Page 56 of Kissing Her Rescuer

“And look how perfect she turned out.”

Eliza finally reached for her coffee cup. “Don't tell her that. I already have a hard time getting her to fold the towels for me since, and I quote, ‘Princesses have other people to fold towels.’”

“Yeah,” he said, smiling. “Last time we went fishing she told me, ‘Princesses have other people to bait their hooks.’” He shrugged, glad to see the tension around her eyes ease a little with the change of topic. “I told her that Princesses were the toughest little girls around. And that Princesses of the Lake definitely had to bait their own hook because they were the best at doing it and had to show everyone else how it was done.”

“Did it work?”

“Yes. I was then provided a step-by-step tutorial on how to select the worm, name the worm, and some strange prayer she prayed before hooking it.” He grinned. “Followed by several squeals as it started to dance.”

Eliza returned his smile before it dimmed again. “I guess there's only one thing left to hope for.”

“What's that?”

“Maybe you're old and aren't as fertile as you were before.”

18

Dewey brought a big box of decorations delivered to his mom's house to Eliza's front door, knocking twice and wishing she was home instead of Hugh. Ever since theirmishapa couple weeks ago with the condom, they'd both avoided the topic, and he had mostly put it out of his mind. Until he saw Hugh.

Even though they were older, Hugh would kill them both if Eliza got pregnant again.

Hugh opened the door. “I didn't order anything.”

“That's why it was delivered to my mom's house. Eliza knew you'd refuse the delivery man.”

“What is it?” Hugh stepped back, letting Dewey bring it in and set it down on the kitchen table.

Dewey took a breath. “Wedding decorations. Eva oversees the decorations now, but she didn't think she could get them all here in her small car.”

One eyebrow rose. “Did I pay for them?”

Dewey gave him two hearty pats on his back. “Probably. But, think of it this way, with Eliza photographing the wedding, you don't have to pay for someone else to do it.”

“That's even worse. I was told by Iris this morning that Eliza will be taking engagement photos with us next week. What the hell are engagement photos?” He threw his hands up. “Something else the wedding industry made up to get people to spend money.”

For once, Dewey agreed with Hugh. “But your daughter will have fun doing it. And so, will Ms. Iris. We do a lot of things to make women happy we don’t necessarily want to do.”

“That’s the damn truth,” Hugh mumbled. “She picked out a new spread for the bedroom. I told her no damn flowers after she rejected the plaid. After I rejected about ten of the ones she picked out, guess what?” He threw his hands in the air. “We have damn flowers on the bedspread.”

“As long as women are happy in the bedroom…” He trailed off as Hugh’s look darkened. Probably not the best topic of conversation with Hugh. “Here’s the decorations.” He patted the top of the box, hoping to leave before he had to talk to Hugh any longer.

“Since I assume you’ll see my daughter before I do, let me give you this. I haven't shared the news with Eliza, but she got a package from that contest.” He handed over a big, thick envelop. “Maybe you can find her and give it to her.”

“I can give you a ride into town if you're interested in being there when she opens it.”

“No. I have an appraiser coming by to give me an estimate on the house. I'm moving in with Iris after the wedding next month, so I need to know my options.”

He thought of Eliza, how much she wanted to stay in the house. She'd never pay it off or even save enough for a down payment working at the paper. “Are you selling it?”

“I'm not sure. I figure with the way things are going with you and my daughter, that there'd be a wedding in the near, near future.” Hugh's lips set in a firm line, his stare a little unnerving.

The potential pregnancy slithered back into his mind. If there had been any doubt, Hugh Campbell had just erased it.

Hugh would kill him.

“Let me buy the house.” The words tumbled from his lips before he even realized he'd said them.

“You? But you have about twenty acres. I figured you'd build.”

---