The house was too quiet when Mitch got home. Tess's car was in the garage, so unless she'd gone off with somebody else, she had to be here. Maybe she was napping. She'd been awfully tired since that stomach flu. Not that she'd appreciated it when he suggested she was working too hard and ought to take it easy. Tonight he'd opted for sneakier tactics to achieve the same end. He was cooking dinner. It wouldn't be on par with the Italian feast she'd made or even the everyday gourmet fare she tended toward, but by damn, he could grill. After stowing the groceries he'd picked up on the way home, he went to search her out.
Moving into the dark living room, he switched on a light, pulling up short when he spotted her curled in a chair, a mug in her hands. "Hey." He knew before the word even fell from his lips that something was very wrong. Her expression was too set, too serious.
"Hi." She didn't smile.