Sophia was not bringing her brother into this. “Aaron doesn’t want me here. He didn’t even tell me good-bye. He just—”
“He waved to you from the street. Am I not telling people good-bye when I wave?”
“I barely know him, and—”
“The potential of a person can be so enthralling that not exploring it will ruin everyone else you meet in the future.”
How did this woman have an answer for everything? She was worse than Jonas. “I have nothing to offer him, so there isn’t any reason to explore this so-called potential. It will only—”
“Sugar confections that are built up to look magnificent and elaborate always taste like dirty air. I do hope reality is better than that.”
“Would you stop interrupting me?” Sophia’s voice cracked as she tried to keep it from becoming a scream.
“No,” Harriet said calmly, “because if I wait for you to finish, we’ll be here for hours and the coach is coming round for us at three o’clock.”
Sophia blinked. “Why so early?”
“Because Lord Stildon is going to propose to Miss Snowley this evening, and I promised to decorate one of the box stalls in his stable with flowers from Adelaide’s conservatory. As my companion, you get to help.”
“Oh.”
Harriet widened her eyes in a look that didn’t even begin to appear authentically innocent. “You do want Miss Snowley to get a romantic proposal, don’t you?”
Sophia shook her head. “Harriet, one of these days you’re going to find someone you can’t manage.”
“I do hope it’s a man so we can fall in love and get married.” Harriet gave a wicked grin and swept from the room. “Now, let’s find you something fabulous to wear.”
IT WAS ONLY a matter of time before they ended up in the same drawing room.
Aaron had anticipated the moment, bracing himself for it to be awkward and uncomfortable. Instead, it was the most natural thing in the world to walk up to her and say, “You look lovely, Sophia.”
“Thank you.” She took in a shaky breath, but her grin looked easy. “I should smell lovely, too. I’ve been carrying flowers for two hours.”
“Decorating Hudson’s stable?”
“You know?”
“I had to clear out the horses.” He couldn’t imagine any other woman finding a proposal in the middle of a horse stall romantic, but it was perfect for Hudson and Bianca. “I doubt they will stay long after dinner. He’s rather anxious to make it happen.”
The awkwardness he’d dreaded swooped in on the falling silence of unasked questions. If those were given a voice, there would be no going back. The swirl in his gut was like the anticipation he felt before a race.
“I saw you riding with Miss Hancock a few days ago.” Though he’d poked and prodded everyone he knew as subtly as he could to learn the details of her new arrangement, he’d rather hear about it in her own words.
No matter how many of them she used.
“Yes.” She looked at her toes and then up at him before blurting, “I still have the job you got me.”
The wall was breached. Aaron fought to maintain his calm expression even as he anticipated her finally feeling the freedom to speak. “Oh?”
Sure enough, the words started flowing, and soon they were tumbling over one another to get out of her mouth.
“Though I enjoyed teaching the girls, none of them had much interest in anything beyond having a decent seat. Harriet wants to learn how to ‘ride fancy,’ as she says it. It’s about training the horse as much as the rider, though, so we’re on the hunt for the perfect mount. I’ve given her lessons on Rhiannon. Harriet’s not very patient, so this could get interesting.”
She shared how Lady Rebecca and Bianca had also asked for advanced lessons, and though they might have been pity requests, the opportunities still let her demonstrate her skills.
His heart lightened with every notch of excitement that entered her voice as she talked of her plans. As much as he enjoyed hearing her ramble, Aaron couldn’t help but want to stop her words in a way that only he had ever done.
There were no horses, no confined spaces, no heightened situations to blame it on, but Aaron wanted to kiss her.
He’d spent his whole life saying he would never marry, but he’d begun to question that resolve. It was an admission that had come far too late. Sophia and Miss Hancock were destined for adventure, chasing experiences Aaron could never provide. But he could be here for her to tell her tales to when she came home.
In the meantime, he could show her that he was no longer a man whose life was predetermined by circumstances out of his control. And the moment she tired of following Miss Hancock around, he would give her another option.
“AREN’T YOU GLAD I made you go to dinner last night?”
Sophia set down her morning coffee with a sigh. “My admission that it wasn’t as bad as I’d feared is not permission for you to gloat for the next hundred years.”
“I won’t gloat on this for a hundred years.” Harriet waved a hand through the air. “I’m sure I’ll do something else worth crowing about by noon. Until then, indulge me.”
“No.”
“You’re a terrible companion.”
“If you wanted someone who always agreed with you, you could have put a plant on wheels and toted it around.”
Harriet pursed her lips and her eyes went unfocused.
“That was not meant to give you ideas, Harriet.”
“You’re right. That would go a little beyond eccentric.”
If it got Harriet to drop the discussion of last night’s dinner, Sophia would carry around a plant herself. “What are we doing today?”
“First, I want to check in on the happy couple.”
“We’re paying a call on Miss Snowley, then?”
“Goodness no. I can’t stand her stepmother. Besides, she’ll be at Hawksworth. We’ll go there straightaway after breakfast.”
“You’re not the least bit subtle, you know.”
Harriet grinned. “Doesn’t make me any less effective.”
Two hours later, they were riding up the drive to Hawksworth. When both Jonas and Aaron stepped out to greet them, she gave serious consideration to turning around and riding away.
If Jonas knew she’d spent a great deal of time staring at the ceiling and thinking about Aaron instead of sleeping, he’d shake his head and tell her . . . Well, she didn’t know what he’d tell her or she’d have told it to herself.
Jonas looked from her to Aaron before casting his eyes heavenward, shaking his head, and stomping back into the stable. It would seem he had an idea of her dilemma even without her telling him.
She and Aaron only had time to exchange pleasantries before Miss Snowley pulled her and Harriet into the still-decorated stall to hear the story of Lord Stildon’s proposal.
While pretending to admire the flowers she’d helped put in place, Sophia snuck a glance at Aaron, only to find him looking back at her. He caught her eye, gave her a slight smile and a nod, then went about his business. What was she supposed to make of that? Either she had to learn to ignore that man, or he had to learn how to talk.