To make matters worse, Adam had come to his feet and fastened his pants as if it didn't bother him at all to do so in front of her. She started for the door, but he caught her arm. "Better use the back door," he said.
She turned toward his kitchen, but he didn't let her go. He drew her into his arms instead and planted a slow, devastating kiss on her lips. By the time he was through she had to rely on him to point her in the right direction. She looked back once to see him watching her with what could only be described as a satisfied grin on his face.
She hurried across the dark yards and crept into her kitchen. She went from elated to mortified and back at least three times before she closed the kitchen door behind her. What had gotten into her? At the same time she wondered how she could have resisted. In truth she had wanted this to happen, had dreamed of it, for weeks.
Oh, Grams would have been so upset with her! In all her twenty-two years she had never seriously questioned anything her grandmother had told her. Until now.
How could what had happened between her and Adam be so terribly wrong? Adam wasn't like her father or her grandfather. He wasn't going to abandon the woman he loved.
But hadn't he loved Doreena until recently?
Jane tried to shove the thought aside. Doreena was different, she told herself. Doreena didn't want to be part of Adam's life. She had rejected his love.
And he had sought solace in someone else's arms.
Not liking the way her thoughts kept turning, Jane decided to put Adam out of her mind, at least as much as possible. She had the dishes from last night's buffet to clear away, then she would prepare a special breakfast. She wanted everything to be perfect. George and Adam, too, would realize that she could provide for a little child.
But first, she needed to run to her bedroom and change into a fresh dress, not to mention pantalets.
Adam stood smiling long after Jane left his house. What a treasure he had almost missed. What if Doreena had married him when he'd asked her to? What he had felt for her could hardly be compared to what he felt for Jane.
Maybe fate had played a hand. Or maybe Doreena was more perceptive than he was. Either way, he felt as if he had just missed stepping off a cliff.
With a light heart he gathered up his scattered clothes, found all but one of his collar buttons and folded Jane's blankets. He noticed she had left the tray sitting on his desk. He could return it when he went for breakfast. There was no evidence that Jane had shared the meal with him.
The blankets could raise a few eyebrows, however. Besides, he might need them tonight. With any luck, he would again be sharing them with Jane.
Once his front room was tidy, he went to the kitchen to warm some water to shave. When he was finished, he went quietly up the stairs. He hadn't heard a sound from that direction and assumed Peggy was still sleeping.
At first he thought the little girl was hidden under the tangle of blankets. As he approached the bed, however, he realized that it was empty.
"Peggy?" Adam called softly.
The room was quiet.
"Oh, please, be up here somewhere," he muttered. He knew she liked to hide. He hoped to God she didn't like to run away. Might as well start with the obvious. He tossed the covers that were dragging on the floor back onto the bed and looked underneath. Nothing but a little dust.
None of the other furniture in the bedroom left space either under or behind for a little child to hide. Adam covered the area thoroughly and sprinted down the stairs. The image of the little girl wandering around town in the dark, half-dressed, spurred him to search faster. He headed for his desk next, thinking she might have returned there while he and Jane were sleeping. His search of that room and his examination room proved fruitless.
All that was left was the kitchen, and he had been in there only a few minutes before. Still, he hadn't been looking for a little girl.
He was reviewing possible hiding places as he entered the room, and went straight to the pantry. There he found Peggy, curled up on the floor, his chunk of cheese wrapped in her arm like a doll. His tin of crackers sat open at her knees.
"How often in your life have you been fed, little one?" he whispered. He knelt beside her and eased the cheese out of her grasp. He wrapped it back in its cloth and set it on a shelf, noting a few telltale tooth marks.
Peggy awoke when he put the lid back on the cracker tin. She seemed frightened for a second, then simply curious. "You hide, but you're not afraid of me," he said.
She didn't answer.
"I'm glad you're not afraid of me. Did you get hungry in the night?"
He didn't expect an answer and didn't get one.
"Let's go upstairs and get dressed. We get to go have breakfast with Jane. You like her, don't you?" He stood as he spoke and lifted Peggy under her arms. Half a dozen crackers scattered onto the floor. They had evidently been rolled in her petticoats.
Peggy watched them with alarm. Adam, once Peggy was balanced on his hip, reached down and retrieved one of the crackers. "I don't see how one more can ruin your breakfast," he said as Peggy took the cracker.
She didn't eat it, though, just held it firmly in her hand as he helped her into a clean dress and ran a comb through her fine brown hair. He sat her on the bed and put her shoes on her swinging feet.
"Can you sit right here while I put on a clean shirt?"
Peggy just looked at him.
"If I keep talking to you, will you stay put?"
She swung her feet against the side of the bed, making a rhythmic thumping sound.
"That's good. Just keep that up." He was fighting with his collar when the thumping stopped. He spun around to face the bed and watched Peggy slide to the floor. She walked carefully across the room, her leather-soled shoes making almost no sound on the wood floor. She headed for the chair that held her suitcase. Adam watched as she tugged at the little apron that Jane had laid across the opened lid.
The apron fell to the floor at Peggy's feet. Adam worked another button through the collar as he watched her try to put the apron on. She might have managed it but for the cracker.
"Want some help?"
She glanced at him but continued to try to pull the apron over her head with one hand. Adam knelt behind her and helped her finish, tying the bow at her waist. As he stood, he saw her slip the cracker into the pocket.
Or what was left of the cracker. There were quite a few crumbs sprinkling the floor at her feet.
"Now I know why you like the apron," he said, turning to find his necktie. He turned back a moment later and she was gone. "Peggy?"
How could she move so fast and so quietly? Surely she hadn't had time to go downstairs. He scanned the room and almost missed her. She was crouched on the floor under a window, half-hidden by a bookshelf.
He decided to leave her. If he tried to coax her out, she'd just find another place to hide. He finished getting dressed, glancing often toward the little girl. Finally he joined her in the corner.
"Are you hiding from me?"
She stared at him.
He smiled and got a smile in return. "Let me show you something," he said, moving from her to the window. He turned the latch and raised the casement. "Come help me guess what Jane's fixed for breakfast. Smell that? Bacon, I think. Biscuits? What else?"
Peggy moved toward him, evidently smelling the food, too.
"Shall we go see?"
If he hadn't caught her, she would have tried to go out the window. "Let's take the stairs, all right?"
Downstairs, he remembered the tray. He wondered how he was going to carry the tray and keep ahold of Peggy. As soon as he set her down, she headed for the kitchen. He grabbed the tray and followed. Once he had turned the doorknob for her, Peggy headed straight for Jane's kitchen door.
Chapter Ten
Jane must have heard Peggy rattling the door because she opened it before Adam had caught up with the little girl. Peggy took in Jane's warm greeting and stepped across the threshold. Jane opened the door a little wider to admit Adam.
"I forgot all about that," she said, taking the tray.
"Now why would you do that?" he murmured.
She turned her back to dispose of the tray, but not before he saw two pink spots brighten her cheeks. He would have loved to pursue the subject further, but Peggy had disappeared.
"Peggy?"
"She went in the dining room," Jane said, obviously unconcerned.
"She's probably stuffing her pocket full of scrambled eggs," he said as he went after her.
Peggy had climbed up on a chair and was eyeing the array of food with wonder. As far as Adam could tell, she hadn't touched anything yet.