“I know. You have a gift for it.”
“Truly, Mr. Shepard, we will—”
“Roen, please. We’re engaged.”
Lily sighed heavily. “Roen, then. We will never be ready by Friday if you keep leading me down wayward paths. Conversation with you takes odd turns.”
“All right. You were going to tell me about the arrangements.”
“We will have to secure witnesses,” she said. “Ben and Ridley will do nicely, I think, but you’ll have to ask. You can send them here if they balk. It will be a shock and they might require convincing.”
“What do I say to them?”
“The truth is best. They won’t believe that we’re marrying for love, so you shouldn’t try that one on.”
“Then I should tell them about Victorine.”
“Heavens no. That sordid melodrama belongs in one of your brother’s novels.”
Roen opened his mouth to speak and then thought better of it. He let her go on.
“You can say that I was questioning whether I was doing right by my children to remain unmarried. Tell them we had the conversation while discussing Clay’s education. You can add some detail here and there. You’ll do what you do best.”
“Make the ridiculous sound reasonable?”
“Exactly that.”
Roen thought he should be offended, but he was learning that, with Lily, he was not. “What else?”
“You ask Ben to make sure Judge Miner makes time for us. I’m unaware of any criminal cases that he’s hearing, so it shouldn’t be a problem. I want this to be a private affair. Explain that to Ridley and Ben. The children will also bear witness. That assures our marriage will not remain a secret for long, but I don’t want people gathering to observe the ceremony, and I certainly don’t want a fuss following it.”
“Not even a little fuss?”
“No. Why? Do you?”
He shrugged. “I like cake.”
Laughter sputtered on Lily’s lips. “All right. I’ll bake a cake. Any particular kind?”
“Almond.”
“Then I’ll order it from Maxwell’s bakery. His almond cake is better than mine.”
Pleased, Roen asked, “Do you want flowers? I know that Dolly Mangold has a little greenhouse behind the drugstore because she uses flower petals to flavor some of her teas.”
“Flowers. No. I don’t think so.”
“What about bouquets for Hannah and Lizzie?”
“Oh. Unfair of you to use them, but yes, two small bouquets would be appreciated. The girls would like that.”
“Do you want to change your mind about a ring?”
Lily’s fingers curled into light fists. “No. I never had one. It isn’t important.”
“You have lovely hands.”
“I wish you hadn’t said that. It’s a lie. You must have noticed that my fingers are crooked.”
