Leonardo (Romancing the Weavers #5) - Kit Morgan Page 0,1
Parthena brought it up. Both were twenty years old, going on twenty-one. Another year or two and they be considered spinsters in some places, but in Clear Creek it didn’t matter so much. Or so everyone kept telling them. They often talked about Sally Upton having never remarried after her husband died before she came to Clear Creek. She was an old woman now, living out her days at the Van Cleet Hotel, and still loved to cook and serve.
“What are you thinking?”
Savannah turned to her cousin. “Nothing.”
Parthena sighed. “I bet you were thinking the same thing I was. You know we both do whenever it’s brought up.”
“It’s not worth the trouble. Don’t think about it.”
Parthena slouched next to her. “You’re going to marry Leonardo Cucinotta, leave Clear Creek and leave me.”
Savannah stared at her. “You make it sound like a death sentence.”
“For me.”
“And who says I’m going to marry anyone, let alone Leonardo?”
“What do you think this trip is about?” Parthena whispered. “You’re not dumb.”
“And neither is Father or Uncle Colin,” she shot back. “If I don’t care for Leonardo I’m not going to marry him. Why are you so worried?”
Parthena looked out the window and said nothing.
Savannah did the same. Her cousin could sulk all she wanted. No decisions had been made. She didn’t know if she still liked the man … boy …whatever. She supposed if he was twenty, he was considered a man. But that was beside the point. If she didn’t like him, she didn’t like him.
She’d found him amusing years before, but that was it. If he was sweet on her then, that was his problem. She never did anything to lead him to believe she felt the same. For one, her last visit she was busy taking care of Max and Lucy’s baby Catarina. She and Leo might have had a few dancing lessons together, danced once or twice at the Harvest Festival, but that was pretty much it.
She glanced at Parthena. The last time her cousin saw the Cucinottas and Weavers was at Max and Lucy’s wedding almost six years ago. They had two children now and a third on the way. Lucy would’ve loved to have come on this visit, but she would’ve ended up having the baby somewhere between Clear Creek and Nowhere.
All in all, this visit should be pleasant enough and Savannah planned to enjoy herself. But she wouldn’t be locked into the notion there was anything between her and Leo. She remembered what happened to Max when Lucy came to Clear Creek all those years ago. They’d written back and forth a lot and everyone wanted to see if they’d suit. Lucy, having little experience with a gentleman’s attention, suddenly had a lot of admirers and attention and wanted to take the time to savor it, which left Max in the cold.
She supposed if she were in Lucy’s shoes, she’d have done the same thing. What young lady wouldn’t? There weren’t a lot of prospects in and around Nowhere. There were in Clear Creek, but she and Parthena had known them all their lives – they were friends and brothers and cousins. Those eligible bachelors held no appeal for her, perhaps because she knew them too well. Wouldn’t it be more fun to meet a handsome stranger?
She glanced at Parthena again. “You’re awful quiet.”
“I’m thinking.”
“About what?”
Parthena shrugged. “About what I’ll do without you.”
Savannah’s eyebrows rose. “What are you talking about?”
Her cousin looked at her. “If you marry Leonardo, where does that leave me?”
Savannah facepalmed, letting her hand slide to her chin. “Stop it. I’m not marrying anyone.”
Parthena straightened on the seat and smoothed her skirt. “You say that now …”
Savannah felt like pulling her hair out. “Just stop. No one knows what’s going to happen. I could catch cold, or have allergy attacks like Ebba, Daniel’s wife. Something could render me helpless and I never speak to Leo from when we arrive to when we leave.”
Parthena shook her head. “Oh, please.”
“It could happen,” Savannah argued. When pigs fly, maybe, but one never knew.
Parthena went back to looking out the window, so Savannah did the same. There was no use trying to talk sense to her cousin. They’d just have to wait and see what happened when they arrived. At least Uncle Colin and Aunt Belle hadn’t pestered her about Leonardo Cucinotta. Yet.
Nowhere, Washington, the next day
“Maybe you should pick some flowers for her.”
Leonardo bit his lip to keep from saying something he shouldn’t. Everyone had it in their