“I think I’ll be plenty warm,” he said. Taking the pillow from her, he plumped it and then tossed it on what he decided would be the head of his new bed. “Do you have enough coals for the bedroom stoves?”
She nodded and looked sideways at him. “Are you sure you won’t allow me to sleep here?”
“We already decided the sofa would be mine.”
“Yes, but I’m realizing it was petty of me to insist on that.”
“Change of heart?”
“I suppose. I was never so aware of your height until we were standing in front of Judge Miner.”
“It was the hat.”
That made her smile. “No, it wasn’t, but it begs the question of where you found a top hat.”
“The milliner’s. She designed it for Mrs. Frost, Thaddeus’s wife, but it was never picked up. I purchased it, removed the elaborate silk bow on the brim and the scarf that served as a chin strap, stretched it some, and that was that.”
“You looked quite elegant, I thought, but I was relieved that you didn’t put it on until we were in the town hall. That hat suited you, but it doesn’t suit Frost Falls.”
“I remind you that it was intended for Fiona Frost, and she lives on a ranch in the back of nowhere.”
“She’s Fiona Frost,” Lily said as if that explained everything. When Roen looked at her blankly, she added, “Fiona Apple?”
“The actress?”
“I’ve heard it said that she was.”
“I met her when I visited Twin Star but I didn’t recognize her.”
“It’s been some years since she was on the New York stage.”
“Yes, but I’ve seen some of her plays. She was the toast of Broadway. I don’t believe I didn’t recognize her.”
Chuckling, Lily patted his arm. “You can make it up to her by giving her the gift of that hat. I can reattach the bow and scarf.”
“I could,” said Roen, though he hardly knew what he was agreeing to. He was looking down at her hand on his arm and immediately regretted pulling her attention to it. She withdrew it as if scalded. To fill the awkward moment that followed, he told her where he put the hat.
“Clay will help you move your belongings here in the morning.”
“He already offered. Ben offered up his deputy to do the same.”
Admiring Ben’s cheeky delegation and feeling a little sorry for Hitch, Lily could only shake her head.
Roen asked, “Shall we have tea?”
“Oh, I should have offered.”
“I’m not a guest any longer. I live here. I’ll make the tea. I’m not entirely helpless in the kitchen. I took most of my meals at the hotel because it was convenient, not because I can’t cook.”
She followed him into the kitchen to make sure he could manage the stove. He fired it up with expert efficiency. Her husband had had the knack for it as well, but then he operated the forge so he knew something about building a fire. He knew nothing about cooking and never showed the least interest. She’d never minded because it was her job and she not only accepted it, but did it well.
Lily was contemplating what she would or could tell Roen about her husband when he dropped into the chair on her right and startled her out of her musings.
“Deep thoughts?” he asked.
“Mm.”
“Regrets?”
