Lorn took a sip of the broth with the floating mushrooms with a nod.  "There's not much substance here, but the flavor of the broth is good."  He commented glancing at Karen.  "Let me more about where you grew up.  I've spoken some of my folks and living in Texas, and briefly in Denmark.  Tell me more about how you grew up." He gave her an anticipation kind of expression as he sips at the soup.

That was the part she dreaded. She looked down into her soup and murmured, "Well, I was born in Ireland. Me da is a doctor, not a very good man though... So me brother and I struck off on our own a long time ago. We've traveled through England a lot. Me brother..." she paused and said, "Well... he is a salesman." Karen wasn't sure whether to disclose that he sold snake oil, so she hesitated a moment and took a deep breath, "He sells tonics and potions to people... Snake oil, really. I wish he would stop."

Then she sipped at the broth and sighed at the umami flavor of it. Her eyes lifted to his face. "Eventually, I grew tired of it and I just had ta stop doin' his books for him. I know he's got ta make a living but..." Then she continued. "Anyhow, I met Harold there and we... wed quickly. I was only wit' him for a few months before he was taken from me."

"After he died, this is where I came, lookin' fer me brother after he left me... He didn't approve of my marriage to Harold because he was a doctor. He hates da so much that he had it in his head to hate me husband fer bein' a doctor."

Lorn paused his eating to listen to her history, and the tones of her voices as she told it.  His blue eyes stayed on her face with an expression of one interested in the story and concerned as she hit things that obviously bothered her.   He reached over putting a hand on her wrist, gentle. 

"I am sorry you have sad memories of her father.  A father should be your rock and shoulder when needed."  He adored and respected his father, his father-in-law, and had felt the same for Heid's grandfather.  He had known some men that had not been kind to the children and it wasn't good to witness.  For Karen and her brother to feel the need to leave made him think it was pretty bad indeed. 

"As for your brother, I will keep that in mind and not buy any medicines from him if he tries to sale them to me."  He'll also make sure to indicate to the staff to only get medications from a proper doctor.  "Other than that, would you allow him to visit you?  If not, I can keep him off the property."  He could tell there was some care there for the brother, but it seemed their relationship was murky to him.   He would do all he could to protect her from harm.  All she had to do would be to let him know.  That protection feeling was already quite strong within him when it came to Karen.

When she got to the part about doing the books for her brother, he raised an eyebrow of interest.  "You did the accounts?  I might have you look at those accounts here for the house.  Mrs. Pearson does it quite well, but she wants me to approve of it.  I don't always have the time, to be honest.   I do all the accounts for the stables and sales, so there is a lot there for one person."

"So, Harold didn't even get to see the twins, did he?"  He said softly with sadness.  He thought of the idea that he might never have even met Heidi.  Or known she existed, in his situation.  "Do you have a picture of him?"  He asked thinking of how he kept a picture of Cressida in the nursery for Heidi, and one of her birth mother for once Heidi was old enough to know about being adopted.  He wanted her to know both her mothers and her birth grandparents.  Lorn sent letters once a month to let the grandparents hear how the child was doing.

She only nodded and said a soft, "Thank ye," for his apologies about her father. Then he was asking questions about Pony. "I suppose if he was ready ta make peace, he could visit," she said. She did not hate Pony, she missed him terribly even though he was completely rotten to her the last time they saw each other. She could never hate him. "He is me brother and I miss him."

When he mentioned the accounts, she nodded, "Aye, I can look at yer books some time. I am very good with numbers, as ye can probably guess by the fact I had two babies." She chuckled.

"Nay, I do not have a picture of him. We never got a chance ta get there because he was always at the hospital working as was I..." She paused and looked away, "He died as if possessed. Thrashin about, speakin' in Latin... In voices that didn't sound like his. I... I watched it happen." A tear dribbled down her face, then another, and another... "He was tryin' ta help me friend who died the same way. He became obsessed with her death and was doin' everythin' he could to find the cause and it killed him. Whatever it was. He knew I was pregnant, but he never got to see them, no. It's amazin' I didn't lose them."

At the mention of numbers and the twins, Lorn laughed out.  He sat back in the chair with amusement as he laughed.  His whole face light with humor.  "That's rich."  He wiped a hand over his face as his laughter faded down.  "Maybe you could rub some of that over with the mares in the spring."  He winked.  More horses each spring was good for business, though of course, he was joking with her.

He was all serious as she spoke of her late husband's death.  His expression showing he wished he could help her wipe those memories away.  "So, there's no knowledge of what caused it?  How horrible that you saw that."  He couldn't imagine.  He had seen Cressida die, but it at least had been sudden and quick.

"I swear it was a demon the way he thrashed about," she whispered and then bit her lip. "Addie did the same thing. Thrashed about and died in front of him. He took it hard. He obsessed over her death." Karen wiped at her face as the saline dribbled freely down her flesh. She sighed heavily and went on... "Whatever it was, it wasn't fair that he was given to me only to be taken away so quickly. Ye know?" She sniffed and stirred at the broth for lack of something to do with her hands while she spoke.

"I will never be able to forget it, the twisted expression on his face and the words he uttered." She crossed herself. "I would ne'er have believed in that without seein' it for meself."

Lorn put the spoon down as she spoke, wishing he could comfort her in some way, but knew the loss of a dear loved one was always inside you.  He reached out his hand again though and stroke her wrist lightly, just so she knew she was not alone.  Then he pulled his own napkin, it was still clean, and handed it to her to wipe her eyes.

"You said something about it being in Latin?  Were you able to ask someone what it meant...the words he said, I mean?  His last words, were they also in Latin?"  He wondered if it was from the man's education that caused him to speak in Latin, or remember something he had to memorize.

She shook her head and dabbed at her tears. "No... I do not know what he said, ye ken? He was like... someone else," she whispered. Then she sighed and looked down at the remainder of her soup and said thickly, "I sold our house after he died and I came here ta find Pony-- that's me brother's name, and by then I was ready ta give birth to the babes and shouldn't have been travelin' so much."

Then Karen looked at him, and whispered some more, "I don't wish ta be alone anymore and if I had ta choose someone ta be in me company, it'd be ye and yers... Ye don't even ken how much I've come back ta life since ye took me in." Her eyes searched his, "And now whatever seems ta be between us... I don't want it ta go away. It's too precious ta me." She reached out and grasped his hand.

"I understand the alone part.  I mean, of course, I have Heidi and the rest folks that work for me, but that kind of company is different.  I have been working any time I don't have Heidi with me.  Staying busy.  So, you being here and looking at where this goes, will be good for both of us, I think."  He held back her hand when she took his.

Lifting her hand up, he pressed her fingers to his lips.  "We won't lose what we had with our lost spouses, but we will make new memories as we explore what this is and what it could be."

She gave a watery smile and her insides churned a little bit at the way his lips brushed her fingertips. "Could we go fer that walk now and then finish eating? I fear me appetite has gone away for the moment." She wanted to see the garden and it was true that her stomach wasn't ready for more food. Talking about her dead husband wasn't something she necessarily wanted to do with Lorn but she knew that of all people, he would understand.

Karens eyes were still glittering with unshed tears by that point, and a nice breath of air between courses ought to bring back the color to her cheeks. "And then we could go again after we eat if ye wish." She said, because she wanted an excuse to stay with him for most of the evening. It was the first time she had alone time with another adult in a while and she kind of craved it, honestly.