“Just a thought.”
She nodded. “Practically indecent.”
“Can you lean a little this way?” he asked.
“I think so.”
He leaned, too, and they shared an awkward, yet somehow satisfying, kiss that left them both smiling a shade regretfully when they parted. “Moments like that will take some planning,” he said.
“Moments like that probably shouldn’t happen once we’ve returned. All those courtship customs, remember? Besides, it won’t be forever. We’ll tell them... eventually.”
Remington looked askance at her and spoke out of the side of his mouth. “If it helps to hurry things along, you should know I’ve started a list.”
• • •
Thaddeus was the first to see them coming. He didn’t rush to greet them. He immediately took off for the house. The back door swung hard behind him and he saw Fiona give a little start. She was drinking tea at the kitchen table and some of the hot liquid splashed the back of her hand. She didn’t seem to notice; her beautiful amethyst eyes were all for him.
Ellie turned away from the stove, where she was stirring a pot of ham and beans. “What is it, Mr. Frost?” she asked. “What’s happened?”
Thaddeus put out a hand to stop her and spoke to Fiona. “They’re coming now. Do you want to step outside with me? We can wait on the front porch.”
“Yes,” she said, pushing away her cup and saucer. “I do.”
He skirted the table and took her arm as she stood. It was a good thing he did, he thought, because she challenged his long stride by double-timing it to the door and then teetered on the lip of the porch until he pulled her back. “It’s all right, Fiona. They see us. Go on. Give them a wave.”
She did, raising her arm high over head and swinging it back and forth as if she were hailing a ship in New York harbor. “Oh, I hope she doesn’t try to wave back. What if she falls? Does it look to you as if she has a good seat? I can’t tell.”
“She’s doing fine. And see how close Remington is? He’s not going to let her fall. There. Did you see that? She gave you a little finger wave. I think you can put your arm down.”
Fiona dropped it with an alacrity that made Thaddeus chuckle. “I don’t know why that amused you,” she said.
“And I couldn’t tell you.” But he could have. He could have told her that she was always a delight when she behaved as if her corset was not so tight, or better yet, when she behaved as if she were not confined by one at all. “They’re coming this way first, not going to the barn.”
“She looks so small on that beast.”
“That mare is hardly a beast. She’s probably the gentlestanimal stabled here.” He did not mention that it was the mare that Mr. Shoulders had provided for Phoebe. If Fiona had forgotten that, she would not want to be reminded. Out of the corner of his eye he was aware that Fiona was poised to set her hands on her hips. He circled the wrist closest to him and gave her arm a gentle tug. “Not like that, Fiona.”
“Are you my director now?”
“If I have to be, yes.”
She let him draw her arm down and slid the other over the curve of her hip as though smoothing the fabric.
“Nicely done,” he said. “Now smile. Can you do that?”
She could and she did. There was nothing about it that was forced.
Thaddeus felt her fingers brush his in a way that made him believe it was no accident. He took her hand, and when she didn’t pull away, he squeezed it. He was confident enough in the moment to let Fiona speak without feeding her the lines.
“Oh, aren’t you just a sight,” Fiona said. There were ways she could have spoken those words that would have made them a criticism, but there was not the slightest nuance of censure in her tone. “How I worried; but look at you. There are roses in your cheeks, Phoebe Apple. It’s been an adventure, is that it?”
“Yes.” Phoebe’s smile was tentative, a little wary. This was not the welcome she would have predicted if Remington had asked. He hadn’t, though, most likely because he anticipated something quite different himself.
“Did it rain where you were?” asked Fiona, her brow creasing. “Cats and dogs here.”
“There, too. Thunder and lightning.”
Fiona nodded. Her eyes were moist. She asked, “Did you find a trunk?”
