Kelly smiled. Ari was so exuberant. She couldn’t be anything but happy around him. Jace, however, was a different story. He walked slowly to the stairs, but didn’t climb them. He put a foot on the bottom step and leaned forward, looking at her.
“Ari, why don’t you go to the kitchen and ask Mrs. Templeton to open this for you.” She handed him one of the soft drinks.
“I can tell her about my hat...”
“Habit,” Kelly corrected.
Taking the can, he ran up the stairs and into the house. Kelly could hear him calling the baker’s name as he headed for the kitchen.
“I brought one for you, too,” Kelly said, extending the can to him. Jace took it and moved back. She only realized she wanted him to come forward when he retreated. If he was adhering to her wishes that she not be confused by his kisses, he was already too late.
“Why were you waiting for us?” he asked. “Is there something we need to do?”
“I want you to leave,” Kelly said.
Jace’s eyes grew wide.
“Now?”
“Tomorrow,” Kelly clarified. “The first open house is tomorrow. Everything is ready. You said you didn’t...wouldn’t,” she corrected, “wouldn’t be part of the open house. So tomorrow will you take Ari out until the event is over? It’s from ten to six.”
“Ari wants to be here. He’s very excited about the guests coming. That’s Ari’s word. He believes it’ll be a party and it’ll be his first.”
“You know it’s not a party. Why didn’t you explain it to him.”
“I tried, but he still thinks that if a lot of people are coming and all those cakes are baking in the kitchen, there must be a party.”
“I see he’s becoming very accustomed to things around here,” Kelly said with a smile.
“I thought it would be harder, but with the horses and you.” Jace stopped while she processed that.
“I haven’t been around small children much,” she said, “but Ari is such a ball of energy. Everything is new and exciting to him.”
“He loves you like a— Well, all the while we were shopping, he was insisting he had to show you his new clothes.”
Kelly felt her entire body suffuse with color. “I like Ari, too.”
A long moment passed between them and Kelly wondered if they were still only talking about the child. She couldn’t imagine the house without Ari scampering through it.
“About tomorrow,” Kelly went back to her task.
“Ari has a doctor’s appointment tomorrow. He understands we’ll be away for most of the day. I’m sure we can find something else to do until after six.”
Jace’s voice seemed to hold an angry note, but he was fighting to conceal it. Without opening the soft drink, he went up the porch steps and into the house, leaving her alone.
Kelly wasn’t supposed to feel this way. She wasn’t usurping his place in the Kendall. The farm belonged to her. It was her domain. And she had no choice about the open house. This was the only solution. She wished Jace would embrace it.
* * *
THE NEXT DAY arrived sunny and warm. Mrs. Templeton and her assistants were already busy in the kitchen. The smells permeating through the air were bound to make people want to purchase the cakes and cookies on offer. Kelly hadn’t heard Ari or Jace that morning. She looked out the window where they often rode, but saw only empty lawn. For a split second, she wished she was with them. She wanted to go to Ari’s doctor’s appointment, wanted to know if he would get better.
The clock in the hall read nine-thirty. All the students were in their places. Suppose no one comes? The thought crossed her mind. She clenched her teeth. She’d spent so much money on this venture. The first car pulled into the lot at nine forty-five. Five people got out of it and went to the ticket booth. Kelly let out a breath. “This might work,” she said to no one.
Kelly’s day was filled with small accidents, things that needed to be fixed, questions that needed answering, places she needed to keep the public away from. She didn’t have enough hands to cover everything.
“The china is authentic to the house,” she told a woman wearing jeans and heels high enough that her back should hurt. Opening the cabinet, she took out a dinner plate and turned it over. Imprinted there was the date and name of the pattern.
“My,” she said. “I’m impressed. My grandmother had this pattern and I’ve lost a lot of them. Would you be willing to sell any of these.”
Kelly could truly use the money, but she couldn’t part with the history of the house. Smiling sweetly at the woman, she said, “I’m sorry, but they are part of the Kendall. The house wouldn’t be the same without them.”