Mandy was…happy.
She was happy when it was just the two of them, facing the world.
She loved her family, the way he loved his family, but neither would be happy living among either household. They’d spent years alone, doing the impossible.
Together.
Otuo-sanstood, a slow unfolding, and stepped up to the bench where Hiro sat. When Hiro tipped his head back to look at his father, the older man placed one gnarled hand on Hiro’s shoulder.
“Then perhaps, my son, the two of you should build your own world.”
CHAPTER 9
Yesterday was Hogmanay, and Amanda realized that as much fun as she’d had with her family during the last week, she was anxious to move on. The south of France? Quebec?
Could she go to either of those places without Hiro? Would Alistair allow it?
She was on her way to his study to find out.
Because truthfully, honestly…she didn’t want to go to either of those places. Not now. Not yet. Not without him, and notthis particular week.
No, there was somewhere else she wanted to be by January sixth.
Would Hiro be there?
Had he received her messages?
Taking a deep breath, Amanda knocked on the door to her brother’s study.
No answer.
She knocked again, louder, knowing that Alistair’s condition which had kept him mute for so long hadn’t affected his hearing in the least.
Finally, the door was yanked open…by Olivia. Amanda’s sister-in-law was patting her hair, her lips looking plumper than usual, and her cheeks red as if scraped by…
Amanda raised a sardonic brow. She knew well enough the delicious damage a man’s unshaven jaw could do to delicate skin. “Apparently I’m interrupting something important.”
From across the room came the sound of a heavy breath being released, Alistair’s equivalent of a laugh, but Olivia just rolled her eyes and smiled. “Yes, well, I need to proof tomorrow’s stories anyway, and your brother can be very distracting.”
“Distracting,” Amanda repeated teasingly as she stepped through the door. “I’ll take your word for it.”
To her surprise, Olivia reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Good luck,” she whispered before she slipped out of the room.
Which left Amanda staring across the study at her brother, who was scowling and readjusting his collar as he settled back into his chair behind his desk.
Amanda lifted her chin and marched to one of the chairs opposite him. “I need your help coming up with a way to send Hiro eight milkmaids.”
Her brother’s hand fell to the desk and he huffed out his laugh again, lips curling up on one side. “Cheese instead?” he rasped.
Amanda cocked her head to one side and slowly nodded. “Eight wheels of cheese? Yes, that sounds delightfully ridiculous. I’ll have Smithers arrange it.”
Yesterday, in increasing desperation, she’d sent seven swans, an outrageously elaborate gift. The day before, it had been six goose eggs, the largest York had available. On the twenty-ninth, she’d sent him a set of bronze rings, interconnected in a clever puzzle, all polished to a golden sheen. The day before that had been a trained colly bird.
Yes, there was definitely a theme.
If she didn’t hear from him by tomorrow, she was going to have to set in motion the plans to surprise his family home with a ballet troupe of nine dancing ladies.
Each day closer to the Epiphany, each day closer to the end of the Christmas season, she became more desperate. More desperate to show Hiro what he meant to her, more desperate to elicit a response fromhim. Was he sulking? Or did he honestly not care for her the way she cared for him?
