A few hours after discovering Diana wasn’t bidding goodbye to Viscount Farthingworth, she sat across from him at the supper table. She chased peas around her plate, wishing she’d skipped the emotional farewell and kept her admission inside her head where it belonged. Keeping her head down, she studiously avoided eye contact with Andrew. Sitting across from the man you’d bared your soul to wasn’t awkward at all.
Her mother broke the silence. “Diana, darling, what time tomorrow can you go with me to look at wedding dresses?”
A mental image of playing Say-Yes-to-the-Dress with her mama popped into her mind. What if Jackie wanted a southern belle gown? Or worse, a mermaid style dress like Mrs. Perdue had! Diana rubbed the twitch above her right eye.
Well, at least she wasn’t fixated on Andrew anymore. Thank the good Lord above, she also had the perfect solution to all her problems—a rare win, win, win situation. “I’m not free, and neither are you. Remember we’d planned to ride out to the hunters’ camp tomorrow. We’ve been planning it for weeks. I’ve taken off work and everything.” Sweet Tea and Lavender had been getting the short end of the stick in recent days, but as soon as she got rid of their visitors, she’d be able to devote one hundred percent of her attention to her first born.
Jackie’s hands shot to her mouth. “I’d completely forgotten.” She giggled. “I suppose I’ve had other things on my mind.”
Andrew caught Diana’s gaze. “You ladies should go ahead with your plans. Uncle Neville and I can keep ourselves occupied. You know what they say, ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder.’”
“Nooo,” Jackie morphed into full-on pout. “It’s an overnight trip, and I don’t want to be away from my sweetheart that long.”
“I have an idea.” Andrew’s plan to prove Jackie’s unfitness for her new position wasn’t wholly flawed. It simply needed a different focus. “Neville, why don’t you and Andrew join us? You need to see what you’re in for if you’re going to spend half your time here.”
Neville dabbed the corner of his mouth. “Brilliant idea. In my younger days, I was quite sporty. Cricket, polo…”
This was too easy. No way these fancy boys could handle the backcountry. She turned to Andrew. “Do you enjoy country pursuits?”
“Contrary to popular belief, not everyone in Britain hunts and shoots.” He arched an eyebrow. “However, as it so happens, I’m passable in the saddle.”
“Good enough for our purposes. After dinner, I’ll get your sizes, and have one of my staff get the gear you’ll need from my shop downstairs. We’ll leave bright and early in the morning.”
“Yay,” Jackie clapped her hands. “You’re going to have so much fun at the camp. I can’t wait to cook for you, Neville, darling. Food cooked over a wood-burning stove always tastes better to me.”
“To say nothing of the well water. There’s nothing sweeter.” Andrew needed to know what he was in for. Plus, she enjoyed the way he shifted in his chair.
“You’re saying there’re no amenities where we’re going?” He paled beneath the sunburn he’d caught earlier.
“That depends.” Diana drew perverse pleasure from his discomfort. “I happen to think the sounds of nature outside my window at night and zero bars on my cell phone an amenity.”
Neville jabbed his nephew in the side. “Where’s your adventurous spirit, my boy? How bad could it possibly be?”
“I guess we’ll be sleeping rough tomorrow night.”
“It’s not as bad as that,” Diana said, lest he attempt to back out in the morning. She wanted Andrew to enjoy the full hunters’ cabin experience along with his uncle. “The old homestead is fairly solid, and there are bunks in the cabin, so think more pre-Industrial Revolution than prehistoric.”
His gaze darted to the others before settling on hers. “Cold comfort.” He offered a weak smile. “But like my uncle said, how bad can it be—especially if you ladies can manage?”
Heat flared in Diana’s belly, adding fuel to her fully involved irritation with the viscount. Did he assume nature had imbued him with untapped outdoorsman skills by virtue of his appendage? “Then you can wipe that scared-rabbit look off your face, can’t you?”
She ignored her mother’s shocked gasp, tossed her napkin onto the table, and headed to the door. “I’m going to the barn.”
Diana stalked all the way to the back of the property. How did Andrew Montgomery manage to get her hackles up with so few words? She shoved the barn doors open and stepped inside. The scent of warm hay and motor oil tingled her nose. This had been her grandfather’s domain, and entering his space was as close to a visit she’d get this side of heaven.
Oh, Granddaddy. You’d know what to say to calm me down—and get those damned Brits off my property.
“You look ready to spit nails.”
She drew up short. “Hey, Doc James, I didn’t expect to see you here this time of night.”
“Hanging out with Sergeant for a while.” He patted his quarter horse’s rump. “I’d hoped to get a ride in, but I got held up at Jasper Dairy.” He pointed to Diana. “Given your outfit, I’d say you weren’t getting ready to take Jezebel out for a ride.”
She looked down at the sundress Jackie insisted she wear to dinner. Flecks of mud dotted the pink fabric. “Jeez, I need to load gear into the truck, but I’d rather have a root canal than go back up to the house.”
He continued brushing the gelding. “The rumors are true.” James Bentley kept to himself and was known to prefer the company of animals over people.
After the past couple days, she could understand why. “Good Lord, if you’ve heard about Mama’s fiancé, then it must be all over the whole county.”
Her mother had tried fixing the two of them up way back in high school. The county’s most popular veterinarian was certainly handsome enough to catch her eye. He’d also demonstrated time and again he had more patience than Jesus, Job, and her favorite lab, Buster, so Jackie wouldn’t drive him insane. However, there were reasons James avoided most folks, darn good ones, she imagined. And that was enough to steer her away.
“You’d be surprised what folks insist on telling me. Miss Ruth told me when I went to see ’bout her coon dog.”
Diana opened one of the unused stalls and began rummaging around for the equipment they’d need at the cabin. “I need a couple cast iron skillets, blankets, my water filtration system…”
Used as a hunters’ cabin by the previous owners, the place already had a few pieces of furniture and a cook stove. They’d need to pack everything for the visit and things to leave behind for the next time. Eventually, she planned to outfit the cabin as a remote getaway for more adventurous guests. However, now she prayed it would suffice to show her mama Neville Montgomery wasn’t cut out for true country life.
Doc James took the old-fashioned coffee pot from her. “Here, let me give you a hand.”
“Thanks, doc.”
“Should I hook the horse trailer to your truck for you?”
Taking the horses would be more fun. She and her mother loved riding the trails surrounding the town that led out to the country. Enjoyment wasn’t tomorrow’s objective. “Not the horse trailer, but you can help me hook up the other equipment.”
Andrew thrummed his fingers against his thigh. The moment Jackie set her coffee cup back on its saucer and dabbed her lips, he pounced. “Lovely dinner, Mrs. Curtis. Southern cuisine certainly lives up to its reputation. Okra is indeed a delicacy, and your garden-fresh tomatoes tasted of the summer sun.”
Jackie beamed with his praise. If only he could manage to say the right things to Diana. He looked beyond the dining room windows, to the rolling pasture and the barn at the far end. “If you’ll excuse me, I have things needing my attention.”
As he picked his way across the field, avoiding landmines and the cows that made them, he took a moment to appreciate the remains of the day. An earlier shower had cooled things off, and the nocturnal insects were tuning up for their evening chorus. In the shadows created by the giant oaks in the formal gardens, fireflies conducted a mating ritual that slowed his steps. He imagined holding Diana in his arms as they, too, danced. She’d be ethereal in evening wear, with her hair up and jewels at her neck.
Andrew slammed the door on the scenario. “Not going to happen.” Certainly not considering her demeanor toward him at dinner. Not that he wanted to pursue a romance with her. “It’s simply the scenery muddling my thinking. And jet lag. That’s it.” He increased his pace, determined to discuss Diana’s plans for his uncle. Nothing more. Voices led him to the far side of the barn.
His brain skidded to a halt as he approached the gravel area where he found Diana leaning over the side of a battered truck. Sunlight reflected off her hair, turning it golden. As she extended her arms to place something in the truck’s bed, the muscles on her bare shoulders flexed in sinewy beauty. His gaze slid south to the hem of her dress as it rode higher up her thigh.
A man dressed in worn jeans, boots, and a ball cap joined Diana by the truck. He hefted two large plastic containers into the truck bed. “Once I load the extra fuel cans, you should be all packed.”
Diana slipped her arm around the man. “Are you sure I can’t talk you into coming with. I’ll make you my famous skillet peach pie.”
He laughed and ruffled her hair. “Sorry, I’ll have to take a pass this time. I’ve got too much work to do to take time off. Otherwise I’d be all over your offer.”
From appearances, the guy would also be all over Diana given half a chance. The prospect sent a fissure of irritation through Andrew. “I came out here to offer my assistance, but I see you already have a cavalier.”
Diana jerked around. “What? No. I mean, yes. We’re good. You can go back to the house. Wouldn’t want you to miss your cigars and cognac.” Her lips spread in a grin. “Like you said earlier, ‘if I can manage, how hard can it be?’”
He cringed as she repeated his words. The sentiment he expressed didn’t hold with his belief about women’s abilities. It had simply been another example of Diana bringing out the stupid in him. “Um…” If only he could get his brain and mouth to work in unison.
Thankfully, Diana’s friend offered a rescue. “James Bentley.” He dusted his hand against his thigh before extending it to Andrew. “Local veterinarian and a long-time friend of Diana’s.”
“Andrew Montgomery, occupation questionable and recent acquaintance of Miss Curtis.”
“You left out Viscount Farthingworth and heir presumptive to the Effingham dukedom,” Diana added.
With good reason.
James’ narrow-eyed reaction typified one of two ways people responded to learning of his peerage. Hungry excitement being the other.
“Those titles and five dollars will buy me a cup of coffee here in America. Call me Montgomery or Andrew if you like.”
Suspicion cleared from the vet’s face. “Will do, Andy. You and your uncle are in for a treat tomorrow. I’ve hunted and fished that land all my life. It’s God’s country.” He turned to Diana. “Remember what I said about that sow.”
“I hear you. I’m not anxious to tangle with a mama bear. I’ll be packing my .45 along with my Benelli, just in case. But only as a last resort. I know how you feel about animals, domestic and wild.”
Bears?! He and Uncle Neville were being led into a wilderness filled with marauding beasts. All in the name of love. If the prospect of facing death wasn’t enough to convince his uncle he wasn’t cut out for life as a southern gentleman, Andrew would have to concede defeat.
James tipped his hat. “I’ll be off then. Nice to meet you, Andy. Enjoy your trip.”
A smile crossed the man’s face as he left, but Andrew gave over pondering the reason for more pressing matters. “Are we all set for tomorrow?”
Diana secured a tarp over the provisions in the truck bed. “Everything except last-minute food items. I had the clothes and boots you’ll need sent to your rooms already.”
Testament to how involved he’d been with the exchange between Diana and James, he’d failed to note the trailer attached to her truck until now. “I thought we were riding horses.”
“I’m sorry if I gave you that impression.” She patted one of the vehicle’s seats. “No, we’re taking the ATVs.”
How hard could it be? It would be like riding a motorized, four-wheeled bicycle. Except. “There’re only two of them.”
“Look at you using math.” She nodded, a smug grin creasing her face. “And you said you didn’t have any marketable skills.”
Andrew let out a growl of frustration. “Did I do something to offend you?” His words at dinner came to mind. “Other than insulting your capabilities earlier. For which I heartily apologize. But you were testy with me before I cocked things up.”
Diana ducked her chin. “I’m embarrassed by what I said yesterday. I thought I wasn’t ever going to see you again, otherwise I would never have said those things.”
He drew near, unable to resist the lovely blush to her cheeks. “I’m awfully glad you did.” He brushed her face with the back of his hand. “Remember, we’re on the same side.”
“We are, aren’t we?” Her smile lit up his chest.
“Friends again?”
“Sure.”
“What’s your brilliant plan?”
She shrugged. “Make your uncle miserable.”
And Andrew as well by proximity. “That’s it?”
“Mama loves the outdoors, not just her neat-and-tidy garden, but the back country as well. She could never be happy with someone who didn’t love camping and fishing as much as she does. You saw the pouting she did at dinner. She’s going to expect Neville to accompany her on these trips.”
“All right. I’ll follow your lead.” He held up a finger. “However, as you did with your mother, I must insist on parameters.”
“Go for it.”
God only knew what other hazards lay ahead of them. Diana must consider Neville’s inexperience. “My uncle may not be placed in any grave danger. Bruises to his ego are a concession I have to accept, but I won’t have his safety threatened.”
“I can’t make that promise.” Her voice rose in surprise. “You heard James. There are bears out there, along with coyotes and snakes. Maybe a wild boar or two. I will tell you, your uncle won’t be in any more danger than Mama or I am—or you for that matter.”
The next twenty-four hours were guaranteed to be pure unadulterated hell. “To say nothing of the man-eating mosquitoes.” He slapped at one of the insects that had landed on his arm and begun to draw blood. His sixth sense tingled, urging him to fold his cards, take his chips and run. However, caution hadn’t made him the money to keep Chatham Park in family hands. Only something extreme would work. “I’ll see you at first light then.”