Page 2 of Miss Hawthorne’s Unlikely Husband (The Troublemakers Trilogy #3)
It was things like this that made Regina and Ada indispensable.
How could she focus on the gaping hole her mother had left behind when she was trying to figure out why her new friend had the practical skills of a scout?
In a matter of minutes they were back at the dock.
Faintly Elodia heard a bell ringing. “Oh, blast, we’re late for tea,” Regina grumbled.
“It’s only the third time, it can’t be too much of an issue,” Ada said.
“Says you,” Regina fretted, clambering to her feet, “if they write to my mother about this, she’ll pull me out of school and I’ll be stuck in a room with nothing but dry old tutors until they ship me off to Lord Pecksniffian the Third of the Cheshire Prigs.”
Elodia snorted a laugh and scrambled up onto the dock first while Ada threw the rope for her to tie it off.
Just as she finished the knot, a shadow fell over her.
Tentatively, she glanced over her shoulder, ready to face a livid teacher or groundskeeper and was met with the sight of the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen.
He was frowning playfully, his dark, silky hair falling into his shining dark eyes, and a slight beard covered his sharp jaw.
He was tall, broad shouldered and almost impeccably dressed.
Everything about him was just an inch shy of correct, from the length of his hair to the cut of his suit, as if he’d lost weight and missed his barber.
“Xiao, mèimei?” he said, drawing Elodia’s gaze to his full lips. Where on earth had he come from?
“Gēgē!” Ada shrieked from over Elodia’s shoulder, and then she was scrabbling past her onto the dock and launching herself into the outstretched arms of the now laughing stranger.
He picked her up and spun her around, sending her bare feet swinging in a circle, her friend’s laughter echoing across the water.
In an instant, her brain made the connection.
This had to be Richard, Ada’s brother. The one who had written to Ada, the writer of the letter which had brought them all together.
She had been staring like a simpleton, slack jawed and starry eyed at Ada’s brother who was still spinning his sister in a giddy circle while she giggled.
Elodia turned to Regina to help her onto the dock and then waited for Ada to introduce them.
She had to get herself in hand because she couldn’t imagine anything worse than making a fool of herself in front of him.
Ada had spoken of a trickster, someone who loved to tease and aggravate as much as he protected and doted on her.
Elodia had felt her loneliness when she described crawling into his bed when they’d heard of their parents’ deaths, the way he’d gone out of his way to carry on certain traditions their mother had maintained.
Making her ‘longevity noodle’ soup for her birthday and ‘moon cakes’ for the autumn equinox.
Elodia had imagined a round faced man with merry pink cheeks, not this tall, amber skinned work of art with a merry laugh.
By the time they had collected their discarded shoes and joined them on the dock, Ada’s brother had finally placed her on her feet, and appeared ready to make a detailed study of her.
He pulled back from her, taking her shoulders into his hands. “What on earth are you doing out here? I came to have tea with you and you were nowhere to be found.”
“We were getting some sun,” she replied, clinging to his hands.
“I thought ladies were meant to avoid the sun,” he commented wryly.
“Well, I’m not a lady yet,” Ada said. It was strange seeing her like this, the irreverent little sister basking in her brother’s attention even as she grew annoyed with his critiques.
“Look at the state of your hair,” he said, running a hand gently over Ada’s loosened dark hair. His dark eyes flicked down. “Where are your shoes?”
Ada half turned and her eyes dropped to the pile on the dock. “Just there,” she replied.
Oh Lord… she wasn’t wearing shoes. Elodia had never believed she cared much for convention until now when a perfect stranger was about to see her bare feet. A handsome, debonair, eligible stranger with the most delightfully deep and smooth tenor of a voice.
“Why are they not on your feet, mèimei?” he asked, shaking his head.
“Oh… the water is lovely, how would we be able to feel it with our shoes on?”
He blinked at her for a moment and then nodded. “Ah, fair point, perhaps I shall join you,” he replied, beginning to crouch down himself, and Elodia didn’t know where to look. Was he truly going to just begin undressing in front of them? In broad daylight?
“Gēgē!” Ada cried, yanking him back upright by his arm.
He stood up and stared at her with his eyebrows raised. “Ah, so you understand why running about shoeless was perhaps not the most appropriate idea.”
“It’s only improper in mixed company,” Ada insisted grumpily. “Until you arrived, we were perfectly fine and we didn’t expect you to show up out of nowhere. Unshaven, I might add.”
“Well, I was eager to see you after months abroad, especially as I had a surprise for you. Next time I will take myself home and save myself the exhaustion, seeing as you are so ungrateful.” He proffered the lacquered wooden box he had been holding in one hand the whole time. “And I’ll eat these myself.”
Quick as a hare, Ada snatched it from his hands and slid open the top to reveal dark orange squashed sort of fruit, dusted with white powder. They looked strange to Elodia, but Ada’s face lit up with delight once more.
“The persimmons!”
He smiled at her glee and patted her head. “Yes, you greedy little thing, they arrived at Lodge Hall just before I did. I brought you a small taste since you’ll have to wait a bit longer to enjoy them this year.”
Ada bounced on her toes in excitement before glaring up at him teasingly. “Don’t eat all of them, gēgē.”
His mouth dropped open in outrage. “How dare you? You are the one who gobbles them up within a month. As it is, I made sure to request your own barrel this time from Grandmother.”
“Truly?”
He winked in reply. “Share those, mèimei, or you’ll grow as round as the barrel they came in.”
Ada wrinkled her nose and slapped his arm, and he pulled a face before shifting his attention to Elodia and Regina.
“And speaking of sharing, who are these young ladies you’ve been leading astray?” he asked.
“These are my friends, the ones I wrote to you about.” She turned to Elodia and Regina with a bright smile. “Gēgē, I’d like to introduce you to Gigi and Ellie. Ladies, this is my brother, Richard.”
He rolled his eyes at Ada and shook his head before stepping forward to greet them. “Miss Gigi, I’m sure that is not your full name.”
“No,” Regina replied with a laugh, “I am Miss Regina Mason.”
“Lovely, and you,” his gaze shifted to Elodia and she felt her mouth go dry. “Miss Ellie, is it?”
Was that good? “I…I’m Miss Elodia Hawthorne.” Her voice had gone up at the end for some reason.
He frowned and looked at her askance. “Are you sure?”
She nodded and tried to smile while her heart thudded in her chest.
He sighed and tilted his head. “Well, if you say so. I am Mr. Richard Thornfield. My sister tells me you have both been good to her, so I am at your service, no matter what.”
“Thank you,” Regina replied, dipping into a curtsey.
“Remind me, mèimei, which one is the fighter?” he asked, and Ada giggled before pointing to Elodia.
For a horrible moment, Elodia thought he would give her a scolding, but instead, something like appreciation showed on his face. “Thank you for protecting my sister.”
“It was my pleasure,” she said, and he smiled and shook his head slowly. She’d never been smiled at like that, as if her very presence was being appreciated, even admired. Did he smile at everyone like that? It couldn’t be safe for him.
“I’ll bet it was,” he finally replied. “Far too many people deserve a good thumping and never get it, don’t you agree?”
Ada and Regina laughed but she couldn’t do much more than smile up at him.
He’d seen her. He’d looked into her, past the bad behavior, windblown hair and the bare feet, into who she was and saw it as something praiseworthy.
He’d heard what she’d done and seen a protector instead of a ruffian.
In an instant, all her shame and anxiety melted away, leaving behind a steady glow in the center of her chest and so it was, on an otherwise ordinary summer day in England, Elodia Hawthorne lost her heart to Richard Thornfield.