“JESUS, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?” LIVY TOUCHED THE BRUISES AND SCRATCHES ON KIT’S FACE.
He stepped back to let her into the cabin. “Oh, yeah. I was fixing someone’s flat alongside the road, and slipped into the ditch. Which of course was full of blackberries.”
It wasn’t even the first time he had gotten into a fight with the goblins and had to lie to people about the bruises. It had happened two or three times before, in the earliest years of his liaison position. He’d behaved since then, up until snapping last night. He didn’t entirely regret lashing out at them. They needed to know when they’d crossed a line. Nonetheless, he hated lying every bit as much as he hated stealing.
Livy seemed to buy his excuse. She winced in sympathy. “Ouch. I know the evil ways of blackberry vines. Or holly—God, that stuff’s sharp. And don’t get me started on nettles and poison oak.”
He sank onto a barstool and drew her close, hands around her hips. “That’s what you got yourself into, choosing the Forest Service.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She spread her hands along his shoulders. The soapy smell of her perfume calmed and aroused him, simultaneously. “At least I got to save a frog today.”
“Just today? Just one frog? Shoot, I was under the impression you were out there saving frogs by the hundreds every day.”
She laughed. “I am, of course, but usually I don’t see them. Today I was working with the volunteers, clearing roads and trails after the windstorms we’ve been having. And we moved a log, and this college girl looked down and said, all sad, ‘Oh, a dead frog.’ So I came and checked it out, and told her, no, he’s probably alive, just hibernating. Gave her the whole spiel: how they can look dead during winter; in fact, they can even freeze. Like, ice can form in their blood, but then in spring they thaw right out and come back to life.”
“They can freeze? Really? I never knew that.”
“Yep. They’re pretty amazing, frogs. So we made him a new bed of dead leaves in the log, and tucked him in. With any luck he’ll be hopping around and eating bugs again in spring.”
He curled his fingers under the warm hem of her sweatshirt. “Olivia Darwen, preserver of life and happiness.” In the past week they’d shared their full names. She’d seemed intrigued when he told her his first name was merely “Kit” on the birth certificate, and wasn’t short for anything.
Her smile faded, and she threaded her fingers through the ends of his hair. “Well. Some varieties of life and happiness, anyway.”
Kit spread his hands, holding her steadier. “How’s Skye?”
She shrugged, keeping her gaze on his collar. “I still think it’s good for her to have Grady around. They seem to be friends now.”
“I kind of get the impression he’s smitten. Don’t worry, though; I’m sure he’ll be honorable about it.”
“Oh, she can handle herself there. And he doesn’t seem the aggressive type. I’m not worried. Just…”
“What?”
She finally stopped fiddling with his hair, and met his eyes again, for a second. “She still isn’t herself. I don’t know how they’re getting along, since she’s talking even less than ever.”
He slid his arms further around her back, holding her in a loose hug. “These things take time. You’re doing what you can. Grady’s helping too, maybe, or at least he’s probably not doing any actual damage.”
She touched her nose to his. “Let’s hope not.”
“If he does, let me know, and I’ll do something appropriately evil to him.”
“Like what? Hide the oregano?”
“Worse. Make him cook with margarine instead of butter.”
She laughed, and wrapped her arms around him.
How have you been, hon? Skye’s mom asked in email, after a paragraph of news about exploring Portland with her boyfriend. I miss seeing your art. How are you feeling?
Skye rested her elbows on the counter at Green Fox as she read the message. Sadness overtook her as she dwelled on childhood memories of the rare times her mom was relaxing at home instead of working, and Skye would clamber into her lap with a handful of crayons and insist on drawing with her. Gone, all of that, gone. She might never see her mother again, or her father. Her parents and Livy and Jamie and the rest of the world would never know why she’d vanished or what had happened…