A tap on his shoulder jolted him from his thoughts. He released Adelaide and turned in time to see Everett offer them a tight smile.
“Family meeting in the library. Now.” The man turned on his heel, offered his wife his arm and ushered her into the house.
Chris glanced down at Adelaide. “Um, am I family?”
“Apparently. We’d better follow them.” She bit her lip. “Will you...?”
“Play along?” He’d already made his decision, so he nodded. “Absolutely.”
* * *
Adelaide found Chris’s sudden enthusiasm for her idea surprising and extremely suspicious. However, there wasn’t any time to question it.
She wound her way through the curious guests with Chris on her heels and found Olan waiting outside the door of Everett’s library. Olan glanced inside the room where presumably her parents were waiting before he met her gaze with concern. “I’m not entirely sure what’s going on here. Before we find out, I’d like to apologize to you. I think I may have said something that hurt your feelings while you were in Peppin.”
“I appreciate the apology, Mr. Johansen. Nevertheless...” She lifted one shoulder in a helpless shrug. “You didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.”
“Perhaps, but—”
She placed a hand on his arm to still his words and smiled. “Truly, it’s all right. We should go inside.”
Chris’s supportive hand on her back gave her the courage she needed to step through the library door. She lifted her chin, prepared for a battle. Everett and Rose stood in front of his large walnut desk, speaking in low tones. Rose caught sight of them first. Adelaide blinked as her mother smiled warmly.
“Well, this is quite a surprise. Olan, it’s so nice to see you again.” She offered her hand to Olan, then nodded to Chris. “And Chris...you’ve certainly grown up, haven’t you? Won’t y’all sit down? I’m afraid we won’t be able to speak for long with so many guests here, but Everett says you will be here for several days. Is that right?”
That was news to Adelaide. She glanced at Chris for confirmation of that while they settled side by side on the library’s settee. He was too busy watching her mother with a mixture of curiosity and confusion to notice. Adelaide couldn’t blame him. Her mother’s warm greeting to the Johansens had taken Adelaide off guard a bit, too.
Olan nodded, claiming a seat in one of the leather chairs Rose had indicated. “I’ll only be here a couple of days. After that, I’ve got to get back to my store. Chris is going to stay for a while longer.”
“I hope you get to see some of Houston before you leave, Olan. It truly is a lovely city.” Rose clasped her hands in front of her and turned Adelaide. “Now, Adelaide, my dear, Bertrand Milney told me the strangest thing a few minutes ago. He said that he caught you having a liaison with a man fitting Chris’s description, a man you claimed as your beau. Of course, I told him that he must be mistaken. Please, tell me that he is.”
Adelaide stared into Rose’s piercing gray eyes and felt her resolve begin to waver. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to antagonize her mother. Yet why should choosing her own beau be upsetting to Rose? True, her mother had never trusted Chris—for good reason it turned out. Yet, wasn’t that the point? Adelaide had to do something drastic if she wanted any chance at gaining her mother’s approval of her writing. That was all that mattered, wasn’t it?
Chris’s hand covered hers, steadying her topsy-turvy thoughts. She met his gaze. He gave her a supportive nod. Her mouth opened, but the words she wanted to say wouldn’t come. He transferred her hand to his other and put his free arm along the back of the settee. “Adelaide and I reconnected when she visited Peppin.”
That much was true, so Adelaide nodded. “Yes, we did.”
“When my father decided to visit Houston, I knew I had to see her again, so here I am.” Chris had already informed her he was here to do his father’s bidding by arranging the opportunity for Olan to apologize. However, his tone was so earnest that even she almost believed he had romantic feelings for her. It was a bit unnerving to know he was so good at affecting emotions he didn’t feel. How many times had her birth father done that very thing? Usually, it involved Hiram pretending to be sorry for something, only to go out and do that exact same thing again.
Adelaide pulled her hand from Chris’s and placed it in her lap. “If that’s all, Mother, we really should get back to the party.”
Olan leaned forward. “Actually, I have a question. It’s been bothering me for years. Rose, what have you got against my son? Why don’t you approve of him? He’s a good man, responsible, kind. He makes an honest living. What more could you want for your daughter?”
“Pa,” Chris chided, tensing beside her.
Olan frowned. “What? You’ve got a right to know.”
Rose had never liked Chris because his charm and good looks reminded her of Hiram. The news of Chris’s infidelity had confirmed Rose’s suspicions and clinched that dislike. Adelaide knew her mother would never speak of Hiram to visitors. The less personal explanation for Rose was Chris’s dealings with Amy. Rose had wanted Adelaide to confront Chris about his infidelity since they’d first heard of it. Not to give Chris a chance to defend himself, but so that he would know that he’d been caught. Rose had also wanted Adelaide to put Amy on her guard. Adelaide had been too upset and embarrassed by the whole thing to say a word. Plus, she couldn’t have borne hearing Chris’s attempts to justify or excuse himself the way Hiram always had.
Rose took in Adelaide’s pleading look at a glance, then turned back to Olan. “I simply don’t think they’re well suited as a couple.”
Olan nodded. “Well, on that, we can agree.”
Adelaide’s eyebrows lifted. She found herself scooting closer to Chris with her chin lifted in a mix of defiance and defensiveness. “Oh? And, how can y’all be so absolutely certain of that? Perhaps we would have made a perfect couple if anyone had ever given us a chance at it.”
Olan gave her a skeptical look. “The two of you have had five years’ worth of chances to figure this out.”
“Five years when we lived over a hundred miles apart,” Chris countered. “Besides, Pa, I thought you said I should fight for her.”
“He did?” Adelaide pressed a hand to her heart. “Mr. Johansen, that is the sweetest thing, but why?”
Olan didn’t bother to explain. Instead, his mouth set in a line that looked downright ornery and he glanced away as if the ceiling was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen. Adelaide didn’t have time to do more than tilt her head in confusion before her mother’s amused voice distracted her. “Adelaide, dear, you do realize that it was probably in your best interest not to have spent more time as a couple. Don’t you?”
Stymied, Adelaide’s lashes fluttered at the memory of why she’d broken off her engagement in the first place. Her mother was right. Chris was everything she hadn’t wanted in a husband—untrustworthy, unfaithful and too handsome for his own good. Her voice came out rather subdued. “I suppose.”
Chris’s dark blue gaze shot back and forth between Adelaide and her mother. “Why is that?”
“Perhaps Adelaide will tell you some other time. Meanwhile, I must say the very idea of this courtship is perfectly ridiculous to me. However, if the two of you insist on it, I can’t stop you—or so Everett tells me.”
Adelaide opened her mouth to speak, but was saved from herself when Everett clapped his hands together. “All right! Now that everything is settled, let’s get back to the party.” He extended his arm to Rose. “Come along, my sweet. Olan, I’ll send your cab on its way. My carriage