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“No,” she responded.

“Now that I don’t believe,” August said.

She bit the inside of her lip. August had believed her before. She didn’t need to explain more. And yet…

“I just….” No. She shouldn’t be speaking of this any further. She would simply be digging a deeper hole from which she would not be able to scramble out. And Father would be even more embarrassed.

“Yes?” August urged, obviously sensing her hesitance.

She glanced again to Father, and when she discovered him now speaking with the elder Mr. Moon, the tightness around her chest eased. If she could simply explain a bit more to August before Father looked back at her, she was certain she would feel far better.

“It be only that…” she paused, then finally released her pent-up words. “I spent a good deal o’ time rehearsin’ what I’d say to ye to convince ye that I wasn’t readin’ in the bushes, so havin’ ye just believe me seems like a waste o’ me time.”

August’s lip twitched. People typically laughed at her expense, making fun of her for her strange behavior, but with August, she wasn’t so certain he was doing the same. Perhaps it was simply her fanciful state of mind that evening, but she felt as if he found her words humorous, not ridiculous.

His dark eyes sparkled like stars in the night’s sky as he smiled down at her. “Forgive me, Miss May. Allow me to start again.”

He closed his eyes, straightened his back, then released a breath. When he looked at her again, he wrinkled his brow and delivered an exaggerated expression of dubiousness. “Ye claim ye weren’t readin’ in the bushes?” He let out a sniff. “As if I could believe that. Why don’t ye try to defend yourself, then we’ll see if I can trust ye.”

Despite his quite admirable performance, his eyes still twinkled, and at the sight, every last thought of her father departed. Livvy was living an utter dream right now. She knew she ought not draw near to him. She knew any time spent with August would make her wish for more—which would inevitably lead to disappointment. But nothing was going to drag her back down to reality. She was an unfettered leaf drifting about on the winds of August’s charisma.

“Very well, sir,” she said, playing along as if she was as confident as the man standing before her. “I was not readin’ in the bushes, though it appeared so. I was merely readin’ beyond the bushes.”

He waited for her to say more, then laughed when she didn’t. His sisters’ heads turned toward them, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“Is that all ye ’ave to say?” he asked.

She nodded in silence.

“And ’ere I be waitin’ for a grand explanation.”

She couldn’t help but meet that ever-contagious grin of his. “I suppose it sounded better in me ’ead than it did aloud.”

He waved a hand in the air. “No, no. It was quite the succinct explanation. But now I can only wonder why ye ’ad to go beyond the bushes to read.”

“Oh, that be ’cause I ’ave—” She stopped abruptly. She couldn’t be telling August about her secret spot. Suppose he went there himself? Of course, that wouldn’t be terrible. But he was almost always surrounded by his friends and sisters. She couldn’t bear to have it overrun with folks.

“Because ye…” he pressed.

She pulled in her lips. “If I tell ye, ye ’ave to promise to keep it to yourself.”

Intrigue lit his eyes. “Your secret will be safe with me, Miss May. Ye can trust me.”

As if she had any choice but to tell him now. The man had captured her completely. She was fairly certain if he asked her to pretend to be a chicken on a boat in the middle of the sea, she would do so without hesitation.

“There be a location beyond the bushes,” she began. “It be quite secluded and always quiet with a wonderful view o’ the Mount. I enjoy readin’ there, as I can do so uninterrupted.” She pictured the spot, and she couldn’t help the smile that tugged at her lips. “In the summer, there be a lovely little breeze that blows by, and when the sun shines, it warms me fingers as I turn the pages o’ me books. I’ve yet to find a better spot on the mainland for readin’.”

August’s lips pressed together as he smiled, as if he were attempting to hide his full grin.

She looked away, her cheeks warming at his reaction. She’d gotten carried away, clearly. She’d revealed her strange behavior all while trying to explain her strange behavior.

“Or,” she began, “perhaps I really am just as odd as everyone says, and I was truly readin’ in the bushes.”

August sniffed out a quiet laugh. “’Tisn’t odd to wish to read without interruption. I can assure ye, if I told me mother ’bout such a spot, ye’d ne’er be alone there again.” He smiled, and she was once more set to drifting on that airy, dream-induced wind.

“But worry not,” he continued. “I shan’t share your secret with a soul. Though, it does make me wonder what a man must do to ’ave the privilege of knowing just ’ow far one must travel beyond the bushes to discover such a special location.”

All August would have to do is smile at Livvy again and she’d share the deepest secrets of her heart with him.