The night before, she would’ve argued with him. Mac found that he much preferred the arguments to this weary acceptance. He moved quickly to take care of Thomas and brought him and his last bottle of the day to Maddie. Mac wanted to stretch out next to them on the sofa bed and hold her while she fed the baby, but instead, he straightened the apartment and gathered the growing pile of laundry the three of them had generated.

“I’ll toss this in at the marina when I go to work tomorrow.”

“You don’t have to do ours—”

He bit back a burst of temper. “It’s no problem.” When she didn’t fire back, he knew it was bad. Whatever progress they’d made had been undone by a couple of hours with his mother.

She was quiet, docile even. Not at all like the Maddie he’d enjoyed sparring with the last two days. He discovered he didn’t like her this way, even if it was easier. He wanted his smart-mouthed Maddie back.

After he got Thomas settled in his crib, he returned to the living room where Maddie had removed her bandages. The wound on her elbow had gotten pink and puffy with infection since Mac last saw it. “We should probably get that looked at.”

“Libby gave me some antibiotic ointment to put on it.”

Mac reached for the tube. “I’ll do it.”

She took it from him. “I couldn’t bear to have someone else touch it.”

Because it hurt or because it was him? Frustrated, he watched her dab the clear ointment gingerly on the angry-looking cut. Then she did the same to her knee and hand.

“Libby said I should leave them uncovered tonight to let the air get to them.”

“She knows what she’s talking about. She’s had a lot of medical training.” Mac stood, peeled off his T-shirt and tossed it into the pile of laundry. Turning, he caught Maddie staring at him with a needy, hungry look on her face. He took a step toward her. “Maddie—”

Her expression shifted immediately to that impassive, unreachable thing she did so well. “Would you mind terribly sleeping on the floor tonight? I don’t even want the sheet to touch me.”

Tension lodged in his chest. “Of course not.” He set out the couch cushions and unrolled his sleeping bag. When they were both settled, he reached up to turn off the light. Unlike the night before, there was no conversation. Earlier in the day, he’d been happier and more content than he’d ever been in his life. Now, even though he was as tired as he’d been in ages, Mac lay awake for a long time feeling edgy and desperate—as if he had somehow managed to lose something he’d never really had in the first place.