“Just out for a walk,” Barrett said. “I thought you were going to be in town tonight.”

“I planned to,” she said, leading us back inside. “I’d even booked a hotel room. But the pharmacy was able to finish the formulation three minutes before closing. Wasn’t that lucky?”

“I’m glad Agatha can sleep in her own bed,” I said.

“Yes.” Laura gave me an appreciative smile. “Me too.”

As we came into the hall, she said, “Well, Barrett, I’m sure you have a lot of reading to get to.”

“I do,” he said, heading for the stairs. I hoped he wouldn’t even glance at me—Laura saw everything—but he did, one tiny look over his shoulder.

I felt her noticing, and inwardly I cringed.

Then she glanced down at her gold watch.

“I’m so sorry, Margot,” she said. “I just don’t think I’m going to have time to drop in and see you before bed. My schedule’s all thrown off because of the delay in town. And I have a headache, so I’d like to get to bed. Is that all right?”

“Of course,” I said. No offense to Laura, but it wasn’t like I relied on our talks to calm down. In fact, most of the time I found myself tensing up while anticipating her arrival. Laura could turn even bedtime into a formal affair.

When I got to the top of the stairs, Barrett stuck his head out of his bedroom, like a gopher, and grinned.

In spite of myself, I smiled back.

“What did she say?” he asked.

“Nothing important.”

Keeping an eye over my shoulder, he came out and walked over to me. I could feel the nearness of his body like a fire.

I glanced at his hands and then I couldn’t stop thinking about how it felt to have his fingers pressing gently on my back. As it was, I settled for holding his hand. His thumb moved across my fingers and sent shivers down my spine.

I wanted to lean in and kiss him. Then I thought better of it and pulled my hand away.

“See you at breakfast?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “Good night.”

“Good night.”

I watched him disappear into his room. As soon as he was out of sight, something inside me sank a little. How could we do this with Laura around? It was obvious that she knew everything that went on under her roof. I didn’t have enough faith in my acting abilities to think I could hide the change in the circumstances between Barrett and me. I pictured myself trying not to make googly eyes at him over the breakfast table, and the image was horrifying.

Still, how delicious was it to have someone to kiss?

Very.