He chose coffee over his eggs and picked up his cup. He narrowly observed Victorine over the rim. “Are we done?”
“I don’t see how we can be,” she said airily, taking a dainty bite of bacon. “You haven’t said what you intend to do about our child.”
“Did you not hear me mention your involvement with other men? That should be a clear indication of my intentions. To be perfectly forthright, I have none.”
“None? But this child is yours. I swear it. You have obligations.”
Roen lowered his voice. “You can’t possibly know that the baby you conceived is mine, and your admission that you slept with other men, while honest, is also damning.”
“But I wasn’t honest. I said it because your accusation stung and I wanted to get a little of my own back. I was never unfaithful to you.”
“I have always admired how quickly you think on your feet, but I don’t believe you, Victorine. I didn’t question you without cause. I was told what you were doing.”
“Gossipmongers,” she said. “There are always people who want to make trouble.”
“Yes.” His stare was pointed. “I know.”
“Youdon’tknow,” she protested. “Youdon’t.”
Roen set his cup down. “I assume I am not the first man you’ve applied to for help, so the others must have turned you down as well. Your father will support you and your child.”
“He will insist I give our baby to a home. You know what those places are like. I won’t be able to do it when the time comes, and he will put me out and cut me off.”
Roen frowned. “Am I hearing you correctly? Your father doesn’t yet know about the baby?”
“No. I haven’t told him. On the few occasions I’ve spent time with him, I’ve been able to hide my condition. He would never look too closely, Roen. He wouldn’t want to know. There is only one way he will accept our child.”
Roen knew what was coming, had suspected this end allalong. He removed his napkin from his lap and set it beside his plate. “Then wearedone, Victorine. I am already married.” It gave him a rather shameful satisfaction to stand while her mouth was still agape. “I’ll take care of the bill,” he said. He walked away without looking back.
Chapter Twenty-six
Lizzie pointed Roen in the direction of the backyard when he finally arrived home. It was hours after he’d spoken to Victorine, and for most of that time he’d been wandering aimlessly. It was out of character. He never ambled. His stride had direction and purpose and, most often, a sense of urgency. It was when he found himself standing in the cemetery on the outskirts of town that he made the deliberate decision to return home.
Lily looked up anxiously when she heard the back door close. Lizzie knew better than to come out, so it had to be Roen. It was. He was standing on the lip of the porch, his shoulders hunched inside his heavy coat. She refastened the stiff shirt she had been taking down from the clothesline and started toward him. He shook his head and ignored the steps in favor of jumping to the snow-covered ground. With no encouragement from her, Roen began to unpin clothes and toss them in the wicker basket. He was wearing gloves, but Lily wasn’t, and her hands were red and chafed. Her fingers were nearly as stiff as the clothes.
Once they were inside, he dropped the basket on the kitchen table and removed his gloves. He took Lily’s hands in his and warmed them. She would have tucked them under her arms, but this was better. So much better.
“You were gone a long time,” she said, tipping her head back to examine his face. His complexion was ruddy; wind had beaten color into his cheeks. There was a tiny crease between his eyebrows, and a muscle jumped in his jaw. The expression he cast in her direction was not merely interested. It was intense. “There was a great deal to discuss, I imagine.”Lily followed this with a quick, negating shake of her head. “No. I promised myself I wouldn’t ask. You can tell me all of it or none of it or something in between. Whatever you like.”
Roen’s smile was faint but it touched his eyes. His features softened but not his intentions. “I’m going to kiss you, Lily.” He swooped before she could duck or mount a protest. Her lips were cool, but her mouth was warm. He touched the tip of his tongue to her upper lip, nudged it, and then he was inside. She stiffened but didn’t pull away. Her hands remained in his. He thought she might have sighed and wanted to believe that she had, that far from being offended by the liberty he had taken, she had decided it wasn’t a liberty at all.
Her response was tentative, but it was most definitely a response. She mirrored the movement of his mouth on hers, touched his tongue with her own, teased and taunted in a carnal dance. She stepped into him, and when he released her hands to open his coat, she understood he was inviting her inside. Lily slipped her arms around him. He clasped his hands at the small of her back.
She was as warm as she ever had been. It was usual for that warmth to be accompanied by a lovely lethargy, but this was different. She felt a rising excitement that made her anxious to stop and want more at the same time. Some part of her confusion must have asserted itself because it was Roen who lifted his head first. His dark eyes grazed her face and he brushed his lips one, twice, against the tiny crease between her eyebrows.
“Poor Lily,” he said gently. “You have no idea of your appeal.”
She removed her arms but not before she placed her hands against his chest and gave him a light push. “Take your coat off and sit down. Would you like something hot to drink? There is cider that I can warm.”
“Save the cider for the children. I’ll have tea.” He removed his coat and gloves and hung them up. He placed his hat on the seat of an empty chair and pushed the clothesbasket to the end of the table closest to the stove, where the garments could thaw. “Why did you hang those clothes outside?”
“Necessity. I usually put up a line in the workroom, but I was reluctant to take damp things in there.”
Roen sighed heavily. “I have complicated your life, haven’t I?”
She turned away from the stove. “I agreed to it.”
“With considerable reservation.”
