Alaric was unusually quiet, and when I used my peripherals to see what he might be looking at, he was gazing directly at my eyes, studying me. My cheeks heated as self-consciousness flooded in.
Was he going to ask about my eyes? I knew, sooner or later, he might.
A gentle breeze wafted through the room, carrying the scent of ginger snaps and banana bread. I’d been hard at work that morning baking for the farmer’s market the next day. I hadn’t let Noni know last time if I’d do it again, so I hoped to go out for a walk that night and deliver them to her.
Ginger. Witch.Now he had two names for me. At least he didn’t know my real name. The whaler suddenly did something I was not expecting–maybe he wasn’t even expecting it. He gently tucked my hair behind my ear. The move was so gentle, so unexpected, my heart pounded in my chest.
But before he or I could say or do something, someone knocked on the door.
“Malia!” And then the door opened, Noni bursting in. It all happened so quickly. I was startled, thinking it might be the assassin at my doorstep, and, in my panic, I jerked back. My foot caught the edge of the clay bowl and I would’ve fallen backward had Alaric not grabbed my hands.
And suddenly I fell right into him, my arms splayedacross his bare chest. He instinctively caught me, one hand around my waist and the other bracing me against him.
For a moment, the whole world was dead silent. My eyes were wide, with color creeping up my neck, tingling my ears and burning my cheeks. Alaric still held me, his lips near my ear.
And Noni gasped. “Malia! Oh my! I will come back later–”
“Noni!” I scrambled to stand. “Wait! Wait, I was just helping him–”
The woman raised an eyebrow, as though she were amused. “Yes, I can see that.”
And meanwhile, Alaric sat there, a smirk on his face, like he thought this exchange was rather funny. “This isn’t the worst thing that’s happened to me lately,” he said, and Noni laughed.
“I’ll be back, Malia!”
“No,wait!” Ihadto explain myself! I could not bear the thought of Noni believing I was some promiscuous girl caught with a whaler. I’d endured enough, and this would not be another mark on my already scorned record. I rushed out after her, spilling out the events of the last few weeks.
“Heneedsto get better,” I said. “I need him to leave.”
“Why? Because you’re catching feelings?” Noni winked. “He’s one to look at–”
“Noni!” I gasped. “No, listen. Once he’s better, he’ll be gone. There is absolutely nothing between us. You know how I feel about whalers.”
Noni softened, and my shoulders relaxed. She believed me. “Yes, I know you love the whales. We all do.” She nodded and gently patted my shoulder. “Why don’t you get those baked goods and I’ll be on my way? We’ll chat more about this another day.”
Whew.I nodded, “Thank you, Noni.” She believed me! Thank goodness, because that was wildly embarrassing! And the emotions coursing through my body didn’t help. I ignored Alaric, grabbed the goods from the kitchen, and gave them to Noni, thanking her for selling them at the market.
And then she was gone, leaving me standing at the front of my cottage. My stomach twisted.
Now I had to deal with him again.
When I re-entered the cottage, I found Alaric changing the bandages on his arm. “Well that was eventful,” he said, and my blush deepened.
“You should’ve let me fall.”
“I’m not going to let you fall.” He gave me a look. “I’m more of a gentleman than that.”
A man who kills whales?I rolled my eyes.Some gentleman.
I squeezed the cloth from the bowl and began tending the wound on his back. A tense, awkward silence stretched between us as I thought about his words.
I’m not going to let you fall.Was I imagining it, or did it seem there was some underlying message?
I’m reading too much into his words,I told myself.
“This one,” I said, finally breaking the silence as my fingertips hovered over the big white scar. “It wasn’t from the shipwreck, right?”
The whaler exhaled slowly, the muscles in his back and arms sinking, as if something weighed them down. “No.”
