“Are you in trouble?” she blurted out.
“What?”
“Are you in trouble?” she repeated, tightening her fingers on his. “With the law, or something.”
Interested, he kept his hand in hers. Her eyes were huge and drenched with concern. For him. He couldn’t remember ever being more touched. “Why would you think so?”
“The way you’ve come here... I guess the way you haven’t come before. And you act... I don’t know how to explain. You just seem so out of place.”
“Maybe I am.” It should have been amusing, but he didn’t smile. If he hadn’t been so sure he would regret it, he would have pulled her into his arms and just held on. “I’m not in trouble, Sunny. Not the way you mean.”
“And you haven’t been—” she searched for the most delicate way to approach the subject “—ill?”
“Ill?” Baffled, he studied her. The light dawned, slowly. “You think I’ve been—” Now he did smile, and surprised them both by bringing her hand to his lips. “No, I haven’t been ill, physically or otherwise. I’ve just been busy.” When she tried to draw her hand away, he held on. “Are you afraid of me?”
Pride had always been her strongest suit. “Why should I be?”
“Good question. You wondered if I was—” he gestured again “—unbalanced. But you let me stay. You even fed me.”
The uncharacteristic gentleness in his voice made her uncomfortable, “I’d probably have done the same for a sick dog. It’s no big deal.”
“I think it is.” When she pushed away from the table, he rose with her. “Sunbeam.”
“I told you not to—”
“There are times when it’s irresistible. Thank you.”
She was more than uncomfortable now. She was unnerved. “It’s okay. Forget it.”
“I don’t think so.” Gently his thumb stroked over her knuckles. “Tell me, if I had said I was in trouble, would you have helped?”
She tossed her head carelessly. “I don’t know. It would depend.”
“I think you would.” He took both her hands and held them until she was still. “Simple kindness, especially to someone away from home, is very precious and very rare. I won’t forget.”
She didn’t want to feel close to him. To be drawn to him. But when he looked at her like this, with such quiet tenderness, she went weak. There was nothing more frightening than weakness.
“Fine.” Fighting panic, she shook her hands free. “Then you can return the favor and do the dishes. I’m going for a walk.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“I don’t—”
“You said you weren’t afraid of me.”
“I’m not.” She let out a long-suffering breath. “All right, then, come on.”
The moment she opened the door, the cold stole her breath. The wind had died down and the sun was fighting through the layers of high clouds, but the air was like brittle ice.
It would clear her head, Sunny told herself. For a moment in the kitchen, with him looking so intently into her eyes, she’d felt as though... She didn’t know what she’d felt. She didn’t want to.
It was enough to be free to walk, though the snow was up to her knees. Another hour of confinement and she’d have gone mad. Perhaps that was what had happened to her in there, with him. A moment of madness.
“It’s wild, isn’t it?”
She stood in what had been the backyard and looked out on acres of solid white. The dying wind moaned through the trees and sent powdery snow drifting.
“I’ve always liked it best in the winter. Because if you’re going to be alone you might as well be completely alone. I forgot the bird food. Hang on.”