The coronation, normally one of Leah’s favorite events, seemed to drag on forever today. She performed her bit perfectly—like a trained monkey in a circus, she thought, her dark thoughts belying the bright smile on her face. She didn’t miss a step, and her solo performance got the largest applause. Once the final song was completed and the parade through the fairgrounds done, Leah yanked off her hood and went straight to the gates. Her sanctuary was only a few miles away. She had to go see the one man in the world who could make her feel better about everything.
“Leah, there you are,” Ella called to her from a pottery vendor’s stall. She grinned as she approached. “You were beautiful in the coronation ceremony.”
Leah gave as sincere a smile as she was capable of, considering the roiling mass of snarled emotions inside her. “Thanks.” She scuffed the toe of her slipper in the dirt.
“Hey,” Ella said, her voice soft and knowing. “What’s up?”
Leah shook her head. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.” Leah turned away abruptly and cleared her throat. Between the pain of Kevin’s request and Ella’s gentle probing, she couldn’t take much more today. Cursing herself inwardly for the lie, she said it anyway. “I wish I could stay longer, but Pawpaw needs some help at the shop this afternoon.”
Ella crossed her arms over her middle, framing her green-corseted chest. “You going to keep lying to my face? Because we can play that game if you want.”
Leah begged Ella with eyes already filling with tears. “Don’t make me talk about it, please.”
Ella lowered her brows but nodded. “Okay.”
“Thanks for hanging out with me today. I do appreciate it.”
Ella grabbed Leah’s arm. “Anytime, Leah. I mean it. Call me.”
The knowing look in Ella’s eyes made Leah feel even worse somehow. She agreed anyway.
“I will.” Leah pulled free and walked away. She hoped she was fast enough to keep Ella from seeing the stupid tears that flowed down her cheeks.
Two
The bronze bell strung over the door of Ramsey’s Antiques had long ago lost its clapper, but it still managed to clang violently whenever Leah pushed through the door. Pawpaw said that it never sang that loud for anyone but his granddaughter.
“Pawpaw?” Leah dropped her French hood atop the glass counter at the front of the store. Scanning the empty sales floor, she drew in a deep breath, tasting the familiar scent of ancient leather, dust, and pipe tobacco. “You around?”
His voice sounded far away. “In the back, Leelee. What are you doing here so soon? I thought you were at the Faire today.”
Leah rounded the corner and collapsed on the stool behind the counter. The hoops of her farthingale flopped upward, nearly whacking her in the face. With a frustrated groan, she stood and smacked them down again. “I was. I ran into Kevin, so I left after the coronation.”
“Kevin?” Her grandfather pushed through the swinging door to the stockroom and set an antique vase beside the register. “What in the hell was he doing at the Renaissance festival? I thought he hated ’em.”
“He does.” Leah leaned on the counter, cupping her chin in her hands. “He came to see me.”
Pawpaw’s already lined face wrinkled further with temper. He crossed his arms over his barrel-like chest, his nostrils flaring. “What did he want with you?”
“To ask me to be Teresa’s bridesmaid.” Her stupid eyes were watering again. She sniffed and trained her gaze at the silver spoons nestled inside the glass case below her elbows. “This is complete and utter crap. I wasn’t good enough for him to love, but I’m good enough to be her stupid bridesmaid?” She dashed the tears away. “Sorry, I don’t mean to dump my problems on you.”
“Leelee.” Her grandfather pulled her upright. “Look at me, girl. Come on.” He wiped the tears from her cheeks with his callused thumbs, demanding her attention with eyes that were so blue it was eerie—the same eyes that Leah saw in the mirror every day, only his were crowned by wiry salt-and-pepper brows instead of neatly groomed blond ones. Her grandfather, the gold standard for men everywhere. She just wished she could find someone as honorable and protective as he was. “That boy wasn’t ever good enough for you.”
Leah barked a bitter laugh as she averted her gaze. “Apparently he was too good for me. I’m not Washington caliber.”
“I’m not talking about money and power and all that hooey. Leelee, you were a bright child, and you’ve grown into an even brighter woman. It’s going to take a fine man to be able to make you happy. And Kevin wasn’t it. Don’t shed another tear over that good-for-nothin’.” He pressed his lips to her forehead, chasing some of the chill from her heart.
She smiled shakily, drawing in a deep, cleansing breath. “Thank you, Pawpaw.”
He folded her into his arms and she rested her head on his shoulder, just as she had a thousand times before. He smelled sweet, of his favorite pipe tobacco and aftershave. His broad hands were warm on her upper back, and she sighed against his familiar faded plaid shirt. Pawpaw was right. He’d always been right.
“Promise me somethin’.”
She looked up at him.
He continued with a half smile, “Promise me you’ll find somebody you can count on. A man who knows what it means to work for a living. A man who won’t let you run over him but will listen to every word you say.”
“I’ve got a grandfather like that,” Leah said with a laugh. “There can’t be another man like you.”
He smiled, but his voice was serious. “Leelee, listen to me. A good, strong, honest man. You find him, and you marry him. I want to know you’ve got somebody to come home to, so when I’m dead and gone, I know you’ll be taken care of.”
She pulled free of his arms and shook her head vehemently. “Why would you say that? You’re healthy as a horse.”
He shook his head. “I’m not guaranteed tomorrow, and I want to know you won’t be alone.”
“I can take care of myself, you know.” She tried to focus on the insinuation of her helplessness instead of the dead and gone statement. She refused to even consider a world without Pawpaw. And besides, she was an independent woman. While a romance would be wonderful, she didn’t need it to survive.
“I’m not talking about money or protection or anything like that, and you know it, girl.” He stared her down. “I mean a partner like I had with your grandma, someone to share life’s burdens with. You haven’t had it easy, and with Jamie gettin’ married, you’ll be more alone than is good for you.”
Leah stared at the carpet. She couldn’t look Pawpaw in the face. While the rest of the world saw the laughing, adventurous woman she’d chosen to be, she knew that he saw the lonely child she’d been when he and her grandmother had taken her in. He knew her too well. How could any man hope to do a better job of taking care of her than the man who’d raised her when her own mother hadn’t cared enough to do the job herself?
Her grandfather sighed. “If you’re going to stay around here this afternoon, you’d better change outta that getup. I could use some of your help staging the new silver I just bought. You’ve always been better at that than me.”
He patted her on the back and nodded toward the office at the back of the store.
“Yes, sir.” She caught the hood that he tossed at her and made her way through the back room. Maybe an afternoon of manual labor would keep the ugly memories of Kevin and her worries about the future at bay. Her throat tightened at the thought of Pawpaw’s words. Why would he be so worried about her getting married? What had he meant, dead and gone?