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“You’re not a fallen woman,” Theo said shortly. He kept his gaze forward, pivoting slightly to help her avoid stepping into a pile of dog leavings. They walked in silence for a few moments, the rustling of her skirts the only real sound, and Theo murmured, “I liked hearing that.”

“Hmm?” Maggie squeezed the arm imprisoning her hand.

“You saying home. I liked sharing a home with someone. I miss it, at times.” He pointed just ahead, straightening his shoulders and clearing his throat. “There we are, the shop is right there. Do you want to go around to the back door?”

“Theo.”

“Best bet, in case your brothers are awake and waiting at the front door with weapons.” His pace quickened, and Maggie stumbled to keep up.

“Theo.”

He pulled her up to the back door of the haberdashery, his arm releasing her hand immediately. He tipped his hat, and his smile was tired again. “Thank you for coming with me. I know Jake appreciated it as well, even if he wasn’t … showing it.”

Maggie knew she was fighting a losing battle, but it was beginning to occur to her that perhaps that wasn’t such a bad thing. She quickly grabbed his hand and tugged him closer, then, steeling herself, she swayed up to her tiptoes and pressed a firm, dry kiss to his cheek. “I liked saying it.” And then she was inside the building, hot-faced, leaning against the door, hand to her chest, imagining Pandora’s box opening and spilling all the evils—and hopes—into the soil.

Chapter

Fourteen

Emmy’s little pink tongue was poking out from behind her teeth as she made her way over to the bucket of sawdust she had decided was the most enticing thing in the world. Theo kept one eye on her as she toddled, preparing himself to swoop her up and endure her indignant yelps.

Lou, who was on loan from the haberdashery to help clean a fresh shipment of birds, hummed from the back room as she yanked out fistfuls of feathers. David sat in the corner at the lone table in the shop, writing checks for vendors, and Jake cleaned tools at the basin next to Theo. Ever since discussing the possibility of expansion, the shop had begun to feel small and cramped. Now, with four grown people and one small one, it was almost suffocating, and the smell of warm blood made Theo’s stomach churn. The air was stale, and he was bored.

“It’s nice for us to all be together again,” Lou commented, pulling the dead chicken in her hands close to examine her work. “It feels like an age.”

“That’s because you left us to be a seamstress,” David said mildly, not looking up from his task. Jake snorted, and hearing the sound, Emmy spun around to walk towards him. Plopping down fully on the ground, Jake tossed his damp rag over his shoulder and held his arms out to his niece.

“She shouldn’t be just walking around the shop,” David said, frowning. “It isn’t safe.”

“She’s a baby,” Theo replied. “With four adults watching her.”

“This is a butcher shop full of knives.”

“She’s too short to reach them.”

“She’s crafty. I wouldn’t put it past her to figure something out.”

Emmy crawled into Jake’s lap, oblivious to her father and uncle arguing over her diabolical genius. Jake lifted her and gave her cheek a loud kiss before turning her around to observe the goings-on. “Look, sweetheart, your uncle thinks you’re going to murder us all.”

“I think she’ll murder herself.” David turned his attention back to the paperwork, hunching his shoulders.

“I had a talk with Ned Thurson,” Jake announced, supporting Emmy’s arms as she stood from his lap. “He told me that Janey had been to her book club with her friends and that Mrs. Newbury was asking if Lou wanted to join.”

“Laura has been trying to get Lou to come to that club for years,” David said. “She won’t budge.”

“Please, do continue to discuss me as if I’m not right here,” Lou called from her pile of poultry corpses. “I adore it.”

“And I suggested,” Jake continued, ignoring his sister, “that perhaps she would be more amenable to it if Miss Cruthers were to also partake.”

Lou stopped her plucking. “What?”

Theo, who had sunk to his knees to receive a zooming Emmy, looked at his brother silently. Jake stood, brushed off his trousers, and returned to his scrubbing. “I just thought you two might want to go together, since you’re friendly now. And I know she doesn’t have many friends in the village yet.” He glanced at Theo.

It was an olive branch extended, in front of the family. To Maggie, but also to Lou. Theo’s heart pricked in his chest.

“Isn’t Janey’s book club rather radical?” Lou asked.

“Oh, for God’s sake, Lou,” Theo said, handing Emmy a piece of jerky to gnaw on. “If you think anyone in this room believes that a book club being radical would dissuade you from joining, you’re fooling yourself.”