Page 109 of Always to Remember
And with her silence, she had betrayed Clay as well.
“Hoowee! That woman looks mad enough to spit!” Lucian said as he stepped off the porch.
Halting in the doorway, Clay followed his brother’s gaze and saw Meg trudging toward the house. His stomach tightened, and he was grateful he hadn’t eaten much breakfast.
The twins worked their way past him and hopped off the porch. “Mornin', Miz Meg. We wasn’t expectin’ to see you this mornin'.”
“I need someone to pull up the shutters on the shed.”
“No, you don’t,” Clay said. “The shed is staying closed.”
She quirked a thin, dark brow. “My stone is in there, and I want to have a look at it.”
“Your stone?”
“That’s right. I purchased it. It belongs to me.”
“But it’s in my shed, and I don’t want you going in there.”
“Unfortunately, we can’t always have things go the way we want them to. If you won’t pull the shutters up, I’ll do it myself.”
“We’ll get ‘em up for you,” the twins yelled before they darted toward the shed.
“I’ll give them a hand,” Lucian said as he tipped his hat toward Meg and walked away.
She smiled triumphantly, and Clay felt as though he’d just marched into a battle he couldn’t win. He shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
“I intend to.”
His hand itched, and it had nothing to do with the healing wound. He had an urge to reach out and touch her cheek, press his lips against hers, and invite the softness back into his life. He nodded toward the shed. “They’ve got the shutters up.”
“Are you going to come with me?”
“No, ma’am.”
She tilted up her nose. “Suit yourself.”
“I intend to, Mrs. Warner.”
Spinning on her heel, she walked toward the shed. Clay watched as she ruffled the twins’ hair in passing. Judging from the wide grin on Lucian’s face, Clay decided she smiled at Lucian along the way.
Stepping off the porch, Clay watched her walk into the shed. Sometimes, late at night, he went into the shed and watched the shadows. They changed with the positioning of the moon, but they no longer changed with the touch of his hand.
“What do you reckon she’s lookin’ for?” Josh asked as he sidled up against Clay.
“I don’t know. What did you tell her to look for?”
Josh’s eyes widened. “Didn’t tell her to look for nothin’.”
“Mmm-uh.”
“Honest.”
“After all this time, she just shows up this morning after you two disappeared for a spell yesterday. I find that to be mighty coincidental.”
“Clayton Holland!” she yelled from the doorway. “Get yourself in here.”
Clay leaned against the porch beam. Joe stepped onto the porch. “We did go see her. Our hearts and minds had a meetin’ and decided it was best. Think if you’d let your heart and mind have a meetin', you’d go see what she wanted.”
