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“I can’t imagine a more beautiful day to take a wander.”
“The dog escaped me mother’s again. That be the fourth time this week.”
Women walked by in their light-colored dresses as children skipped up and down the pathway along the harbor, their mothers following after them with tutting tongues, though they didn’t seem as frazzled as usual.
A few dogs barked beside their owners nearby, rolling around in the grass as they no doubt enjoyed the weather, as well.
Along the harbor wall to her left, men faced the vast sea and cast their fishing rods over the edge of where they stood, their hooks and bait plopping into the water with splash after splash.
She observed them all standing in a row beyond her, each of them laughing with friends as jokes were shared and entertaining anecdotes were exchanged.
Livvy was about to look away, but when she heard a joyous commotion occurring farther down the row of men, no doubt caused by a recently caught fish, she leaned forward to search for the fortunate man who was now the envy of all the other fishermen.
As the victor emerged from the row, holding the fish in the air for the others to see, Livvy’s heart tumbled.
August. She shouldn’t have been surprised that he was the one who’d caught the fish.
She did her best to look away but was unable to, captured by the pure bliss that radiated from his features. Mr. Cuff stood beside him, clapping him on the shoulder in congratulations as others did the same. All the while, August shared his appreciation with more delightful grins. She could stare at those smile lines all day.
Then his eyes met hers. She gasped, swiftly looking away and pulling her book up to make it obvious that she was reading instead of staring at him, even though she had very obviously been doing the latter.
After a long moment, she dared a glance back at him, finding him returned to fishing along the line of other men. He’d seen her, as sure as the sun shining that day, she knew he’d seen her. A small mark of disappointment colored her mood that he hadn’t dropped everything to come and speak with her, then she chastised her silliness.
If he had come over, she would no doubt have to acknowledge the fact that she’d been found staring at him—just like she was doing right then.
She looked away again, only to draw her eyes straight back to him. This was absolutely not what Father had in mind, sending Livvy out in public, but she wasn’t about to complain about it. Especially when August removed his jacket, and she was able to admire his physique even more.
A grin begged to be released on her lips, but she bit it away. She should not be ogling the man. He was engaged—whether secretly or nearly, it was one in the same.
A little voice on the pathway before her pulled Livvy’s attention forward to where a girl no more than four years old was singing and dancing nearby. Her mother—who appeared quite fine in her lavender-colored gown—was in a rather animated conversation with another woman. Livvy didn’t recognize them, which meant they were no doubt mainlanders.
“Don’t spin too near the edge, dear,” the mother said, pausing her conversation to advise her daughter who spun in circles.
“I won’t, Mama,” the girl said, though she still danced in her own little world she’d created in her imagination.
“Perhaps ye ought to stop dancin’, too,” the mother said.
“Not when I have these new shoes, Mama. They’re too wonderful to not dance in.”
The mother didn’t seem to notice that her daughter didn’t pay her advisement any heed, carrying on in conversation with her friend.
But Livvy, however, watched the scene with amusement. The girl seemed quite happy with her new, black shoes, and nothing would deter her.
As she continued to twirl about, however, she tripped on an uneven stone, and she made for the ground, her little feet scrambling to catch her fall as one of her new shoes slipped off.
Livvy gasped, making to help but the mother fortunately saw first, catching her daughter just in time. However, in the commotion, as the mother righted her daughter, the girl’s shoe bounced across the pathway before diving directly over the edge to plummet into the water below.
“No!” the little girl screamed.
“That is why I told you to stop dancing,” the mother whispered, her cheeks growing red.
The girl’s lips pulled down, and Livvy’s heart twisted before the mother closed her eyes and drew a deep breath.
“No matter, dear,” she said, clearly attempting to calm down. “It is only a shoe.”
“But it was my new shoe,” the girl said, her tiny voice breaking.
Livvy set her book down. She couldn’t bear the heartache that little girl must be feeling right now—nor the stress of the mother who had clearly just spent good money on the shoes.
