Harriet’s gaze met his, laughter sparkling in her brown eyes.

“Bloody hell,” he cursed. “You said the closer the better.” He knew he sounded defensive, but something was not right.

“Yes, but—”

Sophia burst out giggling. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” she choked when Chase whirled to face her. “It’s just that…the sheep. They all look like poodles.”

“Poodles?” Chase followed her gaze.

Ophelia tilted her head to one side, her lips quivering. “Poodles or lions. Some definitely have a lion-ish appearance. I thought he did a very good job on the ram.”

“Chase,” Harriet asked, laughter burbling in her voice, “why did you shear them like that?”

Chase grit his teeth. “Because it’s what you have to do. I left the wool around their heads and tails so I wouldn’t snip anything vital. Derrick said that was often the way you had to…” Chase’s voice trailed off as he turned to look at the youth.

But Derrick was nowhere to be found.

Bloody hell! “That bast—”

“Chase!” Harriet said, grinning as the others broke into loud shouts of laughter. “He was just funning you.”

Ophelia wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “You should have heard Derrick. Even I thought he was serious at first.”

Chase clenched his hands into fists. They’d made him look a fool. “I’ve had enough funning.”

“Nonsense.” She looked back at the sheep, a giggle escaping. “No one can have enough funning.”

Chase thought glumly of all the work he’d done. “If I catch Derrick, I’ll—”

“Oh, don’t be upset,” Harriet said, grinning up at him.

“We don’t have time to play these games.”

Her smile faded a little at that. “No, we don’t. But it’s not such a horrible thing, after all.”

Stephen chuckled. “We can’t leave that much wool on those sheep, so we’ll trim them again.”

Harriet nodded. “Actually, why don’t we allow Derrick to trim them. Pray find him and tell him that I want it done before the next batch is brought in for shearing.”

Stephen nodded, but before he left, he slapped Chase on the back. “I had no idea you were so talented with shears. If you’ve the time, perhaps you can do something with those bushes in the front of the house. A little topiary would not be amiss.”

Ophelia giggled. “Since he made the sheep look like poodles, perhaps he can make the shrubbery look like sheep.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Chase said dryly, the beginning of a smile teasing his lips.

He looked around at the sea of grinning faces that surrounded him, aware of a comfortable feeling of belonging. “What did I do to deserve being rescued by a family of sheepherding wits? Why could I not have been found by average, normal people with no sense of humor and not a single sheep on the premises?”

Harriet lifted her brows in mock horror. “And what would you have done for three weeks without our wit or our sheep? You have to admit that you’ve learned some very important life lessons.”