The Scent of Jasmine Read online

  “Lass,” Alex said patiently, “they have mail service out of here, so you can write to your other brothers and ask them to come and get you. What was the pretty one’s name?”

  “Ethan. No. If Adam said Tally was to come for me, then it will be Tally. No one contradicts Adam.”

  A quick frown crossed Alex’s face, but he got it under control. “Will you come see me off tomorrow?”

  “I thought you were leaving today. I was hoping you’d leave today.”

  “Grady is to bring the flatboat with more supplies, and we leave early tomorrow. Will you cry when you wave good-bye to me?”

  “I’m going to throw a party.”

  “And will the girls be there? Will you sneak kisses with them?”

  She picked up her fork and lunged across the table at him, but he pulled back, laughing, just as Thankfull returned.

  “I hope they’re cooked to your liking,” she said, looking in curiosity from Cay to Alex, then back again.

  “Excellent,” Alex said, glancing up at Thankfull with a warm smile.

  She returned his smile before she went back to the kitchen.

  “You were flirting with her,” Cay said in a voice that was mostly a hiss.

  “She’s an attractive woman,” Alex said.

  “And you’re a married man.”

  “Nay, lass,” Alex said quietly, “I’m not.”

  “I didn’t mean . . . ,” she began, then stopped. She wasn’t good at being angry. Even when she was a child and Tally did truly horrible things to her, she couldn’t stay mad for long. She put her head on her hands, elbows on the table. “I don’t want to stay here alone.”

  “Thankfull seems like a nice enough person, so maybe she’ll turn out to be your friend.” There was sympathy in Alex’s voice.

  “She’s in love with Uncle T.C.”

  “Is she now? Who would have thought of that? Is he in love with her?”

  “How would I know that? I’m his goddaughter. He doesn’t talk to me of his love life.”

  “Maybe he should. It would have been better than telling you about the murderers in his life.”

  Cay couldn’t help it, but she smiled. “I agree with you on that.”

  Reaching across the table, he took her hand, and she looked at him. “I’m truly sorry about all this, lass. I didn’t mean for it to happen, and neither did T.C. If he hadn’t been so stupid as to climb on that ladder, he’d be here now and not you.”

  “And he’d be going with you,” Cay said, her eyes pleading.

  Alex pulled his hand back and took a bite of his eggs. “Don’t start on me again. You canna go, and that’s final.”

  “He’s here!” one of the twins shouted as she ran into the dining room. Her eyes went directly to Cay. “Oooooh,” she said and sat down beside her, but Cay stood up.

  “Who’s here?” Alex asked.

  The girl didn’t so much as look at him; her eyes were directly on Cay. “Mr. Grady.”

  “Oh,” Cay said flatly, looking at Alex.

  He rapidly took three more bites of egg, grabbed his hat, and said he had to go.

  Cay was right on his heels.

  At the door, he stopped. “I think you should stay here. I don’t know where Grady’s been, so he may have heard the news from Charleston. He could be suspicious of you.”

  “My name was cleared, remember? It’s you who’s in danger, not me.”

  Alex grimaced.

  “But it was a good try,” she said. “Really, I almost believed you.”

  Alex laughed. “Then it was worth it.” He put his arm around her shoulders. “Let’s go, little brother, and see what awaits me.”

  “You, not me,” Cay said gloomily. “You saw in the dining room what’s waiting for me.”

  “Those girls aren’t bad, brother. Maybe when I get back I’ll be invited to your wedding.”

  “You are not funny.”

  Laughing, Alex tightened his arm around her shoulder, but she twisted away.

  “I hope an alligator eats your leg.”

  “Now, lass, you don’t mean that.”

  “Yes, I do. I—” She broke off because they’d reached the dock and standing amid the many boxes and crates was a tall man wearing a snowy white shirt, with a dark green vest, and fawn-colored breeches. On his head was a big felt hat with a wide brim. His face was turned away from them, but she could see that he was young and had a horseman’s muscular thighs.

  “Is that him?”

  When Alex looked at her, he frowned at her expression. “I guess so. Why?”

  “He reminds me of someone I know, that’s all.”

  “I think you should go back to the boardinghouse. If Grady recognizes you, we’re sunk. I promise that I’ll come to say good-bye to you this afternoon.”

  She moved away from Alex when he again tried to put his arm around her shoulders. “I’m not going back to that place until I have to. I wish he’d turn around so I could see his face.”

  Alex stepped in front of her to block her view. “I don’t like this. If you think you know this man, then he’ll know you. He won’t think you’re a boy.”

  “If he’s who I think he is, he won’t recognize me, since the only time I saw him, I was eight years old.”

  “I still think—” Alex began.

  “Are you Yates?” came a voice from behind them.

  Reluctantly, Alex took his eyes off Cay and turned around, and when he heard her gasp from behind him, he realized that this was the man she knew.

  James Grady was a very handsome man. He looked to be in his early thirties, was as tall as Alex, but heavier built, as he hadn’t spent weeks in near starvation. He had dark hair and gray eyes, and there were long dimples in his cheeks.

  As soon as Alex saw the man, he knew things about him. Like Cay, Grady seemed to exude an air of money. When you looked at the man, you saw a drawing room with port in crystal glasses and cigar smoke. You saw women in dresses so elegant they looked to have been created on Mount Olympus.

  Without a doubt, Alex knew that James Grady was an older version of the rich plantation boys Alex had beaten in the horse races in Charleston. In other words, he was of the same class and education as Cay. He was of her crowd, her social station in life. He was her equal.

  Alex told himself he had no reason to hate the man, but he could feel the emotion coursing through his veins.

  “Are you Yates?” the man asked again.

  “Yes,” Alex finally managed to say. “I’m Alex Yates.”

  “And you’re the friend T.C. wrote me about, the one who can handle any animal?”

  “Ah dunnae kinn abit ’at, but I’ll dae th’ best Ah can.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  During this exchange, Alex had managed to keep Cay behind him. She’d tried to escape his grasp on her, but he’d held on tight. At last, she dug her elbows into his back and he had to let go.

  She slipped around Alex and put herself in front of him to stare up at Mr. Grady with wide eyes. “I’m Charles Albert Yates,” she said as she held her shoulders back and her chest out. “This is my brother, and I’m his translator.”

  Alex realized that, yet again, he’d fallen back into his heavy accent and Grady hadn’t been able to understand him.

  “What my brother said was that he was appreciative of the compliment from Mr. Connor, and that he’d do his best to live up to expectations.”

  “Did he now?” Mr. Grady said, smiling down at Cay in merriment. “He said all that in just those few words?”

  “He did,” Cay said, not seeming to realize that Mr. Grady was teasing her. “He can speak English, but he’s not very good at it.”

  “And why is it that your brother has such a heavy accent, but you have none?”

  “Och, but Ah dae when Ah lit myself,” she said, her eyes showing her delight.

  Mr. Grady laughed. “Well, boy, I can see that you’ll be a fine addition to our little team. You can—”

  “He�€