The next few days were difficult. Every interaction Mia had with Ford was confusing in the extreme. Sometimes he was almost kind, other times brusque and cold.
He left her baffled, but the magical pull drawing her to him did not let up. If anything, it only grew stronger.
It had never behaved like this before. Even when she was actively looking for something else, she could still feel a secondary pull towards the room where he was staying.
She opted to treat him with as much unfailing kindness as she could muster, which seemed to irritate him. She couldn't work out why!
Eventually he was well enough to sit alongside the women and help with chores like churning butter or holding bundles of spun yarn while one of the women wound it into a ball.
Mia welcomed his participation in whatever she was doing, and couldn't help but note he seemed more comfortable around her mother and grandmother than herself.
