A Noble Groom (Michigan Brides #2)(40)

“I see them. Were they your husband’s?”

They were the only extra pair Hans had owned, the ones he’d worn for their wedding. She’d almost burned them after his funeral. She’d wanted to get rid of every reminder of him. But thankfully she’d refrained from doing something so wasteful.

“I hope they’ll fit,” she said.

He was silent for a long moment, apparently focused on his bath.

She pushed the barn door open and stepped outside into the cool air. The darkness was broken only by the sliver of lantern light coming from inside the barn.

“Annalisa?” his voice trailed after her.

She paused and held her breath. “Ja?”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” And this time the smile that formed on her lips went straight to her heart. He may have only uttered two simple words, but she could hear in them his pleasure at all she’d done for him.

She carried his gratefulness with her as she warmed his supper and prepared Gretchen for bed.

“And then Rapunzel let down the braids of her hair, and the enchantress climbed up to her.” Annalisa combed the silky strands of Gretchen’s hair.

“Is my hair like Rapunzel’s, Mama?”

“Yes, it’s getting very long.”

The girl sat in the middle of the bed in her nightdress with Snowdrop sprawled across her lap. The light of the fire spun her hair into a gold that turned even glossier with each stroke Annalisa made.

“More story, bitte,” Gretchen said, never seeming to tire of the same tales.

At times Annalisa wondered if she was doing the right thing by filling Gretchen’s head with fairy tales. She didn’t want the girl to believe a man and a woman could really live together in happiness and contentment. At least in her world and among the people she knew, affection was rarely mentioned or shown. If it happened in private, she couldn’t tell.

Annalisa swept the comb through the girl’s hair again and continued. “When the prince saw the enchantress climbing to Rapunzel by the braids of her hair, he decided he would try it too. So the next day, when it began to grow dark, he went to the tower and cried, ‘Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair to me.’”

“Rapunzel, let down your hair to me.” Gretchen echoed the words with rapture, just as she did every time Annalisa told the tale.

In several months the girl would turn three, around the time the new baby was due to arrive. And every day Annalisa held on to the hope that at the end of October she would be able to pay off the loan, that with enough hard work, maybe someday, somehow she would be able to give her children more than she ever had.

She bent and kissed her daughter’s head.

“What about the prince, Mama?”

“The prince?”

The cabin door creaked open, and Annalisa glanced over her shoulder.

Carl stepped inside. His dark hair was slick from the salve and the bath. The edges curled up, in need of a trim. In Hans’s homespun garments he looked more like a farmer and less like a schoolteacher.

She started to rise from her spot on the edge of the bed, knowing it was past time for his supper and that he would be famished.

But he motioned for her to sit back down. “I’m sorry for interrupting your story. Please finish.”

She hesitated. “But your supper—”

“I insist.” He pulled the wobbly chair before the fireplace and lowered himself. His dark eyes fastened on her expectantly. “I can wait.”

Her stomach fluttered. He was usually gone by the time she tucked Gretchen into bed and told the nightly bedtime story. She wasn’t used to having an audience beyond a two-year-old.

“I promise I won’t say a word,” he said, as if sensing her shyness. He clamped his lips together, pretended to lock them, and then tucked his imaginary key into his pocket.

Gretchen giggled at his antics.

He grinned and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, looking too much like a schoolboy who was up to mischief.

Annalisa stifled a smile and turned her attention back to Gretchen. “I’ll tell you just a little more, then the rest must wait for another night.”

Gretchen nodded.

“Let’s see.” Annalisa could feel the warmth of his gaze on the back of her neck, but she tried to ignore it. “The prince climbed up Rapunzel’s braids and came in through the window. At first Rapunzel was terribly frightened at the sight of the man.”

Annalisa tried to tell herself she didn’t care if he listened to her story, that she would act like he wasn’t there. But the strong scent of lye had accompanied him into the cabin, along with the sweetness of the elderberry plant that was one of the main ingredients of the salve.

How could she concentrate with her senses attuned to every detail of his presence?

“Rapunzel didn’t know what to think of the strange man,” she continued, “but he began to talk to her like a friend. He told her that his heart had been stirred by the sound of her singing and that he could have no rest until he saw her.”

“Friendship is always good, isn’t it?” Carl asked.

“Did you unlock your lips so soon?” She didn’t want to glance at him and instead focused on Gretchen’s hair and ran the comb through it.

“You’re right,” he said. Out of the corner of her eye she could see him pull out the make-believe key and lock his lips again, earning another giggle from Gretchen.