Miss Talbot’s face reddened, but her twinkling eyes stayed on him. “My sister and I do our own cooking,” she said. “We enjoy our food better this way since we know all that goes into the meal.”
Sitting beside Miss Talbot, her sister elbowed her in the arm. “Mildred, he knows this. We’ve told him plenty of times already.”
Nic chuckled, playing along. “I certainly enjoy teasing the two of you. Of course I know you cook your own food, and once again, I’m surprised how tasty it is.”
Mildred threw a quick glare at her sister before returning a much calmer gaze to Nic. “You are such a kind man, Mr. Woodland. We so much appreciate your company for dinner.”
He lifted his wine glass in a salute. “Just as much as I appreciate being invited.”
He sipped the liquid as he studied the two women. They were quite odd, in his opinion. Of course, he figured it was because they were such busybodies and always sticking their noses where they don’t belong. Mildred still appeared to have tender feelings for the clergyman, but now Nic hesitated on trying to encourage her—for his cousin, of course. If the clergyman was going to startshowing more affection toward Tabitha, he didn’t want to lead Miss Talbot to believe her attention was warranted.
Mrs. Smythe offered a polite smile. “We are just so happy that your health has improved. It’s so nice to see you back to mingling with the town once again.”
“I’m very happy to be back and visiting once again with God’s children.”
“Oh, for certain.” Mrs. Smythe nodded and frowned. “Especially during such tragic times such as these. It was such a shock to have one of our own murdered. Such a terrible loss.”
“Yes, it was a shock,” Nic agreed.
“He was such a kind boy,” Mildred added. “Although, I think he might have been leading the McFadden girl to believe he wanted marriage.”
Mrs. Smythe’s eyes enlarged. “Mildred! Surely you jest.”
“Not at all. Don’t you recall how I’d mentioned last month, seeing him spending time with the Johnson girl…what’s her name…”
“I believe her name is Dawn,” Mrs. Smythe supplied for her sister.
The younger woman out of the two nodded, her ringlets bouncing in rhythm. “Yes, it is. Anyway, as I was returning from the market, I spotted Mr. Griffin in an alleyway standing scandalously close to Miss Johnson. They didn’t see me, of course, but I could tell they were becoming very intimate.”
Although Nic didn’t want to hear the latest gossip, especially about a dead man, he still wondered who would want to kill David and bury him in the sand. “If you don’t mind me asking, what does this have to do with the McFadden girl?”
“Well, you see,” Mrs. Smythe said, “David and Sarah have been making doe eyes at each other for the past few years. Everyone in town knows it, and we all expected them to marry.”
“Ah,” Nic nodded, “I understand now.”
“So naturally,” Mildred continued in a forlorn voice, “since he was spotted with Miss Johnson, I’m certain that Miss McFadden was hurt deeply.”
Nic opened his mouth to speak, but Mrs. Smythe’s comment overrode his.
“But of course Miss McFadden was hurt. Mildred, you of all people know the way a woman’s heart breaks when the man she loves is seen intimately with another woman. One never lives down that kind of scandal.”
Once again, Miss Talbot’s face reddened, but this time she lowered her gaze to her lap. “If you don’t mind,dear sister,I would rather not talk about that time in my life.”
Now Nic was beginning to understand the older—single—woman better. This was probably the reason she hadn’t married. In an instant, memories flashed through his head of all the women he’d hurt over the years. He had made many women happy…yet at the same time, he’d broken their hearts. Back then, he really hadn’t cared. He knew they would find another man to love eventually. Now he wished he would have been more kind and understanding.
No wonder he had such a disreputable reputation.
And it was no wonder Tabitha was having such a hard time trusting him. If he were in her shoes, he’d have the same concerns.
It was obvious yesterday while she was at his house, that she couldn’t resist his charm. She felt something for him other than loathing, for which he was grateful. But it was also clear that she struggled with herself to embrace her new feelings for him. As much as he had tried to tell her how he’d changed, his words weren’t enough. Somehow, he needed toshowher. Evidently, playing his cousin’s part as the clergyman wasn’t enough to convince her.
Perhaps his next course of action should be wooing her like most women wanted to be courted. He also needed to prove to her that he wasn’t a bad man, even if his morals had been in question most of his life. Time had changed him. Meeting Tabitha had only changed him for the better.
“Don’t you agree, Mr. Woodland?”
He was pulled out of his thoughts by Mildred’s question. What was he supposed to agree on? Good grief, he should have listened closer instead of thinking about Tabitha…again.
“Uh, well of course,” he stated, hoping it was what the two women wanted to hear.
