For All Time (Nantucket Brides 2)

My dearest wife, Tabby,

Please join me in the small parlor of our home for dinner and dancing.

Your husband, Garrett

“How are you with corset fastenings?” Toby asked. “I have a date.” Smiling broadly, Lorcan opened the box of undergarments.

As soon as Toby saw the small parlor in BEYOND TIME she

knew what Graydon had done. In secret, he’d arranged for the little room to be transformed into what they’d seen in the past. There were candles everywhere: on wall sconces, on tall frames, on small tables that had been set along the walls.

Flowers flooded the room: bouquets were in glass vases, swags hung along the ceiling and draped the back of chairs. The colors were all the pale, creamy ones that Toby so loved.

In the center of the room was a little round table covered with a pristine white cloth; crystal and silver sparkled in the candlelight. Beside it was a cart with silver domed covers.

Graydon stood beside the table, wearing his Regency suit. When she looked at him, he bowed, an arm in front, one in back. “My lady,” he said.

“It’s all very beautiful,” she whispered. “When …? How did …?”

He pulled out a chair for her. “A man does not divulge his secrets. Will you join me for dinner?”

She took the seat and waited as Graydon sat across from her. “You have taken my breath away. I didn’t expect this. When I saw that the suitcases were gone, I thought you’d left.”

Graydon just smiled at her and removed a dome to show a platter filled with a circle of tiny roast birds. “Do you like squab?”

“Very much so,” Toby said and closed her eyes as she inhaled. The flowers, the candles, the food all went together to make a heavenly fragrance.

Graydon opened a bottle of champagne and filled their tall flutes. “To us,” he said and they clicked glasses.

When they looked into each other’s eyes, they made a silent agreement that they wouldn’t talk about tomorrow. There’d be no mention of separation, no discussion of what Toby was going to do when she was left alone. Nor would they speak of what was coming in Graydon’s life. Above all, they would not speak of Tabby and Garrett. They’d done all they could to repair the damage they’d done but they’d not succeeded.

Instead, they talked only of good things. Toby told of her and Lorcan’s shopping excursion and how they both loved mermaids.

Graydon told of a long phone call he’d had with his family in Maine. “Uncle Kit has returned,” he said, then entertained Toby with outlandish stories the children used to tell about Uncle Kit’s adventures.

“Are any of them true?”

“We have no idea,” Graydon said, “but we always believed James Bond was based on him, which wasn’t possible as Uncle Kit is only about sixty. But then we kids probably thought that because he looks like Sean Connery.”

“Tell me more. Please.”

It was a lovely dinner of squab, little timbales of truffle-scented rice, and glazed carrots, with chocolate mousse for dessert. Through the meal, soft music played in the background.

When they’d finished, Graydon got up, pulled Toby’s chair out, and took her hand. “May I have this dance?”

When she was in his arms—and he pulled her so her cheek was on his chest—she began to again think of the reality of his leaving.

“Graydon, I want to say—” she whispered, but he pulled her closer and she said no more. Yes, she thought, it was better not to think ahead, not to remember the past. Enjoy this moment. Right now.

She smiled a bit, feeling his heart against her cheek. His face was pressed into her hair and she could feel his breath. For all that he seemed to be calm, the pounding of his heart showed that he wasn’t. What did it take to not show his true feelings? she wondered. To suppress anger, hurt, sexual desire, even love? This was what he’d done all his life. All Toby seemed able to think about was her own misery, her own grief at his leaving, but Graydon was going to marry someone he didn’t love.

With her face full of what she was thinking, she looked up at him, and he brought his lips down to kiss her.

It was a kiss she knew she’d remember all her life. What they were feeling, all the longing, the desire, the need of each other was in that kiss. But the pain of the coming separation was also in the kiss.

Tears mingled with happy thoughts as their lips held. Graydon put his hand on the back of her head and turned her so he had a deeper access to her mouth. His tongue touched hers, locking together, exploring.

Her body moved closer to his and she could feel his desire for her through the thin fabric of her gown. Her bare shoulder felt the heat of his body. His thighs, hard from his training, pressed against hers.