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“In which case, the rest of us stand no chance,” Hana said with a rare smile. “We saw the way he rushed to your defense in the market.”
“Yes, he was almost as bold as the chicken,” Mair quipped.
“I’m sure he would have defended anyone in distress,” Elwyn said.
“I do hope that peddler doesn’t come back,” Hana said with a shudder. “I’ve never liked him.”
“His pots aren’t even that good,” Nesta said.
From there, the conversation drifted to housewares, to Elwyn’s relief. When she closed the shop and went to the kitchen that evening, she found Bryn working along with Gladys to make dinner. “I don’t think I’ve worked in a tea shop,” Bryn said with a rueful smile. “I’m sorry I abandoned you.”
“I was fine,” Elwyn said. “And they were glad you were gone so they could discuss you thoroughly.”
“Do I want to know what they had to say?”
“That you were almost as bold as the chicken,” she said, trying to keep a straight face, but unable to hold back a smile.
“Accurate,” he said.
“I did make it clear that it was up to you to choose which woman in the village you want. No one has a claim.”
“Do I have to?”
“Of course not. If we’re lucky, you may start getting baked goods and other treats delivered as they try to woo you.”
“I don’t know whether I’ve been wooed before. I don’t think I want to be right now. Do you think you could claim me, in a purely protective move?”
“Most of them assume I already have.”
He stirred some herbs into the pot simmering on the stove. “That’s good, then.”
Maybe it was. But that wasn’t likely to end well.
Chapter 11
The next day, Gladys finished cleaning out the spare room and had set it up for Bryn, who was now fit enough to climb the stairs. She’d even removed some of the frillier decorative touches and had done what she could to make it look more masculine. Elwyn had to admit that she felt somewhat self-conscious knowing he was just across the landing from her, especially after what Sara Smith had said the day before at the market. Elwyn suspected the villagers would be disappointed to learn that everything was perfectly proper and they had separate rooms.
He continued to heal, and after another couple of days his wound had become a fresh pink line. She was no longer concerned about it reopening or festering. “So, I’m healed?” he said as he put his shirt back on after her exam.
“You might want to keep it bandaged while that skin is new, so it doesn’t get chafed, and I would suggest returning to your normal activities gradually. Don’t overdo it.”
“If only I knew what my normal activities were.”
“Nothing’s come back to you?”
He shook his head. “I do get the occasional flash that feels like it might be a memory, but before I can grab on to it and consider it, it disappears. It’s like trying to capture mist. Do you have anything you could give me that could help spur memories?”
“Every preparation I have that’s supposed to help the mind is more about moving on from the past and putting memories behind you. I don’t have anything that brings back lost memories. Rosemary is supposed to make you more alert and sharpen your memory, but it doesn’t have anything to do with bringing back your entire past.”
“If it was an injury, it should have healed by now, shouldn’t it?”
“If it had been a head injury, you would have had more headaches and dizziness in the first place. You never did, did you?”
“No. But what else could have caused it? Magic?”
She hesitated before saying, “That’s a possibility. Your unconsciousness when you first arrived seems to have been largely caused by magic.”
“It was?”
