Unexpectedly Wed to the Officer (Regency Belles of Bath 2)

* * *

‘Sebastian Fortini?’ A strapping, chestnut-haired man wearing a leather apron put down the barrel he was carrying and strode across the shop floor to greet him. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I came to visit an old friend, but I can’t see him anywhere.’ Sebastian made a show of looking around. ‘You look a bit like him, but you can’t be. The James Redbourne I knew was a scrawny lad, all skin and bones.’

‘I was a late developer.’

‘Late? You must have grown at least a foot since I left.’

‘A foot and a half, actually.’

‘Well, it’s good to see you again.’ Sebastian found himself enveloped in a bear hug. ‘Even if you are taller and broader than me these days.’

‘Without any obvious bruises either.’ His old friend peered at his face. ‘What happened to your nose? Have you been fighting?’

‘No. For once in my life, I’ve been entirely innocent of wrongdoing. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to make any difference to the result.’

‘Then I want to hear all about it. Come on.’ James draped an arm around his shoulders, jerking his head at one of the women behind the counter as he steered him towards a small and pristinely tidy office.

‘Take a seat.’

James gestured towards a green leather-backed chair in front of a mahogany desk and then sat down behind it, extracting a bottle and two glasses from one of the drawers. ‘Whisky?’

‘I wouldn’t say no.’ Sebastian eased himself into the chair with a contented and approving sigh. ‘The place looks good.’

‘It’s a new start.’ James poured amber liquid into the two glasses and nudged one across the table. ‘Our old premises were getting cramped so, once I took over the business, I decided we had to move.’

‘I’m impressed. I thought your father would never retire.’

‘So did I, but in the end my mother made the decision for him. Something to the effect of waiting fifty years for his attention and it was either her or the shop. Now they have a cottage in the country and are both happier than I’ve ever seen them. He’s even taken up gardening. Delphiniums are his speciality.’

‘Good for him. And even better for you. You’re obviously a hands-on kind of manager.’

James glanced down at his leather apron and grinned. ‘We had a delivery of brandy this morning.’

‘I’ll drink to that.’ Sebastian raised his glass. ‘Apparently I came home at just the right time.’

‘Cheers!’ James swallowed a mouthful and then gave him a searching look. ‘But what are you doing in Bath? Shouldn’t you be in Derbyshire, visiting Anna? Or the Countess of Staunton, I suppose I should call her now.’

‘That’s going to take some getting used to.’ Sebastian rolled his eyes. ‘The truth is I didn’t know that she’d left, or that she’d got married either for that matter. I only found out when I got back to Belles last night and my mind is still boggling.’

‘You only got home last night?’

‘During the night, yes. That’s how I ended up with this bruise.’

‘Don’t tell me, the charming Miss MacQueen?’

‘Miss Gardiner actually.’

‘Miss Gardiner?’ James spluttered on his drink. ‘She hit you?’

‘Not directly. She used a door. Then she threatened to castrate me with a pair of fire tongs.’

‘You must have made quite an impression.’

‘She thought I was a burglar, though in all fairness, she saved me from having a vase smashed over my head this morning. That was Miss MacQueen.’ He put his glass down on the table for a refill. ‘It was an eventful night.’

‘It sounds like it.’