Courted by Trouble: A Courting Romance (In Hyacinth Book 3) by Bree Cariad Read Free Book Online Page B

twinkled. Like most men in Hyacinth he had brought gifts, a bouquet of hyacinths for Charlotte and a small teddy bear with a chef’s hat for her.
    “Thanks,” she said, taking the little bear. He wore an apron that read Even chefs make mistakes – they just make up a new name for the dish and everyone applauds . Laughing as the saying seemed very apropos tonight, the tightness she had felt for the last week relaxed.
    Dinner was fun. The ham covered in honey tasted wonderful and the vegetables even tasted good. Seated next to Charlotte, Christopher was open and chatted easily with all of them. He sent Stephanie warm smiles every other minute and by the time dessert was delivered, she knew he liked her.
    “This is good,” Christopher hummed as he took a bite of the berry and cream-filled dessert. “It tastes like cheesecake. What is it?”
    “A secret family recipe,” Charlotte said easily, winking at Stephanie. Drake caught the wink and looked between the two of them, but didn’t say anything. Instead, he looked at Christopher.
    “So, do you like Hyacinth?”
    “Yes, I do. Tons of stuff to do here. I love nature.”
    Drake grinned. “Been fishing on Hins Creek Lake yet?”
    “Jerod took me last week. Caught some amazing trout. It was like that when I was a kid. Fresh fish right out of the lake. Nothing better. That’s one thing I miss here. The restaurant I worked at in Maine, we got fresh fish daily. Crab. Lobster. It was fantastic.”
    “We need a nice upscale restaurant in town,” Charlotte said quietly. “We have the diner and a couple other small eateries, but a nice sit-down restaurant that served wonderful food would be lovely.”
    Alex grunted and nodded. “It would be nice.”
    “My gran ran a bed and breakfast,” Christopher said. “I grew up there. In fact, that’s where I fell in love with cooking. We had fresh fish daily there too.” He paused and his eyes rose and locked with Stephanie’s. “What do you want to do, Stephanie?”
    Startled, she shrugged. “I don’t know. Right now I’m getting by as a seamstress.”
    “Do you enjoy it?”
    “I love to sew,” she hedged.
    He grinned as if realizing she wasn’t giving him a straight answer. “Where do you get your own clothes?”
    She looked down at her crazy halter dress. “Oh, I designed and made this.”
    “The dress you wore at the picnic too?” She nodded, wondering where he was going with this. “And Jerod says you designed and are making Cami’s wedding dress.”
    “Yes?”
    “Your sense of style is unique and there are a lot of people clambering for that. Ever thought of mass-producing your designs?”
    “I never even graduated high school.” Heat filled her cheeks as she blurted out the words. Surely a clothing designer needed a fancy education.
    “So?” Christopher acted as though that was no big deal. “I bet there are home study courses you could take. Most colleges offer online degrees now. You could get a GED, get some business courses behind you, and I bet your designs would sell well.”
    Drake beamed at her as though he couldn’t agree more and she looked from him to the man seated opposite him. “Uh, thanks.”
    “Sure. If you decide, a friend of mine runs an online shop for unique clothing. I can put you in touch with him.”
     
    * * * * *
     
    Grabbing her towel, Stephanie dried her hair as she stepped out of the shower. The conversation from Saturday night’s dinner still resounded in her head as she got dressed, pulled her hair into a pony tail, and withdrew Cami’s dress from its protective plastic before putting it on the dress form Charlotte had lent her. As it was already sized to Cami’s measurements, it made her job easier.
    When she was twelve or thirteen, she had dabbled in dreams of everyone wearing her strange designs but never truly thought seriously about it. But Christopher thought it was a good idea. And he was from outside their tiny little town so he was more likely to know