Page 32 of Hank and Elsie
Hank winked at her. “I believe I’d like your ma. Sounds like a plain-spoken woman.”
Elsie wasn’t so sure about that. Sometimes her mother’s directness was mighty uncomfortable.
Hank climbed out and grabbed the picnic basket. He came around to help Elsie down, while Dr. Angus did the same for Miss Taylor.
The two women strolled behind the house to find the privy. A pump in a half-barrel set into the ground was situated between the barn and the cabin. This side of the house also had a narrow back porch—convenient for access to the pump water.
Once they’d used the privy and washed their hands and faces, Elsie and Miss Taylor returned to the front, where the surrey remained parked. Chipper was turned loose in the fenced part of the meadow, and Zeus, tied to a fencepost on a long lead, grazed on the green grass. The picnic basket rested on the table, and the men were not in sight.
Elsie placed her hand on the porch railing, going on tiptoe and angling her face toward the closest window. “This is a prettyhouse. I wonder what the inside’s like. Do you think we can go look?”
“Let’s wait for our host to invite us in.”
Luckily for Elsie’s impatience, they didn’t have long before the men came around the side of the house, talking with gestures that indicated the topic was their surroundings. They stopped before the women.
Hank cocked an eyebrow and indicated the table. “You ladies hungry, yet?”
Miss Taylor waved toward the lake. “If you gentlemen don’t mind, I’d like to walk around some. We’ve been sitting too much today.”
Once again, Elsie clasped her hands together. “Can we please feed the swans, Hank?”
He nodded. “I have some bread in the house.”
Miss Taylor let out a breath of apparent happiness. “You are so lucky, living on the water with such a beautiful view.” She pointed to a narrow path winding beside the shore. “I’d like to explore along the lake.”
Dr. Angus offered his arm to Miss Taylor. “How ’bout if we take a look around—enjoy the sights—while Hank and Elsie feed the swans. Say twenty minutes or so? Then we can all join up and have that picnic.”
“That sounds just right.” Miss Taylor looked at Elsie, eyebrows raised, obviously checking if she felt comfortable with staying alone with Hank.
Playing matchmaker, Elsie smiled and lowered her arm, making a little surreptitiousgo-ongesture. Her skirt blocked her hand signal from the men’s line of sight. She didn’t dare wink, even if Hank could, having learned that wasn’t ladylike.
Miss Taylor took the doctor’s arm, and the two strolled along the faint path beside the lake.
Elsie watched with a feeling of approval. Those two had mostly stopped their bristling with each other, and now, hopefully, would get on with the important business of falling in love.
This visit is going to be so interesting.
CHAPTER 13
Seeing the quick flash of pleasure on Miss Taylor’s face at Dr. Angus’s invitation to explore, with a sour feeling in his stomach, Hank knew he was out of the running for courting the pretty dressmaker.Probably just as well.The doctor can give her a more prosperous life in town.
Remembering his manners, he turned back to his other guest just as a puffy cloud moved across the sun, casting a shadow.
Elsie stared mesmerized at the lake. The cloud split and sent a ray of sunshine to bathe the young woman in golden light. She stretched out her arms and slowly spun, seeming to take in the scenic surroundings from all angles.
She stopped, wrapping her arms around herself and gazing up at Hank, big brown eyes wide. “I’ve never seen any place so beautiful,” she said with a sigh of obvious delight. “Well, I haven’t seen much ofanywhere. But I don’t think there is any place in the world prettier then right here.”
“Not being a world traveler—” Hank drawled “—I can’t verify your conclusion. But I certainly can agree with it.”
She gave him the biggest smile he’d ever seen on a grown woman’s face and, flinging out her arms and tilting back her head to the sky, did another spin, faster this time, as if, withchildlike glee, wanting to draw the beauty of her surroundings into her body.
Not quite a grown woman, he firmly reminded himself.
But when Elsie stopped, still laughing, he couldn’t resist joining in her infectious joy with some guffaws of his own.
After their laughter eased, Hank gestured toward the house. “Would you like a tour of the place before feeding the swans?”
“I’m bursting with curiosity.” Then her expression fell. “Oh, dear.Burstisn’t ladylike. Ladies aren’t supposed to burst. Please don’t tell Miss Taylor I said ‘burst.’”
