“But what?”
“It doesn’t matter. That seems like a lifetime ago. This is really good. Ever think of opening a restaurant?”
“Did you ever think about visiting New York? There’s an Italian restaurant on every corner.”
“Is he okay, do you think?” Edi whispered, nodding toward Hamish’s closed bedroom door.
“Based on the sound of his snoring, I think he’s been sleeping all day. Or else someone’s been throwing grenades into that room.”
“You’re awful,” Edi said, smiling. “Poor man is worn out. Don’t forget that he saved both our lives.”
“Humph!” David said. “Do you know how he revived me?”
“I saw him pull you out of the water and I remember hoping that you weren’t dead.”
“He slammed his foot on my stomach.”
“He what?”
“Like this,” David said, and he hit the floor with his unbraced leg. “Pow! I nearly choked as I started to vomit up water and Mrs. Pettigrew’s lunch.”
Edi tried not to laugh, but couldn’t help it. “And we wondered why Aggie didn’t want to come home.”
“If I lived with him, I’d join the army—even if I were a sixteen-year-old girl.”
“Come on, he’s not that bad.”
“You didn’t spend the day inside with him. You should have heard him complain about the way you were working on that chicken house.”
“Coop.”
“What?”
“Henhouse or chicken coop, but never mind,” Edi said. “What did he say about me?”
David shook his head in disbelief. “He said…” He lowered his voice. “He said that if he had a wife with legs like yours he wouldn’t be in the house washing the floor—at least not with a mop.”
“He didn’t.”
“Cross my heart,” David said and made the gesture. “He wanted to go out there and help you, but I talked him out of it.”
“And how did you do that?”
“I showed him my fist, then looked at his scrawny old face.”
Edi laughed hard, putting her hand over her mouth to hold the sound in. “So who’s worse? You or him?”
“I hope I am, but he’s learned a lot in his many years.” When David saw Edi’s eyes begin to blink slowly, he took her hands in his and pulled her upright. For a moment they were standing very near each other. Instantly, the relaxed attitude was gone and they were both tense.
“I have hot water for you,” David said, breaking the tension as he turned toward the sink. “You can wash what you can reach. Or you can strip naked and I’ll hold a towel for you.”
Edi laughed again, the tension gone. “No, thank you. I think I’ll just wash my face and hands and leave the rest to when I have a tub. I’m too tired to care how dirty I am.”
“I like earthy women.”
“I think, David Clare, that you like any kind of woman.”
“Think so, do you? Then that’s where you’re very, very wrong. Okay, you wash and I’ll check the clothesline. Take your time.”