worse than you. I just want to increase revenue.”
He turned away, and she realized she was smiling, a big, sloppy grin. “Okay. Great. Well, thank you.”
Dan didn’t answer.
