“You’re pale,” she said as he came to the fire, shrugging slowly out of his coat and unwinding his scarf.
Phelan shrugged slightly. “I reinforced the wardings on the barrow,” he said as he set his coat down on top of one of the shelves that held their dishes. “Is there hot water?”
Jacqueline watched him as he sat down slowly, stiffly, as if the chill outside had left him half-frozen. “You need some tea?” she asked.
“Probably,” he admitted as he peered into the basket of scraps she’d been sorting through. “What are you working on now?”
“Figuring out what scraps are big enough to use for quilts and which we’ll shred or something for batting.” The healer put a kettle over the fire and regarded her lover with a long, measuring look. He stared at the fire in that way he did for a few moments before he glanced up toward her.
“What’s wrong?” he murmured. “You’ve got that look.”
“I’m worried about you,” she said as she got out a pair of mugs and some tea. “You’re still overreaching.”
“I’m fine, Jac,” he said with a faint smile, patting the spot where she’d been sitting a moment before. “As fine as I get these days, anyhow. Just a little tired and cold.”
“You should probably be doing something other than rolling around in the snow, then,” she said, studying his damp blue jeans.
“Probably,” he agreed. “But I’ll dry out soon enough sitting here and the company’s better. I’m guessing it’s been quiet here?”
“Except for the explosives testing, yeah.”
Phelan grimaced. “Yeah, there’s that. Did they warn Marin and Neve before they started?”
“From the sound of things, no.” Jacqueline swung the kettle off the fire as the water neared boiling and filled the pair of mugs, leaving the tea to steep. “It’s going to be trouble. Whatever they’re really planning.”
“What makes you think they’re planning anything other than what they said?”
“Because I know them,” she said with a wry smile. “And they’re up to something. They’re always up to something. I just hope you’ll let me in on what it is so I can make sure it doesn’t spontaneously combust in your faces.”
