“Yes. Oscar de la Renta, Calvin Klein, Coco Chanel. Their mother was already named Betsey when I got her, which I decided was short for Betsey Johnson, who is one of my favorite designers. It seemed right that her progeny should have designer names, as well.”
“I wholeheartedly agree. I suppose Saint Laurent or Givenchy would have sounded too pretentious.”
She smiled. “Those are names better suited for purebreds.”
Margaret laughed with delight, leaving Ian to remember his manners.
“Mother, Father, this is my neighbor and friend, Samantha Fremont. She’s the one sewing Gemma’s wedding gown.”
“Hello,” Henry said politely.
“Oh,” his mother exclaimed. Before Samantha could respond, Margaret reached out and wrapped her arms around her, pulling her in for a tight hug.
“Thank you, darling. The dress is spectacular. Gem sent me a selfie from your last fitting and I was overwhelmed with gratitude. It’s utterly perfect for her.”
Samantha looked touched and overwhelmed at the praise. “I... Thank you.”
“You are truly gifted, my dear. I say that with the deepest sincerity.”
As he watched, a rosy glow stole over Samantha’s delicate features, as if someone had switched on a light inside her. “Thank you,” she said again, clearly thrilled at the praise.
He couldn’t help smiling at her astonished delight, then regretted it when his mother’s gaze sharpened. She sent a swift look between him and Samantha and he saw the questions in her eyes. Mercifully, for once, Margaret kept her mouth shut and her opinions to herself.
“I wish I had your talent,” his mother said after a moment. “I always wanted to be a designer but I’m horrible at it. I decided a long time ago that I’m much better at taking pictures of other people’s designs.”
She cuddled the dog, then handed him back to Amelia. “And you raise puppies, too?”
“Not on purpose,” Samantha assured her. “It’s a long story. I adopted a dog but didn’t realize at the time she was expecting puppies.”
“We’re puppy-sitting while we’re here,” Thomas informed his grandparents.
“Are you?” Henry said.
“It’s been such fun,” Amelia said. “They’re darling little things who just want some company while Miss Fremont is working.”
“I live next door,” Samantha explained, pointing to her house. “The children have been wonderfully kind to help me out with the puppies.”
“And it’s given them something fun to do while I’m busy with my salmon research,” Ian said.
He didn’t miss the way Henry gave a pained sort of look at the reminder. His father just as quickly hid his reaction. He knew his father hated asking him to give up what he loved, just as Ian knew neither of them had a choice.
“Are you staying with Gemma?” Ian asked his parents.
“No. She’s booked the sweetest cottage for us near her house,” Margaret said. “We dropped our bags there a short time ago before following her directions to this place in search of you and the children.”
“Oh, that’s a nice part of the lake,” Samantha said.
“It’s a fine view,” Henry said. “But I’m not sure one could find a poor one around here. This lake is quite spectacular.”
“I completely agree,” Samantha said with a smile for his father. “Lucky for you, you’ve picked one of the best times of the year to visit, when everything is green and gorgeous.”
“I don’t know. I would think fall would be stunning, as well,” Henry said thoughtfully. “How’s the fishing around here?”
“You’re asking the wrong person, I’m afraid, though I’ve heard it’s wonderful. Ian likely knows more about that than I do, at least when it comes to the kokanee salmon in Lake Haven.”
Again, his mother looked interested to discover Samantha knew about his research.
Drat. He didn’t need Margaret to discover his fierce attraction to Samantha or the unlikely friendship that had begun to develop between them.
“We should go,” Ian said pointedly to his children and to his parents. “We’ve taken up quite enough of Samantha’s day. Where would you like the puppies? Back inside or in their enclosure?”
“The pen is fine,” Samantha said. She seemed a little taken aback by his clumsy efforts to escape from her before his entirely too-perceptive mother saw through him.
The children carefully lowered the puppies into the fenced area where they immediately began toddling around in the grass.
To Ian’s astonishment, Amelia hugged Samantha. “Thank you for going with us on our hike today,” his daughter said.
“You’ve been hiking?” his mother said, raising her eyebrows.
“We saw a giant waterfall,” Thomas said. “It was as high as the Eiffel Tower.”
The waterfall, in fact, didn’t come close to being as high as the tower, which they had seen a few years earlier on a weekend trip to Paris. At nearly a thousand feet, the tower would dwarf the hundred-foot waterfall, obviously. Through a child’s eye, everything was relative and Ian didn’t want to correct his son.
“How nice to see you’re getting around and exploring the backcountry around here,” his father said.
“And how nice of your neighbor to show you around.” By now, his mother looked positively giddy. How would she react when she found out he had invited Samantha to be his date to the wedding?
Oh, lord. Why had he invited Samantha to be his date for the wedding?
Should he back out? Tell Samantha he had reconsidered? That might be the safer route, all the way around. He hadn’t thought things through and now realized that his mother was bound to sit up and pay attention when she found out he had asked her to the wedding. If he didn’t do something, he was very much afraid he and Samantha would both find themselves on the receiving end of his mother’s determined matchmaking efforts.
“Wait. I’ve just had an idea,” Margaret said suddenly.
Ian swallowed a groan, afraid it was too late to stop her now.
“I still don’t have anything to wear for the wedding. Nothing decent, anyway. I brought along a couple of options I picked up here or there but I’m not particularly fond of either. I
