“We weren’t touring Europe,” Ivan said shortly, earning a blink from Georgette before she turned to Eunice.
“There’s evidently a story there. And while I’d dearly love to delay the inevitable conversation you and I must have, shall we finally repair to the house? I baked a lovely cake earlier today to go along with the coffee. It may be just the thing to assist with softening a talk I’m sure neither of us will enjoy.” Georgette turned and began striding down the dirt path, slowing to look over her shoulder a second later. “Be aware that you may encounter some of the resident artists. They’re an eclectic group, and two of them tend to take people aback at first. Mr. Dodger Barstow is a brilliant watercolorist, but he makes a habit of wandering around the grounds wearing a Viking helmet and billowing capes done up in bright shades of puce. He’s also prone to badgering anyone who possesses what he callsa faceto sit for him.” She settled a smile on Arthur. “He won’t be able to resist your face, so you may want to avoid him.”
“See? I’m not the only one who believes you have a face,” Judith mumbled, turning pink when Georgette directed her attention her way.
“Are you an artist as well, dear?”
When Judith immediately turned from pink to bright red, Georgette shot a quirk of a brow to Eunice, who sent her a smile in return.
“As I mentioned, Judith is an admirer of your work. I fear she may be a bit awestruck with you right now, so returning to your artists. You mentioned there were two we should be aware of—Mr. Dodger Barstow and...?”
“Ah yes, Mr. Grover Cropsy. He’s usually with Dodger, and you’ll be able to spot Grover straightaway because he’s been experimenting with unusual mediums of late. He’ll likely be covered in mud from our pond, which I’m afraid tends to make him look like a swamp monster. But don’t be overly alarmed. He’s relatively harmless.” With that, Georgette turned and headed down the path, Eunice breaking into a trot to keep her mother in sight.
“That is not how I was hoping an introduction to your mother would go,” Judith said, trotting up to join Eunice.
“I’m sure you’ll do better with her once we reach the house.”
“I would hope so. Do you think she noticed that I’ve been verging on a fit of the vapors?”
“That would have been difficult to miss.”
“How unfortunate,” Judith said, dashing a hand over a forehead that was smudged with a streak of dirt from her plummet to the ground. “She’s exactly how I imagined, though. Eccentric, quirky, and it’s obvious you got your looks from her because she’s breathtakingly beautiful.”
“I imagine if you let her know you think she’s breathtakingly beautiful, she’ll not remember a thing about how tongue-tied you just were.”
Judith’s lips curved, and without another word, she dashed away to join Georgette, clearly intent on launching into a touch of flattery that would hopefully go better than their limited interactions had gone thus far.
Judith’s spot was soon taken by Ivan, who watched Judith until she disappeared around a turn. “There’s something quite adorableabout seeing Judith so delighted by this opportunity to meet your mother. And this has nothing to do with how adorable Judith is, but before I get completely distracted, did you catch the part where your mother said she baked a cake?”
“I did, which has left me feeling decidedly uneasy. Mother never knew her way around a kitchen, and when you add in the fact she’s also making her own robes due to limited funds, I’m finding myself apprehensive about hearing her story.”
“A word of caution, though, Ivan,” Arthur said as he joined them. “You might want to refrain from mentioning her robes since that could very well have her launching into the benefits of traveling around her artist colony naked again.” He shuddered. “Not exactly something I expected to hear today.”
Ivan grinned. “Georgette always did enjoy shocking people by saying the most unexpected things. She once drew me aside about a year after I became Eunice’s bodyguard to tell me in no uncertain terms that I was to keep any, and I quote, ‘manly thoughts’ about her daughter in check.”
“I remember when she did that,” Eunice said. “I had to sit her down and tell her that although you were technically my bodyguard, you were like the brother I never had, so there was no reason for her to worry that the two of us were going to run off together.”
Ivan stopped in his tracks, causing Eunice and Arthur to do the same. “You never told me you think of me as a brother.”
“I assumed you knew.”
“I suppose I did at that, but that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said about me. I consider you to be the sister I never had, albeit a very opinionated and difficult sister to keep alive at times.”
She grinned. “I imagine it has been difficult to keep me alive at times, but as your opinionated honorary sibling, allow me to give you some sisterly advice before we get to the house. Mother is certain to pick up on the flirtation you and Judith seem to be enjoying. If you don’t want her to embarrass you by remarking on it, you may want to curb the flirting, at least until we get backon the road. With that said, though, you’ve not mentioned a thing to me about your interest in Judith.”
Ivan tucked his handkerchief away. “I wasn’t allowing the, ah, affection I’ve felt for her for some time to become known because my job has been to keep you hidden. But now with everything coming out in the open, I might have time to perhaps turn my attention to some, er... courting, if, ah, Judith returns the affection I hold her in.”
Guilt was swift.
Ivan had been by her side for years, seeing after her life and never once complaining about what a toll it might be taking on his life. She’d been a poor friend to him by not realizing that living undercover for all these years had robbed him of much.
She laid a hand on his arm. “You should have told me the job of seeing after me was more taxing than I knew.”
Ivan gave her hand a pat. “It’s hasn’t been taxing, Eunice. It’s been my pleasure keeping you alive, and you seem to be forgetting that I’ve been well compensated for doing that. Now, though, with the possibility that you may soon be able to live a more normal life, I may not need to be with you all the time. However, now is not the moment for us to worry about any of that. Your mother is your priority right now. You need to learn why she left you, and she needs to be told about her inheritance.”
Moving into motion again, they rounded a curve in the path and discovered a two-storied farmhouse nestled in a grove of trees, painted an unassuming white with black shutters, and sporting a wraparound porch with brightly colored rocking chairs. The house had an air of general neglect Eunice hadn’t been expecting, which only increased when she got closer and realized the white paint was peeling in places.
Striding up the steps and into the house, Eunice followed the sound of Judith’s voice, who’d evidently recovered her ability to speak. She soon found herself in a large rectangular room that had splashes of color everywhere, the walls adorned with too many paintings to count, not all of them done by her mother.The furniture placed around the room looked comfortable, if well-worn, the threadbare state of the upholstery brightened with colored pillows.
