“Sick, Emarine?” he said, going in.
“No,” she answered, “I ain’t sick.”
“Then why under the sun didn’t choo come when I hollowed?”
“I didn’t want to.” Her tone was icy.
He stared at her a full minute. Then he burst out laughing. “Oh, say, Emarine, yuh can be the contrariest girl I ever see! Yuh do love to tease a fellow so. Yuh’ll have to kiss me fer that.”
He went toward her. She pushed her chair back and gave him a look that made him pause.
“How’s your mother?” she asked.
“My mother?” A cold chill went up and down his spine. “Why—oh, she’s all right. Why?”
She took a small gold ring set with a circle of garnets from her finger and held it toward him with a steady hand.
“You can take an’ show her this ring, an’ tell her I ain’t so awful anxious to stock her up on table cloths an’ napkeens as she thinks I am. Tell her yuh’ll get some other girl to do her knucklin’-down fer her. I ain’t that kind.”