“That might be asking far too much, but grumbling aside...”Luella turned to Beulah. “It’s not like you to drive underneath such a low-hanging branch.”
“I tried to tell Camilla that I’m getting senile, but she didn’t want to believe me.”
Camilla wrinkled her nose. “You haven’t mentioned a thing about senility, merely said your memory isn’t what it used to be.”
“See? I’ve forgotten that already, although I do distinctly recall telling you to duck when I realized running under that limb was inevitable, although I have no idea why you didn’t listen to me.”
“I thought you were directing my attention to a duck flying by.”
Dead silence greeted that admission until Beulah started cackling again and Luella started grinning.
It was a novel experience, being the source of amusement, but curiously enough, there was something lovely about it, as well as lovely about being around people who didn’t bother to stifle their amusement simply because she was a grand heiress who’d apparently come to the wrong perception of the wordduck, something that, now that she thought about it, was definitely cackle-worthy.
Her lips began to curve. “I think I should state, for the record, that the next time I’m riding with Beulah and she yells ‘duck’ that I won’t take to looking to the sky.”
“Owen will probably insist you never ride with Meemaw again after he hears about this latest fiasco,” Luella said. “I’m sure he’ll also launch into a lecture with me since he tasked me with the job of protecting you on the ride to the country house.”
“Protecting me againstwould-be-abductors, not yourgrandmother,” Camilla pointed out.
Beulah’s nose immediately shot into the air. “You certainly don’t need protection from me. With that settled, I say we get back on our way, especially since my senility may have let me forget that there could be a real threat to you out here on the road, and yet, here we all are, lollygagging about. We’ll be easy pickings if that Victor Malvado’s discovered where you’ve gone and is currently lurking about, waiting for an opportunity to snatch you.”
Luella immediately held out a hand, helped Camilla to her feet, then headed for the carriage. “Don’t worry that you’re not well protected, Camilla,” she said over her shoulder. “I’ve been shooting since I was six, and since Owen taught me, well, I don’t think I really need to say anything else.”
“Why are you still lollygagging, Camilla?” Beulah called from where she’d already resumed her seat on the wagon. “Like I said, we’re sitting ducks out here, and I, for one, have had enough of ducks for today.”
Biting back a grin, Camilla hoisted herself into the wagon, taking a firm grip on the seat when Beulah snapped the reins and the draft horses took off at a fast clip.
After checking to make sure there weren’t any low-hanging tree limbs in the near vicinity, Camilla turned on the seat. “Luella said she learned how to shoot when she was six, but isn’t that a little young to be handling a weapon?”
“Depends, and in Luella’s case, Owen didn’t have a choicebutto teach her after Luella snuck into her daddy’s gun cabinet, helped herself to a pistol, and headed out into the forest to try it out.”
“How did Owen know she’d headed out to the forest?”
“Owen kept a close eye on his little sister back then because she was always finding trouble. He saw her sneaking from the house and followed her, finding her in the apple orchard, gun loaded and ready to go. Knowing how obstinate Luella can be, he had no choice but to teach her properly. She was an expert markswoman a mere three years later. She then decided to learn how to shoot while on a moving horse, which is when I really noticed how graceful she was.”
“Do you think that gracefulness can be conveyed to a dance floor?”
“Luella can do just about anything if she’s got the mind to, except for musical instruments.” Beulah gave a bit of a shudder. “She’s tone deaf. Takes after me in that regard.”
“Which I’ll take as a reason not to ask you to play the pianofor me while I teach Luella, as well as Owen, a few of the more popular dance steps the Four Hundred is embracing these days.” She smiled. “I thought that might go far to impress the guests at Mr. Fulton’s ball.”
“I am capable of humming, which I will gladly do if it means you’ll get to practice some steps with Owen instead of having him learn them with Luella while you play the piano, although ... I’m not sure where Betty Lou stored the piano she bought for Luella. Might be back on the island.”
“We’ll worry about that later, but don’t think I don’t realize that your less-than-subtle offer to hum was your peculiar way to get me spending more one-on-one time with your grandson.”
It was quite telling when Beulah began cackling. “You do seem to have the uncanny ability to see right through me, which suggests I should simply proceed with you in a straightforward manner, so returning to the subject of Owen, allow me to take a few minutes to tell you more about him andhismany stellar attributes since I already touched on a few of Luella’s.”
Camilla felt the unusual impulse to try her hand at cackling as well but settled for sending Beulah a slight narrowing of her eyes, which resulted in Beulah cackling louder than ever.
As Beulah pulled a handkerchief that had chickens embroidered on it from the bodice of her dress and took to dabbing at now-watering eyes, Camilla settled back against the seat, knowing she was in for a bit of grandmotherly bragging about Owen.
In all honesty, she wasn’t opposed to hearing more about him because what she’d begun to realize was this—he was a kind man at heart, and even though he had the ability to annoy her, she looked forward to their verbal skirmishes and enjoyed the fact that he didn’t guard his every word with her as everyone had always done.
It was refreshing, having someone speak plainly to her for a change, and what was somewhat curious was the fact that she spoke plainly to him in return. She normally considered everyword before allowing one out of her mouth, but with Owen, that simply wasn’t the case, which ...
“Contrary to popular feminine belief,” Beulah said, stuffing the handkerchief back into her bodice and interrupting Camilla’s thoughts, “Owen is not a lout. Yes, he’s somewhat awkward when it comes to speaking with women, but I believe that’s simply a result of him spending most of his time around men.”
“An interesting theory, and one that might explain why Owen called me ‘little lady’ when we first met, and then suggested I calm down a moment later.”
