The Scent of Jasmine Read online

  Two days later, when they reached the settlement and saw Thankfull, Cay said, “Now I know why she’s named that. I’ve never been so thankful to see anyone in my life.”

  “I have been,” Alex said. “When we got away from those gators and I saw that you had all your beautiful body parts, I was the most thankful person on earth.”

  Cay could only sit on her horse and stare at him. It was the closest he’d come to saying he loved her.

  “If you cry you’ll make streaks in the dirt on your face,” he said.

  “Why would I cry? Over something you said? Not likely!” She went past him with her nose in the air, but she heard Alex’s laughter.

  Thankfull ran out to meet them. “He was here looking for you both,” she said breathlessly as she took the reins of Cay’s horse. “He got here two days after you left, and he would have gone after you, but a messenger came with a letter and that made him leave for New Orleans.”

  “Who was he?” Alex asked, his voice tight and strained.

  “Tally,” said the twins in unison. They had come out of the boardinghouse and were looking as though they’d been through some heavenly experience. “Tally.”

  “He’s the most handsome man I’ve ever seen in my life,” one twin said.

  “Me, too,” said the other one.

  Thankfull was watching Alex dismount. “You look somewhat better now that you’ve shaved.”

  “Is he really your brother?” a twin asked Cay without so much as a glance at Alex.

  “He’s so much more . . . well, manly than you are.” Where once the girls had thought Cay was beautiful, now they were nearly sneering at her.

  But then, Cay knew she was horrible-looking—and smelling. Her embroidered vest, once so lovely, was torn and encrusted with the blood of the alligators. Her stockings were so dirty you couldn’t see what color they were, as was her shirt.

  “Come in,” Thankfull said, “and eat. Would you like me to get you some new clothes? I have a feeling that you won’t stay here long enough to be able to wash and dry what’s left of those garments.”

  “Tally had on the most beautiful coat,” a twin said dreamily. “It was embroidered at the pockets with sunflowers entwined with vines.”

  “I liked the honeybees best.”

  “Tally said his sister embroidered it for him.”

  Alex looked at Cay in question and she gave a quick nod. It was hard to remember a time when her life was so calm that she could sit in a chair by the fire and embroider pockets for her brothers’ coats.

  “Food sounds good,” Alex said. “And new clothes. As for the cost—”

  “Mr. Harcourt left money for you,” Thankfull said as she glanced at Cay.

  She knows, Cay thought. Tally told her that I’m a girl and she’s kept the secret. “Did he tell you of Uncle T.C.?”

  Thankfull’s face lit up. “Yes, he did. In fact, he spent both his evenings here telling me all the stories he could remember about Mr. Connor. Your brother is a very kind and thoughtful young man.” Opening the door, she let them go ahead of her. “I have soft soap for your hair,” she whispered as Cay walked past her. “And jasmine oil for a bath.”

  Alex heard her, and turning, he looked at Cay. All the stress and hardship, all the fear of the last few days fell away, and they began to laugh. One second they were standing, almost too tired to move, and the next they were hanging on to each other’s arms and laughing so loud the twins came in from outside to see what was going on.

  Thankfull shooed the girls out the door and closed it. Cay and Alex were still holding on to each other, howling with laughter, and saying incomprehensible things like “downwind of you” and “robbers with their smell” and “my hair never smelled so good.”

  Smiling, Thankfull went into the kitchen to prepare them a huge meal.

  For Cay, that night at Thankfull’s boardinghouse had been lovely. She got to bathe, sleep in a clean bed—Alex secretly beside her—eat cooked food, and in the morning she’d put on new, clean clothes. That Alex had made her get up at 4 a.m. had been difficult, but Thankfull had been there with a packet of hot corn cakes to eat on the way.

  “He must want something very much,” Thankfull said softly to Cay just before she mounted her horse.

  “Yes, he does.” She didn’t intend it, but there was anger in her voice. Now that they were getting closer, the reality of Alex’s urgency was beginning to get through to her.

  “I heard some things about him,” Thankfull said, her voice so low Cay could hardly hear her. “But I don’t believe them. I don’t think he could do what people say he’s done.”

  “He didn’t, and we’re going to prove it.”

  “Your brother—” Thankfull began, then stopped because she was giving away the secret.

  “It’s all right. Alex says I’m the worst at being a boy he’s ever seen.”

  “That’s not true. When you were here before, I thought you were male.”

  “Thank you,” Cay said. “I think.” On impulse, she kissed Thankfull’s cheek. “I’ll do what I can to plead your case with Uncle T.C., but he’s a stubborn man. Mother says he’d rather mourn a woman than have to deal with a real one.”

  “Your mother sounds like a wise woman.”

  “She is, and I miss her very much.”

  “You’d better go,” Thankfull said. “Alex is giving us hard looks.” She leaned toward Cay. “Who would have thought he was so handsome under all that hair?”

  “I didn’t guess.”

  “But you seem to have made up for lost time.”

  “We, uh . . . ,” Cay stammered.

  “The walls in this place are very thin. Now go, so you can do what you need to. And tell Mr. Connor that . . . that . . .”

  Cay swung up onto her horse. “I’ll get you two together and let you tell him.” She looked at Alex. “Are you going to stand there all day?”

  Alex reined his horse away. “So are you matchmaking again? First Eli and T.C.’s daughter, and now you’re finding a wife for T.C. himself. Did it ever occur to you that those people can find their own mates?”

  “No, I can’t say that it did. Think one of the twins would do for Tally?”

  Alex set his horse to a trot.

  It was days before they reached New Orleans, and by that time they were exhausted, but reaching their destination made new energy run through them.

  “So where do you think your brother would be? Asleep in some rich hotel?” Alex raised an eyebrow at her. “Alone or with someone?”

  “I’m sure Tally is a virgin. Adam and Father keep a close watch on him.”

  “As they do you?”

  Cay grimaced. “I was allowed out by myself because I was believed to be the sane and sensible one.”

  “I proved them wrong,” Alex said, and there was such pride in his voice that she laughed.

  “I’ve never been in this city before, so I don’t know where the best hotels are.”

  Alex looked at her. Her thick auburn hair had grown in some during the last weeks, and it had escaped the tie at the back. It was curling about her shoulders in a way that made him want to pull her off her horse and onto his saddle.

  “We don’t have time for that now,” Cay said at his look, but she was smiling. “I think you’ve corrupted me.”

  “I did my best.” His eyes were blinking innocently.

  “I’m glad it’s only Tally here, because if Adam saw you looking at me like that . . .”

  “What would he do?” Alex asked, amusement in his voice. “Slap me with one of his gloves and challenge me to a duel at dawn? Do you think he brought his father’s dueling pistols?”

  Cay gave him a smug little smile. “Obviously, you don’t have the right impression of Adam. But I’m glad he’s not here.”

  “Then who sent the letter to your little brother?”

  “Nate,” Cay said quickly. “I think Nate might be here, but he’s no problem. If I told him I’d spent the whole time in bed wit