He eyed her more closely. “Away?”
“On holiday, sir.”
“To Richmond?” She’d probably left early for the weekend, he thought, stifling the sense of disappointment he felt that this time he’d not been asked along.
“Oh, no, sir. She’s gone to France.”
He stared at her. She might as well have said to China.
“Is there some message you’d care to leave for her when she comes back?”
Nick collected his thoughts. “Er, no. That is, can you tell me how long she will be away?”
“A fortnight, sir.”
Another tremor jolted him. “Do you know where she went exactly?”
“I’m not at liberty to say, sir. I’m sure her family can inform you if you are a friend of theirs.”
Nick replaced his hat on his head. He was no friend of the Shepard family, that was certain. It looked like someone was trying to separate them again. “Thank you. Good day to you.”
“Good day, sir.”
When he returned to his office, his secretary hadn’t yet left.
“You’re back, sir?”
Nick sighed heavily. Another long evening behind his desk awaited him. Although he’d told himself it was time to make some changes in his life, he found he had no heart to go to concerts or to the theater by himself.
“I’m glad you returned, sir.” His secretary laid an envelope on his desk. “This came by the late afternoon post.”
“Thank you.” He didn’t recognize the neat script on the front. “Why don’t you get on home?”
“You don’t wish to finish your letter?”
He shook his head knowing he’d not be able to concentrate on figures now.
“Very well, sir, good night.”
After he’d left, Nick looked at the envelope more closely. It was postmarked Deauville. His pulse quickened. Could Alice have written him? But it wasn’t her writing. He turned the letter over. On the flyleaf was written M. Endicott.
He picked up his letter opener, more puzzled than ever, and slit the envelope open. Could something have happened to Alice?
Dear Mr. Tennent,
Greetings, or should I say “bonjour,” from the coast of Normandy. At the last minute, I invited Alice and Austen to accompany me on my annual holiday. The outing has really done wonders for both of them. The weather has been wonderful and this lovely resort village is perfectly charming.
I am writing to suggest that if you can spare a few days from your business—or if you can perhaps find some business to do in France—that you come to Deauville. I recommend the Grand Hotel. It is very pleasant.
I look forward to your arrival.
A bientôt!
Macey Endicott
Nicholas reread the letter two more times before it began to sink in. Alice’s friend was on his side.
He stuffed the hotel stationery back into its envelope and stood. Glancing at the wall clock, he saw it was only five o’clock. But he mustn’t waste any time. He had a lot to do before catching a boat across the Channel.
“Mama, may I go back on the beach after tea?”
Alice looked at her son across the wide wicker table on the hotel veranda. “It’s a little late in the day. Perhaps tomorrow.”
Austen was distracted by the waiter who set down a platter of pastries and teacakes in the middle of their table.
“Oh, don’t those look delicious,” Macey said. “Which one would you like?”
Austen examined them carefully, his brow scrunched up in indecision.
Alice smiled then allowed her gaze to wander beyond their table to the ocean view on her right. She hugged her teacup in her hands. Macey had been right to urge her to take this holiday. In the few days she’d been here, she already felt a calming of her spirit.
The excitement of the journey across the English Channel and their location by the sea had also distracted Austen enough so that he hadn’t mentioned Nicholas more than a few times. As for herself, she’d managed to push him to the recesses of her mind, at least during the daylight hours.
Nicholas. As she said the name to herself, she suddenly saw him walk out onto the terrace from the hotel lobby.
She blinked. Was she dreaming? How could she suddenly be thinking a name and conjure up the person in question? She lowered her cup, barely aware when it hit the saucer.
He was surveying the hotel guests on the veranda. In a few seconds he’d see them. Her heart sped up. She wasn’t ready to face him. At the same instant she felt a burst of elation and longing so acute, it laughed to scorn all her illusion of having forgotten him. What was he doing here?
His eyes met hers and she had to clench her hands together to keep from springing up from the table and running toward him.
He made his way across the other tables to them.
Then he stood before her. “Hello, Alice.” He gave her a brief nod, before turning to Macey, breaking into a smile. “Miss Endicott.” His smile widened as he came to Austen. “Hello, Austen, fancy seeing you here.”
Austen jumped up from his chair, almost sending it toppling backwards. “Mr. Tennent! How jolly to see you here. I’ve been bathing. Can we go into the ocean together? Mama won’t let me go beyond the very edge.”
Nick glanced briefly at her before turning his attention back to Austen. “I should like that very much.”
Macey extended her hand to Nicholas. “I’m so glad you could come. Please, sit down.”
Nicholas glanced back at Alice, as if asking her permission. “Yes, yes, of course, please sit down. What are you doing here? Did you know we were here?”
As he pulled out the chair, Macey touched her hand, drawing her attention away from Nicholas. “Mr. Tennent is here because I invited him here.”
Alice stared at her friend. “What?”
“I thought it would be nice if Mr. Tennent joined us here at the hotel for a few days, so I wrote to him.”
Nicholas cleared his throat. “I was so glad to receive Miss Endicott’s note and decided to combine a short holiday with business. I have been meaning to cross the Channel to look at a few firms I’ve had my eye on.”
“I see.” She nodded, understanding. Of course, business had brought him. “Well, I wish you success then.”
“I came principally to enjoy a holiday, if you don’t find my presence an intrusion to your own.”
“N-no, of course not.” She looked away from his keen observation.
Macey signaled the waiter for more tea and an extra place. Alice was able to compose her thoughts somewhat as Nicholas turned his attention to Austen.
She sighed, listening to Austen’s chatter. Nicholas was remarkably patient with him. It was hard for her to believe the picture of him as a ruthless business executive. Her father had never exhibited the kind of attentiveness Nicholas was showing her son.
Was it all a front? Would it endure after Nicholas obtained what he wanted?
What did he want? Did she want to know?
The question left her full of expectancy and fear.
Mid-morning the following day, Alice emerged from a beach hut and stood a moment, shading her eyes from the bright sun, as she searched for Austen and Nicholas along the crowded seashore.
The Normandy beach was a wide, flat expanse of sand, the sparkling water lapping softly at its edge. Shouts of children came to her from the water’s edge and she strained to hear her son’s voice.
She squinted at the two figures far out in the water, and she felt a momentary rise of panic. Austen had never ventured so far out. Her worry eased only slightly when she saw Nicholas standing right beside him. Her son was splashing around, clearly showing him he could swim.
Alice and Macey had only been on the female beach up to now. But today, with Nicholas’s appearance, they had chosen the mixed beach so that he could teach Austen to swim. Alice had been reluctant at first until Nicholas had convinced her that there was less danger in the water if he knew how to swim.
Alice
smoothed down the hip-length skirt of her dark blue wool serge bathing costume, hesitating to join Nicholas and Austen out in the water. Here in France, she’d noticed the beaches were less formal than across the Channel. Even some of the newer bathing costumes of the women had shocked her at first with their bloomerless skirts above the knee.
Still, she felt self-conscious appearing before Nicholas in the outfit. It was short-sleeved, with narrow bloomers beneath the skirt. Dark blue hose and espadrilles laced around her ankle and calf completed the suit.
Finally, seeing no help for it, she began walking over the hot sand, skirting the holiday goers. Family groups sat together on canvas chairs on the sand, and dozens of children played along the water’s edge. Others, fully dressed, wandered through the crowds.
She reached the edge of the water and allowed the mild surf to sweep over her toes, cringing a bit as the cold water seeped into her shoes.
“There she is!” Austen waved both arms at her. “Mama!”
She ventured farther in, allowing the water to swirl about her ankles.
Nick and Austen begun running toward her, their legs kicking up the water. She hugged her arms to her chest as the water splashed her. “Stay away from me! You’re getting me wet!” she scolded in mock anger.
As their intent became clear, she screamed, “Oh, no, you don’t!” Before she could back away far enough, they grabbed her hands and pulled her into the water.
She cried out at the shock of cold water. “No!” It was useless to struggle against their firm tugging. Her feet stumbled in the wet sand but Nicholas’s strong grip didn’t let her fall.
“Oh, it’s too cold!” The next second, Nicholas lifted her from behind and threw her into the water. She was plunged in up over her head and screamed as she went in.
She came out, spluttering and dripping, determined to exact her revenge. “How dare you throw me in!” Laughter mingled with outrage in her voice.
“You’ll soon warm up.” Nick laughed, but before he could say another word, she lunged toward him, toppling him backwards. “Hey!” he went under, his legs pulled out from under him.
He easily fought free of her grasp and came up from the water, shaking the water from his hair. Austen laughed with glee. “You both went under!”
Nicholas began walking toward her again, a glint in his eye. “Does she realize the penalty she must now pay?” The words brought back a flash from that day over the chess board and its dire consequences. A part of her thrilled as it had then when she’d ventured such a daring challenge.
Seeing his intention, she backed away, shaking her head. “No, you don’t! Now we’re even.”
Austen began clapping his hands. “Mama, you’ve got to swim away!”
But before she could make another move, Nick lunged for her and, grabbing her by the waist and plunging her under. Alice struggled to loosen herself but he only tightened his hold around her. She grabbed him by the arms and attempted to push herself upward and him down, but he moved his arms around her, bringing her against his chest. Although she kicked her feet, he held her fast.
He rose, bringing her head out of the water but not loosening his hold.
Austen came up beside them. “Mama, Mr. Tennent has caught you!”
Alice’s hands were flattened against his chest. He gazed down at her and chuckled. She felt the sound resonate against her palms.
“Yes!” she managed breathlessly. Before drawing away from him, she looked up into his eyes and found herself captured by the look in his eyes. It both frightened and exhilarated her as nothing had since that long ago day above the chess board. She felt as daring as the girl she’d been then. If they’d been alone, she would have reached up on her toes and kissed him.
“Mama, he won’t let you go!”
Suddenly she became aware of their scandalous position. She pushed herself out of his embrace and was almost surprised—and a little disappointed—when he let her go immediately. He turned abruptly to Austen and pulled him out of the water by the armpits and splashed him back down again. “And now I’ve got you!”
Austen shouted with laughter. Nicholas repeated the dunking. As if hiding herself, Alice crouched down in the water up to her neck and watched them. Nicholas stood waist-high in the water, and she couldn’t help noticing his muscular upper arms and shoulders through the short-sleeved suit whose dark wool material clung to his skin. When he glanced her way, she turned quickly toward the beach.
Her eyes scanned the crowds until she spotted Macey holding her bright blue parasol.
Alice whirled around when Nick approached her from behind. “Oh—!” She gave a nervous laugh. “I was afraid you’d try to drown me again.”
“Drown you? What are you talking about?”
“I’m not lowering my guard around you and Austen again.”
He smiled, standing tall above her. “All right, let me see your stroke.”
She adjusted her oiled silk bathing cap. “I told you, I’m a very poor swimmer.”
He frowned. “How is that, growing up in Richmond?”
She averted her gaze, feeling self-conscious under his scrutiny. “Well, the river has too strong a current, and there was nowhere else appropriate. Remember, I grew up in London.”
His next words took her by surprise. “I can teach you the basics.”
“Oh, I’m too old—”
“Nonsense, I didn’t learn until I was out west in the States.”
His dark brown eyes held a teasing light. “Think of it as recompense. There’s finally something I can teach you.”
A flutter began in her stomach at the thought of his holding her the way she’d seen him hold Austen.
“Mr. Tennent is going to teach Mama to swim!” chanted Austen, jumping up and down in the water. The ocean reached his upper chest, and Alice admonished him to be careful.
“He’ll be all right.” Nicholas turned to Austen. “Show your mother what you can do already.”
Austen promptly flopped onto his back and floated on the surface, the soft swells carrying him. “See, Mama, I can float!”
“My goodness. That’s wonderful.”
She turned to Nicholas with a smile. “So quickly!”
“Now, it’s your turn.”
“Oh, I don’t think—” she said, backing away.
He stepped toward her. She backed away some more, but that only brought her into deeper water.
Before she knew what he intended, he bent to lift her. She yelped and circled his neck with her arms, afraid he was going to dunk her into the water again.
“Relax,” he murmured, holding her above the water and cradling her body against his chest. “I won’t let you go. I’m just teaching you to float.”
“All right,” she stuttered, letting go of his neck.
“We’ll go where it’s shallower. Come along, Austen.”
Austen splashed along beside them.
Nicholas began to ease her into the water. She couldn’t help grabbing one of his arms, feeling the rock-hard biceps beneath her fingers. She bit her lip to keep from crying out.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got you. Besides, the water is only about three feet deep here.”
She glanced up at his amused tone. “Just don’t let me go, yet.”
“I won’t, I promise.” His eyes met hers and she felt for a few seconds that the threat of drowning didn’t presently come from the water beneath her. As if unaware of the sensations he was awaking in her, he drew his glance from hers and said in a calm voice, “Your body will naturally float, if you let yourself relax.”
She marveled how anyone could sound so normal when her whole body had gone rigid from the feel of his arms under her and his body so close to hers.
“You must relax.” His tone became soothing.
She tried breathing deeply, looking beyond him at the puffy white clouds overhead.
“Put your head back and stretch your arms out.” As he spoke, he pushed her torso upward, so she felt as if her
head were going to sink into the water. She resisted at first but then as the soft swell of the water beneath her bore her up and down, she began to marvel at the ride atop the gentle waves.
He was soon able to let go and she gave a little laugh. “It feels wonderful, just floating.”
“Mr. Tennent, let’s build a sandcastle!”
She started at the sound of her son’s voice, she’d felt so tranquil.
“Very well, let’s ask your mother.” Nicholas’s dark eyes loomed over hers again, his head blocking the sun. “Are you game?”
“All right.” She smiled into his gaze, wondering at the feelings this man was reawakening in her. She felt like an adolescent once again.
“Come on!” shouted Austen.
They followed Austen out of the surf and chose a location near the water’s edge, where the sand was hard-packed and wet.
She retrieved her straw hat from beside their beach chairs, trading her beach cap for it, and went to kneel beside her son, who was already busy digging in the wet sand with his two hands. “You know, when the tide comes in, the castle will disappear.”
Nick looked up from where he was beginning to heap up sand into a mound. “That’s all right. The tide is going out now, so it’ll be hours before that happens.”
They worked together for a good while, the shouts of other children on the beach floating around them.
Soon, a small crowd of children had gathered round. Some began to build their own castles nearby, chattering in French as their sturdy hands heaped up the sand.
Alice was decorating crenellated walls with seashells. She glanced over at Nick, whose head was bent near her son’s, both concentrated on their side of the now sprawling edifice.
She felt a pang at the sight of the two dark-haired heads, one whose straight hair flopped over his brow, the other, whose crisp waves glinted in the sun.
It gave her a good feeling to see her son so active and normal. She paused over the word, realizing how worried she’d been about him since Julian’s death, and her own move back to London. How would Julian view the scene?
He had been such a gentle man. She was sure he would be happy that his son had someone he could look up to. But could he? Once again, her brother’s and Victor’s warnings came back to her.
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