Silver Linings

thing I want to do this morning is fight.” She frowned at the tunnel entrance behind him. “What were you doing in there?”
    “I left a little before dawn. I was going to bury Cormier.”
    Mattie bit her lip. “Oh, Hugh. I should have gone with you.”
    He shook his head. “Wouldn't have done any good. Somebody had already taken him away.”
    She was startled. “His family, perhaps?”
    “Cormier had no family. He was alone after his wife died. Whoever took his body cleaned the place out; the sword, the rest of his medieval collection, and everything else that wasn't nailed down.”
    “Good heavens, I forgot all about the damn sword. Do you think it's possible someone killed him for his collection? Aunt Charlotte said it was extremely valuable.”
    “Possible. But it's more likely somebody he trusted, maybe a member of his household staff, was overcome with revolutionary fervor,” Hugh said.
    “You shouldn't have gone back there,” Mattie declared. “You might have run into whoever came for Cormier's body.”
    “I'm not entirely stupid, you know. I took a few precautions. The cars are gone, too.”
    Mattie looked up, startled. “Oh, my God. My suitcase was in that car. All my clothes. And my vitamins.”
    Hugh cocked a brow. “Your vitamins?”
    “I always take vitamins first thing in the morning.”
    “Why? Don't you eat properly?”
    She scowled at him. “My diet is a very healthy one, thank you. But I supplement it with vitamins to counteract the effects of stress and tension.”
    “I always thought sex was supposed to be good for that.”
    Mattie looked at him with narrowed eyes. “Well, I don't get a lot of sex, so I have to use other techniques to combat stress.”
    “Easy, babe.” Hugh's eyes gleamed. “I can take care of the shortage of sex in your life for you. Like I said, nothing but the best if you stick with me.”
    “Oh, shut up. What do you think happened to the cars?”
    “Someone must have hot-wired 'em. They got lifted along with just about everything else.”
    “Looters.” Mattie wrinkled her nose in disgust.
    “Yeah.”
    Mattie's fingers clenched around the slice of French bread. She looked directly at Hugh. “So what, exactly, are we going to do next, O great, exalted leader?”
    “Keep an extremely low profile, as Charlotte would say. We'll stay out of sight today. With any luck the situation, whatever it is, will cool off a little. Tonight I'll go out and see if I can find us a boat.”
    “We're just going to sit in here all day?” Mattie was alarmed.
    “Afraid so. What's the matter? You worried about having to make conversation? Just think of all the stuff we have to talk about. We haven't seen each other in nearly a year.”
    “We did not have a great deal to say to each other a year ago. I doubt that anything's changed.” She began rewrapping the brie. The plastic wrap crackled under her fingers.
    “Look, Mattie,” Hugh said with exaggerated patience, “you're stuck with me for the next few days. It's not going to kill you to relax and treat me like an old friend of the family or something.”
    “You're hardly a friend.”
    “Are you kidding? I'm the best one you've got at the moment. Who else is going to get you out of Purgatory in one piece?”
    “That's blackmail. You want me to be nice and friendly to you because you're doing me a favor? Just how friendly am I supposed to be, Hugh? What will you do if I can't work up any warm feelings for you? Will you get mad and leave me behind when you find a boat?”
    He moved so quickly she never had a chance to get out of range. One second he was half-sprawled on an out-cropping of stone beside her; the next he had his long, strong fingers wrapped around her wrist in a grip of steel.
    “ Hugh .”
    His gray eyes were dangerously cold. “Another crack like that and I'll do something very drastic. Understand?”
    “For heaven's sake, Hugh. Let me go.” She wriggled her hand in his grasp.
    “Damn it, Mattie, I've spent eight months trying to see you again, and you've done nothing but evade me.”
    “What was I supposed to do? You made it clear you didn't want me.” The old rage and hurt welled up out of nowhere. She wanted to lash out at him, hurt him the way he had once hurt her. “As it happens, I spent the past year coming to the conclusion that you were right.”
    “About what?”
    “You told me I was not your type, remember? I agree with you now.” Her chin came up proudly. “More important,