Chapter 48

Padraig nodded slowly. “I remember that. Growing up in spurts, I mean. Always had secondhand clothes or ones our mom made. Dad worked at the sawmill—it’s long closed by now—and Mom was a seamstress. It wasn’t big money, not with five kids.”

“Francis, come make yourself a mug of tea,” Kaos called toward the couch.

Each of them fixed their mugs to their preferences, and then reconvened by the fire. Kaos wanted to sit on the floor, but hot tea and a puppy didn’t seem like a good combination. Instead, he was going to take the armchair, but Francis made it there first and smirked evilly at him. Kaos stuck out his tongue when Padraig wasn’t looking, and went to sit on the couch. It wasn’t like he and Padraig never sat on the same piece of furniture at the same time anyway.

“Did you crank up your thermostat?” Padraig asked him when they were all comfortable.

“Yeah, but I’ll grab a comforter just in case. I didn’t want to make it an oven, so I only turned it up a bit.”