For All Time (Nantucket Brides 2)

“Oh, yes.” She put her head back a bit. “You two are quite different. His reticence is natural, but yours is forced. And there’s a feeling about you that you don’t know where you belong. Graydon knows exactly where he fits into the world.”

As they moved quickly around the dance floor, the others began to stand back to watch them. Both of them had had a lot of dance lessons and they made a beautiful, graceful couple. “I wanted to protect him from you,” he said, “but now I want to protect you.” He gave her a look that seemed to come from deep inside. He was no longer laughing or teasing. “Don’t fall in love with my brother. He takes his responsibilities very seriously, and no matter how much he loves a woman, he will always put his duties to his country first.”

Toby knew what he was saying but she wasn’t worried. Graydon was too exotic, too much from a completely different world, for her to even think about loving him. “Do his duties include his soon-to-be princess?”

“Yes, they do.”

“What’s she like?” Toby asked.

“Tall, beautiful, dark hair and eyes. Intelligent. Her parents hoped she’d get the position, so they’ve trained her for it since she was a baby.”

He spun her out to arm’s length, then back.

“Is he deeply in love with her?”

“Answering that would be a betrayal of my brother. You’ll have to ask him.” He whirled her so her back was to his chest, his arms around her. “But I warn you that he doesn’t like personal questions, even from me.”

“I’ve seen that. He tends to freeze up.”

When the dance ended, the people around them applauded the performance. Rory gave Toby a bow and she couldn’t resist going into a curtsy to him. “Your Royal Highness,” she murmured so only he could hear her, and they laughed as he led her off the floor.

“What in the world is going on with the girls?” Victoria asked Jilly as she took a chair beside her. The two women were new friends but they’d bonded strongly after Victoria helped Jilly get together with Ken, the man she loved. “First I hear that Lexie is going away for the rest of the summer, then Toby keeps disappearing and no one can find her, and now she’s dancing with that man who I thought she didn’t like.”

Jilly looked at the beautiful couple on the dance floor. For a while they’d been talking quite seriously, but now they were gliding across the floor as though they were on ice. “I don’t know anything about Lexie, but Graydon—whom Toby is dancing with—is a Montgomery, so he’s probably skirting around whatever it is that he wants.”

“What does that mean as it concerns Toby?” Victoria asked. As usual, she looked quite dazzling. Her auburn hair and emerald eyes were set off by her green silk suit—and she couldn’t stop looking at Dr. Huntley, who was dancing with her daughter, Alix. Victoria was sure that she’d never been happier in her life.

Jilly waved her hand. “It’s nothing, just a family joke.” When Victoria stared at her, she continued. “In our family there are Montgomerys and there are Taggerts. I’m a Taggert, and according to my brother Michael, we’re honest, forthright, courageous, and brave, while the Montgomerys are …” She shrugged.

Victoria frowned. “Slimy as snakes? I don’t like that. Toby is a sweet girl.” She started to get up but Jilly put her hand on her arm.

“No,” Jilly said, “it’s okay. Graydon won’t do anything bad. He’ll just take forever to get around to whatever he’s after, that’s all.”

“And you think that what he wants is Toby?” Victoria was still frowning.

Jilly sighed. “I’m not sure, but he seems to be so curious about her that he’s planning to stay on Nantucket for a while. You see, Toby can tell the twins apart, and in our family that’s important. Too important, if you ask me.”

Victoria was an internationally bestselling writer and she loved a good story. Her lovely face smoothed out and she leaned back against her chair. “Now you have to tell me everything.”

“It’s nothing,” Jilly said. “It’s just a family saying. Whoever can tell the twins apart is supposedly a person’s True Love.”

Victoria didn’t reply but looked across the room at Toby and the very handsome young man she was dancing with. Around them people were beginning to stand aside to watch, but Toby and the man seemed oblivious. “Have I seen him somewhere before? He looks familiar.”

“You may have seen Graydon’s photo in some magazines.”

“Is he an actor?” Victoria asked.

“Sort of. He’s the Crown Prince of Lanconia.”

Turning, Victoria looked at Jilly with an expression Jilly couldn’t quite read. “Are you saying that the prince has an identical twin brother and Toby can tell them apart? And that she can tell one from the other is supposed to be a sign of True Love?”

“Yes,” Jilly said cautiously. She didn’t know Victoria very well, but Ken said he thought Victoria had been behind this entire wedding, that it had all come about due to her efforts. Well, actually Ken had said, “Victoria’s underhanded, devious, conniving interference,” but then he used to be married to her so he was allowed some exaggeration.

“Why are you looking as though you disapprove?” Victoria asked.

“I know it’s silly but what if that legend is true? What if Graydon and pretty little Toby fall in love? Then what? His mother is a terror and she’d never allow the marriage. And even if she did, how could Toby give up all privacy to go live in a foreign country to be a princess? I’ve been there several times and the isolated way Graydon lives isn’t something I’d want. And his daily work schedule is a killer!”

Victoria was looking at Jilly in consideration. “Maybe being in love would make his life easier.”