Free Interrupted by Zondervan Page B

lately? Any young suitors crawling around at your place?” She winked.
    Oh, that does it! Really, do these people have no discretion?
I sent visual daggers toward her back.
    “No,” Beatrice said, sipping her lemonade. “She claims she’s too sensible for romance.”
    I had to do something to stop this. Before long, they’d be choosing my wedding dress and discussing names for my children.
    “Beatrice?” I tapped her on the shoulder. “Yes?” She turned around, annoyed.
    I put on my sweetest face and rubbed my forehead. “May I please be excused? I have a terrible headache.”
    “Of course. Just don’t wander far.”
    I nodded and turned on my heel. I could hear them all laughing again at something—Humphrey’s booming voice covering all the others’. I took a final glance at the white mansion on the hill and shuddered.
    “Allie!”
    Someone grabbed my arm. I jumped and whipped around, practically knocking into Russell. I rolled my eyes and pulled my arm away, relieved. “Oh, Russell, you scared me! Could you come with a warning bell or something? I’d like to know when
you’re
behind me.” I tried to turn, but Russell reached out and touched my arm, startling me in a whole new way.
    Russell wrung his pale, white hands. “I’d like to think I won’t soon need to be telling you. I mean, I’ll still be needing to tell you, but maybe soon you won’t need to be told or you won’t … Oh, Allie, was I being too presumptuous?” He reached out and grabbed my arm again.
    What?
I stared at him for a moment, wondering what bad drama he’d seen at the theater last Friday. “By asking to follow me around?”
    He smiled and shook his head. “No, my love. By making my intentions clear in front of everyone.” He tightened his grip on my arm, his small eyes crinkling in a poor imitation of a lover.
    A woman walked by and raised her eyebrow at us.
    “Russell!” I leaped back, tearing myself from his grasp. I resisted the urge to wipe my arm against my dress. “Russell, I have to tell you —”
    “No!” Suddenly Russell’s finger was pressed against my lip, silencing me. My eyes widened and I stared at him in silence,too afraid to move. “Let me be the first to speak,” Russell cried. I gulped. People were beginning to stare.
    “I mean to marry you, Allie,” Russell proclaimed. “I mean for you to marry me. I mean for us to be husband and wife. To be a family. I mean for —”
    “I don’t want to marry you, Russell!” I slapped his hand away and took a step back, very much disturbed, though I tried to look relaxed and pleasant. “Enjoy the party.”
    I pivoted and practically ran away from him, conscious of the crowd now gathering to watch the spat. Why was my life so complicated?
    When I chanced a look back, Russell was shrugging. “She doesn’t want to rush things,” I thought I heard him say.
    I shuddered.
He is a creep. Or incredibly dense
.
    “Oh, Allie, there you are. Come here.” Beatrice motioned toward me, acting as if she hadn’t seen me in years. “I want you to say hello to Miss Rachel.”
    Great
. Brushing off my skirt, I trudged over to the table where Beatrice and Miss Rachel were sitting. “Good afternoon.”
    Rachel Piper smiled slowly, revealing two rows of even teeth. Then she sighed and patted her gray pompadour. “How are you, Alcyone?”
    “Just fine, thank you.” The back of my leg itched. I lifted a foot to scratch it, careful not to let anyone see. Beatrice especially wouldn’t let me hear the end of it — she’d been trying for years to get me to act “proper.” As I checked to make sure my actions had stayed discreet, my eyes met with a youngman sitting across the garden. He smiled at me, his blue eyes crinkling.
    How
do
I even know they were blue? I’d never seen him before.
    Beatrice touched my arm and smiled. “Rachel was just telling me about the delightful garden party she held last weekend. Would you like to hear, Allie?”
    I fought a grimace.