“I know why they might have referred you to me, but I fear that you were misinformed.”
“Were we?” Jack asked.
Vi stayed attentive and quiet, realizing that the good reverend didn’t quite approve of her presence.
“Indeed I fear so. It has been clear to me for some time that young Meyers has an eye on my daughter and what he thinks she might bring to him.”
Jack lifted a brow and asked, “What that might be?”
“My daughter has had the good fortune to have been blessed by her great-aunt with a little money, and she is my only child. I suppose young Jason believes that I’d allow him to ruin her life and steal from me if he can convince her to wed him, but my daughter will not be married to a crook.”
“That’s quite the assumption that young Meyers has made.”
The reverend nodded, but Vi could see the lie in it. So she said, “Mr. Meyers must be quite charming.”
“His pretty lies have turned Hepzibah’s head, but she’s a good, obedient girl.”
Violet hated that statement and she had to turn her gaze to the floor to hide the sudden blaze of anger. She fiddled with her wedding ring and then made a little whimpering noise because it was nearly nauseating, but she said, “I wonder if you might have a place where I can refresh myself?”
The reverend took the expected weakness in stride and kindly told her where she might go. Violet glanced at the hall bath and then walked towards the parlor. She knocked on the doorway and found the woman glancing up.
“You’re looking for Jason?” she asked.
Violet nodded. “His grandmother is worried.”
The dark eyes moved across Violet’s face, examining her, and Vi—in her turn—examined Hepzibah. She was older than Vi had expected when she got closer. Hepzibah Sinclair had dark hair, dark eyes, and looked very much like her father. His harsher, manlier features did her no favors, and Violet guessed that the pride in her eyes was engendered by knowing what her father had said. The woman, Vi thought, was rather aware of her father’s thoughts about Jason Meyers.
“I wouldn’t have married him, no matter what he or my father thinks.” There was a firmness in her tone, but what impressed Vi was the way Miss Sinclair met her gaze and the direct strength behind those eyes. The younger woman gestured to a chair across from her, lifting up embroidery. Vi glanced it over and noticed a Bible verse surrounded by vines and flowers. How very Victorian, Vi thought, with a wince. She was sure a day of embroidery would drive her mad.
“Do you know where he is?”
Hepzibah shook her head. “He finds me. I don’t seek him out.”
Violet delicately licked her lips, wanting to ask why Meyers found Miss Sinclair if the woman wasn’t in love with him, but she needed to be careful not to offend the obviously upright woman. “May I ask why he seeks you out if you don’t have a relationship?”
Miss Sinclair smiled slightly. “I have my pride.”
What did that mean? Vi didn’t ask the question because she wasn’t sure that she’d be able to keep from offending the woman. She hoped that in waiting, Miss Sinclair would explain. Instead, however, she slowly formed a ribbon flower on her Bible verse and kept her silence.
“Miss Sinclair,” Vi finally asked, “if you were looking for Mr. Meyers, how might you find him?”
A slightly sardonic smile was Miss Sinclair’s only answer and then her gaze moved to the doorway. “Father, I fear I found your Mrs. Wakefield and monopolized her. They seem to think that I might know how to contact Mrs. Meyers’s grandson, and I’m not sure why.”
That avowed innocence in her tone shocked Vi. Slowly, Miss Sinclair snipped her ribbon and said, “Perhaps you were able to help them? You know young Mr. Meyers far better than I.”
The reverend crossed to his daughter and placed his hand on her shoulder, patting lightly. “You know that Jason has something of a puppy love for you, my dear.”
Hepzibah Sinclair laughed lightly. “I’m sure that’s not so, Father. I’m a good five years older than he, and he’s always loved Tessa Tapper. How these rumors get started, I’ll never know.”
Her father patted her shoulder once again. “As you can see, Mr. Wakefield, my daughter has little to offer and I have told you what I know.”
Jack’s gaze landed on Violet and he said, “Thank you for your time, sir.”
As they were genteelly booted from the reverend’s house, Vi kept her thoughts to herself. The moment the door closed, however, she said, “Those two are odd.”
“You heard her father say that Meyers had set his sight on his daughter’s expected fortune and that his daughter was obedient and good and would do as he said. After you left, the conversation was only variations of the same theme.”
Violet didn’t bother to hide her groan. “Miss Sinclair is not the tepid flower her father thinks, but I don’t think she’s hiding him in the shed either.”
“Tepid?”
Vi laughed and said, “Oh, it’s going into my and Victor’s next book. A tepid hero and the heroine who outshines him.”
Jack laughed, squeezing her hand before he opened the auto door and seated her inside. Once he was behind the wheel, he said, “Did she tell you anything?”
“She said that Meyers finds her, but she didn’t sound like she was pining for him. If anything, she sounded a bit like a cat with a mouse.”
Jack’s gaze jerked to her. “She seemed rather like a mouse when her father was in the room.”
“Yes, I suspect that she hides the predator inside for her father as well. I suspect he’s a man who wants some sort of…well—tepid flower.”
Jack nodded, silent. “If she has a wealth of inner, I don’t know, dreams and wants—”
Vi laughed and Jack’s gaze turned to her. “Of course she does, Jack. She has dreams and