Courted by Trouble: A Courting Romance (In Hyacinth Book 3) (4 page)

“Thank you, but I’m extremely happy in my new relationship. As much as I would never have wished for what happened, I feel it was for the best. Even the thought I would never have found Cami is rather painful.”

A small smile crossed her face. “Cami is amazing.”

“Yes, she is. But so are you.”

Pacing again, though much slower, she wrung her hands together. “I spent a year hiding out from the world and now it feels like I’m dived into the deep end. It’s scary,” she admitted.

“Of course it is. But just because it’s scary doesn’t make it bad. What you have to figure out, Stephanie, is if the risks associated with having a possible suitor are worth the possible gain or fallout.”

“How can he be your nephew?”

He chuckled, leaning back. “My elder sister is almost twenty years my senior. If you think about it, Xander and Drake have almost the same age difference. I was only three when Christopher was born. Our parents insisted he call me uncle which we both thought was weird.”

Plopping down into the other armchair in the room, she looked up at him sheepishly. “I’m freaking out for no reason, aren’t I?”

A look of such compassion crossed his face that she had a hard time not sobbing. “Stephanie, there are real reasons for your fear, and you’ll overcome them in time. This is not a decision anyone can make except for you. Are you ready to possibly be courted? If so, dinners are the way that happens in Hyacinth. If not? Nobody will think any worse of you for it.”

Except she probably wouldn’t get another chance with Christopher and that thought bothered her. Breathing out slowly, she nodded. “Thanks, Jerod.”

“You’re welcome. Was there anything else you needed?”

“No. I had best go back. I have an outfit I need to deliver this afternoon.”

“All right, though while you’re here I have something to ask you.” Surprised, she looked up at him. “I want to get Cami something unique, a gift she wouldn’t have asked for, as a wedding gift. You’ve known her forever. What would she want?”

The answer came without a thought. “She’s always wanted a sleigh bed.”

“A sleigh bed?”

She nodded. “In cherry.”

He nodded slowly as if thinking about it and smiled. “Thank you.”

Saturday came quickly, much quicker than it should have and Stephanie found herself in the passenger seat of Charlotte Covington’s car, being driven to their house. “Thanks for picking me up,” she said quietly.

“Oh, it’s no trouble. I was glad for a little time with you.” After a brief pause, she continued. “If you ever need someone to talk to, you can always come to me, Stephanie. I loved your mother as a sister and you’ve always been a sister to my daughter which makes you another daughter to me. As such, please feel free to come to me if you need anything.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Covington.”

“Oh, please call me Charlotte. We’re both adults now. Well, you are. I’m going through my second childhood or at least my husband seems to think so.”

Giggling a little, Stephanie grinned. “I’ve always looked up to the two of you. So did Mom.”

“I miss Jessica,” she said with a quiet sigh. “But I know she would be proud of how you are recovering from what happened to you. I know I am.”

It was amazing how just a few words could make her feel so good. Cami’s entire family was really good at that.

“So, are you ready to meet Christopher?” she asked as they got close to the house.

“I’ve met him actually. Jerod and Cami introduced him to me at the picnic.”

The Covington household was quiet when they arrived. “Alex and Drake are still out with the cows. They’ll be back an hour before Christopher is to arrive. So, let’s get dinner started.”

“Umm, Charlotte? I still don’t know how to cook.”

Cami’s mother laughed softly. “Well, then it’s about time we taught you how. Come on.”

Thankfully the dinner wasn’t too complex, but Stephanie still managed to burn the vegetables and ruin the cheesecake.

“Why don’t you go upstairs and rest?” Charlotte suggested when she looked at the sunken mess that was supposed to be light and fluffy. “I can fix that.”

“I don’t know how you do it,” Stephanie said, taking a step backward. “I can make food from a can or a box, but doing anything from scratch seems insurmountable.”

“Maybe you should take a couple of the summer event classes.”

“Oh, no. I had enough of that kind of problem in home economics. All the girls laughed at me constantly because my food never came out right.”

Smiling at her, Charlotte shook her head. “Somehow I don’t think that’s a problem, Stephanie. You just need more faith in yourself.”

“And for my cheesecakes not to sink.”

Laughing, Charlotte shooed her upstairs.

By the time Alex and Drake came in from working outside, Stephanie was setting the table and dressed in a simple halter-dress she made for herself on a whim. It was a bit whimsical with cartoon characters everywhere, but she liked it.

In the time she was upstairs getting ready, somehow Charlotte had saved dinner and there was even a new dessert off to the side.

When the doorbell rang, Stephanie was in the living room with the four of them and she jumped. Alex let him in and when the two walked into the living room, she was struck by how handsome Christopher actually was. He had tamed his hair tonight but his eyes still twinkled. Like most men in Hyacinth he had brought gifts, a bouquet of hyacinths for Charlotte and a small teddy bear with a chef’s hat for her.

“Thanks,” she said, taking the little bear. He wore an apron that read
Even chefs make mistakes – they just make up a new name for the dish and everyone applauds
. Laughing as the saying seemed very apropos tonight, the tightness she had felt for the last week relaxed.

Dinner was fun. The ham covered in honey tasted wonderful and the vegetables even tasted good. Seated next to Charlotte, Christopher was open and chatted easily with all of them. He sent Stephanie warm smiles every other minute and by the time dessert was delivered, she knew he liked her.

“This is good,” Christopher hummed as he took a bite of the berry and cream-filled dessert. “It tastes like cheesecake. What is it?”

“A secret family recipe,” Charlotte said easily, winking at Stephanie. Drake caught the wink and looked between the two of them, but didn’t say anything. Instead, he looked at Christopher.

“So, do you like Hyacinth?”

“Yes, I do. Tons of stuff to do here. I love nature.”

Drake grinned. “Been fishing on Hins Creek Lake yet?”

“Jerod took me last week. Caught some amazing trout. It was like that when I was a kid. Fresh fish right out of the lake. Nothing better. That’s one thing I miss here. The restaurant I worked at in Maine, we got fresh fish daily. Crab. Lobster. It was fantastic.”

“We need a nice upscale restaurant in town,” Charlotte said quietly. “We have the diner and a couple other small eateries, but a nice sit-down restaurant that served wonderful food would be lovely.”

Alex grunted and nodded. “It would be nice.”

“My gran ran a bed and breakfast,” Christopher said. “I grew up there. In fact, that’s where I fell in love with cooking. We had fresh fish daily there too.” He paused and his eyes rose and locked with Stephanie’s. “What do you want to do, Stephanie?”

Startled, she shrugged. “I don’t know. Right now I’m getting by as a seamstress.”

“Do you enjoy it?”

“I love to sew,” she hedged.

He grinned as if realizing she wasn’t giving him a straight answer. “Where do you get your own clothes?”

She looked down at her crazy halter dress. “Oh, I designed and made this.”

“The dress you wore at the picnic too?” She nodded, wondering where he was going with this. “And Jerod says you designed and are making Cami’s wedding dress.”

“Yes?”

“Your sense of style is unique and there are a lot of people clambering for that. Ever thought of mass-producing your designs?”

“I never even graduated high school.” Heat filled her cheeks as she blurted out the words. Surely a clothing designer needed a fancy education.

“So?” Christopher acted as though that was no big deal. “I bet there are home study courses you could take. Most colleges offer online degrees now. You could get a GED, get some business courses behind you, and I bet your designs would sell well.”

Drake beamed at her as though he couldn’t agree more and she looked from him to the man seated opposite him. “Uh, thanks.”

“Sure. If you decide, a friend of mine runs an online shop for unique clothing. I can put you in touch with him.”

* * * * *

Grabbing her towel, Stephanie dried her hair as she stepped out of the shower. The conversation from Saturday night’s dinner still resounded in her head as she got dressed, pulled her hair into a pony tail, and withdrew Cami’s dress from its protective plastic before putting it on the dress form Charlotte had lent her. As it was already sized to Cami’s measurements, it made her job easier.

When she was twelve or thirteen, she had dabbled in dreams of everyone wearing her strange designs but never truly thought seriously about it. But Christopher thought it was a good idea. And he was from outside their tiny little town so he was more likely to know than she would.

A knock on her door let her know Cami was here for her fitting. Tossing a clean cloth over the dress, she walked over to the door and opened it. “Hey!” Cami said, rushing past her. “I brought muffins. How’s the dress going? Was last night fun?” She continued to chatter as she removed muffins from a basket hanging on her arm, placing them on Stephanie’s tiny kitchen counter. When she finally took a breath, she giggled. “I’m not letting you get a word in, am I? I’m just so excited to see my dress.”

“Well, go wash your hands and let’s get to it.”

Squealing, Cami ran into her bathroom, washing her hands and removing her clothes. When she came out, she wore the strapless bra Stephanie had requested and a pair of seamless panties. “Okay, where do you want me?”

Stephanie guided her to the center of the small room and had her close her eyes while she uncovered the dress, unpinned it and slowly fitted it to Cami’s body. “Now, it’s not finished,” she explained. “There will still need to be one or two more fittings before it’s complete.” Once she was sure everything fell just right, she moved her one full-length mirror over in front of Camille and took a step back. “Open your eyes.”

Cami’s eyes sprang open and her mouth opened. “Wow.”

The dress fitted her perfectly, showing off her figure, but the main part was how beautiful the leaf-shaped silk looked as it slid down her. At first, Stephanie had planned to have sets of gold, red, and brown leaves and place them in bunches, but as she worked with the fabric another idea sprang to mind. It had been more work but the results were stunning. Each leaf was made up of all three colors and together it kind of looked like a pile of leaves, though a lot more elegant.

“Stephanie,” Camille said, sniffling. “It’s stunning. Absolutely amazing. Drat! And all I’ve got is my cell phone. Can you take a couple pics? I want to show Mom.”

Walking over to her purse, Stephanie fished out her cell phone and took pictures from the front and back while Cami turned slightly, trying to see all of her dress. “So, you really like it?” Stephanie asked after she had removed the fabric and pinned it back on the dressform.

“Are you kidding? It’s so much better than I had imagined and I imagined something cool. I can hardly wait to walk down the aisle in it.” Cami pulled on her jeans and sweater after switching to a normal bra. “And it’s so worth the strapless bra.”

“Oh, and I got Jerod’s cummerbund almost done, too.” Stephanie pulled it out and showed her.

“Wow, it does look just like my dress. You’re a genius!”

Grinning, Stephanie repacked the cloth and turned to look at her. “Christopher suggested that my designs were unique enough that other people might want to buy them.”

“Of course they would,” Cami agreed. “I mean, look, I wanted you because I knew you would create the kind of gown I wanted and I can’t be the only person out there who wants something unique.”

“I never got my high school diploma.”

“So?” Cami said, echoing Christopher’s words from the night before. “People get GEDs all the time. Plus, do you need a diploma to sell your clothes?”

“No, but if I wanted to know more how the business side was run, I would need to take some college courses.”

“Oh and they probably insist on a GED.” Pausing with an expression that said Cami was deep in thought, her gaze turned to the wedding gown. “What kind of clothes do you prefer to make the most?”

“Dresses, probably. It’s usually what I make for myself.”

“You know,” she said slowly, “The wedding fair is coming to Longdale in February. I wonder if you could make a couple gowns and show them off there? Maybe a wedding dress and a couple bridesmaids gowns?”

“Oh, that’s only a few months away. I don’t think—” That seemed awful sudden to Stephanie. Seven months? Surely in that time she couldn’t get all of that together.

“Well, I don’t know what’s all involved in it, but you could check. Or not,” she added simply with a smile. “I’m sorry. I’m pushing, aren’t I?”

“A little,” Stephanie admitted. “I’m still trying to get my head around the idea.”

“Okay, so let’s talk about something else. How was the dinner?”

They talked for another hour, munching on the muffins Cami brought before she had to leave. “Come to dinner Thursday,” she suggested as she walked out of the door, “at Jerod’s. I’m making cream puffs and I could use the moral support.”

Snickering, Stephanie shook her head. “I’m not sure I’m the right person to have. I killed a cheesecake last night. Or at least mortally wounded it. Somehow your mom rescued it and turned it into something even better.”

Laughing, Cami walked down the lane and Stephanie watched her go. After her friend disappeared, she closed the door and walked back to the dress. It might be a pipe dream, but even the idea that other people might be attracted to her designs was exciting. After all, her first dream of being a wife and mother was shot, but maybe, just maybe she could do something more with her life than what she was doing now.

* * * * *

The rest of the summer rushed by. Christopher came to dinner every Saturday at the Covingtons for six weeks and then stopped. Charlotte suggested that maybe he now had to work on Saturdays, but it didn’t make Stephanie feel any better. She had truly begun to look forward to their weekly meetings. But thankfully with Camille’s wedding coming up, she spent most of her nights and every weekend making sure the dress was perfect.

The weekend before the wedding, Dora and Stephanie worked things out with Cami’s fiancé and family and kidnapped their friend for a small party. Kathy was already back at school but had sent her gift to Dora to keep until the right time.

“My last girls’ night out as a single girl,” Cami said with a laugh as they curled up in Stephanie’s cabin. Strewn around her with pieces of paper that she had ripped from her gifts as she unwrapped them. Dora had gotten her a set of wonderful bath salts. Stephanie hadn’t known what to get so had purchased a few doodads for the house. But Kathy had purchased a pretty white babydoll nightie for her.