Dietrich groaned. Of course that was her next thought. “Mother, I’m about to be busier than I’ve been in more than ten years. I don’t have time to meet a girl.”
“That is a pity,” his mother said, “because here she comes now.”
Dietrich turned to see what his mother was looking at, and his eyes widened.
Coming down the lane, a basket slung over her arm, was the girl with the stunning eyes he’d met a few months before. He’d forgotten that she was his mother’s neighbor.
No, that wasn’t quite right.
He hadn’t forgotten; he had simply put it out of his mind because he didn’t have time to be distracted.
And he knew enough to know that this girl would be a very big distraction.
“Mother, what did you do?” he said in fake outrage, turning to give his mother a look that he knew would make her laugh.
“I did nothing,” she said, shaking her head at him with a mischievous grin. “How was I supposed to know you were coming to visit this afternoon? You don’t tell me in advance when you’ll be coming.”
That much was true, so he could hardly fault her for the neighbor girl showing up–but he could fault her for the matchmaking glint in her eye.
“I’m not interested,” he warned, as his mother clicked her tongue and herded him toward the farm gate.
“You don’t know that you’re not interested,” she warned him. “Not until you’ve met her.”
Dietrich neglected to remind her that he had, in fact, already met Ella—though he hadn’t known her name. He would wait to see if Ella brought up that fact or not.
Perhaps Ella was just as uninterested in being matchmade as he was.
“Hello, Ella,” his mother called as the girl approached. Ella looked up at them with a smile that was capable of melting any snow that remained on the ground.
“Hello,” she called. “I made an extra loaf of bread this morning, and I thought perhaps you would enjoy it.”
His mother looked at him as if to say, see, she can make bread, before turning back to Ella. “That sounds wonderful, dear,” she said. “I don’t suppose you want to come in and have some tea with us?”
The girl gave him a puzzled look, and his mother let out a chuckle.
“Silly me,” she said. “I forgot to introduce you. This is my son, Dietrich.”
Her gaze looked as if it would burn a hole in his head if she stared a moment longer. Did she remember him?
“I’m Ella,” she said as she closed the remaining distance between them and handed the basket to his mother. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
He reached out for her hand, intending simply to shake it, but instead, he found himself lifting it and placing a small kiss on the back of it. His cheeks burned as he looked up at her, her face turning bright red. What had possessed him to do that?
His mother looked far too amused as she said, “Let me go put the kettle on,” and hurried away, leaving them alone.
“I... I apologize,” Dietrich said. “That was odd.”
Ella gave him a skeptical glance. “Yes, it was.”
Dietrich gave her his usual grin, determined not to let her throw him off balance any more than she already had. “I see you’ve discovered my mother is a good neighbor.”
She frowned at him. “You neglected to mention that she was your mother.”
Dietrich thought back to the moment they’d met not long ago when she had been serving food at Beatrice’s wedding. “I didn’t think it was particularly relevant,” he said, his eyes twinkling.
“I told you we had moved next to your mother. That seems a little relevant to me,” Ella pointed out.
Dietrich grinned as he turned to walk into the house. “If you say so. I just thought it was interesting.”
