Love Birds of Regent's Park Read Free Page B

appropriate?”
    Lucy widened her ey es and stared behind him. “Uh… oh… no. ”
    He frowned. “What’s the matter, Miss—?”
    The huge grey goose, otherwise known as the hat thief of the Bird Sanctuary pond, flapped its huge wings and landed just behind Mr. Barrow, who shivered. Was it from the cold of being wet, or did he sense that they were no longer alone?
    Honk ! Honk!
    Gasping, Mr . Barrow turned his head to the side in time to see the goose lunge.
    At his head.
    And Lucy’s hat.
    “Ahhh!” Mr. Barrow closed his eyes just as the hat was snatched from his head.
    Lucy reached forward, nearly losing her fingers as the goose snapped at her. “Oh!” She drew back her hand as if burned. “What a wicked goose. Mr. Barrow, are you hurt?”
    He took a deep breath and turned slowly, looking behind him. The goose slid into the water with the hat in his bill. Mr. Barrow shook his head. “I’m fine. But what is it about that hat that fascinates that goose so?”
    “ I don’t know. I really don’t. Perhaps it knows it’s my favorite?”
    “ It is a lovely hat, I’ll grant you that.” He smirked.
    Lucy smiled. “Why thank you, kind sir.”
    The y stood and watched as the goose swam farther into the water. It let go of the hat and dove beneath the surface.
    Rubbing the back of his neck, Mr. Barrow sighed. “I’m truly sorry I was unable to retrieve your favorite hat from the atrocious goose, Miss Ashbrook.”
    “ Thank you. I do appreciate your valiant effort. But at this point, I don’t think I would even desire to have it returned.” She pointed to the pond.
    The goose had surfaced from the water.
    Wearing the hat.
    Mr. Barrow chuckled. “Understood.”

 
     
    Chapter Three
     
    “ What in the world happened to you, Oliver?”
    He stepped into the dim light of the work shed where the Sanctuary housed the tools necessary for the upkeep of the grounds. The steady drip-drip-drip from his hair, chin, and elbows reminded him of sitting inside his father’s house on rainy days as a child. “Had a run-in with a hat.”
    “ Pardon?”
    He laughed and waved the other man away with his hand. “Tried to rescue a fair damsel’s hat from a goose, but I ended up taking a swim instead.” What had he been thinking, speaking to her as he had? How improper. How gauche. And yet… when he had seen her sitting there, all reason had deserted him.
    Richard , the chief groundsman, leaned forward on the handle of his dusty shovel. “A damsel, you say?”
    Oliver shrugged. “Someone who came to sketch the birds. I only became acquainted with her this morning.”
    “ I see.” He raised his eyebrows.
    “ What do you see?” Oliver wrung water from the hem of his tweed coat, creating a puddle on the floor. Hmm. Probably should have done that outside .
    “ You’ve taken a fancy to her.”
    Oliver eyed Richard. “I said I’ve only just met her.” And yes, I have taken a fancy. How would Richard know that?
    “ What does that matter?”
    “ Quite a bit, I should think.” Oliver tapped his boot in impatience. He glanced down when he heard a tiny splat. Oh, right. The puddle.
    “ It was that way for me and the wife, God bless her soul. Saw each other one day. Married at Gretna Green the next week.”
    Oliver dropped his jaw. “The next week? You certainly didn’t waste any time, man.”
    Richard shrugged. “What’s there to waste time about? When you find the right one, you may as well marry her, because love is love.”
    “ Now you’re getting melancholy on me, Richard.” He raised a finger to emphasize his point and winced as water, turned cold, trickled beneath his sleeve.
    “ You can scoff all you want, Oliver, but I know what I’m about. Mark my words. You’ll be tied to this bird-sketcher before you know it. She may not know you are of similar stations, but you do. I’ll keep your confidence about your identity, but if she is someone of importance to you, you might want to tell her. And trust me.