“Alright, thank you very much.”Hoyt wanted to say something but stopped himself. He wanted to say, “Don’t mention it”, but he did not manage to utter the words and ran home instead.He muttered as soon as he arrived at his house’s entrance, “Mother, where is our bicycle?”“What’s going on?”Madame Leigh walked out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. “Where are you going with the bicycle when it’s almost night?”Hoyt said, “Don’t mind that. I have something to do at the market. Where’s the bicycle?”“It’s in the house. It’s going to rain heavily tonight, so I keep it indoors to prevent it from rusting.”Hoyt nodded and went for the bicycle.Madame Leigh said before he left, “Come home soon! Get your father at the village entrance too, while you’re there so he can come home for dinner earlier!”“Okay!”He rode the bicycle to the market in a rush. He crossed the village entrance and found his father standing at the front with two luxurious cars parked next to him.
“Oh right, I found a tube of ointment on the table. Who gave it to you?”Deirdre added firewood to the burner and said, “Mr. Leigh.”“Hoyt?”“Hmm.”Mrs. Cox’s expression turned into a meaningful look at once. “I know that he doesn’t have this in this house. Tell me he didn’t just get acquainted with you yesterday and went to buy it from the market today?”Deirdre nodded, hesitated for a moment, and asked, “Why?”“We don’t have cars in the village, so one will need to ride a bicycle to get to the market. On the other hand, it takes about four hours in total to get to the market by bicycle and back. There’s nothing important happening in the market today anyway. What do you think?”Deirdre was stunned. Mrs. Cox beamed widely. “Hoyt has fallen for you.”It was rather preposterous to Deirdre, and she said, “How can that be possible? He’s just a nice man.”“No matter how kind a person is, there’s always an ulterior motive. I wouldn’t go to the market to buy medicine for someone I
Deirdre stuffed the coat into Hoyt’s hands and said calmly, “This is a gift from someone to me. However, I’m not planning on wearing it anymore because out of sight, out of mind. It would be great if you could handle it for me too. If you really think that it’s too much, you can take 70% of the sales profit and give the remaining 30% to Mrs. Cox.”Hoyt still wanted to decline, but Deirdre said, “Just think of it as a favor to me. Will that be alright?”Hoyt could not bring himself to decline again. He folded the coat and said softly, “However, I don’t want it. I’ll help you to sell it. You’re a girl and need some money. You can use it to buy stuff for yourself.”Deirdre smiled but did not comment further. She would figure out a way to get the money to Hoyt by then.Hoyt felt his heart racing as soon as he saw her smile. He lowered his head further instantly because he had never seen a woman with such a beautiful, gentle smile. The wounds on her face that were almost scabbing over
“Sorry, but once you find the original for these designs, please inform us.” Declan gave these photos and left with Kyran. Kyran’s gaze turned to the direction of the bicycle. It prompted Declan to ask, “What’s wrong?” He looked away. “Nothing.”He felt hollow. Not having enough rest only exacerbated his unrest—he frequently looked as though he was a soulless husk wearing a pale, lifeless face. Declan could not watch his friend any longer. “You gotta stop following me around, I think. You’ve only just recovered, and… now is the critical time to rest up.”“I can’t,” Kyran replied candidly. Just the thought that Deirdre might have fallen off the cliff and died broke his heart. “I don’t know if she’s dead or alive! Even if she were dead… Even if she were dead, I would leave only after seeing her lifeless body right in front of me!”The rising tides would gradually bring any flotsam to the shore, would it not? Even a dead body would end up here one day. He simply needed to wait. I
She hurriedly followed Hoyt without the young man ever catching notice. He seemed almost too taken in by the money in his pocket. He stopped by Mrs. Cox’s door.Hoyt immediately noticed Deirdre, who was drying some herbs outside the door. He paced toward her and greeted her. “Hey, morning!”She raised her head at the voice. “Mr. Leigh.”Hoyt scratched his head bashfully before producing all of the money from his pocket. He stuffed the bills into her hands. “Here. 300 dollars from selling your coat.”Deirdre took 90 bucks and gave the rest to Hoyt. “Here. You deserve this.”“D-Deserve what?” Hoyt stammered and inhaled sharply. “I didn’t do anything to deserve this!”“No, you help me a lot. You deserve it.” Deirdre stuffed the money into his hands. Her tone was sincere. “It was you who helped me with my injuries, and it was you who had to spend four hours these days to buy medicine for me. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be able to liquefy my coat. I’ll give 90 dollars to Mrs. Co
Dogged persistence settled onto Hoyt’s face. “You mean getting some false glory and fortune in exchange for Miss McKinnon’s misery, Mom! I won’t be able to live that down! No matter how good it sounds, I don’t want an ill-gotten opportunity!”“You stupid—” Madame Leigh was about to drop some colorful choice word when a thought snuffed it out. Reeling in realization, she turned back to Hoyt with disbelief in her eyes. “Be frank with me. Hoyt Leigh, have you fallen for that young lady?”The tips of Hoyt’s ears turned scarlet. He became flustered—the way one would be when their innermost secret had been revealed. A mother would immediately understand her son’s character tick, so her disbelief turned into bewilderment. “Have you lost your marbles, son!? Who do you think you are, and who do you think she is? You can’t fall for her!”Hoyt was quiet. “But I did… I do. Not that you need to worry about anything. I have no thoughts on acting upon my feelings.”He lacked many conventional t
Mrs. Cox was just as surprised to see her. “Aren’t you up early, sweetie? Having trouble sleeping?”“I just got up. I am feeling a little thirsty.”“Well, let me get you a glass of warm water. Wait here by the door,” said the kind woman, pouring a glass for her before setting her sight on the pouring rain outside. “Damn, it’s raining again.” She sighed. “The roads are going to be wet and slippery. Straight up a hazard to use.”Deirdre took a sip. “You should stay at home today, Mrs. Cox. You might get hurt if you go out despite the condition. I’ve got 90 bucks you could us—”“Oh no. Heck, no. You can’t see well, it’s not easy for you to get a job, and you can’t afford not to have money with you. You can’t buy anything if you don’t have money!” Mrs. Cox protested. “All you’ve been wearing these days are my old clothes. It doesn’t matter if you’re the goddess of beauty herself. These rags are bringing your shine down, sweetie. No, you should go to the market with Hoyt and buy at leas
“Damn straight, but… It’s different for him. He directs it all to himself, thinking that if he could just be better somehow, the girl of his love wouldn’t have ended up with that fat cat. The more he dwelled on that thought, the more he hung his head and just… couldn’t straighten his spine and look ahead no more.”Pity colored Deirdre’s eyes. “Money is the Devil, ain’t it? You can do whatever you like when you’re rich, but live by your shoestrings if you don’t have ‘em.”Mrs. Cox continued. “That’s why I’m happy to see Hoyt this happy when he helps you. Maybe you won’t date each other, but it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you brought him out of the shadows. That’s the point of these relationships, isn’t it? Forgetting the pain of the last one is a blessing. Finding a new person to try again is another.”The rain stopped. Mrs. Cox went back to sleep while Deirdre sat on the edge of her bed, her eyes blank. ‘Try again with a new person, she said.’That was not what Deird