“Promise?”
She nodded and followed as he made his way out of the barn. “Of course I will. You’re my boss, aren’t you? I’ve been behaving myself, haven’t I?”
He turned back long enough to say, “Remember you said that.”
They spentthe rest of the day repairing the roof on the detached apartment. Kyra had been wondering why it was taking Adam so long to get around to it. But truth be told, she was rather enjoying living with him in the main house, so she didn’t mind.
Adam wouldn’t allow her to join him on the roof, of course. He seemed completely averse to allowing her to do anything physical these days. But he did have her occasionally fetch tools for him and place them into a bucket, which he would then haul up onto the roof. She felt kind of ridiculous standing there waiting for him to ask for a new tool. After a while, she took to singing pop songs to entertain herself.
Once, she stopped, and Adam hollered down at her. “Why’d you stop?”
“I don’t know,” she called up to him. “I forgot the lyrics.”
“Pick another song then,” he said. “Or start over. Be my radio. Your voice is beautiful.”
All of a sudden, Kyra felt her face get several degrees hotter, and she knew her cheeks were bright red. She couldn’t remember him giving her such a straightforward compliment before. She wouldn’t have guessed he even had it in him. After thinking for a moment, she chose another song. It was one she had heard playing on the radio in his truck. At the time, he’d taken a moment to turn the volume up on that song, which was the only way she knew he liked it.
She sang and noticed the hammering noises that had been coming from the roof of her tiny apartment had grown silent. Less than a minute later, his head peeked out from over the edge. She wasn’t sure what he was doing, so she kept on singing.
Then he said one word. “Louder.” And she knew he was essentially turning the volume up again. Proud that she’d found some music he would like, she sang louder and kept it up for much of the rest of his time on the roof. She chose several songs she’d heard while driving with him. It went from songs he would turn the volume up for to songs during which he just didn’t change the station.
Once, while she was resting her voice and sitting on the upturned bucket, he called down to her. “How do you know the lyrics to all these songs? Do you listen to them regularly or something?”
She shrugged, though she knew no one could see her. “Not really. I’ve always had a pretty good memory.”
His chuckle found her ears somehow. “I hope you pass that down to the kid,” he said. “He’ll be lucky to have a naturally good memory. Mine’s not nearly as good as yours is.”
She blinked and took a moment to process what he’d just said. “He?”
“Or she, I don’t know.” A moment later, his head peeked back over the side of the roof. “Do you know? I forgot to ask.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I decided I want it to be a surprise.”
“Old-fashioned, huh?” he said. At first, she thought it was a criticism, but then he said, “I like that.”
Kyra felt her face grow hot again, and she looked at her feet to hide her blush since he was still looking at her. “Finish the roof,” she said, fully aware that the smile she was wearing came through in her voice. When she looked up again, he’d already gone back to the repair, and she went back to singing another song, which he eventually joined her in, occasionally forgetting the lyrics, but clearly having a great time regardless.
They worked so well together that she couldn’t help feeling confident they would never really part. Their life together felt inevitable, like the destiny her mother often spoke of.
When the roof was finished, she helped him put his tools away. He dusted off his knees and sighed in satisfaction. “Well, that’s done now. I can finally cross it off my list.”
“And I can finally move back in.” Kyra tried to smile, but found it was difficult when she thought about leaving the main house. She didn’t really want to go. Living with Adam had felt so right, so natural.
“You should stay in the main house,” Adam said all of a sudden.
Kyra had to remind herself to close her mouth. “What?”
“I said you should stay in the main house.” He didn’t look at her as he suggested it, and she wondered whether that was because he didn’t want her to see how he was really feeling. But did he hate the idea or did he love it? “Winter’s coming, and that apartment doesn’t stay as warm as it should. Stay in the main house.”
She bit her lower lip. “Wouldn’t that be an imposition?”
“No,” he said without hesitation. “It’ll be more convenient for me anyway. I won’t have to check on you regularly.”
“You would check on me regularly?” she asked, probably failing to hide the hope in her voice.
“Of course I would. I’m not going to let a pregnant woman get sick on my watch.” He paused and seemed to correct himself. “On my property, I mean. For legal reasons.”
“Mm-hm,” she said, a playful lilt in her tone. “Yeah, that makes sense.” She tried to keep her response casual and carefree. In truth, her heart was pounding at the idea that he might actually be coming around. Maybe she didn’t have to be a single mother? Maybe she’d found her partner for life.
