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Something was different about the house that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. She walked past the staircase again and suddenly realized the newel post no longer rattled. She grasped it and gave it a good shake, but it didn’t budge.
The back door opened, and Adam’s heavy footsteps echoed across the kitchen floor as he came farther into the house. He looked around, smiling when he saw her.
“You fixed the newel post?”
He nodded. “I hope you don’t mind. I doubt I did it correctly, but that rattle every time I walked past it was starting to get to me.”
“Mind?” she asked, completely befuddled by the question. “I think…I think I need to sit down for a moment.”
“Well, if you’re going to sit, do it at the table so we can eat.” He held a hand out to guide her into the kitchen, and she had the sudden desire to laugh.
Here he was, in her home, doing repairs, cooking dinner, inviting her to eat at her own table. And she realized, with a sudden shocking clarity, that she didn’t mind at all. She should. He’d overstepped. He’d stuck his nose, and his hammer, into areas where they didn’t belong. But she’d been going it alone for so long, it was a welcome relief to not have to do everything for at least a few moments. Despite the lingering embarrassment that she’d allowed things to get so bad in the first place.
She sat at the table and let him serve her a bowl of hot soup and buttered bread.
“Thank you,” she murmured, watching while he dished himself up a bowl and took a seat.
She waited, and he raised an eyebrow at her. Then slowly picked up his spoon and took a large bite of soup. “See. Not poisoned.”
That startled a laugh out of her. “I didn’t think you’d poisoned it. At least I don’t think I did,” she said, tilting her head. That certainly would have been one way to get away from her insistent demands to sign their marriage license.
She picked up her own spoon and took a cautious bite, then took another, closing her eyes with a happy sigh as the warm broth and savory vegetables slid down her throat.
“This is surprisingly good,” she said, her eyes flying to his when she belatedly realized that might not have come across as a compliment.
He laughed. “No, I agree. It is, indeed, a surprise. The bread I can’t take credit for, though. I found that in the cupboard.”
They ate in companionable silence for several minutes. It was so strange hownotstrange it felt to be sitting in such domestic bliss with him. What did that mean? Did she actually want him to stick around? Even after she had her deed in her name?
Since it was doubtful he’d ever want the same thing, it would be safer to move on to other topics.
“I saw Martha today. She said you start working with her at the store tomorrow.”
He nodded. “I know she is a particular friend of yours, so I will do my utmost not to burn, flood, spill, break, or otherwise destroy her store or anything in it.”
Nora choked on her soup and grabbed her napkin, coughing into it as she laughed. When she finally got her lungs working properly, she dabbed at her watering eyes. “I’m sure she’ll appreciate that.”
She stopped the next words from coming out of her mouth. She didn’t want to broach the subject that had been bouncing around in her mind. They’d been having such a lovely evening, and bringing up the glaring situation hanging over their heads never ended well. But she was running out of time to get him to do what she needed.
“If it doesn’t work out at the store, you know you can always—”
“I know, Nora,” he said, not bothering to hide his exasperation. “Sign the papers.”
She dragged her spoon through her soup a few times before finally putting it down. “Why are you so against the idea? And don’t say because you don’t believe in it or because it’s your one big rule or any of the other excuses you’ve used. I deserve a real answer.”
She kept her voice even, calm. She wasn’t angry, and the last thing she wanted to do was cause a fight, but she had to know what his reasoning was. His real reasons. Because it was beginning to look as though she’d never be able to convince him, and if that was the case, she needed to make some contingency plans. Probably something she should have been doing all along.
He sighed and put down his spoon as well. “I meant it when I said I wasn’t cut out for marriage. I’m not. You’ve been around me long enough now to see that when I said I always make the worst possible decisions, I wasn’t lying. If there is any possible way for me to completely bungle something, I seem to find it. It’s been that way my entire life.”
“I don’t see the universe or God or whoever is pulling the strings up there making an exception when it comes to marriage. I’ll admit I’m not the most selfless creature, but in this instance, I truly am trying to spare whatever poor woman crosses my path the pain and heartache that taking me as her husband would bring.”
She watched him for a second but couldn’t hold his gaze when she spoke again. “And if she loved you enough to risk it?”
He didn’t answer for long enough that she tried looking at him. His eyes locked onto hers, and she could see the sadness and regret there. “All the more reason to make sure she stayed far away. The last thing I would want would be for her to get hurt.”
“But…”
“That’s not the only reason,” he continued, stopping her from whatever argument she’d been about to make.
