Kay chuckled. “I’ve been reading upside down ever since I was a little kid. I can’t break the habit now. Good morning, incidentally. You’re certainly up at a disastrously early hour-for you. Particularly on a Sunday morning.”
“I came to talk to you.” Tossing his jacket on a chair, Stix made his way to the kitchen. After a moment, Kay heard him making coffee and reflected that by the time Stix actually married, she would have him very well trained for domestic life.
In the meantime, she yawned and returned to her book. Last night the temperature had hovered around ten degrees, and when she’d awakened to a white December morning, laziness had hit her like a submarine. She’d roused herself long enough to make breakfast, build a terrific fire and grab a pillow and a book. Her jeans and crewneck sweater were old and baggy, ideal attire for a somnolent winter morning.
Engrossed in her book, she barely glanced up when Stix set the steaming coffee mug down beside her. “Did you know,” she asked him, “that if you wrap some catnip in a chamois and hold it in your hands until the catnip gets warm, the next man to hold your hand will fall in love with you?”
“Is this a quiz?” Stix eased himself down on the floor, his long legs taking up more space than her entire body. Pushing up the cover of her book, he read, “
“You want to hear another good one?”
“No.”
“You take five strands of the woman’s hair and three strands of the man’s hair and weave them together, then toss them into the fire. This causes the man and the woman to be consumed by passion for each other.”
Stix looked patient. “Could we at least give serious conversation a whirl?”
“Certainly.” Kay set the book on her chest with a grin. Propping a pillow behind her, she reached for the coffee mug and took a sip.
Stix leveled her a steadfast stare, then cracked his knuckles like a nervous adolescent. “You know, it’s only ten days until Christmas. Are you planning to spend it with your folks?”
“Nope. Mom and Dad are taking a cruise, leaving on the twenty-sixth. Didn’t I tell you that?”
“No, you didn’t. What about your sister?”
“Jana’s planning to go with them. As always, it depends on her health.” Kay’s eyes clouded. “She’s been doing terrific lately, but from month to month that changes. She wants so badly to take a full-time job, but I don’t know if she can handle it.”
“You didn’t tell me that, either.” There was a plaintive note in Stix’s voice that made Kay’s eyebrows arch in surprise. “You free this afternoon? I thought we’d do a little ice skating. John’s set up a rink-”
She shook her head. “Can’t, Stix, but thanks. Mitch is picking me up at three. We’re going to his parents’ house.”
“His parents?” Stix echoed.
“You know. The people who brought him into the world. It’s a fairly common, phenomenon-” Stix’s booted foot nudged her thigh, and she chuckled.
“That’s exactly what I came to talk to you about, dunce. The birds and the bees.”
“I’d rather read. I teach that stuff all week.” She grabbed her book and opened to the appropriate page again.
Stix got up long enough to seek out the Sunday paper in the wicker stand by the couch. Folding himself back down on the carpet next to her, he crackled the paper and promptly buried himself behind it. “He’s becoming a fixture around here. I thought I just might bring that to your attention.”
“Are we by any chance talking about Mitch?” Kay asked demurely.
Stix rattled his paper irritably. “Let’s see,” he drawled. “Last Monday I found you both curled up in front of the TV set watching a horror movie.”
“A thriller, not a horror movie,” Kay corrected absently. Mitch had repeatedly rooted for the villain. After which they’d walked the streets of Moscow in the dead of night. Even her navel had been frostbitten, she’d told him when they’d come home. He’d gravely inspected her navel, and thawed it out with his tongue. And then he’d left her, very gentleman-like.
“And last Tuesday you were out. Which of course doesn’t necessarily mean you were with-”
“We were looking for furniture for his place,” Kay said defensively. She hadn’t wanted to go. She’d explained patiently to Mitch that she had no taste. He’d dragged her to Spokane anyway, just in time to see the stores close. At least the restaurants were open, and he’d fed her oysters. A first for her. Their rumored aphrodisiac qualities had worked for him all the way home; he’d had to get off the highway twice to taste various parts of her body. And then he’d left her at her door, very gentleman-like.
“Wednesday, too?”
“Wednesday, too.” On Wednesday Mitch had convinced her he was honestly serious about needing at least a couch. They’d even made every effort to hit the stores while they were still open, but when it came to trying out couches they’d gotten sidetracked.
“Thursday you took the entire neighborhood cheering section to hear him speak at-”
“The university.” He’d looked so grave standing at the lectern. Grave and dominating and…fascinating to listen to. Mitch had talked of the mineral resources that had been destroyed over the years as a result of careless mining-the supply of gems alone could be critical to Idaho’s future. They’d finished up that talk at one in the morning at her house, over mugs of Irish coffee, and after that he’d left her at the door, disgustingly gentleman- like.
“Friday you canceled the poker game. You were taking a drive-”
“To Hells Canyon.” An insane place to fool around in winter. She’d been so out of breath from climbing that she was gasping-who would guess he’d take her up on such a crazy idea anyway?-and then they’d both missed the winter sunset, because he’d gotten the harebrained idea he was going to chase her laughter. He’d chased
“And that was only
This week’s activities had begun on Monday night. The not very glamorous activity was making goodies for the school Christmas bake sale;
“Mrs. O’Brien thinks it’s charming. She’s delighted with you. Susan grins whenever your name is mentioned. The boys are counting on an additional regular for the Friday-night poker games. Everyone thinks it’s terrific,” Stix said darkly. “I’d just like a guarantee that you’re not out of your tree.”
“Hmm?” Kay whirled around. How long had she been staring into the fire?
Stix sighed. “You seem to have lost the thread of this conversation.”
“No, I haven’t, you sweetheart.” Kay twisted around and sat cross-legged. “It’s about time we had a talk about these protective instincts of yours. The problem is that you need a home of your own. People to take care of. One of these days you’re going to forget the trip your parents laid on you, and figure out that you don’t have to have a marriage like theirs. This devil-may-care bachelor’s life has gone on long enough.”
Stix looked faintly alarmed. “How did you manage to twist this entire conversation so fast? We were talking about
“Samantha isn’t the one, dammit. Liz was, and still is. You think it’s an accident you only go for long, leggy blondes? You and Liz have both been extremely stupid for the last three years. If she’d married someone else, you’d be stuck, but as it is you can at least try one more time.”
Stix rapidly lurched up on his long legs. “Look, I don’t know how you got started on
“Exactly what you want, you fool. Basically you’re a homebody. You can’t stand to be alone-you’re forever fixing things around here, the kids in the neighborhood gravitate toward you as if you were a pro football star, and you’re
