A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland

Author:Rose Sutherland [Sutherland, Rose]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2024-04-09T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

“There’s no talking you out of this thing, is there?”

Jean caught her breath, pressing her back to the wall beside the kitchen door before she realized it was only Laurie. Anneke must have gone to bed, but her son was still up, sitting alone in the dark parlor, staring into the last orange embers that remained in the fireplace. Their shifting light deepened the lines in his face, turning him haunted and fey. “Can’t sleep?”

Jean shook her head. “You either?” She pulled the blanket she had wrapped around her shoulders tighter. “I shouldn’t have said that, before. About her not being my mother. She’s always been as good as.”

“She’ll forgive you; you know she will.” Laurie turned to look at her, throwing his face into shadow. “You can’t push everybody away, Jean.”

Laurie had only been refusing to talk to anyone about anything real for the best part of two weeks himself. Jean almost said pot calling kettle, but caught herself, thinking better of it. She’d already let her mouth run quite enough for one day. She squinted at the mantel clock, but it was too dark to make out the hands. “What time is it?”

“Late.”

“Don’t be an ass.”

Laurie sniffed, and went back to staring sullenly into the fireplace. He didn’t say anything else, so Jean went through to the kitchen and poured herself the glass of water she’d come down for from the jug beside the pump. She wasn’t going to push Laurie if he didn’t want to talk, and he’d have done the same for her.

“G’night, Laur,” she said, starting back up the stairs.

“I’ll take you out in the morning.”

Jean stopped.

“I’ll borrow the wagon from the Burgoynes. But I’m coming out there to visit you a couple times a week if you won’t let me stay. At least until we know for sure nothing’s going to come of this whole mess with Silber and his wife.”

“Laurie—”

“That’s my condition, Red. It was bad enough before, you all the way out there on your own where anything could happen and no one’d know for days, Ma’s right about that. But as long as you let me check on things, I’ll back you with her.” Laurie shifted in his seat, reaching for the brass poker beside the hearth. “I can tell how important it is to you, being out there for your…for Muirin.”

Jean supposed it might work, him coming out to visit. After all, he’d not been home in ages, and everyone knew they were as good as siblings. It would look a lot less suspect than him setting up permanent camp in her house, at any rate. Hopefully it would settle Anneke’s nerves some, too. “All right,” she said. “Thanks, Laurie. I knew you’d understand.”

“Right,” he said, quiet. “Go get some sleep, Red.”

Jean left him sitting in the dark parlor before the fireplace, pushing the last glowing coals about with the poker, like peas on a half-empty plate.

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