“We’ll figure something out.” I repeated her assurance from earlier, though I found it no more comforting than before. Placing a guiding hand on Kit’s back, I turned to hide my grimace as I muttered, “I’ll figure it out.”
30
Kit
It was barely light out when I woke the next morning. I was too warm with Penny draped over my chest and the blanket around us both. Even with the two beds pushed together, we were crowded, feet hanging off one side and arms off the other. Not that either of us minded. We reveled in the closeness.
It would make extricating myself from him difficult, though.
But that could wait. Penny was too peaceful to disturb, especially since our arrival in Eastcliff hadn’t gone quite as he envisioned. By the time he dragged me to bed the night before, I could tell he was disappointed.
I’d been a bit more practical in my expectations. I knew Amelina would be difficult to win over, and I couldn’t blame her. But if my mind could be changed about speedy engagements, hers could be, too. I was prepared to spend the next month earning her approval, no matter what it took.
Our conversation while Penny and Sayla prepared dinner had been a good start. I took the opportunity to gush over Penny’s progress in the forge and his skill with leatherworking. There were several pieces at hand to show off, between the belt he’d gifted me and his satchel. She was suitably impressed andremarked that he might take a look at the popped stitches on the plow horse’s harness.
She was even more interested when I mentioned his baking lessons and how he created delicious things from whatever we happened to have in the pantry. He was as masterful in the kitchen as he was at his workbench. And she couldn’t hide her smile when I lamented that I was bound to be ten pounds heavier by winter if he kept up with the parade of desserts every day, but at least there were kittens to chase around to work it all off again.
The smell of breakfast wafted through the crack under the door, and my stomach rumbled. Penny shifted and rolled, giving me space to ease out from under him and escape the stifling heat of the blankets and bed.
Gooseflesh prickled across my arms when the chill of the room hit my skin, so I dressed quickly to fend it off. Once assured Penny was still tucked under the covers, I feathered a kiss across his forehead, then quietly left the room.
I hadn’t spent much time paying attention to the house the last time we’d been here; I never intended to come back. Now, though, it seemed likely this would become my home once things with the Bone Men were over. It was cozy—admittedly much too small for two grown men to hope for privacy with a third person in such close proximity—but that could be solved with the addition of a separate living space. There was room enough behind the house that wasn’t used for planting, and we’d find a way to make it work.
Farming wasn’t my first choice of profession, but it was familiar. I was good at it. And I could be happy here with Penny if that was what he wanted. Anywhere could be home so long as he was there.
When I rounded the corner into the kitchen, I expected to find Sayla and Amelina preparing the morning meal, but Saylawas nowhere in sight. Amelina stirred a large pot of porridge while eggs sizzled in the pan to her left. Aside from her, the only other person in the room was a man. His sandy blond hair was windblown and slightly damp, and he sat at the table facing away from me.
I tried to remember Sayla’s suitor’s name, certain it must be him, but before I could dredge it from the depths of my memory, Amelina noticed me in the doorway.
“Oh, good morning,” she said.
The man at the table turned to face me, and for a moment I was sure I was still asleep and this was a particularly bad dream. But no, I was awake and relieved I hadn’t roused Penny. This house was only big enough to contain one of the Oliver sons, and yet here Merrick was, reposed at the table with mud on his boots and a smirk on his face.
The Shroud Warden’s smug humor stirred anger in my gut that was more for Penny’s sake than my own. I wanted to return to the bedroom and warn Penny that our shared bane was now under the same roof, but Amelina spoke again, and I was as good as trapped.
“Kit, this is my eldest, Merrick.” She gestured first to him, and then back to me. “Merrick, this is Kit, Penwell’s intended.” Her shoulders squared a little, and I thought she looked proud as she met Merrick’s surprised gaze. “He’s teaching your brother blacksmithing and leatherwork.”
“Intended?” Merrick asked, turning his attention on me. “Must be a recent development seeing as this is our first time meeting and I’ve not been away long.”
So, he was going to play it that way. He’d kept his affiliation with the Bone Men secret for years, after all, so it made sense he didn’t want it spoiled now. It might have been the singular thing on which we could agree.
Merrick rose from his seat and approached me, offering his hand as that wry smile continued to tease his lips. I fought a sneer as I clasped his hand and shook. It was an effort to hide the surge of fury burning up my insides as I plastered on a believably pleasant smile.
“You were indisposed when I was last here,” I said. “Called away by the militia, I believe. Perhaps if you’d been home with your family while they were mourning, you wouldn’t have missed it.” Before Merrick could snap back with a response, I added on, “But I imagine a man in a position as important as yours has more pressing duties to attend to.”
Merrick dropped my hand, leaving me to cross to where Amelina was tending the eggs. “I’m surprised not to see Sayla here helping.” A natural enough change of topic, though the elder Oliver brother seemed none too pleased to have lost his chance at a cutting retort.
“She’s gone to fetch Warren, her suitor.” Amelina glanced over with a faint smile. “He offered to help with planting, and we’re in no position to refuse. So, we’ll have breakfast together before you all get started.”
I reached for the wooden spoon she’d been using to stir the porridge. She eyed my outstretched fingers for a moment, then hesitantly passed the utensil to me.
“I’ll be glad to meet him.” I slid in closer and took up stirring in her stead. “Penny’s told me a lot about him. He’s a silversmith, yes?”
Amelina nodded. “He does fine work. Not as delicate as his father’s, but he has time yet to learn.”
“At least hecanlearn,” Merrick quipped.
We glanced back at him in unison. He had returned to his chair where he leaned back with his arms crossed over his chest.
