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“Good. I’ll turn them over to the Landry’s bookkeeper in the morning. Once the sale is finalized Kent will be our foreman.”
“He mentioned it earlier.” She gave him a quick glance.
“The sooner the two of you can discuss how the place is run, the better.”
“How about after we’re done here, Portia?” Kent asked.
Portia froze. Lord knew she wanted to come up with an excuse to delay it. Her reaction to him by the woodpile had left her scandalized enough to last a lifetime, but she knew she had no legitimate reason to weasel out of it. “That would be fine. We can use my office.”
“Okay.”
Again, she caught herself staring at his lips, the slope of his beard-brushed jaw, his eyes. She quickly dropped her gaze but not before noticing Eddy’s slightly raised eyebrow and the silent look she and Rhine passed between themselves. Pretending there was nothing amiss, Portia took a sip of her wine, set the goblet down with a slightly shaky hand, and returned to her meal.
After dinner, she and Regan were in the kitchen cleaning up. Portia was doing her best to ignore the amused look her sister had been wearing since entering, but unable to bear it any longer, she said, “Okay. Out with it. You obviously have something to say.”
Hands in the soapy water as she washed the dishes, Regan replied, “Who me?”
“Yes, you. Tell me before I bash you over the head with this last chicken leg.”
They shared a smile and Regan mused aloud, “I wonder how long you’d be sentenced by a judge for such a fowl deed.”
“Lord, save me,” Portia groaned in response to the terrible pun, and she shook the leg at Regan. “Tell me!”
“I was just watching you and Kent.”
“And?”
Regan mimed pulling back the string on a bow and letting an invisible arrow fly. “Right between the eyes.”
Portia shook her head. “So now you’re a mime?”
“No, I’m Cupid and don’t pretend you’ve no idea what I mean. You were looking at the man like he was a piece of chocolate cake.”
Portia put the last of the leftover chicken in a bowl, covered it with a plate and placed it in the cold box. “I was not.”
“Yes, you were. Aunt Eddy and Uncle Rhine saw it, too. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Kent’s terribly handsome.”
Portia picked up a kitchen towel and busied herself drying the wet dishes Regan had set in the drain.
“So you aren’t going to admit he’s handsome either?” Regan asked.
“I don’t have to admit anything to you, Regan Marie.” They were playfully bantering the way they’d been doing their entire lives.
“Just wait until he pulls you into a corner and kisses you until your garters catch fire.”
“You’re always so scandalous.”
“You’re going to be scandalous, too, when he cracks your highly prized control like a dropped hen’s egg.”
“That will not happen.”
Regan studied her and said earnestly, “You need a nice man in your life, sister mine.”
“My life is fine just the way it is.”
“Okay,” Regan said softly. “I just want you to be happy, Portia. You’ve earned it. We both have.”
“I’ve been happy since the day Aunt Eddy and Uncle Rhine saved us. I don’t need anything more.”
