tell me everything you need me to do.”
“I wanted the holidays to be perfect for Aidan. It’s important to him. Especially this year.”
“Because of his brain tumor?” Eliza asked, after making sure Maddie had gone back to her worksheets and was humming softly to herself, not paying any attention to them.
Sue looked surprised. “He actually let you in on the big dark secret? Wow. I’m shocked. You’re one of only a lucky trusted few. He didn’t even tell most of his household staff in California. He leased a house on the coast to keep it a secret and called me and Jim out of retirement to go help him there.”
“Why the big secret? Do you know?”
Sue sighed and shifted her leg on the chair. Eliza caught a glimpse of her foot, swollen and discolored. It looked worse than a sprain to her.
“He said it was because of how it might affect the Caine Tech bottom line if news trickled out. Make shareholders question the direction of the company and who might take over if his brain tumor turned out to be fatal.”
“What do you think?”
“I think he hates showing any sign of weakness. I don’t know, that might be from having so many tough brothers or it might just be part of who he is, the same way he likes to believe he doesn’t need anybody.”
He was an independent, complicated tangle of a man and she was coming to care far too much about him.
Before she could answer, Jim came in.
“Is this the coat you wanted?” he asked.
“That will do.”
He helped her slip her arms in just as Aidan came in from the other direction. It must have started snowing, as his ranch coat had little sprinkles of snow scattered over the shoulders.
“Your carriage awaits, madam.”
“Thank you, darlin’.”
She gingerly rose to her feet and started hopping to the door with the cane she had brought along. Aidan let her go only to the edge of the work island before he sighed and scooped her up in one smooth motion.
“Put me down, you fool. You shouldn’t be lifting anything, especially not someone my size.”
“You weigh no more than Maddie over there and I carried her to bed last night.”
Maddie giggled as the wiry cook flushed brighter than a poinsettia. “You’re crazy. That’s what you are. Loony as popcorn on a hot skillet. Put me down! Right now!”
“Stop wriggling around,” he said with a laugh. “You’re only making it harder.”
She instantly subsided.
“What do you need me to do while you’re gone?” Eliza asked.
“Finish fixing breakfast for his orneriness here,” Sue said. “That should do it.”
“You don’t need to fix me anything,” Aidan protested as he carried her out the door. Jim picked up Sue’s purse and headed out after them. He paused in the doorway and turned back to Eliza.
“Whatever you said to convince her to see a doc, thanks a million,” he said gruffly. “I owe you.”
“Anything you think you might owe me has been paid in full many times over with the kindness you and Sue have shown to me and to Maddie,” she said firmly. “Please call and let us know when you find out anything.”
After they left, Eliza pressed a hand to her chest. How was she supposed to protect her heart against Aidan? Every time she turned around, she found more things to love.
She stood there for only a moment as she fought the bleak realization that leaving this place was going to hurt worse than anything she had experienced in a long time, then she rubbed her hands briskly down her thighs, threw on an apron and went to work.
Aidan came back inside a few moments later. He looked at her standing by the stove and frowned. “You really didn’t have to make me breakfast. Toast and coffee would have been fine.”
“Too late. It’s already cooking. How do pancakes, bacon and eggs sound?”
“Delicious, if you want the truth.”
He walked farther into the room and approached the stove, bringing in the delicious scent of snow and leather and him.
“What can I do to help?” he asked.
“Not a thing,” she answered. “It’s under control.”
At least the breakfast was. Tension seemed to sizzle and pop between them like the bacon frying in the pan. She heartily wished she could go back and unkiss him. Okay, not a word, but it absolutely fit in this circumstance. She wanted to go back to those sweet moments they had shared on the drive home from the boat parade, when they had shared confidences and she had felt warm and safe.
Instead, all she could think about was being in his arms again.
“I can flip the bacon,” he said.
“No need. It’s just about there.”
He looked as if he wanted to argue but finally crossed to the coffeemaker and poured a cup then carried it over to the island where Maddie had finished her math homework and had pulled out crayons and a paper.
“What are you drawing?”
“It’s a feel-better card for Miz Sue.”
“Wow. That’s really good. She’s going to love it. It’s a horse, right?”
She nodded, her bottom lip firmly nestled between her teeth as she concentrated. It was a mannerism she had either inherited or picked up from Eliza. “Yep. It’s Cinnamon. See? There’s the white patch on her face.”
He peered closer. “Oh, sure. It’s an exact likeness. Way to go, kiddo.”
They shared a smile of perfect accord and something soft seemed to twist in Eliza’s heart.
She quickly turned her attention back to crisping the bacon before setting it on paper towels to drain the grease. Breakfast, in her estimation, was the hardest meal of all to prepare because all the typical breakfast dishes only took a moment to cook and everything needed constant pouring, stirring or flipping.
She was nevertheless quite pleased with the results as she plated golden pancakes, fluffy eggs and perfectly cooked bacon then set it down in front of him.
“Thank you,” he said, that unreadable look in his eyes again.
“You’re welcome.”
She fixed a plate for Maddie and one for herself. While she would have liked to escape to her little sitting room to eat somewhere she could put a safe distance between them, she couldn’t come up with a good excuse to leave.
“Did you see Sue’s ankle?”
