He heard her stirring around long before she came down the stairs. He was sitting at the kitchen table, breakfast finished, doing his best to pretend as if everything was fine and normal, while Carmelita puttered around, humming happily to herself. Never one to miss a thing, she’d asked if he wanted fresh candles placed in the hearth for tonight, and he’d told her thank you, but no. She’d looked at him for a long moment, probably trying to decide how far she could press the questioning, but finally left it alone, going back to making breakfast for her and Jennifer.

Stetson could only hope that Jennifer liked to eat first thing in the morning, because Carma was cooking even more than normal, and that was truly saying something.

Finally, Jennifer stumbled down the stairs in a pair of bask...

Please subscribe to keep reading.