A Will and a Way

spells. The doctor said I’d have to watch for them. Just a nuisance, that’s all.” She looked hard at Charles when he came in. Eventually she looked hard enough so that he remembered his cue.
    “And you know what he said.”
    “Now, Charles—”
    “You’re to have two or three days of bed rest.”
    Pleased that he’d remembered his lines, Sweeney pretended to huff. “Pack of nonsense. I’ll be right as rain in a few minutes. I’ve dinner to cook.”
    “You won’t be cooking anything.” In a way Sweeney considered properly masterful, Michael picked her up. “Into bed with you.”
    “Just who’ll take care of things?” Sweeney demanded. “I’ll not have Charles spreading his germs around my kitchen.”
    Michael was nearly out of the room with Sweeney before Charles remembered the next step. He coughed into his hand, looked apologetic and coughed again.
    “Listen to that!” Pleased, Sweeney let her head rest against Michael’s shoulder. “I won’t go to bed and let him infect my kitchen.”
    “How long have you had that cough?” Pandora demanded. When Charles began to mutter, she stood up. “That’s enough. Both of you into bed. Michael and I will take care of everything.” Taking Charles’s arm, she began to lead him into the servant’s wing. “Into bed and no nonsense. I’ll make both of you some tea. Michael, see that Charles gets settled, I’ll look after Sweeney.”
    Within a half hour, Sweeney had them both where she wanted them. Together.
    “Well, they’re all settled in and there’s no fever.” Satisfied, Pandora poured herself a cup of tea. “I suppose all they need is a few days’ rest and some pampering. Tea?”
    He made a face at the idea and switched on the coffee. “Since the days of house calls are over, I’d think they’d be better off here in bed than being dragged into town. We can take turns keeping an eye on them.”
    “Mmm-hmm.” Pandora opened the refrigerator and studied. “What about meals? Can you cook?”
    “Sure.” Michael rattled cups in the cupboard. “Badly, but I can cook. Meat loaf’s my specialty.” When this was met with no enthusiasm, he turned his head. “Do you?”
    “Cook?” Pandora lifted a plastic lid hopefully. “I can broil a steak and scramble eggs. Anything else is chancy.”
    “Life’s nothing without a risk.” Michael joined her in her rummage through the refrigerator. “Here’s almost half an apple cobbler.”
    “That’s hardly a meal.”
    “It’ll do for me.” He took it out and went for a spoon. Pandora watched as he sat down at the table and dug in. “Want some?”
    She started to refuse on principle, then decided not to cut off her nose. Going to the cupboard, she found a bowl. “What about the bedridden?” she asked as she scooped out cobbler.
    “Soup,” Michael said between bites. “Nothing better than hot soup. Though I’d let them rest awhile first.”
    With a nod of agreement, she sat across from him. “Michael…” She trailed off as she played with her cobbler. The steam from her tea rose up between them. She’d been thinking about how to broach the subject for days. It seemed the time had come. “I’ve been thinking. In two months, the will should be final. When Fitzhugh wrote us last week, he said Uncle Carlson’s lawyers were advising him to drop the probate.”
    “So?”
    “The house, along with everything else, will be half yours, half mine.”
    “That’s right.”
    She took a bite of cobbler, then set down her spoon. “What’re you smiling at?”
    “You’re nice to look at. I find it relaxing to sit here alone in the kitchen, in the quiet, and look at you.”
    It was that sort of thing, just that sort of thing, that left her light-headed and foolish. She stared at him a moment, then dropped her gaze to her bowl. “I wish you wouldn’t say things like that.”
    “No, you don’t. So you’ve been thinking,” he prompted.
    “Yes.” She gave herself a moment, carefully spooning out another bite of cobbler. “We’ll have the house between us, but we won’t be living here together any longer. Sweeney and Charles will be here alone. I’ve worried about that for a while. Now, after this, I’m more concerned than ever. They can’t stay here alone.”
    “No, I think you’re right. Ideas?”
    “I mentioned before that I was considering moving here on a semipermanent basis.” She found she had no appetite after all and switched back to her tea. “I think I’m