“What?” Samuel choked out.
“Was it worth it?”
Honora gave a small shout of triumph and slipped her tools back into her pocket. She pushed the door open.
“It was worth every second,” Samuel finally answered.
“I guess I can’t argue with that.”
The three of them stumbled into the house. At least, Leonard did. Honora had her arms entirely unburdened, and Samuel was getting a free ride, which was still making the man laugh. It was quite a ridiculous situation, so much so, that Leonard wondered if he would wake up tomorrow and it would all be a dream.
Eventually they made it to Samuel’s room, and Leonard walked him to the bed and set him on his feet beside it.
“You better be able to walk tomorrow,” Leonard teased, “or Mother and Father will have my head.”
“I will be fine,” Samuel said, waving him off. “I only need a good night’s sleep.”
Leonard nodded, a smile tugging at his lips. He went to leave, and just as he opened the door, he looked back at his brother. “You had better be careful, or this one night won’t be enough.”
Samuel sat against the edge of his bed, hands propping him up on either side. “That’s the idea, is it not?”
Leonard turned the handle. “It is indeed.”
He shut the door behind him, careful to keep the click of the latch to a minimum, then turned to see Honora waiting in the hall.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“I’d thought you would head home.”
Honora wrung her hands together as she stared at the door, as if she could see through it. “I wanted to be sure Samuel was all right.”
“I believe he will be fine. Even better than fine, actually. I think tonight was a test to prove to himself that he could do it. And he accomplished even more than he dreamed.”
“And you are all right?”
Leonard’s brow puckered. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
As if realizing they might be caught at any moment, Honora tugged them to a vacant room down the hall.
She shut them inside, and he watched her warily. What was she up to now? “What’s going on, Honora?” he asked as she stood before him, her arms crossed.
After waiting a moment, she looked at the floor. “Remember when I asked you what you were afraid of?”
Leonard wracked his brain, trying to recall the instance. He had told her he was afraid of something? But honestly, so much had happened since they met that anything seemed possible atthis point. “No,” he said, his tone careful and slow. “I can’t say that I do.”
Honora narrowed her eyes—giving him the same look whenever she was puzzling something out. “It was when I confronted you about your family and your brother. The day we looked for the Fageans. And I asked you what you were afraid of.”
Leonard’s entire frame tightened—his arms, neck, and legs. Surely she wasn’t referring to what he thought. How could she have remembered that? But of course she did. She didn’t seem to forget anything. So he decided to go with his best bet of getting out of this unscathed. Playing ignorant. “Oh?”
“You remember,” she said, eyes ever discerning, “don’t you?”
With a chew of his lip, he swallowed. “I do.” He stretched his fingers. “I just don’t really wish to talk about it.”
Honora took a few steps across the floor, drawing closer. “I won’t make you discuss it if you don’t wish to.”
All he could muster was a nod and one word. “Good.”
“But I think it would be good for you to talk about it, Leonard.” Another step closer.
