Treasures Lost, Treasures Found

haven’t helped anything by not taking care of yourself.”
    It was the first time he’d mentioned her father’s death, and Kate noted he still expressed no sympathy. “Doctors tend to fuss,” she began.
    “Bailey doesn’t,” he interrupted. The anger came back and ran along the edge of his words. “He’s a tough, cynical old goat, but he knows his business. He told me that you’d apparently worked yourself right to the edge of exhaustion, that your resistance was nil, and that you were a good ten pounds underweight.” He held out the fork. “We’re going to do something about that, professor. Starting now.”
    Kate looked down at what had to be four large eggs, scrambled, six slices of bacon and four pieces of toast. “I can see you intend to,” she murmured.
    “I’m not having you sick.” He took her hand again and his grip was firm. “I’m going to take care of you, Kate, whether you like it or not.”
    She looked back at him in her calm, considering way. “I don’t know if I do like it,” she decided. “But I suppose we’ll both find out.”
    Ky dipped the fork into the eggs. “Eat.”
    A smile played at the corners of her mouth. She’d never been pampered in her life and thought it might be entirely too easy to get used to it. “All right, but this time I’ll feed myself.”
    She already knew she’d never finish the entire meal, but for his sake, and the sake of peace, she determined to deal with half of it. That had been precisely his strategy. If he’d have brought her a smaller portion, she’d have eaten half of that, and have eaten less. He knew her better than either one of them fully realized.
    “You’re still a wonderful cook,” she commented, breaking a piece of bacon in half. “Much better than I.”
    “If you’re good, I might broil up some flounder tonight.”
    She remembered just how exquisitely he prepared fish. “How good?”
    “As good as it takes.” He accepted the slice of toast she offered him but dumped on a generous slab of jam. “Maybe I’ll beg some of the hot fudge cake from the Roost.”
    “Looks like I’ll have to be on my best behavior.”
    “That’s the idea.”
    “Ky…” She was already beginning to poke at her eggs. Had eating always been quite such an effort? “About last night, what happened—”
    “Should never have stopped,” he finished.
    Her lashes swept up, and her eyes were quiet and candid. “I’m not sure.”
    “I am,” he countered. Taking her face in his hands, he kissed her, softly, with only a hint of passion. But the hint was a promise of much more. “Let it be enough for now, Kate. If it has to get complicated, let’s wait until other things are a little more settled.”
    Complicated. Were commitments complicated, the future, promises? She looked down at her plate knowing she simply didn’t have the strength to ask or to answer. Not now. “In a way I feel as though I’m slipping back—to that summer four years ago. And yet…”
    “It’s like a step forward.”
    Kate looked at him again, but this time reached out. He’d always understood. Though he said little, though his way was sometimes rough, he’d always understood. “Yes. Either way it’s a little unnerving.”
    “I’ve never liked smooth water. You get a better ride with a few waves.”
    “Perhaps.” She shook her head. Slipping back, stepping forward, it hardly mattered. Either way, she was moving toward him. “Ky, I can’t eat any more.”
    “I figured.” Easily, he picked up an extra fork from the tray and began eating the cooling eggs himself. “It’s still probably more than you eat for breakfast in a week.”
    “Probably,” she agreed in a murmur, realizing just how well he’d maneuvered her. Kate lay back against the propped-up pillows, annoyed that she was growing sleepy again. No more medication, she decided silently as Ky polished off their joint breakfast. If she could just avoid that, and go out for a little while, she’d be fine. The trick would be to convince Ky.
    Kate looked toward the window, and the sunshine. “I don’t want to lose a week’s time going over the wreck.”
    He didn’t have to follow the direction of her gaze to follow the direction of her thoughts. “I’ll be going down,” he said easily. “Tomorrow, the next day anyway.” Sooner, he thought to himself, depending on how Kate mended.
    “Alone?”
    He caught the tone as he bit into the last piece of bacon. “I’ve gone down alone