Just as she was about to turn away for the last time, he jabbed his pencil in the pocket of his work shirt. “How do you expect me to concentrate when you won’t stand still?”

“Pay attention: I don’t care whether you concentrate or not.”

His brow furrowed, and she had the feeling he was trying to make up his mind whether he could bully her into staying. Finally he flipped his sketch pad shut. “We’ll meet here tomorrow morning then. Let’s say seven. That way the sun won’t be too hot for you.”

Her irritation turned to amusement. “Why not make it six-thirty?”

His eyes narrowed. “You’re patronizing me, aren’t you?”

“Rude and astute. A fascinating combination.”

“I’ll pay you.”

“You couldn’t afford me.”

“I seriously doubt that.”

She smiled and turned onto the path.

“Do you know who I am?” he called out.

She glanced back. His expression couldn’t have been more threatening. “Should I?”

“I’m Liam Jenner, damn it!”

She sucked in her breath. Liam Jenner. The J. D. Salinger of American painters. My God … What was he doing here?

He could see that she knew exactly who he was, and his scowl turned smug. “We’ll compromise on seven then.”

“I—” Liam Jenner! “I’ll think about it.”

“You do that.”

What an obnoxious man! He’d done the world a favor by being so reclusive. But still …

Liam Jenner, one of the most famous painters in America, wanted her to sit for him. If only she were twenty and beautiful again.

Chapter 13

13

Daphne put down her hammer and hopped back to admire the sign she’d nailed to her front door. It read NO BADGERS ALLOWED (AND THIS MEANS VOUS!). She’d painted it herself just that morning.

—Daphne’s Lonesome Day

Use the stepstool to check that top shelf, will you, Amy?” Kevin said from the pantry. “I’m going to move these boxes out of the way.”

As soon as they’d returned from town, Kevin had enlisted Amy’s help taking inventory of their food supplies. For the past ten minutes she’d been darting assessing glances between the pantry where he was working and the kitchen counter where Molly was preparing for the tea. Finally, she couldn’t hold back any longer.

“It’s sort of interesting, isn’t it, that you and Molly got married about the same time as me and Troy.”

Molly set the first slice of Bundt cake on the Victorian cake platter and listened to Kevin dodge. “Molly said she was going to need more brown sugar. Anything up there?”

“I see two bags. There’s this book I read about marriage …”

“What else?”

“Some raisin boxes and a thingy of baking powder. Anyway, this book said that sometimes couples who, like, have just got married have a hard time adjusting and everything. Because it’s such a big change.”