He reached into his pocket, pulled out his handkerchief, and handed it to her.
“What’s this for?” she asked.
“You seem to have an aversion to perspiration. You might need a spare on the off-chance you find yourself chasing Gladys again, although I doubt that’ll be necessary since she’s simply playing with my dogs.”
“I wouldn’t say I have anaversionto perspiration. It’s more along the lines of a commitment to hold it at bay, but thank you for the spare.” She tucked his handkerchief into her sleeve. “As for Gladys playing with your dogs, you should know that this is a very peculiar circumstance indeed, because she never exerts herself to do anything as frivolous as playing.”
“Perhaps she’s playing now because country life agrees with her,” Owen said, nodding to where Gladys was now rolling around on the lawn as Cleo did the same beside her, while Calamity licked Gladys’s face.
“Perhaps, but Gladys doesn’t resort to frolicking about when I take her to the family house on the Hudson, which is out in the country.”
“Maybe she’s partial to West Virginia country.”
Camilla tilted her head as Gladys took that moment to dash into the woods with Cleo and Calamity. “It does appear as if she’s coming out of her lackadaisical shell here in West Virginia country, but should I be concerned about her encountering any dangerous wild animals?”
“She’ll be fine as long as she sticks with Cleo and Calamity, but you should be aware that we do have a resident bear that goes by the name of Teddy, who’s claimed Meemaw’s backyard as part of his territory. I found him in a poacher’s trap about a year ago when he was just a baby. Meemaw and I nursed him back to heath, but while we returned him to the wild, he still enjoys checking in with Meemaw every once in a while.” Owen caught Camilla’s eye. “He’s relatively harmless, but you shouldn’t let your guard down if he shows up, and whatever you do, if you encounter him, don’t run. But you can do more of that flapping you were doing earlier.”
Camilla lifted her chin. “I certainly wasn’t flapping, but perhaps it’ll be best if I simply avoid Beulah’s cabin.”
“Avoidance might be tricky since Meemaw will undoubtedly start badgering you to help her with her garden.” Owen grinned. “Excessive nagging doesn’t begin to describe the tactics she employs during the spring when she needs to get all her vegetables into the ground. She’s notorious for sending out invitations for unpaid labor to the family.” He smiled. “I’m sure you won’t be surprised to learn that no one refuses her invitations, not when everyone in the family is fairly terrified of her.”
“Your entire family is terrified of Beulah?”
“Well, not her siblings, but the younger generations are rather leery of her, all seventy-something of them.”
“You have seventy people in your family?”
“There’re over a hundred relatives at last count. Meemaw comes from a family of seven siblings, and then my mother, Betty Lou, has quite the extended family as well, which my father began taking responsibility for directly after he married her.” Owen shook his head. “We used to gather together every month or so, but I’m sorry to say that hasn’t happened much over the two years my parents have been gone.”
“Why not?”
“Mother took over organizing those events from Meemaw years ago because my grandmother was getting a little surly about all thetime it took to arrange matters. Since Mother’s not available anymore, I should be the one in charge, and while I’ve been meaning to invite everyone to the country house, now that the construction is complete, I simply haven’t gotten around to it.”
“Then allow me to suggest that I, along with Luella, host an event sometime around the planting that’s evidently going to be happening soon. That’ll give me an opportunity to show Luella how to organize an event, which refined ladies are expected to know how to do.”
A different sort of feeling settled in Owen’s stomach, a sort that wasn’t a knot or a dose of queasiness, but something that felt rather warm. “You wouldn’t mind stepping in and planning a family reunion?”
“Not at all.”
“Do you organize family reunions for your family often?”
“I’m afraid my family isn’t all that close, nor are we a large family. I’m an only child and my father was an only child, as was my mother, and the only time we get together with my two sets of grandparents is to enjoy Christmas Eve services at Grace Church in the city.”
Owen frowned. “You only see your grandparents once a year?”
“No. I see them separately, of course, but only occasionally at a few balls during the Season, or at the Newport Casino if they decide to summer there.”
“But you don’t share a close relationship with any of your grandparents?”
“Not since I made the decision to avoid marriage after my debut Season, something that left all my grandparents believing I’m a disappointment to the Pierpont and Rhinelander, my mother’s family, names.”
“I bet their disappointment would abate if you were to abandon your decision and decide to settle down.”
“I fear there won’t be any abating for my grandparents since it’s not as if I’ve been contemplating abandoning my decision.”
“Not even after Charles Wetzel arrived here, apparently determined to protect you?” Owen heard pop out of his mouth before he could stop himself.
“What does Charles have to do with anything?”
