“My darling Jared,” came Victoria’s voice. “You’re here at last.”
Jared cursed his luck and his life, and gave a prayer for help, all at the same time. When he turned to face her, he was smiling.
When Victoria engulfed him in her arms, he couldn’t help feeling glad to see her. She was kissing his whisker-stubbled cheeks and running her pretty hands over his long hair.
“Is all this for my Alix?” Victoria asked. “She has always liked the motorcycle-gang look. Or is it Nantucket fisherman that she’s grown to like?”
“I think it’s dirty architect,” he said as she slid her arm through his and he let her lead him toward the couch. Reluctantly, the other men made way.
“Yes, my Alix would love that. You know everyone, don’t you?”
Jared looked from one man to another. Yes, he knew them all. He gave looks to the three married ones to let them know they should leave—which they did, leaving only Dr. Huntley, who looked as though he’d taken root.
“What a bad boy you are,” Victoria said to Jared after she’d said goodbye to the other men, her eyes laughing. “Freddy was just telling me how he and Alix had such a lovely time together. I had no idea you and she were looking into the family history.”
Jared swallowed. He was going to tell Victoria as little as possible.
Freddy—a.k.a. Dr. Frederick C. Huntley—sipped his tea. “Young Alix was looking for Valentina.”
“Oh, yes,” Victoria said. “The elusive Valentina. Did she make any progress?”
“None at all,” Jared said, putting a large cream tart in his mouth.
Victoria smiled at him in a way that said she would eventually get everything out of him. She made Jared want to run upstairs and hide. Or maybe to grab Alix and fly back to New York.
She turned to Dr. Huntley. “Freddy, you’ll have to tell me everything on your next visit.”
“Oh,” Dr. Huntley said and it took him a moment to realize he was being dismissed. Quickly, he put his cup down, took one more sandwich, and stood up to say goodbye.
As soon as they were alone, Jared gave a yawn. “I’ve been up for hours, I think I’ll—”
“Jared, darling,” Victoria said, “we need to talk.”
He stood up. “Sure, it’s just that your visit was unexpected and I have a lot of things I need to get done. If you’d told me you were coming—as you seem to have told the entire island—I could have blocked out some time. As it is …” He couldn’t think how to lengthen the lie. He took a step toward the doorway.
“I want to know what your intentions are toward my daughter.”
Jared looked back, his face showing surprise. “You want to know about Alix? And me?”
“Yes, of course. That’s why I came. I know you warned me not to and I plan to be a quiet little mouse while I’m here, but I absolutely must know about my dear daughter.”
Jared gave a pointed look at what had to be half a dozen flower displays about the room. This was being “a quiet little mouse.”
“Oh, well,” she said with a wave of her hand. “I didn’t arrive on a yacht.”
“Not this time.”
Victoria smiled sweetly and patted the seat beside her. “Please sit down, Jared darling, I haven’t seen you in months and Kenneth has been his usual beastly self and won’t tell me anything about my own daughter. And look at this.” She reached under the couch and pulled out a white box that he recognized. “I saved these just for us, and …” She removed a bottle of twenty-five-year-old rum from behind a cushion. “This is to spice up Addy’s blasted tea. What do you say? Downyflake doughnuts and rum?”
Jared shook his head. “Victoria, I swear you could charm the devil.” He sat back down on the couch beside her.
“From what I’ve been hearing about you with my daughter, that’s just what you are. You aren’t planning to run back to New York and leave her behind, are you? Alix isn’t like me. She’s as serious as her father.”
“No,” Jared said as he took the cup of tea she offered. It was half rum. “I’m not planning to leave Alix.”
Victoria smiled. “Does she know that?”
“I’ve dropped enough hints, so she should.”