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Jay gave her an odd look. “Yes. I did borrow her wagon.”
“I can have one of the coachman from town take it back. After all, this was awfully good of you to help me out. It’s the least I could do.”
“That’s not necessary. I told Ms. Freeman I would return shortly.”
Frustration swelled up in Erika. “You shouldn’t really be associating with that woman.”
“That woman? What’s wrong with Ms. Freeman?”
“Oh come on. Everyone knows about the widow’s little trysts.”
“What exactly is it you think I’m doing with her?”
She made an indignant expression. “I’m not a fool Jay. You told me yourself that you had no intention of marrying. But every man has his needs.”
Jay’s brows shot so high she thought they would literally fly off his forehead. “You want to discuss a man’s needs?”
“Of course not!”
“Just mine.”
“Yes. I mean, no. Jay, don’t try to confuse me. You know exactly what I am trying to say.”
“Actually, I don’t believe I do,” he said, crossing his arms. “What concern wou
ld it be of yours what I was doing with Ms. Freeman?”
She felt her tongue go all floppy as she tried to think of something coherent to say. “Someday you will be my brother-in-law. Your reputation is of concern to me.”
“My reputation is long past salvaging.”
Erika frowned at him. “That’s not true.”
He actually smiled. “I’m afraid so, princess.”
“Will you please stop referring to me as princess. It is highly degrading.”
His smile only broadened. “I guess we’re even then.”
“How’s that?”
“You stop calling me an ox and I’ll stop calling you princess.”
Her jaw dropped as she watched him head for the exit. Had Jay’s use of the diminutive term actually been meant as an endearment? Before she could think any further on it, he stopped at the door and looked back at her.
“If it makes you feel any better, Ms. Freeman hired me to fix one of the walls in her barn. It took quite a beating over the winter. If she wanted to pay me with anything other than a hearty meal, she is surely mistaken.”
He was gone before he could see the smile spread across her face.
She got up and fetched a book from her reading supply. She had just settled into a comfortable position when she heard the sound of footsteps in the hall. For some reason she looked up in hopeful anticipation, expecting to see Jay return.
Fiona swung open her bedroom door and Erika’s hopes vanished.
“Thank God you’re home,” the housekeeper said, out of breath, as if she had run all the way up the stairs. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
Erika noted the distressed expression on the woman’s face and sat bolt upright. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
The housekeeper took an anguishing moment to take a long, deep raspy breath, placing her hand over her chest as she did, and then at last said, “It’s your grandfather.”
