But in the spring, Matthew had asked again, and thus when the invitation to the Dumpkins house party had been delivered, Cash hadn’t immediately dismissed it.
Originally, he’d been unwilling to commit to an entire summer of frivolity, and saw no need to do so. After all, his compatibility with a lady could be found after a single dance, could it not? That is how he’d found Amanda, his deceased wife and Matthew’s mother, whose father had been a nearby landowner.
But Mother and Carlotta had also been invited, and when Mother made a decision on something, it was sometimes easier to just allow her free rein. So Cash had packed up his household, his son, and his work, and decamped to the Dumpkins study, where Carlotta could gallivant to her heart’s content—it wasn’t as if she was actually serious about finding a husband!—and Cash could occasionally attend the dinners and evening events.
When he wasn’t too busy with work or with Matthew.
From all accounts, when Lady Dumpkins had announced his attendance, the attending ladies had all but fainted in excitement. After all, having a young, unmarrieddukein attendance must have been quite the social coup. Keeping in mind Matthew’s desires for a mother, he’d discreetly asked the Countess to arrange a dance with each of the ladies, when he could spare the time.
But each time he’d danced with a perfectly lovely young lady, they had done absolutely nothing to interest him enough to ask for a second dance. Not a single one of them had half the energy, half the blood-poundingintrigue, as the Scot sitting beside him on the blanket.
Of course, if one of those Society virgins had looked at him with the same heat Athena looked at him, perhaps things would’ve been different.
She continued to send him teasing looks as she collected the remnants of their luncheon—further evidence she was no pampered lady—and packed them away. Then she took one of Callan’s hands and one of Matthew’s. “Well, lads, are we going to learn how to fish?”
“You, ma’am?” Matthew asked in surprise.
Cash watched as she squeezed his son’s hand in excitement.
“Of course! I have heard ye are the best, after all, and as long as I dinnae have to touch a worm, I am up for some fun.”
The look she sent Cash made him wonder just how muchfunshe was looking for.
Teaching her and Callan to fish was surprisingly fun. He remembered when he’d tried to teach Carlotta, and the disasterthathad turned out to be. He loved his younger sister, but she was much too talkative to appreciate a pastime which required one to sit quietly in the shadows and wait for fish to take the bait. As he recalled, that was the afternoon she’d attempted to climb the oak and had fallen out instead…
Athena, on the other hand, took to fishing quite easily, and eventually confessed in an aside to Cash she’d been fishing here since she was a girl. Callan, on the other hand, lacked the patience and ability to stay quiet and in one place for long, which was required of a successful fisherman, but the lad certainly seemed to have fun chasing after the smaller fish in the shallows.
After a while, the two lads resorted to cavorting in the water. Since both of them were still fully dressed, Athena made them strip to their smalls, which had made Callan—and Matthew—laugh in delight. She’d called out challenges, and Cash had to chuckle as he watched the two lads try to outdo each other.
“You are good at this,” he murmured to her, as their sons tried to do push-ups under water.
She winked at him. “I’m just attempting to tire them out.”
Sure enough, after about an hour, she called both boys up to the blanket and helped them dry off. Then she had them lie down on their stomachs, one on either side of her. Matthew pillowed his head in his arms and watched her.
Cash saw her smile gently at his son, then place her hand on his bare back. The lad shivered slightly, then closed his eyes as if in pain. Frowning, Cash wondered if he should interfere, but then Athena began to sing.
It wasn’t that she had a beautiful voice, no, but her voice wasn’t bad, and she closed her eyes while she sang the lullaby, low and soft and sweet. That, combined with the gentle breeze and the murmur of the river, made even Cash wish he might close his eyes for a moment.
Then she began to rub the boys’ backs; not just Callan, but Matthew as well. Cash saw his son’s eyes flash open in confusion—being caressed so intimately by a near stranger must’ve been a surprise—but just as quickly, his eyelids began to droop again.
And why not? The combination of her lulling song and soothing touch must’ve been heaven. Knowing Matthew had been missing this softness in his life made Cash’s heart clench; he now knew why the lad had asked for a new mother and regretted he hadn’t found one for his son.
But it was impossible to think about getting married again to aladywhen Athena was sitting right there. Athena who, were she a lady, would be an ideal candidate for the position: loving, accepting, and adventurous.
Doxies don’t become duchesses.
The reminder didn’t chill him as much as it should, because he was too caught up in the speculation of who she might be.
By the time she was halfway through her third song, Cash knew both lads were fast asleep.
Slowly, her voice faded to silence, and when he glanced up from watching their sons, it was to find her looking at him. There was so much he wanted to say to her, to ask her… She’d gone through all this trouble to make sure their sons slept, and he didn’t want to waste it.
Instead of speaking, however, he pushed himself to his feet and held out his hand in silent invitation. A flicker of surprise crossed her face before she reached up and took his hand.
The same warmth—energy,electricity—he’d felt yesterday washed through him at her touch, settling in his groin in a most inconvenient way. Or possibly the most wonderful way.
He’d never undertaken a flirtation with a child nearby, much less two children, but he would brave many things for the chance to touch Athena Oliphant. Silently, he tugged her out from under the oak tree, nearer to the river. Once he was satisfied they were sufficiently hidden from the lads, he settled his hands on her hips.
