She cleared her throat. “His father was injured and hasn’t been able to work, you know—”
“I know.”
The words were enough because...he knew. And she knew that that was precisely why he was doing something kind for the boy. Because the already poor family had lost even more this year, and it was beginning to show in Nicholas’s too-worn boots and his too-small clothing.
Her heart seemed to lodge itself permanently in her throat. For a moment she couldn’t speak. “He’s proud, as well.”
“So I’ve gathered.”
“He won’t take it if he thinks it’s charity.”
He glanced up with a glare. “It’s not charity. This is the only way I can get him to keep his paws off my tools, that’s all.”
The urge to smile fled. “You won’t need to worry about that for long.”
He arched his brows. “What does that mean?”
“You’re leaving soon, are you not?”
He continued to stare.
Her tongue tied into knots. “And also, I’ll be leaving soon.”
His brows hitched. “Leaving?”
“For London.”
A long silence passed as he studied her. “To find a husband.”
Her lips felt stiff, her heart too erratic under his watchful gaze. “That is the idea, yes.”
“Hmmph.” He turned back to the whittling in his hand and she found herself staring at the top of his head and a now snoring Anna.
She turned to look out at the setting sun with an exasperated sigh. Hmmph, indeed.
Chapter 6
Caleb stared at the woman who’d somehow become a regular fixture in his home. “You cannot be serious.”
“Of course I’m serious.”
And she was. This much was certain. Everything about her was earnest and sincere.
That was Abigail, through and through. Genuine. Real. The only woman he’d ever met who had no pretenses. She was...easy like that. Easy to be around, at least. Quick to smile, even quicker to laugh, and not at all caught up in the superficial concerns that had always eluded him.
Well, she was easy to be around when she wasn’t torturing him with her mere presence.
He liked her. He could admit that. Even now as she met his gaze with that expectant, sweet little smile...he liked her, yes. Who wouldn’t? It wasn’t many women who would befriend a giant, ill-tempered beast with a history of crime and danger.
But she hadn’t just befriended him, she’d formed...expectations.
“You want me to do what exactly?” he asked. The shock in his voice lost some of its power as Polly chased that toddling little redheaded boy across his sitting room.
Abigail’s attention was on them rather than him. “Polly, no running inside. I’ve told you before.”
He stared at her profile as she used that tone that he found so soothing. It was strong, in command, and gentle, all at once.
Polly stopped. “Yes, Miss Abigail.”
It was also a voice that the children heeded, when they did not so much as blink when he spoke. Abigail turned back to him. “I would pay you, of course.” He glared until she flushed and murmured, “Or not.”
“I am not taking your money.” He wished he could storm off, but his little two-room cottage was once more overrun with her ever-present little army of pests. Snow was falling outside or he would have asked her to step outside so they could speak in relative peace. The only other room in this hut was his bedroom, and he certainly wasn’t inviting her in there.
Abigail wasn’t frightened of him—the silly fool—but she ought to be if he went and invited her into his private rooms.
The very thought had him scraping a hand through his hair as he watched Nicholas herd a few small demons into the kitchen area as he pretended to be a creature that would eat them.
Many squeals and giggles followed.
Abigail shifted forward so he might hear her over the chaos. “Might I ask you a personal question?” Her eyes were wide and bright. She was standing far too close. And yet it seemed her little army was herding them closer and closer as they circled round, like he’d seen dolphins do to their prey out at sea.
A personal question. He nearly laughed that she thought to ask for permission now—weeks too late. “Is there any way I could stop you?”
She ignored that. “Can you read, Caleb?”
Once again, she’d shocked him into silence.
She hurried to move even closer to his side, her voice dropping to little more than a whisper. “I apologize if that is a rude question.”
He looked away, rubbing a hand over his jaw as he tried to figure out where she was going with this.
“But if you cannot read...” She bit her lip as he glared down at her. “Then I suppose I thought, perhaps…that is, maybe...”
He sighed in exasperation. It wasn’t like Abigail to get tongue-tied around him and he didn’t care for it. “What if I can’t read?”
She clasped her hands together. “I thought I might teach you.”
He went stock still, his muscles tensing as if he was preparing for battle. “What?”
She licked her lips as she widened her eyes. “If you’d like, that is.”
If he’d like... His gaze seemed to have caught on her lips and he couldn’t quite bring himself to look away. Even the sound of the little devils at his feet couldn’t quite break through this moment. The air felt thick with tension like he’d never known. His chest felt too tight and the cottage too warm by far, even though the drafty old thing was frigid.
She took a step closer and shocked the life out of him by resting a hand on his arm as if to gain his attention. Peering up at him, she looked tentative but hopeful. “Would you like that, Caleb?”
“Yes.” One word and it seemed to upend his world.
Abigail beamed, the children around him shrieked—well, they hadn’t stopped shrieking and giggling since they’d arrived, but for a moment there he hadn’t been aware of it. Now he was, and his ears hurt.
“Wonderful!” Abigail exclaimed.
“What’s wonderful?” Nicholas asked.
Ever the nosy one, that Nicholas. Caleb looked to Abigail
