Page 26 of Gilded Locks

Grace dragged her attention to her friend, gripping the blanket in a fist as she muscled a smile into place. The cotton blanket wrinkled, tilting a plate of crackers and cheese.

Lizzy watched her with a knowing smile as she replaced the food. “Here I was going on about dresses, and you’re making eyes at James.”

“James?” What was Lizzy talking about?

A giggle and pointed look at the mayor’s pedestal was all the response Grace got.

Grace winced. She should have paid more attention to what Lizzy was saying and doing. She might have been able to hide her examination better. “I wasn’tmaking eyes,” she said, more bitterly than she intended.

And it wasn’t even James. Grace snuck a glance at the mayor’s pedestal again, and her jaw went slack.

ItwasJames. The young man had turned, and now, looking her way, Grace saw the smooth-shaved jaw. How had she missed the glint of red in his curls?

Grace looked at Lizzy, ready to explain to her smug friend how she’d made a simple mistake. The two men looked quite similar, and of course she’d assume Garrick stood beside his father. But she stopped before she spoke.

It would be worse for Lizzy to think Grace was “making eyes” at Garrick. Her, pining after a Clairmont? Unthinkable. Not that Lizzy would see any issue. She interacted with any and all gentry as she pleased. That would only make it worse, since she’d tease Grace prolifically and loudly in hearing range of Grace’s parents.

“Fine,” Grace said. “You caught me. I was staring.”

Lizzy smiled in triumph. “And you aren’t even blushing. Bolder by the day, I see. And a good thing. James saw us. He’s heading this way.”

“He is?” Grace looked toward the mayor’s pedestal a third time and saw James strolling toward them. She smiled authentically for the first time that day.

“Here, make room,” Lizzy said, sliding gracefully to the edge of the blanket. She picked up the plate of cheese and crackers with one hand and waved her other in the air.

Milo Tucker arrived a moment later.

“Milo, refill this plate and bring three more glasses of cooled lemonade from my manor.” Lizzy released the plate without even looking at the man. Two years as Lizzy’s servant had taught Milo well. His hands were in place to catch the plate without losing a single item.

Grace winced. “Thank you, Milo,” she said. He nodded and headed for the Stantons’ manor. “Must you be so dismissive, Lizzy?” Grace said, but Lizzy wasn’t paying attention.

Through a smile she hissed, “Quit looking at Milo. James is watching you.“

Grace conceded, adjusting her clothes and smiling up at James.

“Miss Robbins, Miss Stanton, It’s lovely to see you,” James said.

Grace placed a hand on her hat as she tilted her head back to see him looking down at her with his conservative smile in place.Still hiding things, she mused.

“James. Please, join us,” Grace said.

“Oh, yes. Please do,” Lizzy added.

James nodded and sat wordlessly between the two of them.

“Have you been enjoying the picnic?” Grace asked.

“It has been a lovely day. Though, I confess, I won’t be able to truly picnic. There are so many people I have need to converse with today.”

Grace felt the luster fade from her smile. It was a kind response. An honest response. But it made her feel like another item on his list of responsibilities.

Was it asking too much to ask for him to seek her out because he enjoyed her presence?

The wave of loneliness that hit her when James kept that wall of reserve between them felt too tiresome today.

Her tolerance for frustrating men had been exhausted.

She listed them in her head.

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