add that, the boys would try getting him to do it in perpetuity – and they were not tidy.
Hugh wrapped his arms around himself and made kissing noises. Alastair copied him.
“Stop it, you two,” Leo said. “I’m trying to … to …”
“… To kiss Savannah!” Alastair made more kissing sounds.
“You know, maybe this isn’t such a good idea after all …”
The boys, facing the loss of room-cleaning services, immediately stopped. “No, no – it’s a great idea!” Hugh insisted.
“What’s keeping you blabbermouths from telling people?” It was a good question, Leo realized.
“We’ll keep it a secret,” Alastair assured him. “Cross our hearts.” He made an X across his chest, and Hugh followed suit.
“Do you like Savannah?” Thatcher asked.
Leo leaned against the door. “Yes. But … I want to see how much.”
Hugh batted his eyelashes and blew a kiss.
Thatcher slapped him on the back of his head. “Stop.”
“Sorry.”
Leo watched the trio, who’d gained a little maturity over the last year and a half. A little. If they could pull this off, he’d finally have the chance to get to know Savannah better. If he found they suited, he could take things from there. But what if he still felt the same way about Parthena? His feelings for her were different than the ones he had so far for her cousin, and nothing he was familiar with.
“Well?” Thatcher said, breaking into his thoughts. “What do you want us to do?”
“Right.” Leo stood before the three. “Ask Parthena to tell you stories about Clear Creek and the Triple-C. That ought to do it.”
“But what if we don’t want to hear them?” Alastair asked.
“Listen anyway,” Leo moved toward the door, tired of the conversation.
“But what if they’re boring?” Hugh tried.
He waved at the open door. “Somehow I doubt that.”
The twins exchanged a look. “Okay, we’ll do it,” Hugh said. “But you have to promise to clean our room really well.”
“I promise.” He pointed at the door. “Now out.”
The boys filed through, Thatcher bringing up the rear. “After supper,” he said with an exaggerated wink.
“Try not to mess this up,” Leo warned.
“Us? Never.” Thatcher grinned, then followed his brothers downstairs.
Leo closed the door. This was either going to go great or horribly wrong.
That evening after supper he excused himself from the table, gave Thatcher a wink and headed for the back door.
“Off to see Savannah?” Bella asked.
“Yes.” He glanced at the twins, who were looking at their empty plates. For them, dessert was more important than helping Thatcher with Parthena. But getting their room cleaned probably topped either. He left the house, figuring the boys would depart in a few minutes and show up at Nonna’s, begging Parthena to tell them about the Triple-C. The trick would be getting Parthena to comply, so he could ask Savannah to take a stroll.
“Evening, Leo,” Harlan called from the dining room table as Leo entered the main house. “Come to see Savannah?”
“Yes, sir.” Leo glanced toward the kitchen. He hoped Thatcher showed up soon.
Parthena came into the dining room and smiled. “Hello.”
Leo’s heart thundered. Where was Thatcher? “Good evening.”
She smoothed her dress – a nervous habit, he’d noticed, along with twisting her hair. “Savannah is in the parlor.”
“Oh, um, thank you.” He was unable to make his feet move and vaguely aware of the sound of the kitchen door opening and closing.
Thatcher bounded into the dining room, the twins in his wake. “Good evening, everybody!”
Harlan looked up from his dessert. “What are you so happy about?”
Leo forced a smile. That I’ll be cleaning his room.
“No special reason,” Thatcher said coolly. “It’s a nice evening.”
Harlan glanced out the window. “Sure is. Warm with a light breeze. Perfect for taking a walk.” He gave Leo a pointed look.
Leo took the cue and forced himself to head for the parlor. Parthena watched him pass, her eyes lingering on him as he did.
“Parthena,” Thatcher said with a grin. “Will you tell me about the Triple-C?”
“What?” she said in surprise. “Why would you want to hear about that?”
“I’ve heard it’s fascinating. And I like working with our cattle.”
“Do you?”
“Sure do. I kind of want to be a cowboy myself. I bet you’ve seen all kinds of fun stuff.”
“Hmmm, let me see,” she said thoughtfully. “Well, has Clinton told you about a bull named Rameses?”
“Rameses? Like in the Bible.”
“The same. Father and Uncle Harrison always give our bulls names from Scripture. Well, one day about four or five years ago, we had this big bull we were having trouble taming …”
Leo smiled and started