He sipped his drink. ‘It’s not going to be a happy time this year, is it? Not with the way things are with Hope.’
Evelyn knew how desperately upset Kit was about his sister and looking at him in the shadowy light of the kitchen, she could see how his scarred face was ravaged by the gravest of concern.
‘Yes,’ she murmured, ‘it will be alow-key Christmas this time. I doubt anyone will be in the mood to celebrate very much. Are you sure you still want us to spend tomorrow with Romily?’
‘It would be rude to back out now,’ he said. ‘And Pip and Em always enjoy being with Romily. It will mean less work for you, too. Especially as you have so much on your mind.’
His comment brought her up short. ‘What do you mean?’ she asked, switching off the gas again and pouring the warmed milk into another mug. But it wasn’t until she was sitting at the table opposite Kit that he answered her.
‘I know receiving those awful letters must have been a terrible shock for you, but is there anything else troubling you?’
Her heart sank that he felt the need to ask her this. ‘Oh, you know what it’s like at this time of year,’ she said, ‘the end of the school term is always manic and it takes me a while to shake off the madness.’
He put down his mug and slid a hand across the table to her, palm upwards. It was his most badly burned hand, the one which didn’t lie flat and with his little finger melded to the one next to it. Such was the turmoil of her emotions, she could have wept at the sight of that vulnerably upturned palm. She covered it with her own. ‘You don’t need to worry about me,’ she said.
‘But I do. You know I can’t help worrying about you. Is it me? Have I done something?’
‘Why ever would you think that?’
The heartbreaking answer to her question showed in his eye. ‘Oh Kit, why, after all these years, do you have to doubt my love for you? What’s brought all this on? Is it Hope? Has her accident unsettled you?’
He shook his head. ‘It’s not Hope. It’s you, Evelyn. You haven’t been yourself for some time now. You’re awake most nights, aren’t you?’
‘I think I must be going through a phase of wakefulness,’ she said lightly. ‘Perhaps it’s my age.’
He withdrew his hand from hers and placed it around his mug. But clearly he hadn’t given up. ‘You’ve seemed preoccupied ever since the night of the party. Has it anything to do with that old friend of yours showing up?’
‘Which old friend? There were lots there who you’d dug up from way back when.’ Again her tone was light in a bid to hide her reaction to what he was now hinting at.
‘MaxBlythe-Jones,’ Kit said flatly.
‘Well, it was certainly a surprise to see him after all this time. But he most assuredly hasn’t been on my mind since that night,’ she lied. ‘Far from it.’
‘He’s agood-looking man,’ Kit said. ‘Charismatic too. And he seemed inordinately pleased to see you again. I wouldn’t be surprised if he still carried a torch for you.’
‘Still?’ she repeated. ‘What makes you think he ever did?’
‘Just something he said to me. In fact, he said it several times at the party.’
‘And what was that?’
‘That I was a lucky man to have won the heart of such an exceptional woman.’
Furious with Max, Evelyn wanted to crash her fist down on the table. Instead she forced a smile to her lips. ‘He always was such a flatterer.’ She could have choked on the levity she was feigning. She hated the pretence, it was so dishonest.
‘I wouldn’t blame you,’ Kit said quietly. ‘I mean, he must have been good company back then when you knew him.’
‘He was. And yes, he’s still charming and handsome, but he’s nothing but a tomcat. He was back then, and he always will be!’ The volume of her voice had risen with exasperation. Just what did she have to do to prove to Kit that she loved him?
‘I’m sorry,’ he said.
His apology only added to her guilt and frustration. ‘Kit, you’ve done nothing wrong. It’s me. I’m just on edge knowing that there’s somebody out there sending people nasty notes accusing them of God knows what. Now drink your milk and let’s go back to bed, if only for a couple of hours.’
Disaster averted, she thought, with her conscience not so much pricked, as shredded.Averted for now, she then corrected herself as she gathered their empty mugs and put them in the sink.
Damn you, Max!she thought angrily.Why did our paths ever have to cross?
ChapterSixty-Eight
