Kit snorted as the smile took over and made his eyes glitter with mirth. “You'd finally have a use for that knife of yours.” He nodded toward the dagger sheathed to my hip. “I made it to scare away predators, after all.”
I couldn’t help but think of Tessa. She’d been a predator in her own right, and I’d never told Kit about how I’d menaced her. I wasn’t sure I had the courage to actually use the knife onsomeone, but perhaps the threat of the weapon was enough to scare off idiots like Anders.
I grinned. “Oh, I'm not too worried about it. With your penchant for putting yourself between me and any perceived danger,you'rethe one most likely to end up being cuddled to death.”
Kit’s expression went slack as if he was surprised I’d noticed. Or perhaps he was arriving late to the realization himself. I chuckled and pulled away, though I immediately missed the press of his hand on my side. Anders wasn’t the only person with work to get done.
Back at my worktable, I had just enough time to get both edges of the belt thoroughly waxed and brought to a high shine before we were interrupted again. This time, the visitor nearly snuck up on us, slinking quietly into the shop unnoticed until she cleared her throat.
I jumped, and the clank of Kit’s hammer came to a sudden stop. Turning, I spotted Isla only a few feet away. She looked almost like an apparition, wispy and pale with white-blonde hair hanging around her face. Her eyes seemed impossibly round as they flicked from Kit to me and she summoned the nerve to speak.
“Hello, Kit. Penny.” She nodded to us in turn.
I dipped my chin in response, afraid to speak for fear of scaring her away. Kit seemed to feel similarly as he lifted the tool he’d been shaping from the anvil and returned it to rest in the coals of the forge.
“Afternoon, Isla,” he said. “Is there something we can help you with?”
She shook her head, swinging locks like cornsilk across her shoulders. “Just visiting. Glad to see you’re both doing well.”
“Same to you,” Kit replied.
Isla swayed slightly and twisted her hands in the patchwork fabric of her cloak. The silence swelled like a bubble for several moments until it popped with the woman’s belated addition of, “You know, since the third Oath.”
Kit stared at her and so did I while quiet descended once more. I wasn’t sure if she stood there one minute or five before she cleared her throat again.
“That’s all,” she said, then turned and scurried away without another word.
The whole encounter was so abrupt and strange that I found myself lost for words. Finally, I settled to say, “That was nice of her.”
Kit squinted across the square, tracking the woman’s retreating form. “Strange is what it was,” he grunted.
“Maybe a bit,” I admitted. “Or she’s just shy.”
“Notthatshy,” Kit replied. “She’s quite personable when Otis isn’t around.”
The scrutiny in his expression made me sigh. He was suspicious, of course. Of everyone. Always warning me not to trust the people in town or their hidden intentions. I’d come to see some of the rationale in his paranoia, but it could be a bit exhausting. We barely knew Isla. What reason would she have to wish us ill?
“She made the tea, didn't she?” I asked. “For my cough? She was likely relieved it helped.”
Kit’s features stayed pinched as he retrieved the metal piece from the fire. “Except that it didn't,” he replied bitterly.
I huffed. “If I’d had an actual cold, I'm sure it would have.”
Kit grunted and carried the tool back to the anvil. He took up his hammer in the other hand. The pinging sound accompanied the spray of sparks as he set to the task of flattening the glowing piece of iron.
With the belt burnished and the workday nearing its end, I was at a loss of ways to occupy my mind. I tidied up the bench and tucked the belt out of sight, then rose to get my sketchbook from my satchel when a thought wriggled into my mind. Something Anders said that was almost pleasant. Amusing at least, and I couldn’t keep it to myself.
I crossed the shop to where Kit was hammering and stepped up behind him so his form nearly blocked me completely from the view of passersby.
Pushing onto my toes, I nuzzled my face next to his ear and whispered, “I should ask, though, whatdoyou think of my pretty green eyes?”
The hammer missed its mark and struck the surface of the anvil with a clang. He stood still for only a moment before resting the tool on the anvil top and stooping to lean his tongs against the base of the stand. When he turned around, I batted my eyelashes and laughed.
Kit smiled, the softest look I’d seen on him since Isla’s departure. Rather than wait for me to take his hand and put it where I wanted it, he snaked his arm around my waist and splayed his hand on the small of my back. Then, he studied me. He stared long enough I wanted to shy away from his inspection but, before I could, he spoke in a gentle voice.
“They’re like the leaves of a snowdrop, the first hint that winter’s ending and warmth is coming. The promise of better times ahead.”
I blanched, mouth going dry while I failed to come up with any kind of response. I’d meant to be cheeky, but Kit turned the moment into something so endearing and earnest that I felt myself melting against him.
