The Runaway Bride by Noelle Marchand

Author:Noelle Marchand
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Published: 2012-10-31T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

A satisfied smile tilted Lorelei’s lips as she followed Ellie through the woods the next day. Her spur-of-the-moment decision to take Ellie up on her invitation to visit anytime had resulted in a wonderful day and an exciting new friendship. She glanced down to survey herself and shook her head. “If my mother could see me now, she’d faint.”

Ellie glanced back at her curiously. “What? Why?”

“Just look at me.” She stopped to exhibit herself. “My hands are red from washing clothes. My fingernails are stained purple from picking blackberries. I have a bruise on my arm from falling off a horse. I’m drenched from head to toe because you pushed me in when we went wading.”

Ellie rolled her eyes unsympathetically. “You tripped and fell in. That’s hardly my fault.”

“That’s your story and you’re sticking to it, but I’m not buying what you’re selling.”

Ellie wrinkled her nose at Lorelei, then lifted her chin to curb a smile. “You may as well admit it, Lorelei. You…had…fun!”

“I certainly did.” She exchanged a grin with Ellie, then looked more closely at the young woman and singsonged, “You’ve been eating berries. Your teeth are purple.”

Ellie’s eyes widened as she guiltily pressed her lips together. “Well, don’t look so smug, Miss Wilkins, so are yours.”

“What?” She covered her mouth with her hand and groaned. “It’s getting worse by the minute.”

Ellie giggled. “Do you know what will make it better? A race.”

Lorelei laughed. “You didn’t even give me time to ask.”

“First one to the house without spilling their berries gets to freshen up first.”

“I don’t know, Ellie— Go!” She rushed through the woods toward the house, keeping a careful eye on her bucket.

“Cheaters never win!” Ellie yelled from a few paces behind her. Lorelei lengthened the distance between them in long, smooth strides. She rounded the corner of the barn and stopped abruptly when she came face-to-face with Sean.

“Lorelei,” he said in startled amusement.

She began to respond, then remembered to clench her lips together at the last second. She slowly became aware of the awful picture she must make. Suddenly Ellie shot past them with a triumphant laugh. The race! Lorelei sprang into motion once more with nothing more than a backward glance at her befuddled husband-to-be. She burst into the kitchen only seconds behind Ellie. Kate glanced up from her mending at their abrupt entrance but otherwise didn’t bat an eye at their appearance. Apparently, this sort of thing wasn’t unusual around the O’Brien house.

“I won!” Ellie declared.

“No fair. I ran into Sean.”

“You certainly did,” Ellie said with a teasing purple smile.

Lorelei laughed. “At least I remembered not to smile. I guess that means you get first dibs on freshening up.”

Ellie shrugged. “That’s all right. I’m used to the grime. You go on. Anything in my wardrobe is fair game. Just keep in mind that you’ll probably get dirty again.”

She frowned. “I don’t see how.”

“Ellie seems to attract messes, so you can’t go by her. Although it is good advice with three children running around here,” Kate suggested.

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