Page 11 of Heart of Stone
“It doesn’t look like nothing.”
And it didn’t. The bright red blood pooling along the cut in the middle of her forearm was enough of an indication that was true. But combining that with the raised red lump that already had hints of bruising showing proved my point.
Without waiting for her to confirm or deny anything, I stepped back into the house and went in search of some supplies. When I returned a moment later, I noted that Natalia hadn’t moved from where I’d left her.
Sitting down beside her, I curled my fingers around Natalia’s wrist and dabbed at the blood on her arm. “I… I didn’t know you were staying here. I didn’t think anyone was even in this cabin.”
I kept my focus on tending to her arm, applying enough pressure to the wound to staunch the flow of blood but not so much that it should have caused pain on the spot that was already swelling and bruising. “Well, the stay is only temporary. Six months, to be precise.”
“Right,” she murmured. “And then you’ll be heading back to Pennsylvania.”
“That’s the plan.”
As I dabbed at the cut with a cleansing wipe, Natalia hissed. “Ouch, that stings.”
“Sorry,” I muttered. “So, can I ask what you’re doing here, if you didn’t think I was here?”
For the first time since I met her, Natalia wasn’t quick to respond. In fact, she didn’t speak at all. And the silence was strange enough that I finally looked up at her. Her pretty pink lips were pursed. “Are you accusing me of something?”
I hadn’t been, but now I wondered if I should have been. I applied a bandage to the cut and answered, “I don’t know. Why are you here?”
With the cut bandaged up, Natalia tugged her arm back and settled it in her lap. I reached for the ice pack, tossed it on the ground, and massaged the pack to activate it. As soon as it turned cool, I reached for her arm again and placed the ice pack on it.
“This is excessive first aid, don’t you think?”
“I’m in charge of this place, and I’m not sure it’s wise to have employees injuring themselves on the property.”
She huffed. “You say that like you think I’m some evil woman who’d sue for my own clumsiness. I guess I got it all wrong.”
My brows pulled together in confusion. “Got what wrong?”
Natalia’s eyes roamed over my face, something lingering in those big brown eyes I couldn’t read. She finally looked me dead in the eye and said, “It’s no surprise this first week with you has been interesting.” She lifted the ice pack up and shook it between us. “This right here made me think you actually have a heart.”
I snorted. Maybe my tactics had been more effective than I’d initially believed. “Just a heart of stone. I’m surprised my father didn’t warn you.”
She tipped her head to the side and studied me. “He never said anything of the sort. Only ever good things.”
That right there was enough for me to know this was all part of some plan he’d concocted. “What are you doing here, Natalia?”
“And he remembers my name,” she declared with a smile on her face. Heart of stone or no, I couldn’t get the look that just barely graced her expression when I’d called her Natalie at the beginning of the week out of my head. “I’m here because I’m helping Danielle.”
“Danielle?”
Natalia dipped her chin, the corners of her mouth tipping up. “The program manager.”
“Why is that amusing to you?”
A laugh escaped. “Because while I understand this is only a short-term thing for you, it wouldn’t kill you to remember the names of the people who work with you. You met Danielle earlier this week.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”
“You did. She was outside the lodge on Wednesday morning finishing up the display of that massive cornucopia.”
Right.
I remembered that.
Ignoring Natalia’s need to point out my lack of interest in maintaining the bare minimum of decency between myself and the people who worked here, I said, “I don’t see Danielle here. So, how exactly are you helping her?”
