her.
Waiting for them on the kitchen table was an afternoon tea so lavish it would have pleased King Edward VII. There were two tiered stands with three pretty plates on each one, all of them loaded with food in miniature—two of each item. One stand had savory dishes: crustless sandwiches cut into shapes, miniature quiches, tiny pickled quail eggs, and dumplings tiedup like little purses. The other stand held desserts: scones, tarts, pies the size of silver dollars, tiny bowls of creamy coconut pudding. From the look of it all, it was a smorgasbord of food from around the world.
There was also a steaming hot pot of tea, a jug of milk, a bowl of sugar cubes, and pretty cups and plates. To the side were glasses of champagne with raspberries in them.
“Beautiful,” Hallie said.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”
They sat down at the table and Hallie poured the strong black tea and added milk to their cups, while Jamie filled their plates.
“How do you think Edith got all this here?” Hallie asked. She was eating a dumpling filled with vegetables and chicken.
“Probably someone from the B&B brought it over in one of those electric golf carts.” He had just finished a little lobster roll. “Best lobster I’ve ever had and I’ve spent a lot of my life in Maine. Wonder where they got it.”
“This cheese is fabulous.”
Jamie smiled, his mouth full.
“I’d like to see some of Nantucket,” Hallie said as she bit into a cupcake that tasted of oranges. “Try this. It’s really good.” She’d meant for him to take the other cupcake off the plate, but he took the half she’d bitten into from her hand and ate it.
“Fuzzy navel,” he said.
“What does that mean?”
“It’s a drink of orange and peach juice and that’s what it tastes like. My guess is that it’s made with peach schnapps and if so, it’s fairly lethal. Here, try it again.” He bit into the second cupcake, then handed her the other half.
Hallie hesitated, but there was a look of challenge in his eyes. Daringly, she bent and took the cake from his hand with her lips. “Mmmmm. Quite delicious.”
Jamie was smiling broadly. “It’s named fuzzy for the peach and—”
“Navel for the orange. Now, as I was saying, I’d like to see some of the island. Jared drove through town and I saw some nice shops. Maybe you’d like to go too.”
“No, thanks,” Jamie said. “I have enough trouble with these blasted crutches without tackling streets and sidewalks.”
She’d already learned that half of what Jamie said was teasing, so she played along. She mentioned beaches and a meal out. No, he didn’t want to do that. Drinks at sunset? No. A boat ride? He said he’d had enough of that with his Montgomery relatives. “They
live
on the damned things. I like the earth.” No matter what she came up with to try to entice him to go into town, he said no.
“I guess I’ll have to go alone,” she said as she picked up a piece of what looked to be poppy seed cake. For a tiny bit of a second, she saw something flash across his eyes, some emotion, but she wasn’t sure what it was. If it weren’t coming from such a strong, healthy young man, she would have thought she’d seen fear. But that was, of course, ridiculous.
Whatever it was, it was gone in an instant and Jamie’s handsome face was back to smiling. “What I want to know is where Edith came from,” he said.
“You mean where she grew up?”
“No. Here. Twice now I’ve seen her walking out from the side of the house. Yesterday when I woke up, I went looking for my brother with the intention of telling him what I thought about what he’d done to me.”
“And what was that?”
Jamie waved a sweet, sticky ball of rice around before popping it into his mouth. “It’s a long story, but my point is that on the far side of this house are two big doors and they’re locked. I thought maybe my brother was hiding in there so I used a bit of force to try to open
Waiting for them on the kitchen table was an afternoon tea so lavish it would have pleased King Edward VII. There were two tiered stands with three pretty plates on each one, all of them loaded with food in miniature—two of each item. One stand had savory dishes: crustless sandwiches cut into shapes, miniature quiches, tiny pickled quail eggs, and dumplings tiedup like little purses. The other stand held desserts: scones, tarts, pies the size of silver dollars, tiny bowls of creamy coconut pudding. From the look of it all, it was a smorgasbord of food from around the world.
There was also a steaming hot pot of tea, a jug of milk, a bowl of sugar cubes, and pretty cups and plates. To the side were glasses of champagne with raspberries in them.
“Beautiful,” Hallie said.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”
They sat down at the table and Hallie poured the strong black tea and added milk to their cups, while Jamie filled their plates.
“How do you think Edith got all this here?” Hallie asked. She was eating a dumpling filled with vegetables and chicken.
“Probably someone from the B&B brought it over in one of those electric golf carts.” He had just finished a little lobster roll. “Best lobster I’ve ever had and I’ve spent a lot of my life in Maine. Wonder where they got it.”
“This cheese is fabulous.”
Jamie smiled, his mouth full.
“I’d like to see some of Nantucket,” Hallie said as she bit into a cupcake that tasted of oranges. “Try this. It’s really good.” She’d meant for him to take the other cupcake off the plate, but he took the half she’d bitten into from her hand and ate it.
“Fuzzy navel,” he said.
“What does that mean?”
“It’s a drink of orange and peach juice and that’s what it tastes like. My guess is that it’s made with peach schnapps and if so, it’s fairly lethal. Here, try it again.” He bit into the second cupcake, then handed her the other half.
Hallie hesitated, but there was a look of challenge in his eyes. Daringly, she bent and took the cake from his hand with her lips. “Mmmmm. Quite delicious.”
Jamie was smiling broadly. “It’s named fuzzy for the peach and—”
“Navel for the orange. Now, as I was saying, I’d like to see some of the island. Jared drove through town and I saw some nice shops. Maybe you’d like to go too.”
“No, thanks,” Jamie said. “I have enough trouble with these blasted crutches without tackling streets and sidewalks.”
She’d already learned that half of what Jamie said was teasing, so she played along. She mentioned beaches and a meal out. No, he didn’t want to do that. Drinks at sunset? No. A boat ride? He said he’d had enough of that with his Montgomery relatives. “They
live
on the damned things. I like the earth.” No matter what she came up with to try to entice him to go into town, he said no.
“I guess I’ll have to go alone,” she said as she picked up a piece of what looked to be poppy seed cake. For a tiny bit of a second, she saw something flash across his eyes, some emotion, but she wasn’t sure what it was. If it weren’t coming from such a strong, healthy young man, she would have thought she’d seen fear. But that was, of course, ridiculous.
Whatever it was, it was gone in an instant and Jamie’s handsome face was back to smiling. “What I want to know is where Edith came from,” he said.
“You mean where she grew up?”
“No. Here. Twice now I’ve seen her walking out from the side of the house. Yesterday when I woke up, I went looking for my brother with the intention of telling him what I thought about what he’d done to me.”
“And what was that?”
Jamie waved a sweet, sticky ball of rice around before popping it into his mouth. “It’s a long story, but my point is that on the far side of this house are two big doors and they’re locked. I thought maybe my brother was hiding in there so I used a bit of force to try to open
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