Katrina

Chapter Nine

So, your cooking for your husband didn't turn out quite as planned?" Myra couldn't help chuckling when she heard about Katrina's disaster the following day.

"No, not quite" Katrina admitted ruefully, "It was not a success at all," she discreetly decided to omit the later happening between herself and Patrick.

As friendly as she become with Myra, she was not ready to reveal her innermost thoughts and feelings quite yet to the woman.

"Well I did offer to help you," Myra reminded her.

"I know, and maybe I should have accepted your offer, but I was so set on doing it all myself, and showing of my new cooking skills to him" Katrina sighed. But you know what they say, pride comes before a fall"

"Yeah well you are just going to have to pick yourself up and try again" Myra told her.

"Don't worry I intend to" Katrina assured her, but then found her mind wandering back to the memory of sitting on Patrick’s knee, and the way he had looked at her.

It send a warm flush through her body even now, She was trying to convince herself she had not just imagined it, maybe it would have been better if she had.

After she had washed her hair and returned to the house, Patrick had been occupied cleaning his pistol They had talked, but in a constrained sort of way.

Neither of them wanting to admit something out of the ordinary had taken place between them.

She had then claimed tiredness, and had taken refuge in the bedroom.

But she had tossed and turned most of the night, not getting much sleep. Several times she fought back the urge to go into the next room and talk with Patrick about what was happening between them, but she could not work up the nerve, uncertain of his reaction.

He was her husband; they had been living under the same roof for several weeks now, yet she realised with some dismay, she did not really know him at all.

He was already up and out of the house when she came out of the bedroom early that morning. Katrina didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed.

"Are you alright?" Myra's enquiry brought her out of her reverie with a start. She found the older woman frowning at her with slight concern

"You were away in a world of your own there" Myra then spoke up, and reached over to pat Katrina's hand comfortingly.

"Don't you be fretting about last night and the dinner, it was your first attempt after all, and I am sure Patrick didn't mind that much"

"No he didn't" Katrina manage to smile, "Actually he said he was glad I just manage to burn the stew and not the house"

Myra chuckled again, "Well he is right there, Patrick is a good man. Sometimes I think he says and does the oddest things, but his heart is good, that's the main thing.

"Yes," Katrina agreed picturing Patrick’s gentle smile in her minds eye, lately she was having trouble not picturing his, face or thinking about him all the time.

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Katrina decided to take up Myra's offer to help her. Though Myra insisted Katrina do most of the work, whilst she just offered her advice, and talked her through the preparation on how it should be done.

It proved a more successful venture, and that evening after Myra had gone and everything was done, Katrina spent her time hovering at the window looking out for Patrick coming.

He seemed to be later than usual. She wondered if it had anything to do with the night before, that he felt he had to avoid her. Her heart sank a little.