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Lily pulled Pippa in for a hug. “You are the dearest of friends.”
“You only think that because you cannot be friends with yourself,” Pippa said.
“Shall we go down to the cove tomorrow?” Lily asked, moving to the driver’s seat to climb up and sit beside her papa.
“You’ll be busy tomorrow,” Mr. Burke said, lifting his light brown eyebrows. “Mr. Blakemore himself is looking for a cook, and the vicar directed him our way.”
“Me?” Lily asked, her eyes rounding wide like saucers. “I’ve not cooked for another household before.”
“It’s only the three men,” Mr. Burke said. “I’ll wager anything you present to them will be an improvement.”
Pippa could see the ideas churning in Lily’s mind, her gaze far away.
“Do you not think that is unsafe?” Pippa asked, gathering Mr. Burke’s attention and Lily’s quick scowl. “What do we know of these men? They’ve been gone for two decades and from what I’ve heard, their reputations weren’t above reproach before they left.”
Mr. Burke lifted his hat and scratched the top of his head. “Lily will be safe enough. The danger Richard poses has nothing to do with his kitchen.” He paused. “Or, it shouldn’t, at least. No, as long as Lily is home before dark, all will be well.”
The unspoken addition to his sentiments hung thick in the air between them, swirling about by the gusts blowing off the coast. The Burkes could use the money badly, and Lily was an excellent cook. She’d learned from her mama, the best in all of Collacott, in Pippa’s humble opinion.
“I begin tomorrow?” Lily asked.
Her father nodded.
She looked much too excited for a woman who had moments before professed the need to realign where she set her sights. It would appear that Lily’s heart could not be so easily dissuaded from the prospect of a handsome man.
The sound of Mac’s cart rumbled toward them, and Mr. Burke lifted the reins and slapped them down again, urging his horse forward. He lifted his hand in a wave behind him as Lily grinned. “I’ll come see you soon so I can tell you everything!”
Pippa waved them farewell and stepped back to approach her sister.
“Would you like to ride the rest of the way home with us?” Mabel asked.
“No, I think I will walk along the beach while the weather is so mild.”
Mabel didn’t look pleased, but Mac sent Pippa an easy smile. “We’ll come fetch you from the cove if we need you.”
“I shouldn’t be too long,” Pippa said, straining against the frustration that Mabel felt the need to keep track of where she meant to be. She understood that Mabel was doing her best to care for Pippa’s safety, but could she not trust a little more? Pippa wasn’t a child anymore. “And I won’t go beyond the cove.”
Mac appeared satisfied with this.
“I want to come!” James said. “May I, Auntie?”
“Of course—if your mama permits it.”
“Me too, please,” Elinor said.
Mabel looked as though she was going to argue, but she relented, making her children promise not to soil their Sunday clothes. James and Elinor both jumped down from the back of the cart. They waved their parents and baby brother farewell and walked alongside Pippa as they followed the cliffside lane toward home. The cart holding the rest of their family continued down the road until it disappeared from sight.
They took their time reaching the cove, pausing to gather the few remaining daisy-like yellow ragworts as they went. When they neared the path that led down to the small beach, James ran ahead, skipping away with unabashed glee. Elinor sedately picked the yellow petals from her sad, drooping flowers and dropped them into the wind, watching them fly away one by one and litter the pathway.
“Do you think if I find a kitten, Mama will let me keep it?”
Pippa looked about her at the wide, open beach and rocky cliffside. Where Elinor planned to find this kitten was a mystery. “You would have to ask her, but I would assume they could always use more kittens in the stables.”
Elinor bunched her little nose. “No, not the stables. I would want my kitten to live in the nursery with me. There is plenty of room in my bed.”
“I’m sure there is, and you are so kind to wish to share your room.” They reached the beach, and Elinor ran after her brother, who was climbing his way along the rock pools in search of small animals. Pippa untied her bonnet and let it dangle from her hand by the ribbons. She lifted her face to the sun, closing her eyes and breathing in the salty air.
James’s laughter broke through her reverie, and she breathed out, following her niece and nephew toward the shallow rock pools on the side of the cove.
