Charon's Crossing

"You do!" Kathryn threw her arms around his neck. "And I won't listen to this. I don't give a damn about the rest of the world. I'm going to send Hiram and Amos away and—"

"You will not!" Matthew held her out at arm's length. "What of the repairs you'd planned?"

"I don't want Hiram or anybody else underfoot."

"But you must fix this house, in order to sell it."

"I've changed my mind. I'm not going to sell."

"What?"

"How could I sell Charon's Crossing? What would become of you?"

It was an excellent question, one he had spent time pondering himself, but he was not going to tell her that.

"I'll endure." He forced a smile to his lips.

"I can always learn to rattle chains for the amusement of the next owner."

"And how will we spend time together, if the house isn't mine?" Kathryn pulled out of his hands and folded her arms. "Well? Any clever answers?"

"Kathryn. Darling, be reasonable."

"No. No, you be reasonable. How will I see you, if I sell this place?"

Matthew took a deep breath. "You won't," he said softly. "Once you go back to New York, this will all be over."

"No!"

"Yes." He caught her as she started to turn away. "Dammit, Kathryn..."

"Is that what you want?" She swung towards him, her eyes like tear-stained flowers. "For this to be over? For us never to be together again?"

He knew what he should say, and what he should do. But he couldn't, and his arms closed tightly around her.

"Nay," he whispered, "nay, my love. I would give anything to be with you but it is impossible."

"Nothing is impossible," she said fiercely. She kissed him, then stepped out of his arms. "Turn your back, please."

He wanted to laugh, as much at her silly, sweet modesty as at her defiance, but he could not. The modesty was amusing. The defiance was not. It worried him.

"Kathryn," he began, "listen to me."

"Are you going to shut up and turn around? Or am I going to go into another room?"

He sighed, decided there was no way to win this battle at the moment, and vanished.

* * *

An hour later, Kathryn, Amos and Hiram had completed a circuit of the house and were standing in the kitchen.

"Well?" Kathryn said. "What do you think?"

Hiram scratched his head. "Kathryn, I keep tellin' you, this isn't what we'd agreed to do. I was supposed to come out here, see what needed repairin' and give you an idea of the cost so you could decide whether or not you wanted to go ahead with the work."

"I know all that, Hiram, but I've changed my plans. I don't want a lot of work done on the house. I'm willing to do whatever will keep it from falling down around my ears, but that's about all."

Hiram sighed. "Well, in that case, the one thing you've got to deal with is that hot water heater."