If she were to take into account the silent, and somewhat awkward, ride to Benjamin’s ancestral home, along with his sudden shift into an irritable, sullen, and overall cantankerous ogre, she’d wager something akin to a gorgon was set to meet them. Complete with talons, leatherlike wings, and a mane of venomous snakes. Which led her to believe perhaps the absence of a sibling was not the curse she had always thought it to be, but a blessing in disguise. Then again, his sister was most likely the victim of ill-timing and not the horrible mythical creature Benjamin’s rigid posture and agitated facial features suggested. Likely, she was a warm extension of his family, a veritable paragon of hospitality and friendliness. Unless, of course, his foul mood had less to do with his sister and more to do with Juliet. Perhaps he did not want her meeting his family for fear she might develop a friendship or grow an attachment to people dear to his heart.
