“You’re all scrunchy. Your arms are crossed and your eyes look all disapproving. You’re not even smiling. So you still hate me.”
“I don’t hate you.”
“There must be a reason you’re still crabby.”
She sucked in a breath. “I’mnotcrabby,” she said, her voice practically a growl.
“You really sound crabby,” he murmured, then picked up a cookie and took a bite.
She raised her arms, palms up. “What do you want from me?”
“Nothing. I’m fine.”
He sounded hurt. She ignored his heavy sigh and the dispirited way he ate the cookie. She would not be sucked into feeling guilty when all of this was his fault.
“Do you think you’ll ever forgive me?” he asked.
“I forgive you now.”
“You’re just saying that.”
Her patience snapped. “Fine. You win.”
She rose and stalked over to the sofa, then plopped down next to him. “There. Are you happy?”
He grinned. “Yes.”
“Figures. You are so annoying. You make me want to kick you in the ankle.”
He winced. “That would be mean. Where did this mean streak come from?”
Darcy leaned back against the sofa and closed her eyes. “I only have myself to blame,” she muttered under her breath. “I could have left him outside to freeze, but no. I had to be all neighborly and caring. I had to let him inside.”
“Darcy?”
“What?” she snapped without looking at him.
“I’m really sorry. I treated you badly. My past with Sylvia explains my actions, but it doesn’t excuse them. If I had suspicions, I should have come to you right away. I went behind your back and I punished you for things you hadn’t done. That was wrong.”
His heartfelt apology accomplished what all the teasing hadn’t. She melted inside. “It’s okay,” she said.
“No, it’s not. But I hope we can recover from this.”
She nodded. “We can.”
He offered her a cookie. She took one, but before she could bite into it, he spoke again.
“Thanks for telling me about not being pregnant.”
Darcy carefully put the cookie back on the plate. “Yes, well, I would have told you before, but you weren’t around. I found out last week.”
“Are you okay with that?”
“Not being pregnant? Of course. Why would you ask?” A baby? Now? A baby was about the last thing she needed in her life.
“I wanted to be sure. Sometimes a close call gets people thinking.”
“Are you speaking from personal experience?”
