Free Six Little Sunflowers: Historical Romance Novella (American State Flower) by Gina Welborn Page B

discuss recipes, debate if it is possible to make a good egg nog without alcohol, and all attention to wedding details will be lost.”
    Mama Helaine frowned. “You are asking me to lie.”
    “I’m asking you to sew at a snail’s pace.”
    “How is that not lying?” Mama Helaine pointed out.
    “ Ugggh .” Félicie drew in a breath and sighed. “I’ve reached the point of desperation. Mr. Eaton called me into his office this morning. He agreed I could have a two-week holiday at the end of June. That’s next month.”
    “Why do you need a two-week holiday in June?”
    “For the honeymoon Carp’s ‘parents’ have planned! What am I supposed to do on a honeymoon for two weeks?” Félicie pointed at Mama Helaine. “Stop—you may not laugh.”
    Mama Helaine’s lips leveled even. “This is no laughing matter.”
    “Indeed,” Félicie agreed. Her shoulders slumped as much as they could in a corset. “I keep getting asked about wedding invitations. Proper etiquette is two weeks before the wedding, which Old Man Ralley kindly reminded me this morning. Why do people think we are getting married in June? We never agreed to a June wedding. June is a terrible month for a wedding.”
    “Actually, it is quite a lovely one.”
    Félicie gave Mama Helaine a slant-eyed glare.
    “I apologize,” Mama Helaine said with a not-so-repentant smile. “You should be happy about marrying Carp. I like him.”
    “ Everyone likes him.”
    Mama Helaine’s brows. “Except you?”
    “He has his...pleasant moments,” she acknowledged, “but that does not mean I wish to marry him. Please, Mama, will you help me stall this wedding?”
    Tears pooled in Mama Helaine’s beautiful eyes. “ Bien sur ! I will do whatever necessary to see to my little girl’s happiness.”
    Félicie kissed Mama Helaine’s cheek then relaxed as they held each other. “I should have let you adopt me,” she whispered. If she’d had, her life would have taken a different course. She would be happy and married to a man she loved instead of being engaged by accident to the wrong one. “You have been more a mother to me than my own was. You are my mother. I’m sorry I waited this long to tell you that.”
    Mama drew back, tears streaming down her cheeks. She smiled. Whatever words she had were clearly held hostage by her emotions.
    With a slow, in-drawn breath, Félicie faced the crimson-velvet curtains. Carpenter was out there, tired, hungry, irritable, and ready to be done with her. He had to be. Any man in his right mind would be. No more stalling. She strolled to the curtains, grabbing at the last second a red feather which she promptly stuck into her bun.
    “Now that’s a hummer of a gown!” Carpenter exclaimed the moment she stepped into the showroom. He’d removed the black coat to his uniform and looked at ease in a snug white jersey undershirt that defined every muscle in his chest. No wonder he had been asked by a lady sculptor to pose for her students. Paintings, drawings, and sculptures of his naked form—
    Her heart started beating a little faster.
    Rena, sitting next to Carpenter with Miss Trudy-Bleu in her lap, gave him an annoyed look. She pointed at Félicie. “You like this one best?”
    As he looked at Rena, his brow slowly furrowed with indecision, which Félicie didn’t believe for a moment. He turned his attention onto her. The corner of his mouth indented, and the back of her neck warmed.
    Félicie started to turn around, but Mama stopped her and whispered, “You can do this.”
    “Now that you mention it...” His gaze shifted from Félicie’s head down to where the green-beaded fabric pooled at her feet. “It does make her look short.”
    “It wouldn’t make me look short,” Rena muttered.
    “It hasn’t been hemmed,” Mama explained.
    He grinned. “Then it’s perfect! You wouldn’t have one in blue, would you?”
    “Blue?” blurted Félicie, but upon realizing how impatient she sounded, she gave him a