Ada Mae took that moment to join Betty Lou, taking a seat on the bench beside her and bending her head close to Owen’s mother a second later, chatting away as if they were finally on their way to becoming friends.
Betty Lou had made a point of apologizing to Ada Mae directly after she returned home, and Ada Mae had responded by inviting Betty Lou to join the whist salon. She hadn’t hesitated to accept theinvitation and was beyond pleased to learn that, in her absence, the Chesterfields had become a most sought-after family, invited to all the society events in Wheeling and reciprocating with invitations to dinners held outside on the back lawn, ones where Nems, Andy, and a few other men would pull out their fiddles, banjos, and harmonicas and entertain guests for hours, especially when everyone started dancing—something that always lasted well into the night.
“Did I mention that your mother and I have decided to make plans to build a summer house down here?” Hubert asked, drawing Camilla’s attention.
“You have not, but ... don’t you want to continue summering at your cottage in Newport?”
“We’d rather spend our summers with you. Besides, since you told your mother you’ve developed an interest in gardening, she knows you won’t want to repair to Newport for the summers, which would leave you neglecting your plants.”
“Won’t the grandparents be upset when you don’t make an appearance in Newport?” Camilla asked.
“Considering they told Margaret to make sure we build a house that’ll be big enough to accommodate them for a month or so, I don’t believe that’ll be an issue.”
“My grandparents—both sets of them—want to spend time in Wheeling?”
Hubert inclined his head. “I know, it surprised me as well, but I think they’re feeling their age and have begun to realize, after seeing how close Owen’s family is, that they’ve been missing out on what’s really important in life. They’re also apparently of the belief that since Leopold Pendleton, an esteemed Knickerbocker, believes Wheeling is a delightful place to live, seeing as how he’ll be living here with Beulah after they get married in a few months, Wheeling is obviously now an acceptable location to summer.”
“Huh” was all Camilla could think to say to that, unable to help but smile when her Grandmother Pierpont and Grandmother Rhinelander strolled into view, speaking to Bernadette, whomthey’d been wanting to seek out to see if she could fit them into her very busy schedule at her new hair salon.
“You made a beautiful bride today, Camilla,” Hubert said, drawing her to a stop and taking hold of her hand. “I don’t believe I’ve ever told you this before, but I’ve always been incredibly proud of you.”
“Even when I turned into a rebellious sort and insisted I was going to marry George?”
Hubert smiled. “I believe I was incredibly annoyed with you at that particular time. Although speaking of George, I’m more than pleased he’s been sent back to England with his tail between his legs, as well as delighted that he’ll never be welcome to mingle with the Four Hundred again, not after Gideon allowed it to be known what he’d done to poor Eleanor.”
“Gideon told me George will probably have to resort to leasing out a few of his homes.”
“And curtailing his spending, but thankfully George was never your financial problem.”
Camilla released a sigh. “I’m sorry I ever doubted your judgment.”
“There’s no need to apologize, my darling girl. You were young, and even though I was disappointed over your decision to never marry, if you’d not made that decision, you would have most certainly ended up marrying a man within the Four Hundred. That would have been a shame because you wouldn’t have met Owen, a gentleman who suits you in every way, as does this place that’s quite unlike the world you grew up in.”
Before Camilla could respond to that, Gladys zoomed past her, chased by Cleo and Calamity, El Cid following a few seconds later, although he stopped and rubbed himself against Camilla’s skirt, which had her picking him up and giving him a hug, earning a purr in return.
“I’m still not accustomed to seeing a pig meandering about,” Hubert said as Esmerelda waddled up to join Camilla, not because she’d become overly fond of her, but because El Cid was nestled in her arms.
Her father grinned when Esmerelda plopped down by Camilla’s feet and released a bit of a snort. “It’s definitely a different world,” he said, shaking his head before he wandered off to join Andy and Nems, who were in the midst of telling Charles and Leopold another one of their tall tales.
“I told you I was right about you being a cat person,” Adelaide said, strolling up to join her.
Camilla arched a brow. “Should I assume that statement is soon to be followed by you suggesting I need to make a home for a few additional little darlings of yours?”
“I bet Esmerelda would love to have more cats around,” Adelaide said before her eyes took to gleaming. “And you know, I have a feeling that my Puff, a delightful little calico that loves to snuggle, would simply adore Esmerelda, which might improve Esmerelda’s surly disposition, as well as leaving her not focusing all of her adoration on El Cid, who isn’t what I would call the most affectionate of cats—except with you and Owen, of course.”
Camilla gave El Cid another scratch. “Since I have a feeling you’re going to turn relentless about the cats, I might as well graciously give in sooner than later.” She smiled. “Besides, there are plenty of families around here who’d be happy to take in a few cats, and checking in on your cats would also give you a reason to visit more often.”
“Gideon and I are taking on a case in Pittsburgh soon, something about industrial espionage in one of the steel mills, so you’ll be seeing quite a bit of me, with or without the cats, although...” Adelaide took hold of Camilla’s hand. “We’ve also been thinking, since we absolutely love Beulah’s cabin, that we might buy some land around here and build our own summer cabin.”
“That would be wonderful, especially when we can spend lots of time together, wading in creeks, helping Beulah with her garden, and I can teach you how to whitewash a fence.”
Adelaide grinned. “We’ll definitely be moving here for the summers now because I have a feeling I haven’t truly lived until I’ve whitewashed something.”
As Camilla returned the grin, Owen walked up to join them, taking El Cid before he handed her a bunch of daisies he’d clearly picked on his own. He then flashed her a smile before setting El Cid on the ground, which elicited a snort of obvious approval from Esmerelda before she lumbered after El Cid, who was now moving for tables that were groaning under the weight of the feast spread out on them, clearly in the hopes that someone would take pity on him and feed him his new favorite—fried catfish.
“Those are some lovely flowers, Owen,” Adelaide said.
“I thought the bride would enjoy them.”
