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  “Toby? That would be like dating an angel.”

  “I get it. And you’re too much of a devil.”

  “At last someone truly understands me. I get any thanks from you?” He tapped his finger on his cheek.

  “That’s not the side Toby kissed,” Lexie said as she planted one on him.

  “I’m never going to wash the cheek she touched ever again.”

  Lexie groaned. “Come on and help us fill the pots full of dirt.”

  Jared held up his hands. “These were made for holding tall glasses of beer. You girls are on your own from now on.”

  That had been over a year ago, and since then the two roommates had been able to supplement their income with the flowers they grew.

  Jared tapped on their front door lightly. All the lights were out so he doubted if they would hear him. He’d have to wait until morning to get the flowers—which meant that he wouldn’t get told off by Lexie. He didn’t know why he let his grandfather goad him into doing things he didn’t want to. Ever since he was a kid—

  The door opened and there stood Toby, her long blond hair in a fat braid down her back, wearing a white robe with little pink flowers on it. He was relieved it wasn’t his opinionated cousin. “I screwed up with Ken’s daughter and I need flowers.”

  Toby just nodded and stepped outside. “Let’s go around the house so we don’t wake Lexie.”

  “Plymouth on island?” Jared asked. Roger Plymouth was Lexie’s boss and when he was on the island she was worked nearly to death. According to her he couldn’t tie his shoelaces by himself. He lived in a mansion out on Polpis Road, arrived and left on his own plane, and none of Lexie’s friends or family had ever seen him. They teased her that he didn’t actually exist.

  “Yes, he’s here,” Toby said, “and she’s exhausted. He calls her night and day. He wants her to move into his guesthouse but she won’t do it. So what did you do to mess things up with Ken’s daughter?”

  “Lied to her,” Jared said. “I told her I was a building contractor, but it turns out she knew what I do for a living. She’s an architecture student and she’s good.”

  “Since she’s Ken’s daughter, that’s no surprise. But wouldn’t she have found out about you anyway?”

  “Yes, but I meant to be gone by the time she arrived. She came early and walked into the kitchen and caught me off guard. I thought we had a nice time. We ate dinner together. If I’d admitted my profession, it would have turned into work. Or at least that’s my excuse.”

  “It’s not a bad one. I’ve heard worse.” They were at the back greenhouse door and Jared held it open while she entered first. She turned on some soft lights that were hidden at the top of the glass wall. Before them was a long expanse of flowers and greenery, and flats full of seedlings, all of it in perfect condition.

  “Looks good,” Jared said.

  “Yes, it does, but then we had a superlative architect design it for us.”

  “I don’t think that’s the word Alix would use about me right now. Her dad said I’d made her want to leave the island.”

  “Was he very angry at you?” Toby picked up a trug and removed cutters from a jar of alcohol and started down the aisle.

  “Furious. If I’d been there he would have shot me. After he ran a truck over me. I think I made her cry.”

  “Oh, Jared, I’m so sorry. For both of you. You must take her some roses and of course we’ll cut some daffodils.” She opened a big wooden door against the back wall and revealed a refrigerator full of cut flowers.

  “When did you get the fridge?”

  “For my birthday. My father asked what I wanted and this was it.”

  “Is your mother still angry at you for staying on the island?”

  Toby gave a little smile. “Oh, yes. She barely speaks to me.”

  At that, she and Jared exchanged looks. Toby’s mother was a harridan and her not talking was no punishment.

  “Any advice on getting Alix to forgive me?”

  “Spend some time together and let her get to know you,” Toby said.

  “I’m going to see Dilys tomorrow.”

  “Perfect. Take Alix with you.”

  “And I want her to meet you and Lexie.”

  “I’d be honored,” Toby said and looked up at him, her hands full of little pink roses. “You like her, don’t you?”

  He followed her outside and watched as she used the light from the greenhouse to cut daffodil blooms. “She’s just a kid. I was drinking and driving when she was just four years old.”

  “We girls have a habit of growing up.”

  “And you do it very well,” Jared said, smiling at her.

  She handed him the basket of flowers. “Put some outside her door. Do you know how to make pancakes?”

  “I know how to drive to Downyflake.”

  “Good enough.” Toby walked back to the greenhouse, checked the thermometer, and turned out the lights.

  “How’s your love life?” Jared asked. “Weren’t you dating … Who was that?”

  “The eldest Jenkins boy, and ‘boy’ is the key word.”

  “I used to date a cousin of his. She was—” He didn’t finish that thought.

  “Not someone you’d take home to meet the family?”

  “Toby, you’re a born diplomat. Can’t Lexie fix you up with someone?”

  “I’m fine,” Toby said. “Really, I am.”

  “Waiting for Prince Charming?”

  “Aren’t all women? And you’re waiting for Cinderella.”

  “Actually,” Jared said slowly, “I’m rather hoping to find the Evil Queen. I think she’d be much more fun.”

  They laughed together.

  Chapter Six

  When Alix awoke, her first thought was to wonder if Montgomery-Kingsley had left the island yet. Has he gone back to his pickup and his project that’s being constructed from a plan in a magazine? she thought. She couldn’t help feeling a resurgence of anger at his lies.

  She got out of bed and glanced at the tall portrait of Captain Caleb, but she didn’t really see it. No feathery kisses this morning.

  She went into the bathroom to shower and wash her hair. Now what do I do? she wondered as she lathered. Being lied to by HRH Montgomery shouldn’t make any difference to being on Nantucket. Before she came, she hadn’t even known he was on the island. And never in her life had she thought that she’d meet the man in person. Of course she’d planned to apply for a job in his firm, but so had most of the other students.

  She got out of the shower, blow-dried her hair, pulled it back, put on a touch of makeup, then went back to the bedroom to get dressed. The clothes Izzy had bought for her were still in their bags in a corner of the room. She emptied one from Zero Main onto the end of the bed, opened the tissue paper, and couldn’t help smiling. The clothes were simple, and of the most exquisite fabrics she’d ever seen. How very Nantucket, she thought. Just like the houses. There were two shirts, a knit top, a scarf, black linen trousers, and a box containing some turquoise earrings.

  “Might as well go out and see this island,” she said aloud and glanced at the big portrait. “What do you think, Captain? The blue shirt or the peach one?”

  Alix wasn’t surprised when the collar on the blue shirt moved. It had been folded so it made sense that it would go back into place. But Alix preferred to think that the Captain had done it. “Thanks,” she said. Just thinking that she wasn’t alone in the big house made her feel better. That her housemate had died over two hundred years ago wasn’t something she was going to think about.

  When she was fully dressed, she took a breath and opened the door. The first thing she saw was a daffodil on the floor. Under it was a large white envelope.

  Her first thought was that her dad had sent it to her. Second thought was that maybe Eric had found her.

  Opening it, she saw the distinctive lettering that came from years and years of drafting.

  Please accept my apology for the misunderstanding.