Package Deal(19)

“I’ll have to fix that so you can try it out another time, Cecelia,” Marcus offered.

“Sweet!”

Marcus preceded them into the kitchen and rummaged in a drawer before pulling out several thick candles, then a half dozen saucers from a cupboard.He struck a match, lit one wick after another, and handed two candles to Amanda.“Could you put these on a couple of thesaucers and take them into the living room? I’ll fix some others for elsewhere.”

She nodded, dripped wax into the saucers to anchor the candles, then gingerly walked them into the living room.She placed one on the mantle of the old rock fireplace, and another on a table near an overstuffed chair.Marcus set a third one next to a loveseat. The ottoman in front of it held a pile of books almost as high as the loveseat arm, and told Amanda where Marcus sat to read when he was not on campus.

He disappeared down a short hall and came back with several towels in his hands. “Here you go, Cecelia. One for your hair and another for the rest of you.” He draped a large towel around Amanda’s shoulders, and handed her another.“You, too, Amanda.”

With the candles positioned around the room, Marcus started a fire in the fireplace. Before long, its light gave off a cozy glow, warming the room. “The two of you look great by candlelight,” he said, before wrapping a towel around his head and rubbing vigorously. When he came out from under it, his hair stood in half-dried tufts in all directions.

Cecelia laughed. “You look funny, like a clown.”

Amanda smiled broadly, her cheeks growing warm at the romantic implications of his earlier statement, as she finished toweling Cece’s hair.

“Let me give you a tour of the place, so you’ll be able to find things.” He led Amanda back toward the kitchen. “You’ve already seen this room, what there is of it.”

“It’s compact,” she admitted.

“And easy to stock.” He grinned. “If I stand in the middle, I can almost touch every countertop.”

“But it doesn’t feel cramped. And this place is so private and out of the way. Does it have a view, too?”

He chuckled and nodded, pointing to the front windows. “On a clear night, the hills to the west. Come upstairs, you two. I want to finish this loft as another bedroom. But I haven’t had time to do that yet. Maybe when Ernie Pyle is done and my evenings are freer.”

“It’s very nice. I’m envious. This is the kind of place I’d like to have someday.” Amanda’s voice was wistful as she let her hand slide down the carved wood banister when they moved back downstairs.

He grinned and winked at Cecelia. “Let me show you where you’ll sleep tonight.” He opened the door to the master bedroom, revealing a huge four-poster bed. “It’s one of the only pieces of furniture I insisted on taking, when Mike and I divided up the family homestead.”

The bedroom’s single large window looked out into deep woods, offering a barely visible picture of soft greens in the midst of a thick stand of chocolate-tinted tree trunks, their upper limbs swaying wildly in the wind.

“This is so cool!” Cecelia exclaimed. “I’ve never slept in a bed so big!”

Marcus laughed. “You’ll need a running start to get into it, kid. Here, use this.” He removed two of his shirts and a pair of slacks from a chair, then pushed it next to the bed. She climbed on the chair and scooted into the center of the bed.

“Let’s take your shoes off, hon,” Amanda suggested.

Cecelia slipped off her shoes and dumped them over the side of the high bed. “Where are you going to sleep, Mom?”

“Right next to you,” Amanda and Marcus said in unison, and both laughed.

“The other bedroom is my office, where the bookshelves are on that one long wall.” Marcus moved away from the four-poster. “I’ll sleep in the living room. For tonight, this is the women’s room.”He gave Amanda a candle to hold high, and he used its meager light to pull extra blankets and a pillow from the back of the closet.

“But that loveseat can’t possibly be long enough for you.” She imagined his long legs hanging over the sides of the small couch.

“That’s okay. I’ve made do with worse. Good night. Sleep well.” He shut the door behind him.

Amanda helped Cecelia out of her clothes and under the covers. Before long, she was asleep, a small lump in the middle of the large bed, with Eeyore standing guard near her shoulder.

Marcus was sitting in the chair, reading by candlelight, the bedclothes in a nearby pile on the floor when Amanda wandered into the living room.

His presence seemed to fill the room, enveloping her with a sense both comforting and exciting as she watched the flames from the fireplace, their reflection dancing in the windows. “I appreciate you rescuing us. But I hate putting you out this way.” What did he want from her? Could he tell what she had been thinking as he’d shown her his house? Her pulse picked up as she imagined the possibilities.