Chapter Eight
Adrienne spent the morning trying to teach Bonnie and Trudy how to make fried chicken. Their mother was actually interested and paid close attention but her daughters only half-listened. They actually took Trevor seriously and figured they needed to make her appear more feminine. As if she hadn’t spent a good portion of her schooling learning how to act all dainty and gentle.
Finally, she had enough of their continual snickering when their mother wasn’t in hearing range. She decided it was time to show them exactly who they were messing with, so she set up the fine china for the meal. She was shocked that they even owned such a nice dish set but Mrs. Howard told her it was a wedding gift and hadn’t been used yet. This made sense since the girls were obviously brutish. Then she put on her “I’m at an important dinner and must be a lady” act. She set the utensils out in proper order, prepared a salad, a soup, the main course and dessert. She took out a beautiful tablecloth that had been stored in the closet for years and set it out. Next, she put out four candles and lit them.
She pulled the drapes closed so the lighting was dim but relaxing. She even took the time to lightly spray some perfume throughout the kitchen to set the mood for a romantic lunch.
“We may call in the gentlemen for their meal,” she instructed.
Bonnie and Trudy were too shocked by her sudden actions to protest. Mrs. Howard looked delighted to see the kitchen looking so wonderful. “I’m finally going to use my china set!” she exclaimed as she went to call the men in.
Adrienne was satisfied. Just wait, Trevor. You don’t know who you’re messing with. She forced herself not to laugh when she saw the stunned expressions on the men’s faces. Trevor’s eyes widened, as if not believing what he was seeing.
“Gentlemen, thank you for attending this lunch,” she demurely smiled. “Please have a seat. We will start with the salad.”
“Why is it so dark?” seven year old Alex asked.
She lowered her eyelashes and kept her voice soft. “Trevor wanted Bonnie and Trudy to teach me how to be a proper young lady, so this lunch is the result of my morning studies.”
“I know my girls didn’t do this but it’s nice for you to give them credit,” Mr. Howard replied.
“You did a fantastic job,” Clark stated, obviously impressed. “I hardly recognize this place.”
“Thank you, Clark,” Adrienne replied. “Will you gentlemen please have a seat? As you can see, we have everything set out and ready to eat.”
She noticed that no one sat down, so she took the first seat. Clark quickly sat next to her. Trevor glared at her and sat across from her. Bonnie and Trudy sat on either side of him. As soon as he noticed it, he rolled his eyes. She hid her laughter. Serves you right, you buffoon. Alex sat on her other side and thirteen year old Max sat on Clark’s left. Mr. and Mrs. Howard sat at the opposite ends of the long table.
“Who will lead us in saying grace?” she asked and looked around. “It would be appropriate to have a handsome, strong man lead the prayer.”
“I’ll be happy to volunteer,” Clark eagerly stated.
She smiled at him. “That would be lovely. Thank you.” She was pleased to note Trevor’s huff.
Clark prayed over the meal. “Thank you, Lord, for this fine food that Adrienne and my sisters and mother worked so hard to prepare. We are very glad Adrienne could come out today and hope she will bless us with her presence again.”
“That was a lovely prayer,” she replied. Turning to the others, she instructed, “We start with the salad, so we need to take this fork.” She lifted the fork sitting furthest away from the plate. “It is proper at lunch parties to start with the utensil furthest out and work your way in.”
Trevor shifted in his chair. “Really? In my house, we eat whatever we feel like, with whatever we feel like, in whatever order we feel like. I’m a man who’s been working outdoors, and I’m hungry. I’m starting with the chicken.”
She lightly gasped and quickly reached for a neatly folded napkin so she could wipe the fake tears from her eyes. “I am sorry to have displeased you so.”
Clark frowned. “Trevor Lewis, I insist that you remember whose house you’re in. We will eat this meal the way Adrienne prepared it.”
She smiled at Clark. “You are very kind.”
He blushed and shrugged. “You worked hard to fix this meal.”
“We should go along with her order,” Mr. Howard agreed. “She put a lot of time and effort into this meal.”
“I must say, this is a wonderful change of pace,” Mrs. Howard added. “I feel beautiful in the candlelight.”
“You are beautiful, my dear,” her husband smiled at her.
She giggled. “You haven’t called me ‘dear’ in years.”
He shrugged. “Something about this room suddenly makes me feel romantic.”
Trevor picked up his fork and ate the salad.
“We helped,” Bonnie said. “We wanted to make the lunch nice for everyone too.” She looked over at Trevor as she spoke.
Adrienne chuckled to herself as she realized that Trevor didn’t like the attention Bonnie and Trudy were giving him. They disgusted him just as Mr. Parker disgusted her. At least no one was forcing him to marry either one of them.
She turned her attention back to the meal. “After we finish the salad, we eat the soup. We use this spoon for that.”
Trevor rolled his eyes as he followed along with everyone else.
By the time they were eating the fried chicken and mashed potatoes, everyone was complimenting her on her cooking and the romantic atmosphere.
Trevor spoke up. “While we are discussing romantic atmospheres, I would like to know what everyone here thinks romance is. I am writing a romantic comedy and I need help knowing what is romantic, especially since I didn’t get any experience in that area.” He pointedly looked at Adrienne.
“I can help you with that,” Trudy immediately offered.
“I could too,” Bonnie gushed.
“I hardly believe Adrienne has a problem with romance,” Clark said. He turned to her and smiled. “She did arrange this beautiful meal.”
Realizing that smiling at Clark bothered Trevor, she returned Clark’s smile. “It is nice to finally be appreciated.”
“Bonnie and Trudy, I look forward to your opinions,” Trevor told the sisters. “What do you consider romantic?”
“I like dancing,” Bonnie said. “Last night was lovely.”
“Dancing is a lot of fun,” he agreed.
“I like flowers,” Trudy added.
“Flowers are typical of romance,” Mr. Howard nodded. “I think all women like flowers.”
“I enjoy them,” his wife supported. “Candy is a nice addition to flowers.”
“What about music?” Clark asked. “I play the fiddle and it doesn’t always have to be used for square dancing. It can play something like Mozart or Bach.”
“You play classical music?” Adrienne wondered, impressed a farmer would engage in such pursuits.
“I practice once in awhile.”
“I would love to hear you play something. I miss listening to Bach.”
“So you find music romantic?” Trevor interrupted before Clark could respond.
“I like to listen to it. True romance is being appreciated for who one is. None of the other things, like flowers or dancing, matter if love doesn’t factor into the equation.”
“I seriously doubt you have the capacity for love since you can’t even appreciate it when someone is being honest with you.”
“When honesty is coated in manipulation, then it’s hardly worth noting.”
“Manipulation?”
“All you want is someone to give you children.”
“What’s wrong with that? Children are delightful,” Bonnie interrupted.
“We would like grandchildren,” Mrs. Howard said. “Is that wrong?”
“There’s nothing wrong with having children,” Adrienne clarified. “But it s
hould not be the only reason someone gets married.”
“Who said that was my intention?” Trevor snapped. “Just because you had that experience with one man, it doesn’t mean that all men are like that. Let’s take Clark here. He’s a hard working, honest man. Clark, do you want to marry a woman for the sole purpose of having babies?”
Clark looked startled. “No. Children are a natural result of marital relations, but there’s more to marriage than sex. There is companionship. It certainly is nice for a man to come home after a long day in the field to a warm smile and a big hug from a caring woman who he can talk to and share his life with.”
“That’s beautiful,” Adrienne whispered.
Trevor grunted. “I told her the same thing earlier today but she accused me of manipulation.”
“You did not say it the way he did,” she told Trevor.
He rolled his eyes. “You’re impossible.” Turning to everyone else, he asked, “So does anyone else have thoughts on what’s romantic?”
“I think kissing and hugging are romantic,” thirteen year old Max said.
“What about just smiling at the girl?” Alex added.
“Those are great points,” Trevor told the kids. “I always appreciate the views of younger peoples. I think adults tend to overlook their importance. It’s amazing how little some women value them.”
“I value children,” Adrienne said.
“So do I,” Bonnie and Trudy added in perfect unison.
“I would like to have a wife that cooks as well as you do, Miss Adrienne,” Max interrupted. “This is the best fried chicken I ever had. I wish I had tried it last night but I got sidetracked with Melissa Peters’ turkey.”
“Melissa Peters is Tom’s sister,” Trevor recalled. “She’s about your age, isn’t she Clark?”
“I believe so,” Clark responded.
“She would be your age too. You and Clark are only one year apart in age,” Adrienne stated.
“And here I didn’t think you cared to notice any detail about my life,” Trevor remarked.
“If I recall, the Peters are some pretty good folk,” Mr. Howard thoughtfully stated. “They have a twenty-five year old son who is looking for a wife. He just came back from college. I believe he got a degree in agriculture. Do you girls remember Hank?”
“Hank Peters was at the dance last night,” Mrs. Howard nodded. “He was the tall blond with a goatee.”
Adrienne nodded. “He’s a lousy dancer but a good poet. He has a romantic side to him. He might be your type, Bonnie. You mentioned how you enjoy poetry. I heard one of his poems and have to admit that I was impressed.”
“You take time for literature after all then?” Trevor threw his napkin on the table and stood up. “I can’t stomach this fancy meal anymore. I’ll be out in the fields working.” He stomped out of the room and slammed the door.
“What’s his problem?” Clark wondered.
Adrienne shook her head. “Who knows? He’s so unpredictable. One minute he’s nice and the next thing I know, he flies off the handle.”
“Is that why you two aren’t engaged anymore?”
“We were never engaged. I don’t know why everyone thinks we were.”
“Then you must have almost been engaged,” Mrs. Howard remarked. “He was probably ready to propose when you had your falling out.”
“I seriously doubt that.”
She shrugged. “You got him all riled up. A man doesn’t act the way he does unless he finds something interesting in a woman.”
“Well, I don’t find anything interesting in him. I only came out here today to help with lunch. I didn’t have to work at the restaurant and it was nice to have a diversion from sitting around by myself at the inn.”
“We’re glad you came,” Clark said.
“Thank you. It’s nice someone appreciates me.” She turned her attention back to the meal. “Who wants dessert? I made Mrs. Harper’s famous brownies. She gave the recipe to Mrs. Gallows and we tried them out with great success.”
“You remember all those recipes in your head?” Mrs. Howard asked.
“Yes. I just need to see it one time on paper and it’s stored up here.” She pointed to her right temple.
“How fortunate for you.” Trudy sighed. “I struggle with recalling how many ounces are in a cup and I’ve been helping make meals for a couple years now.”
“Oh Trudy, you did just fine. You don’t have to have anything memorized if you know where to find the information you need. Besides, I heard you singing under your breath and you have the voice of a songbird. You should sing at one of the dances.”
Trudy’s eyes lit up. “You really think I have a good voice?”
“I’ve been telling you we should do a duet sometime,” Clark confirmed. “If I play the fiddle and you sing the words, we’d make a good pair.”
“That’s a wonderful idea!” Adrienne clapped her hands, forgetting her demure act. “Bonnie, you mentioned that you play the flute. Do you all ever do a song as a trio?”
Bonnie blushed. “No, we haven’t. But it would be fun to try sometime, wouldn’t it?”
Mrs. Howard grinned. “Adrienne, you have such a lovely thought. We should entertain a few people here. We’ll do it next Saturday.”
“I’d love to do some more cooking,” Adrienne offered.
“Don’t you ever take a break from your hard work?” Clark asked.
“Actually, I don’t consider cooking to be work. I have a lot of fun with it.”
“You are an exceptional woman. I wonder why Trevor let you go.”
She chose not to respond. Instead, she finished up her dessert and helped the other women clean up after the men went back to the fields. Now that the awkwardness between her, Bonnie and Trudy had been eliminated during the lunch, she found that she was having a good time with them. She spent the rest of the day listening to Bonnie play the flute and Trudy singing her favorite songs.
“Clark was right,” Trudy told her. “You are exceptional. It would be nice if you became our sister-in-law. Don’t say anything but I think Clark is sweet on you.”
“He did look smitten during lunch,” Bonnie agreed. “You really aren’t as stuck up as Trevor said you were.”
She stopped herself from rolling her eyes. Trevor would be saying all kinds of mean things about her to anyone who’d listen. “I would rather not talk about him, if that is alright with you.”
“Oh, we understand. Do you mind if he courts one of us?”
“Why should I mind? He doesn’t belong to me.”
They breathed a sigh of relief. “We didn’t want our newfound friendship to be ruined because of him,” Trudy said. “We like you now that we got a chance to know you. We also like him. We’ve already decided that whoever he picks, the other will gracefully back out.”
“Good luck to you both then. I don’t think he’s worth the time or effort, but that’s just my opinion.”
“I think he’s good looking and fun to be around. He loves being surrounded by people. I like the way he took turns teaching all the kids how to dance. It’s refreshing to see a man have such a tender heart for children,” Trudy recalled.
“I love his writings,” Bonnie said. “I have his book and read it last night. He has a great sense of humor, but he is right about not knowing how to be romantic. He had a great chance to make a romantic part in his Christmas play but he missed it. The male and female deer should have fallen in love.”
Adrienne didn’t understand their fascination with Trevor. Not that it mattered. In a month, she wouldn’t have to see him ever again. And as far as she was concerned, that couldn’t happen soon enough.
Chapter Nine
When it was time for her to go back to the inn, Adrienne found Trevor leaving without her.
“What are you doing?” she yelled at him as Willow was walking toward the path in the forest. She ran up to the horse and stopped in front of it.
He pulled back the reigns, glaring at her. �
��Get out of my way.”
“No. You promised me that you would take me back after I taught Bonnie and Trudy how to cook. I fulfilled my part of the deal.”
“You spent the whole lunch hour mocking me.”
“And you were a perfect gentleman,” she sarcastically retorted.
He shook his head and pulled the reigns to the left so that Willow walked around her.
“Oh no, you don’t, Trevor Elewis! I need a ride home!” She grabbed the horse’s bridle. When the horse neighed at her, she quickly released it.
“What did you call me?” His tone was sharp.
“I just said your name.”
“Did you call me Elewis?”
“That’s your last name.”
“No, it’s not. It’s Lewis. L-E-W-I-S. Do you know Clark’s last name?”
“Sure. It’s Howard.”
His face was red. “I am constantly amazed at your ability to nicely recall things about anyone who is not me. I can’t believe you. I stood up for you in front of a robber but you show absolutely no gratitude.”
“Gratitude? You go around telling other people how stuck up I am and you act like I’m beneath you just because I’ve enjoyed a life of comfort while growing up.”
“I’m out of here,” he coldly stated.
She stomped the ground with her foot. “You can’t just leave me here!”
“Can’t I?”
She picked up a rock and threw it at him. Her aim was off so she hit the horse on the rear end. The horse bucked back but Trevor regained control of the animal. She snatched up another rock.
“Adrienne?” Clark called out. He rode his horse over to her. “Is he giving you trouble?”
“Yes,” she replied. “He promised to take me back to the inn but he won’t do it.”
“Trevor, I really don’t appreciate the way you’ve been treating her today. I’m sure that whatever happened between you two is still bothering you, but why did you bring her out here if you had no intention of taking her back?”
“She’s constantly putting me down.”
Clark sighed. “I don’t wish to get caught in the middle of this fight. I’ll tell you what, Adrienne. I’ll take you home.”
Romancing Adrienne Page 6
