She gave Suzanne an extra tight hug as they said their goodbyes on the porch. It wasn’t far to their house from Suzanne and James’s, so they’d just walked in front of the horses, Tripp leading them behind.
They walked in silence, Sadie not sure what to talk about after their interesting day…and her conversation with Suzanne. She’d had no idea that her attraction to Tripp was so obvious, and she didn’t want to embarrass him any further. But she wasn’t quite ready to let the day end, although her mind kept telling her that she should just leave well enough alone.
“It’s a little chilly, don’t you think?” Sadie said as they arrived at the house.
Sadie had just pulled her wrap more tightly around her shoulders against the chill and she wondered if he’d noticed.
His head jerked toward her, as if he’d been deep in thought.
“Yes, it is,” he said. She wondered if he’d noticed her at all.
“Would you care for a little hot chocolate before bed?”
His eyebrows furrowed as he gazed at her in the moonlight, his hand tightening around the reins. He cleared his throat and said, “Yes. Yes, that would be nice. I’ll go put the horses and buggy away and be right in.”
She felt his gaze on her—or at least she thought she did—as he waited for her to close the door behind her. She hung her wrap, hat and gloves on the rack by the door and grabbed her blue apron, pulling it over her head and tying it behind her.
She sat on the kitchen stool while the milk heated, drumming her fingers on the counter as her chin rested in her hand. I don’t know what I’m even hoping for, she thought as she got up to stir the milk so it wouldn’t scald.
She added a bit of the chocolate powder she’d saved precious room in her suitcase for when she’d come from Chicago. She hadn’t yet made any, and she added a little sugar while she finished stirring the mugs and set the spoon down, hoping Tripp would like it.
Setting the mugs on a tray along with two biscuits she’d made and fresh butter, she headed into the parlor, stopping short as she rounded the corner. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of Tripp, his back to her as he blew on the logs he’d placed in the fireplace and fanned it with his hand at the same time.
The light of the fire almost made his brown hair glow, and as he’d removed his coat, she could see the muscles of his back move against his shirt.
She stood for a moment, watching him and wondering if this is what he’d done on the trail, getting the fire ready to cook with and take care of his men.
Although she set the tray down quietly on the small table, he started and turned, his green eyes also lit by the fire as he looked from her to the tray, smiling.
“I thought you might like a fire,” he said as he looked away and down at the flames.
She picked up a mug of chocolate and carried it over to him, her heart skipping a beat as his hand brushed hers while he took it. He looked up as skin touched skin and backed away, sipping the hot chocolate and letting out an admiring sigh.
“This is wonderful,” he said as he wrapped his hands around the warm mug. “I haven’t had this since I left New York.”
Her tension eased as she turned and picked up her own mug, sipping it and settling down into a chair by the fire, watching him as he sat on the hearth.
He set his mug on the small table beside the chair and rested his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands together and staring in front of him.
Sadie sat quietly, looking into the fire, unsure of what to say. She’d tried flirting, laughing, teasing, being serious, all in one day, and felt fresh out of ideas to catch his attention. She’d just decided to give up when he looked from the ground to her, catching her gaze.
“You have beautiful blue eyes,” he said, before looking back down.
She smiled, her heart lifting a bit.
“Thank you,” she said, her brows rising in surprise that he’d noticed anything about her.
“You and Suzanne look very much alike. Her hair is beautiful,” he said, turning toward her. “I imagine yours is, too.”
His head cocked to one side as he looked at her.
Her hand flew to her bun, remembering what Suzanne had said about wearing her hair down. She smiled at the compliment and put another small stray curl back into a pin at the base of her neck.
“Thank you,” she said as her cheeks heated. “I am not in the habit of wearing it down, though, like she is.”
“Why not?” he asked quietly, not taking his eyes off of her.
Flustered under his gaze, she tried to lighten the mood. She’d thought she’d wanted his attention, but now that she had it, she wasn’t quite sure what to do.
“I was rather young when I first started working in my parents’ bakery. They’d taken Suzanne and me with them when we’d caused a little too much trouble at home without them and they needed to keep their eye on us.” She looked from the fire to him.
“I can imagine you two were a handful if you were anything like Lucy and Lily,” he said, laughing.
She took a deep breath and continued, glad she’d re-directed the conversation.
“One of the first jobs we had was decorating Christmas cookies for a very wealthy client. She was a good client of my parents’, and she had said she was fine with us experimenting on some of her cookies as it was to be a children’s party.”
“I bet those cookies turned out interestingly,” he said, picking up his mug and taking another sip.
Sadie laughed. “Yes, they did. I’m not sure that they resembled anything Christmas-related, but we had fun. And the customer was pleased with them, so my parents were happy.”
“So, what does this have to do with you keeping your hair up?”
She set down her empty mug and sighed.
“The customer came back the next day and presented my father with a small, silk bag. When she opened it, it had several long blonde strands of hair in it that had been in the box. Not the cookies, but the box. She graciously thanked him for the cookies and asked him if next time, he’d leave out the special ingredient.”
“Oh, my,” he said, his smile wide.
“Oh, my, indeed. Suzanne and I were both horrified—as was my mother—but my father just laughed it off. The next day, though, he handed us both pins and caps and made us wear them forever more,” she said, her head shaking at the memory. “And I continued, as I stayed. I imagine Suzanne started wearing hers down when she left the bakery for Arizona.”
She imagined that Tripp, being a fellow cook, could appreciate the horror she’d felt, and it was clear he did, although he seemed to think it was pretty funny. She couldn’t help but smile as he continued to chuckle.
“I’m glad you think it’s amusing, and I guess it sort of is. But it sure wasn’t at the time, and I’ve worn my hair up ever since. And my apron, pretty much, so my dress isn’t white, covered with flour.”
She lifted up her apron and played with the hem while she spoke. “And it’s my lucky apron,” she said, her voice lower.
He regarded her for a moment, cocking his head to the side, and she thought he was incredibly handsome by the firelight. So much so that she looked away.
“I’d sure like to know why it’s your lucky apron, Sadie,” he said, leaning forward, his elbows on his knees again.
She shook her head, and with a twinkle in her eye, she said, “Not on your life, Mr. Morgan. Not until you tell me why you left the trail. And went to New York.”
Her eyebrows rose, her mouth firmly shut—but it was all she could do to hold back a smile, trying to ignore that thought about staying out of trouble. Not pushing.
He turned to the fire again, his look of surprise hidden as he rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.
“Fair enough, Sadie. Fair enough.”
He stood, reaching for her mug and placed it on the tray with his.
As he passed her, he stopped and said, “Thank you for the lovely day—and interesting evening. Shall I put out the fire?”
“No, I’ll do it before I retire. I’m not quite ready,” she said, staring at the beautiful flames that looked to her a bit like the sunset they’d seen together earlier.
She sat as she heard him climb the stairs and close his bedroom door behind him. She laid her head back in her chair, wondering just what it would take to get this man to open up to her. Trust her.
Walking to the fireplace, she stirred the fading embers until she was sure there was no more flame, placed the grate securely in front of it and headed toward the stairs herself.
Maybe tomorrow. At the restaurant. I can show him how much help I can be, she thought as she slowly climbed the stairs, ready for bed and a fresh start tomorrow.