Page 28 of The Spinster (Emerson Pass Historicals 2)

“Me as well,” I said, not wanting to sound unmanly.

We stood just outside the horses’ stalls. Theo handed me the flask. “How was your night?”

“Good, thanks,” I said before taking a swig. “I’ve fallen for Emerson Pass. I knew I would.”

“That’s not all that’s caught your eye,” Flynn said, grinning at me. “You and Josephine seemed chummy tonight.”

“Flynn,” Theo said. “We agreed to stay out of this.”

“You trying to woo her?” Flynn asked.

“What if I was?” I asked.

“Might be rough going.” Flynn took another drink from the flask. “She’s under the impression that Walter Green was her one and only.”

“I gathered that,” I said.

“Declared herself a spinster,” Theo said. “Which we think is ridiculous.”

“You do?” I peered from one twin to the other.

“We weren’t keen on the idea of Walter, if you want to know the truth,” Flynn said.

“May I ask why?” I asked.

“The family—our family—didn’t think she knew him well enough,” Theo said.

“And he promised to marry her but there was no ring, no formal proposal,” Flynn said.

“Which we found suspicious,” Theo said. “Our father wasn’t consulted, either. No letter of introduction or to ask for her hand.”

“We didn’t care for that,” Flynn said. “A lack of respect.”

The way they finished each other’s sentences was like they were one person.

“Our sister has never once done something that didn’t make sense or was impractical or overly r

omantic,” Flynn said.

“Until Walter Green,” Theo said.

“An outsider. A stranger. Someone she met in the city.” Flynn said city as if it were a bad word.

“We have a theory about why she says her heart’s closed forever,” Theo said. “She doesn’t want to risk losing anyone again.”

“And she believes Walter to have been the only one for her,” Flynn said.

“As well as the finest man in the world,” Theo said.

“The likes of which does not exist.” Flynn rolled his eyes.

“He wasn’t a fine man.” I hadn’t meant to say this out loud, but there it was.

The twins watched me with their pairs of identical eyes.

“Go on,” Flynn said.

“Yes, please tell us what you know,” Theo said.