Kate peeled off her clothes and lowered herself into the tub, the water sizzling as her icy-cold body came into contact with it. Kate submerged herself up to her neck, curled herself into a fetal position, and rested her head on the side of the tub, closing her eyes and taking in the delicious scent of the bath salts.
Simon poked his head into the room. “Don’t fall asleep in there.”
“I won’t,” Kate said through a yawn.
“Seriously,” Simon said, turning on as many lights as possible. He grabbed a book from the nightstand and settled onto the bench in the bathroom. “I’m not leaving you alone to have your head slip under the water. You drowning would put a damper on our visit.”
Kate chuckled but couldn’t open her eyes.
“You just relax, and I’ll read,” Simon said. “When you’re ready to get out, let me know.”
“I’m not so cold now,” Kate said, her eyes still closed lightly. She was indeed feeling warmer, but she was swimming in thoughts that were not entirely her own.
When Kate had been lying in the tub for nearly an hour, a rosy color came back to her cheeks. Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked around.
“Well, that was dramatic,” she said.
“You love to be the center of attention.” Simon smiled. Then, more seriously, he asked: “How are you feeling?”
“Better,” Kate said. She sat up and leaned against the tub. “I’m warm now, but I still feel pretty weak. What happened?”
“Peter says it’s probably a bug that’s going around town right now,” Simon said. “He hadn’t heard of anyone reacting like you did, but chills and fever are not uncommon. And honey, you just took the chills to a new level.”
“It was so bizarre,” Kate said, rubbing her arms. “Suddenly I just felt cold. Ice cold. Deep inside. I can’t really properly explain the feeling. I’ve never experienced anything like it.”
“Do you still feel it?”
Kate considered this. “A little, I guess,” she said. “But nothing like it was before. I remember once at the paper, I was covering a New Year’s Day celebration. This club in town called the Polar Bears raised money by plunging into the icy lake. I did it with them to write about it. It’s just like what I felt tonight. It was as though I had suddenly jumped into ice-cold water.”
Simon eyed his cousin. “You know, we were right in the middle of talking about how those bodies were preserved in the cold water.”
“I know,” Kate said. The two cousins held each other’s gaze.
“That tells me you should step back from this thing a bit,” Simon said. “You’re getting too involved. You’re internalizing. I don’t like it, Kate. It feels dangerous, somehow.”
Kate didn’t know what to say to that, but Simon saved her the trouble. “You hop out of this tub and get into your jammies. I’ll go make you a cup of tea.”
“I should really walk Alaska,” she said, her chin on the rim of the tub.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Simon said. “I will do the honors tonight.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Kate protested. “Alaska is my responsibility, I should . . .”
But Simon cut her off. “Stop it. It’s getting cold outside, and you could catch a chill if you go out into the night air. That’s the last thing you need. Besides, I actually like parading around town with a dog twice as big as an average timber wolf. Now, I’m going to get that tea.”
Ten minutes later, Kate was in her pajamas and snuggled in bed as Simon came through the door with two steaming mugs and some books on a tray.
“I’m going to read you to sleep, and I’ve got three choices of novel for your listening pleasure,” Simon said to her as he put each cup of tea on a nightstand and then slipped under the covers with Kate. “The Widow’s House, The Library of Light and Shadow, or The Queen’s Vow.”
Kate eyed the selections. “They all sound good. You choose.”
Simon opened one of the books. “Okay, missy. Lie back, close your eyes, and listen.”
Kate took a sip of her tea and snuggled down into her nest of pillows. “Simon?” Kate looked up at this dear man.
“Yes, darling?”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.” He smiled and pushed the hair out of her eyes.
Before Simon had finished reading the first chapter, Kate’s rhythmic breathing told him that she had fallen asleep. He felt her forehead. Cool to the touch, but not cold. She would sleep off whatever it was that had taken hold of her. He slipped out of the covers and gathered them back up around Kate’s neck. He kissed her lightly, set the book on the bedside table, turned out the light, and padded silently out of the room.
“Sleep well,” he whispered to his cousin as he quietly shut the door. He knew he would check on her several times during the night, worried hen that he was.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Great Bay, 1906
The last of the October leaves crunched under their feet as Jess and Addie walked to the Saturday-night dance at the Great Bay social hall. The wind off the lake was brisk and exciting, filled with promise of the season to come. It snaked its way into their collars and ruffled their hair, making Addie, who had fussed over her appearance for hours before Jess arrived at her door, self-conscious and shy. It was a new feeling for her, one that had grown since that kiss on the platform. This was no child’s fantasy anymore.
Addie’s apprehension about the evening had to do with more than just the jitters that tied her stomach in knots every time Jess was around. Many people in town had thought her a fool for waiting for Jess Stewart while he was away at college all those years. She hadn’t dated anyone in his absence and made no bones about proclaiming that he would come back for her someday. They smiled politely and whispered behind her back, wondering when that fool Cassatt girl would wise up.
Tonight, everyone would see for themselves what Addie had always known.
The night was illuminated by the full moon and a sky filled with stars that looked like the flickering lights in the houses they passed. Addie and Jess walked arm in arm through the dark streets, chatting about everything and nothing at all.
The social hall was bright and alive with music. Nearly everyone in town showed up for these Saturday-night dances in which young people got their first taste of love, older couples twirled together on the dance floor, and the community as a whole celebrated life on the lakeshore. The women of the town usually brought food and drink, everyone sharing what they had.
Jess’s arrival was like that of a conquering hero. He had been in Great Bay only a couple of days and had seen few people beyond his parents and Addie. He and Addie entered the hall to shouts of Look who’s here! and Jess Stewart’s back! Old friends embraced him, girls whispered about his good looks, and his former teachers and parents’ friends greeted him one by one with hugs and handshakes. Addie, meanwhile, was ushered away from him by her girlfriends, all of whom wanted to know every last detail. Had he changed? Had he come back to marry her? Had he proposed? She laughed off their questions, but her blush spoke volumes.
“So you really came home for her,” his old neighbor Ruby Thompson said to Jess, motioning across the room toward Addie, who was laughing with a gaggle of girls. Ruby had been there the day of Addie’s birth, and she had watched these two grow their whole lives.