Prancer ambled forward. Anderson glanced back over his shoulder. “I can scarcely believe you dragged this lady away from her farm during the busy season.”
Elijah blinked and turned to Olive. “I can’t believe it either.”
She swallowed hard.
She’d like to believe this outing together had been spur of the moment. The consequence of her father’s not-so-gentle insistence. But she was wearing a pretty morning gown, not her riding habit. From the moment she awoke, she’d been looking forward to seeing Elijah.
Of course, she hadn’t planned on parading through the village with him in the back of an open sleigh.
Anderson was right—this was Cressmouth’s busiest season. Witnesses abounded. Even though Olive intended to turn down Elijah’s suit, his interest in her—mercenary though it may be—was now public.
She wished he were here because he wanted to be, not because their fathers had commanded it. She wished she had been brave enough to accept a second kiss.
Three different friends had already waved with expressions indicating this incident would not pass by without comment.
Olive wished she and Elijah weren’t incompatible opposites in every way.
“Here we are,” said Anderson.
Elijah wiped imaginary sweat from his brow as they exited the sleigh, then lowered his voice. “Someone should attend to Prancer.”
Olive looked at Elijah in astonishment. She’d planned to review Prancer herself once she deposited Elijah in the castle. “You noticed him favoring his front leg?”
“I noticed a weakness in his extensor tendon leading to over-reliance on his suspensory ligament,” Elijah replied.
Her mouth fell open. “What did you just say to me?”
He widened his eyes. “Was it confusing?”
“It made me tingle in places I didn’t know I could tingle.” She crossed her arms. “You made me think you didn’t know anything about horses.”
“I told you I preferred not toridethem.” He offered his elbow. “I didn’t say I was unaware of what theyare.”
“That’s not common animal knowledge,” she stammered. “Extensor tendons and suspensory ligaments are—”
“...the sort of pedantic details one might pick up in a book, rather than a hands-on examination?” His expression was amused. “I am a gentleman and a scholar. You have found me out.”
No, Olive was beginning to doubt she’d cracked the surface. “How familiar are you with your father’s business?”
He gave a dramatic shudder. “Intimately.”
“You understand the care of horses?” she pressed.
He lifted a shoulder. “Relevant to the southern half of the country, as you’ve made clear.”
“Thefeedingof horses?”
He tapped his chest. “Plant scholar.”
She glared at him in consternation.
He’d allowed her to believe him useless in all of the things that mattered most to her, when in fact their talents were complementary.
“Youwouldn’truin our farm,” she said, forced to revise once again everything she thought she knew about Elijah. “You still can’t have it.”
“I don’t want it,” he assured her. “I was ordered to come here by both of our fathers, remember?”
Theywereon the same side.
