Edward was suddenly all smiles. “I’ve heard about that apple pie recipe for as long as I can remember.”
Lottie’s brow took to furrowing. “Why are you smiling?”
“Because even though you’ve been reluctant to entertain the thought of me courting you, you’re now going to have no choicein the matter since it’s all but a given that we’re supposed to be together, what with you possessing a copy of that recipe.”
“Except that the recipe only works when someone is going to be marrying into the Chesterfield family,” Lottie countered.
Edward’s smile turned a little smug. “True, but you see, Owen and I are cousins three times removed, which means Iama Chesterfield, if a bit distantly related.”
For the briefest of seconds, Lottie merely gazed at Edward, disbelief evident in her eyes, until she kneed her mare into motion and took off like a shot, bouncing around in the saddle because of her inexperience with riding, Camilla sending him a grin before she took off after her companion.
The grin left Owen feeling a little discombobulated, but before he could do anything to address that unusual state, Edward swung from his saddle and strode over to join him.
“Is it my imagination or was that a bit of an odd reaction on Lottie’s part to discovering we’re distant cousins?” Edward asked.
“I suppose it wasn’t odd if she actuallyhasbeen reluctant to have you court her and just learned she’s in possession of a recipe that usually precedes a couple getting married.”
Edward frowned. “I would have thought having possession of that recipe would have convinced her to set aside her reservations since, if you think about it, there’s every chance your meemaw deliberately gave that apron to Lottie to give to Camilla, knowing Lottie would riffle through the pockets and find copies of the recipe. That means the matriarch of the Chesterfield family is more than willing to embrace Lottie and has, in fact, bestowed her blessing on an upcoming union between me and Lottie.”
“You think Meemaw deliberately set Lottie up?”
“Since she and Elma pulled me aside the other day and asked if I’d gotten around to kissing Lottie—which was, in my humble opinion, a completely unexpected and uncomfortable thing to ask me, since, no, I haven’t kissed her, but, yes, I’ve thought about it—I think they’re now determined to make sure Lottie comes toher senses and agrees to become a part of the Chesterfield family, however distant the relationship might be.”
“Why won’t Lottie agree to you courting her?”
“Her colorful past seems to be the main issue, even though I’ve told her I don’t care that she was once employed by a New York underworld boss.”
“She told you about that?”
“She did, the day after she arrived, when we went to Stone and Thomas.” Edward shook his head. “Lottie’s very ethical, and she thought I needed to know she wasn’t a proper lady right from the start because she didn’t want me to keep finding myself in her company and developing a friendship with her, only to learn she’d been withholding pertinent information that could have affected whether I wanted to become friends with her or not.”
“It clearly didn’t affect your interest in her.”
Edward smiled. “Of course not. Lottie’s the woman of my dreams, and I’ll eventually wear her down, especially when it appears Beulah and Elma have now gotten involved.”
Owen returned the smile. “I imagine Lottie doesn’t stand a chance of refusing your suit since Meemaw and Aunt Elma seem to be in cahoots to change her mind.”
“Too right she doesn’t, but enough about my romantic problems, let’s turn the conversation to you. Anything you care to discuss with me?”
“I suppose we could discuss how many dandelions I should pick to fit into those vases for Camilla,” Owen said before he headed for the dandelion field, Edward falling into step beside him.
“I was thinking you’d want to discuss something other than weeds, such as how annoyed you probably are with me after Lottie and I interrupted your rather ... romantic interlude.”
“You noticed that?”
“Would have been hard to miss. However, know that Lottie and I were going to attempt to make a stealthy retreat, but you know she’s not good on a horse. When she tried to turn it around, sheended up encouraging it to bolt forward instead, interrupting your moment in the process.”
“You might want to consider giving Lottie a few riding lessons,” Owen muttered, bending down to begin picking dandelions.
“So she won’t be able to interrupt another one of your romantic moments again through inept horseback riding?”
“I’m not certain there’ll be another moment because it didn’t seem as if Camilla was that disappointed by the interruption.”
“Women behave oddly when they’re taken by surprise.”
“Are you talking about my attempt to kiss her or the interruption?”
“Hard to say.”
