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Havana added, “And we celebrate. Been a long time since we’ve had a wedding. Raven, what kind of wedding cake would you like. Raven?”
“There won’t be a need for a cake.”
Havana countered, “You can’t get married without cake.”
“I’m not getting married.”
“Dorrie says you are, and we all know she’s never wrong.”
He watched Raven drop her head and emit a soft, frustrated snarl.
Braxton was intrigued. “Never?”
“Please, stay out of this,” Raven advised.
He countered, “I’m a tailor. If I’m to be married, I need the details so I can sew up a suit.” Not that he believed a word of the girl’s prediction.
“And my dress,” Dorrie chimed in happily.
Raven’s head dropped again.
Braxton felt as if he’d accidentally stumbled into the cast of a stage play. He didn’t know what roles they were all playing, but Raven didn’t appear to be enjoying her part at all. He found the whole thing fascinating.
Raven addressed her aunts. “Mr. Steele and I have things to discuss. We can talk about this cake some other time.”
“We’ll just proceed with the wedding plans without your assistance,” Eden stated.
Havana added, “Braxton, she’s been hardheaded all her life. Keep that in mind in your dealings with her.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Raven shot him a glare hot enough to fry trout, but he shrugged it off. “After you, Miss Moreau.”
She turned and he followed.
Upstairs, after setting aside Dorrie’s shocking prediction that Raven would be marrying Braxton, Hazel watched Harrison glance around the room she’d converted into a library. “Is there enough light in here?” she asked.
He nodded and set his satchel on the table nearest the windows. For a moment, they simply stared at each other, and although Hazel had no idea what he was thinking, being with him after all the decades apart made the memories rise of her youth and her feelings for him.
“Been a long time,” he said quietly.
“Yes, it has been.”
“How are you, besides still wanting my head?”
She allowed a small smile to show. “I’m well. And you?”
“I’ve had a good life.”
“Married?”
“Widower. Lost Jane when the boy was an adolescent. Been just he and I since. Did you marry the Creole?”
She scoffed. “After the madness at the church that morning? No.”
“I suppose I should say I’m sorry, but even now I won’t apologize for the feelings I had for you back then, Jade.”
He called her Jade because of the color of her eyes, and hearing the nickname again hit her straight in the heart.
