by Cora Seton
A short time later, Boone emerged from his tent and looked at the ten housing perimeters he’d staked out the day before. When he’d begun working on his sustainable community, all the decisions he’d made around housing had been prompted by a desire to recycle materials already in use and to eschew society’s conceptions of how a normal house had to look. He’d wanted his industrial-style boxes to proclaim to the world they were an antidote to consumption.
Now he realized that by doing so, he’d alienate the very people he wanted to convince.
He made a phone call and cancelled the delivery of the shipping containers he’d intended to use as frameworks for the houses. He was just about to call Clay to consult him on a new design when the clip-clop of hooves startled him from his reverie and Boone turned to see an incredible sight. Two high-stepping horses pulled a black, open carriage up the service road to the barns and outbuildings.
“Hello!” called a man in a dark, old-fashioned waistcoat and a powdered wig. He was seated high on a bench seat behind the horses. Boone blinked a few times, wondering if his sleepless night had just caught up to him, but the man remained. When the man brought the horses to a halt in front of him, Boone could only stare. He wore knee britches, socks, old-fashioned shoes and a patterned vest under his coat. A woman seated behind him in the carriage had on a getup similar to Riley and her friends—a long dress with a fitted bodice and straight skirts. Both looked to be in their sixties, with friendly, open faces. They looked amused at his surprise.
The man jumped down from the driver’s seat. “I’m James Russell, and this divine creature is my wife, Maud. You must be Boone. We’ve heard all about you from your parents. When we found out you’d taken up residence just two miles down the road we had to come and see you for ourselves.”
He strode forward and vigorously shook Boone’s hand, then hurried back to help his wife from the carriage while the horses waited patiently. Her large stature made this an awkward task. “How was your journey?” James asked over his shoulder. “And are you really lately come from her majesty’s navy?”
“From the U.S. Navy,” Boone corrected him, utterly lost at sea. Did this strange person really know his parents? He couldn’t picture that. “I believe we separated from the queen about 240 years ago.”
The man ignored that. “What a fine thing it must be to ride the high seas on a sailing sloop. What stories you must have to tell.”
Sailing sloop? The closest to that Boone had come was an aircraft carrier. Had these people simply decided to pretend they were two hundred years back in time, or had they lost their minds?
“Anyway, we’ve come to welcome you. We hear that there will be a whole contingent of naval men here before you’re done. What an addition to the neighborhood!”
“And is there a Lady Rudman?” the woman—Maud—asked, finally safe on solid ground. She offered her hand and Boone shook it.
“No. Not yet.”
“Ah, sounds as if one is pending, though,” James said. “I smell a mystery. Who is she? Is she here?”
“Not here.” Boone couldn’t help sending a glance up to the manor house.
“At the manor, then? Well, this is a surprise.”
“Don’t tell me that the manor itself is to be occupied.” Maud touched his arm. “There hasn’t been a family at Westfield in years. Will the young lady in question be accompanied by her parents?”
“No. She’s there already with her friends.” Boone was beginning to regain his equilibrium. At first he’d suspected that Riley had sent these two theatrical individuals to bother him, but she’d barely been in Chance Creek for a day—that seemed too short a time to set up such an elaborate joke. He couldn’t imagine how James and Maud knew his parents, although now that he thought about it, his mother had mentioned they’d been involved in some kind of historical re-enactment. But hadn’t she spoken of the Civil War? The Russells weren’t dressed for that.
“With friends! How modern,” Maud remarked to her husband. “No chaperone at all?”
Boone hesitated. He could refuse to play along. He wasn’t used to make believe. But the two people in front of him seemed harmless, and he had to give them credit for living their lives the way they wanted to. A lot of people were going to look at his community and think he’d gone off his rocker. Shouldn’t he have a little patience for other people’s eccentricities?
“No.” Boone answered Maud’s question gravely. “They are greatly in need of mature counsel, too. The things they get up to.”
A glimmer of fun sparked in Maud’s eye and he knew she appreciated that he was going along with the game. “We’ll have to go see them right away. It’s only neighborly,” she said to Boone.
“We can come over any time the young ladies need help. Although I imagine you’ve already offered.” James gave him a knowing grin.
“I’m pretty busy,” Boone said, gesturing at the building site. “In fact, I meant to offer to show the young ladies around the area today, but I’m not going to be able to get away, and I don’t think they’ll like the look of my truck.” He gestured to his rental pickup. “They did mention they were partial to horses. And I believe, madam,” he turned to Maud, “that you and they must share a dressmaker.”
“Really?” Maud said with surprise.
“Really.”
“Well, if they’re partial to horses, we must meet them right away,” James said, exchanging a look with his wife. “We’ll leave you to your work and go to visit up the hill. We hope you won’t be a stranger, though.”
“Of course not. Good to meet you.”
James helped his wife back into the carriage and repositioned himself on the box seat. Boone waited until he clucked to the horses to get them started again before he headed back to work, a smile on his face. Riley was about to get the surprise of her life.
“WELL, THAT WENT a little better,” Savannah said, looking at the remains of their breakfast on the table.
Riley nodded. “Most of it was pretty good.” The bacon was fried to perfection, anyway. If the eggs were a little overdone and the toast downright charred, at least it was progress. They’d even remembered to put some washing-up water over the fire to heat while they cooked the meal, so they could do the dishes Regency style, too. “I suppose we could use our modern stove any time we care to make this easier, though,” she pointed out, although she thought it was kind of fun to use the hearth.
“Why shouldn’t we be as authentic as possible?” Avery said. “It’ll make our six months that much more special.”
“If we were going to be authentic, we’d need to ditch the refrigerator and the stove, and get a wood stove,” Nora pointed out.
“And we’d have to hire a maid or two,” Savannah added before they could start arguing again. “Because there’d be way too much work to do for just us.”
“I guess we’ve got it good, don’t we?” Avery said. “But I like cooking on the fire. I’m going to keep doing it.”
“I like that we do our chores together. It’s so much better than being alone in my apartment on a Saturday morning with a week’s worth of cleaning and laundry to do,” Savannah sighed.
“Let’s get moving and get things done. I want to write,” Nora suggested.
The rest agreed. “We’ll see you two later,” Avery said. She and Nora headed upstairs to give the bedrooms a once over. Riley led Savannah outside. Their task this morning was to make a plan for the garden.
“There’s Boone,” Savannah pointed out, gazing across the way where Boone was surveying his building site.
Riley bit her lip. She’d tossed and turned all night, her dreams so erotic they kept waking her up. Her subconscious had come up with any number of scenarios for them to act out together. She’d got up this morning as hot and bothered as she’d been when she went to bed.
She turned her back on Boone. “I’m sure we’ll see him later. Let’s start in the gardens. I’m looking forward to bringing those flower beds back to life, but I su
ppose we’d better prep the vegetable beds first.”
“I think you’re right.”
Riley followed her around the back of the house, lifting the skirts of her work dress in her hand, and wondered when she’d see Boone again.
“I want to make the most of every minute this month,” he’d said when they parted the night before. “I want you head over heels for me when we marry.” A delicious thrill had zinged through her, but now she wondered if she’d lost her mind. She’d never felt so dizzy and wanton and hungry for a man. This couldn’t be right.
Riley focused on the gardens. She preferred flowers to vegetables, but it was a beautiful day and the task of surveying the kitchen garden and tallying up a list of plants and seeds to buy was more compelling than she would have expected. Savannah had been almost a sister to her back in college. Getting the chance to work with her again was an unexpected joy.
“What are you thinking about?” Savannah asked, breaking off from sketching a garden plan.
“Nothing.”
“You’re smiling.”
Damn it. Boone’s body had slipped into her mind again. “I’m happy,” Riley confessed. “I mean, I knew it would be great to do this, but it’s turning out even better than I thought.”
“Because of Boone?”
“Definitely not,” she lied. “Because of you and Avery and Nora. I missed you.”
“I missed you, too.” Savannah came and gave her a hug. “I’m so glad you got us to do this. I don’t think I could have stood my old life one more minute.”
“You never told us what was wrong.” Riley turned back to the garden.
“Because all that was wrong was boredom. Sheer boredom with my life, with my job—everything!”
Riley snatched another look at her friend. It was more than that. Savannah was far too clever to let herself be bored.
Secrets, she thought. Were they all hiding secrets from each other? “Well, you won’t be bored here.” She tried to sound upbeat.
They were interrupted by the scrape of an upstairs window being pushed open. “Riley! Savannah. You won’t believe what’s coming up the lane!” Avery called. “Go around front. Quick!”
Riley and Savannah exchanged a glance, then picked up their skirts and hurried to follow her instructions. They were still on the path beside the house when the clip-clop of hooves penetrated the sound of their running feet. It wasn’t just horses, though. There was a rattling sound that Riley knew she’d heard before but couldn’t place for the life of her. She rushed around the corner of the house and nearly laughed out loud with astonishment.
“It’s Sir John Middleton and Lady Jennings!” Savannah said in whispered awe as they joined Avery and Nora on the front porch. Riley nearly laughed again at the reference to the interfering but kindly neighbors in Sense and Sensibility, her second-favorite of Jane Austen’s novels.
Avery was right; the inhabitants of the open carriage that had just pulled into the gravelled driveway in front of the manor did look much like the characters as they were depicted in a popular movie adaptation. He looked to be in his sixties, with an old-fashioned gentleman’s wig covering his own hair. He was dressed from top to bottom in Regency-era clothing. His wife was well advanced into middle age, a large woman who wore a mob cap under her bonnet, and a dress like their own but made of far finer material.
“It’s true!” the gentleman shouted jovially as he pulled the horses to a stop in front of them, the wheels of the carriage—was it a barouche, Riley wondered?—kicking up the gravel to either side. “Westfield is let at last and to a bevy of beautiful young women who will be just the thing to liven up the countryside!”
“Who on earth is that?” Savannah said in a low voice.
Riley shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“We’re so pleased to see you,” the man called out. “More pleased than we can say. The name’s Russell.” He climbed down from the carriage and helped his wife down in turn. “James Russell. This is my wife, Maud.”
She couldn’t help smiling back at him. “So nice to meet you. I’m Riley Eaton. This is Savannah Edwards, Avery Lightfoot and Nora Ridgeway.”
“Four young ladies living alone! Unchaperoned!” Maud turned to her husband. “It’s unthinkable!” She turned back to Riley. “We shall have to step in and take you under our wings. No, no,” she went on when Riley began to protest, “there’s nothing else for it, or the whole neighborhood will be up in arms. Besides, we knew your grandparents, Riley. We shall introduce you as our friends and no one will say another word about your unusual situation.” She looked them up and down as Riley began to wonder if the Russells were out of their minds. “Four young ladies, but not all that young, I’ll daresay. And none of you are married yet?”
“No, we’re not,” Savannah broke in. “Are there any eligible beaux around?”
Avery looked enchanted with the whole situation. Nora seemed caught between bemusement and disbelief. Riley wanted to groan. They’d distinctly discussed this; they were not going to talk like Jane Austen characters, despite the Regency thing.
“There are,” Maud exclaimed. “In fact, lately a regiment of marines has made their camp among us. Mark my word,” she said to her husband, “that will set them all a-flutter.”
“Nay, nay, you’ve got it all wrong,” James said with good humor. “It’s the Navy that’s settled in for the duration—Navy SEALs, you know. Some kind of upstart regiment.”
“They do not keep all together, though,” Maud went on as Riley exchanged a look with Savannah at this pronouncement. A regiment of Navy SEALs? Did she mean Boone and his friends? “The main encampment is at Crescent Hall, to the south,” Maud explained.
Crescent Hall? Riley hadn’t thought about the place in years. “Aren’t the Hall boys long gone?” They’d left when their father passed away and their uncle had taken over their family’s ranch.
“They’re back. All four of them. They spent years in the military before they inherited Crescent Hall and returned to Chance Creek. Now they all have wives and more military men have joined them to start a training camp.”
“Wow.” Things had really changed while she was gone.
“But you have your own contingent here at Westfield,” Maud went on.
Nora nodded. “Lieutenant Rudman.”
“The very same,” Maud agreed. “As fine a specimen of manhood as I ever did see. Which of you shall he have for a bride, eh?” She leaned forward to inspect them each in turn. Riley wondered how Boone had greeted the pair of them. She stifled a chuckle.
“He informs us his friends shall be joining him soon enough. So there are soldiers and sailors enough for you all,” James went on. “None of you shall be left out.”
“I doubt Lieutenant Rudman’s friends are looking for wives,” Savannah said gaily. She obviously loved this turn of events. Riley still couldn’t get over the fact that the Russells actually existed. She’d felt sure she and her friends were the only ones in the world who actually donned historical garb for their everyday lives—except the Amish, of course. Evidently she’d been wrong.
“On the contrary!” James said. “Rudman assured me he was well on his way to making a conquest quite close to home.” He turned a quizzical eye on them. “So which one of you is it? Who will walk down the matrimonial aisle first?”
Riley felt her cheeks warm and to cover her confusion, she blurted, “Won’t you come in for a cup of tea?”
“No, no,” James said. “We hardly meant to stop at all. Just came to pay our good wishes, as it were.”
“And to invite you to dinner tomorrow night at Coldfield Cottage,” Maud said.
“And to entice you to take a drive through the country right now,” James added. “You need to be acquainted with your surroundings, strangers that you are.”
“Actually—” Riley started.
“Actually,” Savannah said, cutting her off. “We’d love to!”
“But our chores—”
“Our c
hores will wait for us. Who knows when I’ll get another chance to ride in a barouche?” Savannah pushed past her.
With everyone else clamoring to go, too, Riley couldn’t say no. “We won’t fit, though.”
“Sure we will,” James said. “One of you will tuck alongside Maud. The other three will sit across the way. You’ll be cozy as church mice. I have to drive, you see.”
With a last glance over her shoulder at the house, Riley gave in. “Shouldn’t we lock the door?”
“No one locks their doors,” James said. “We’re all friends here.”
Riley climbed in with the others and took a seat between Savannah and Avery. Nora took the seat next to Maud, her normally stressed expression surprisingly full of humor. That was worth the price of entry, Riley thought. Nora needed cheering up.
“Everyone in? Hold on to your hats, ladies!” James clucked to the horses and they were off.
“HEY, IT’S ME,” Boone said into his phone late that afternoon when Clay picked up. “Have some time to talk?” He’d called earlier, but Clay hadn’t answered, so he’d spent a dull day sorting out the governing bylaws instead.
“Sure. I think the Navy’s punishing me with paperwork now that I’m heading out.”
“I can relate.”
“What’s up?”
“We need to put out a call for six more men to fill those spaces in our roster. Can you and Jericho get on it?” That wasn’t exactly his reason for calling, but he’d start with something neutral first. He had a feeling he knew how Clay would react when he heard that Boone wanted to change the housing plans.
“Sure thing. We’ll have them communicate with you, though. Boots on the ground and all that.”