Madeline

Chapter 24

Reed and I completely forgot the time and before I knew it, the sun was starting to go down. Thankfully, we were able to return to the cottage before it was actually dark outside, but Anne nearly had a fit when I came through the door.

"Where on earth have you been?" She hurried over to where I stood in the hall. "I was so worried you'd gotten lost in the woods somewhere. I was about to send William and Michael for you."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she realized that I wasn't alone. At the same time, I realized that she and Michael weren't alone in the house either. Keira and William were in the sitting room, behind her. Keira was at least trying not to smile, but William didn't bother. He grinned broadly and I felt myself blush.

"I'm sorry," I said, feeling like a wretch for making her worry. "Reed and I went for a walk and we lost track of the time."

At that, Keira stopped fighting her smile.

Anne huffed, her worry seeming to vanish. "At least you weren't out there all alone," she said before looking behind me. "Good to see you again, Reed. Come on in, both of you." She stood back so we could move into the house.

Of course, once we stood in the sitting room, the atmosphere was terribly awkward. Keira and William looked like they might burst out laughing, Michael just seemed surprised, and no one said anything for a minute.

Thankfully, Anne broke the horrible silence. "Reed, you'll be staying for supper, I suppose?" Though phrased like a question, we all knew it wasn't one.

"Yes, Ma'am." He bobbed his head. "Thank you."

She nodded and then looked at Michael. "I think we could use some fire wood."

Sighing, Michael got up and left the house to do as he was asked, and Anne moved into the kitchen. Which unfortunately left Reed and me in the room with Keira and William, who both still looked pretty amused.

"Madeline!" Daphne came running up to me. "Come and see!" She grabbed my hand and led me from the room, totally unaware of the fact that she was saving me from a very uncomfortable situation.

"Look," she said, showing me a drawing of a cat. It looked like the work of a child, but for her age, I thought it was pretty good.

Sometime in the last few weeks, she said that she liked to draw and so I told her of my own love of drawing. Ever since, she had been very excitedly showing me paper after paper of her work.

"You drew this?" I asked, with exaggerated enthusiasm.

She nodded proudly.

"It's very good," I told her honestly and she beamed.

"It's for you!" she announced.

Silly as it might seem, I was touched by her gesture. It was such a personal thing that she made. I was honored that she chose to give it to me.

"Thank you." I smiled. "I love it. But now I think I've got to make you one too."

She gladly handed me a paper and some crayons, and I began to draw the first thing that popped into my head - the reddish horse from the castle.

However, playing with Daphne did not mean that I couldn't also focus on the adults in the next room. The house wasn't very large, so I could hear everything they were saying. At first it had just been polite chatter, but I felt my heart skip a beat when I heard Reed ask about William's note that I'd completely forgotten about.

"You wanted to discuss something?" he asked and I cringed.

I was certain that Reed was smart enough to understand the reason that William might have wanted to see him. But he was also thoughtful enough not to just ignore the inquiry because he though he figured it out.