For All Time (Nantucket Brides 2)

Graydon had attended the welcoming ceremony, then, as always, had hung around for a few days to watch the students. It amazed him that you couldn’t predict who would succeed and who would fail. He and Daire had long ago seen that, even more than muscle and training, it was heart and will that made a champion.

For three days the students were allowed to wrestle, fight with rubber swords, train in a gym, and attend a few academic classes. During those days, little instruction was given, and few rules. The idea was to see what each student was capable of, without interference.

On the first day, Graydon had been called away by his mother to be charming to some women who were making new cushions for their private chapel. It had been difficult for him to say the empty phrases of flattery, as his mind was elsewhere.

That night, over beers, Daire said, “I have a cha

mpion.”

“Which one?”

“I’ll not tell you. Come and see if you can guess.”

“It’s the big kid with the snarl,” Graydon said. “He frightened even me.”

Daire smiled. “Can you stay tomorrow or does your mother have you scheduled for flower arranging?”

“I would laugh if that weren’t real. Was it the lad with the heavy brows?”

Daire didn’t answer, and the next day, Graydon saw why. Within hours, he saw that the tall girl with the long black hair was Daire’s future champion. She was fast, lithe, and smart. It was as though she knew what her opponent was going to do before he did it.

By the end of the third day, every student had tried to hit Lorcan, but none of them had succeeded. One large boy got so frustrated at Lorcan’s dips and dodges that he ran at her to try to pin her against a wall. For a second her eyes widened at the sight of two hundred pounds of muscle coming at her.

Graydon took a step forward, meaning to stop the boy before he crushed the girl, but Daire put his hand on Gray’s arm. A split second before the boy hit Lorcan, she dropped to the ground into a ball, head down, arms around her knees.

The boy slammed into the wall hard.

Daire gave Graydon a look to stay back. As the teacher, Daire wanted to see the reaction of these new students to what Lorcan had done. Who would get angry and cry “Foul!”

It was the biggest boy, the one Graydon had said would scare him, who started the laughter. Daire’s eyes were on the student who had slammed into the wall. How would he react to Lorcan having made everyone laugh at him? His nose was bloody, he’d cut his forehead, and he had his hand to his chest. With a dazed expression, he looked down at Lorcan, still in a ball between his feet.

Reaching down, he picked her up by her shoulders—and Daire stepped forward, meaning to protect her. This time it was Graydon who stopped him.

The boy, nearly twice as big as Lorcan, held her up by her shoulders and stared at her. “It’s like fighting my cat,” he said at last, and everyone laughed even harder.

The big boy threw his heavy arm around Lorcan’s skinny shoulders and led her over to the other young men. The girls who were in the training program were left in their own group.

From then on, Lorcan was one of the boys—and she had to train twice as hard to gain the muscle and strength that came so easily to them. But she had an agility that they would never possess. They teased her about it, but they also envied her.

“Daire?” Graydon heard Toby say. “How are you doing on the menu? And when are we planning to host this dinner? How long will it take the clothes to get here? I need to make out an invitation to Victoria and Dr. Huntley’s wedding, so I need a plan. And Jilly and Ken should come too, although Victoria and Ken tend to take potshots at each other.”

There was silence in the room.

“I know no answers to these questions,” Daire said.

“What are potshots?” Lorcan asked.

“A bit like machine-gun fire. No! Not for real, but Victoria and Ken used to be married. Sorry. I forget that you two don’t know anyone here. Let’s see if we can make a plan and a schedule.”

“Where is Graydon?” Daire asked and there was what sounded like fear in his voice.

“Go on,” Toby said. “Find him. I left him across the lane in that old house. Why don’t you two have a boys’ night out? Lorcan and I can do all this. Since Graydon’s grandfather knows about the twins’ exchange, do you think it would be all right if I emailed him the measurements?”

“I’m sure he’d love that,” Daire said, heading quickly toward the door.

Graydon was waiting for him outside. “You look like you just escaped a fate worse than death.”

“You have no idea,” Daire said.