“I can’t keep sharing mine with you,” I say in a joking tone. “I need it myself.”
Guilt crosses her face, and I regret my words immediately.
“Half off.” The tailor’s stern declaration turns both our heads. “The jacket is half off if you buy the rest.”
“Done,” I say before Selene can interject. I came prepared for this, so I fish out the coins I brought and slide them across the counter. The woman counts them out, all while Selene mutters objections to the amount of clothing we’ve decided on.
Then we’re on our way home, new acquisitions stuffed into the saddlebag. Immediately upon arriving, Selene takes a long bath, then changes into her new dress.
I am stunned by the figure that walks out. She is already putting on some weight, her cheeks softer, her bones less obvious. The dress is loose, but it will fill out as she does.
Perhaps I will cook up some fatty bacon tonight.
“Wonderful,” I say, getting to my feet. Then I reach into my pocket to pull out the tortoiseshell hair clip I purchased while she wasn’t looking, and her eyes get big.
“What is that?”
“For this.” I turn her around, then lift up her hair and bind it with the large clip, keeping it out of her eyes. “There.”
When Selene turns back to face me, her eyes are turning red.
“Thank you.” Her voice is tremulous. “I’m glad it was you who found me in the woods that night.”
I want to bring her into my arms, to comfort her by holding her, but I also don’t want to encroach. She should feel safe here after what she’s been through.
“Me too,” I say. “So I could see you in that dress.”
Though she is crying, her cheeks are pink, and there is a slight smile on her soft lips.
I will hoard every one of them.
SELENE
I don’t deserve this man’s kindness, as easily as he gives it away. Not while I’m keeping such a great secret from him. He ought to know what he’s brought under his roof.
Yet, I am selfish. I like it here in Harry’s home. He’s fairly clean, though once I can get around on my feet better, I get into the dirty corners he seems to have missed and clean them to shining. It is a small house, but sufficient for one man.
Not so sufficient for one woman and one man who are not sleeping in the same bed.
I worry about Harry having the cot every night, but he refuses to trade with me.
“Perhaps we could build another bed,” I suggest. “Something more comfortable, and then I can have the smaller one.”
He quirks a brow at me. “You won’t let this rest, will you?”
I square my shoulders. “No.”
“All right, then,” he says with a sigh. “I’ll ask Nick to make one. He’s the carpenter who lives down the lane.”
Somehow I’ve found myself spending even more of Harry’s money, which sours my stomach with guilt. But I won’t be the reason he wakes up with a stiff back, either.
Then the constable brings me the deed to my house. Now that means I owe the bank a good sum of money—orI find someone to take it off my hands. Not that there are many takers for the cursed house out in the woods.
Harry helps me search for buyers, and we draw up posters together to hang around the township. Eventually, a young man with a wife and small children contacts us, and I offer him an extremely reasonable price so I can be rid of it, broken door and all.
He accepts. The bank transfers the lien, and I make a small sum of money after expenses. Enough to cover my own costs for a few years, at least, which is the most I could ask for. Immediately I pay back Harry for the clothing he bought me, but he refuses to take compensation for the food.
“It’s mine to give,” he says, surprisingly authoritative. Usually he’s softer than this, but he won’t stand for me trying to push him coins across the table. “You can spend your own money when you go to the grocer’s.”
