by Merry Farmer
Louisa took matters into her own hands.
“So if you’re done here,” she said to Wren and Gayle, “do you have some time to talk about refreshments for the party?”
“Sure,” Wren answered, relaxing her shoulders and turning to her friend as if remembering she was there and had a job to do.
The ladies broke away from them to clean up the refreshments. Andrew took a step toward his brother.
“Show me what you’ve done?” he asked.
Rowan nodded, knowing full well that seeing the construction site was only part of the question he was being asked.
As soon as they were out of earshot of the women and around the corner of the lighthouse, Andrew asked, “Is there something I don’t know about between you and Gayle Tague?”
Rowan thrust his hands into his pockets and stared out over the sea. “Potentially.”
It was a typical, vague Rowan answer. Andrew lifted his cap and ran a hand through his hair before settling the cap again.
“A word of advice from one brother to another,” he grinned. “Strike while the iron is hot or else you might not get to strike at all.”
To his surprise, Rowan turned on him with an offended glare.
“Are you suggesting that Gayle is inconstant in her affections?”
Andrew blinked and his eyes widened at the comment. “Not in the least.”
He opened his mouth to say more, to make light of Gayle’s flirty tendencies, but stopped before he could dig another hole for himself. He hoped his hole-digging days were over. He sighed.
“All right, maybe you shouldn’t strike while the iron is hot. At least not piping hot. I made that mistake once before myself. But believe me, it won’t happen again.”
“Are you planning to renew your suit?” Rowan softened enough to let him know no permanent offense was taken.
Andrew grinned. “I’m waiting for just the right time.”
Rowan laughed. It was a rare treat.
“You. Andrew McBride. Waiting. I believe that now I’ve seen everything.” He finished by thumping Andrew on the back.
Andrew grinned. “At least I learn from my mistakes.”
Rowan shook his head as they turned to glance across the cleared construction site to the women. “Something tells me that this is not the last lesson Louisa will teach you.”
He laughed. “Let’s hope the Lord grants me the wisdom to be a fast learner.”
Chapter 12
The August storms that picked up in the next few days gave Louisa pause—especially when they stretched toward to Friday, looking like they would spoil the christening party. But whereas a few weeks before they would have sent her into a tizzy of worry, now she saw them as merely a twist that would make her look for new opportunities. If they had to have the party another day or indoors, then she could adjust her plans.
It helped that Andrew had found a way to spend a little time each day working with her on party plans, even though his boats and his business needed attention. They were friends again. There was no more awkwardness between them. She wasn’t about to throw herself at his mercy or rely on him to solve all of her problems, but she was eager to hear his advice.
The storms lifted by Thursday afternoon, and Friday dawned clear and cooler than the summer had been. Andrew and Jamie’s boats and the Wick’s yacht were ready to go. It would have been the happiest time in Louisa’s life, but that everything felt as though it were holding its breath.
“Make sure that you tuck the napkin tightly around the edges,” Wren instructed her in a serious voice as they made the final preparations to transport the food she’d spent the week making to the marina. “I don’t want any water to splash onto the croissants.”
“They’re fine, Wren,” Gayle snapped, uncharacteristically short-tempered.
“I worked hard on them.” Wren’s voice rose. “I don’t want them spoiled by some … some boy’s incompetence.”
Gayle sighed. “It doesn’t matter.” She had been sighing too much and smiling too little all week. There had to be more to it than met the eye.
Louisa frowned. She wished she had given more of her time to her friends in the last week instead of devoting herself to the party. Wren had her moments of being stern, but it wasn’t like her to be shrewish. If there were only time to talk before the party.
“I’m sure everything will work out.” She smiled to soothe both of her friends. She had thought that after the pieces of her life began to fall into place, she would never worry about anything again, but Wren and Gayle were disproving that theory. “Let’s move this all out to the cart.”
Wren fussed around the table for several more seconds, tucking in cloths and securing her creations, while Louisa and Gayle began carrying armfuls of baskets out into the sunny afternoon. Gayle was silent as they worked, her shoulders slumped and her face drawn.
“Cheer up,” Louisa said. “We’re going to a party. You love parties.” Wicked as she felt for doing it, she added, “There will be boys there.”
Gayle lifted her chin and sent her a feeble smile.
“Yes, I suppose there will be.” Her smile faded as quickly as it had come.
Louisa chewed her lip and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. She wondered what Andrew would make of all this.
They headed inside for another load.
“Take this one first,” Wren ordered, thrusting a heavy basket into Louisa’s arms.
Louisa’s worries flared. “What’s in this one?”
“Jams for the bread and biscuits,” Wren said and turned away from her.
“Oh.”
Wren brushed on. “And he’d better like them. He said he didn’t like too much sugar in his sweets.” She scoffed at the notion. “Too much sugar in sweets. That’s why they call them sweets, for pity’s sake.”
Louisa blinked in confusion as Wren returned to the table and continued her muttering. She carried the basket of jams out to the cart, Gayle trailing listlessly behind with a small basket of cookies. Louisa had her suspicions about who Wren’s “he” was, but at the moment she was too overwhelmed with preparations to think about the best way to handle it.
They finished loading the cart—which took far longer than it should have—and sat in the back holding the goodies, while Malcolm McBride drove them into town and down to the marina.
The Wick’s yacht was docked at the extreme opposite end of the marina with the other pleasure craft rather than in the heart of the harbor with the working vessels. C.J. was there to help them transfer their treats from the cart to the yacht. Gayle perked up a little as C.J. showered her with attention, but even though she giggled at his compliments, there was something missing in her eyes. Wren said nothing, but stared sullenly at the pair.
Louisa took an armful of food on board the yacht, then snuck up to the front deck to look out over the harbor. She could barely make out the masts of Andrew and Jamie’s schooners. They had tied colorful flags to the tops of the masts, which waved in the breeze. That sight soothed her worry somewhat.
She glanced back over her shoulder to the middle deck, where Wren was arranging the food and Gayle was ostensibly helping while C.J. talked to her. Louisa shook her head. If everything could go right at the same time it would be a small miracle.
The guests began to arrive close to five o’clock. They had invited all of their friends, the Wicks, the Clevelands, Mark Jasper, Henry, all of the McBrides, and a few others from church. Louisa was left to greet them all. Andrew and Jamie were captaining their vessels into open waters, and would row over to join the party on the yacht once they were anchored. She received more than her fair share of broad smiles and even a saucy wink from her brother, which she ignored.
As much as she knew what she wanted and appreciated the good wishes of her closest friends, it felt like a massive invasion of privacy to have half of Cape Ann greeting her with questions such as: “How are you managing without your father?” “What’s this I hear about you moving to En
gland?” and “You have become quite close with Andrew McBride, haven’t you?” She didn’t have much time to worry about it. Before long, they set off from the dock, sailing into open waters as the sun began its descent toward the horizon.
“They shouldn’t have planned the party so late,” Wren made the grouchy observation as she joined Louisa and Gayle at the front of the yacht. “It’ll be dark in a few hours and then no one will be able to see anything, let alone a fishing demonstration.”
Louisa prayed for patience before saying, “There’s still plenty of daylight. And you didn’t hear it from me, but there will be fireworks later.”
“Fireworks.” Gayle showed the first genuine interest in the activities around her all day.
“You didn’t hear it from me,” Louisa repeated.
Wren was still put out. “I can just guess whose idea that was,” she pouted.
Louisa wanted to grab her friend by the shoulders and shake some sense into her. She didn’t understand what was going on with her or why she had set herself against Jamie, when the two of them made quite a pair.
She was spared an awkward silence when Henry and Rowan climbed up to the front deck to join them. Henry had a glass of punch for her, and Rowan had brought one for his sister and for Gayle. Wren forced a grateful smile as she took her glass from her brother, but Gayle pushed right past Rowan to snatch the glass from Henry’s hand.
“Thank you so much, Henry,” she cooed, batting her eyelashes. “You’re such a dear.”
Louisa could only gape and exchange a worried frown with Henry.
Rowan cleared his throat and offered his remaining glass to Louisa with a silent half-smile.
“Thank you.” Louisa nodded to him, turning to glare at Gayle. It was obvious that Gayle was punishing Rowan, but for the life of her, Louisa couldn’t figure out what Rowan had done wrong.
A few minutes later, first Jamie’s and then Andrew’s schooners sailed past on their way out of the harbor. Jamie waved to them as he skittered by, and Louisa and Gayle waved back. Wren’s back went ramrod straight and she seemed to find something on the shoreline fascinating.
When Andrew sailed past a few minutes later Louisa did her best to smile and wave, but she knew full well that worry creased her brow. And even across the distance Andrew could tell. He mouthed the words “what’s wrong?” and held out his arms in question. It would have been too complicated to explain without words, and his schooner sailed past too quickly. Louisa was reduced to shrugging back, and then enduring the curious glances of her brother and her friends when they saw the gesture.
The Wick’s yacht maneuvered its way out of its dock and into the harbor minutes later. Soon the three vessels had made a line as they sailed for open waters. They didn’t go far, only out to the tip of the cape, near Twin Lights. They weighed anchor as close to each other as they safely could—the yacht dwarfing the two fishing boats—and Mr. Wick sent some of his crew out in the rowboat to pick up Andrew and Jamie instead of making them go through the trouble of finding their way over.
The guests had great fun watching the process, humming with expectation and shouting when Jamie landed off-center in the rowboat, nearly capsizing it. Wren gasped, fear bright in her eyes, until Jamie righted himself and waved to signal he was all right. Then she turned to reorganize the refreshments, jaw clenched. Louisa couldn’t take it anymore. While everyone else was busy watching the rowboat’s return, she marched over to her friend.
“What has gotten into you?” she asked in a controlled whisper, glancing over her shoulder to make sure they weren’t overheard.
“Nothing,” Wren answered without looking at her.
Louisa pursed her lips and sighed. “I swear to you, Wren McBride, if you don’t tell me what has you in such a foul mood, then I’ll ask Jamie.”
Wren’s eyes snapped up to hers, fierce with alarm.
“And something tells me he will have an answer for me,” Louisa finished.
Wren pressed her lips together so hard that they went white. She glanced over Louisa’s shoulder to be sure she wouldn’t be overheard.
“That man is infuriating,” she muttered. “He is arrogant, boastful, swaggering,” she sputtered as she looked for more adjectives. “Ooh, he’s a complete boor.”
“What did he do?” Louisa’s alarm rose. She thought she knew Jamie fairly well now. He had told her details about his life that she was sure he didn’t share with everyone. But perhaps she didn’t know him the way she thought she did.
Wren hesitated, breathing deeply and balling her fists.
“He…” She turned away and bit her lip, her expression faltering from angry to hopeless for a moment. She glanced back to Louisa and whispered, “He told me that he loved me.”
If a strong breeze had come along at that moment, it would have knocked Louisa flat on her back. Her mouth dropped open, and as soon as she recovered from the shock she had to fight for all she was worth not to burst into laughter.
“How dare he?” she squeezed out in as neutral a tone as she could muster.
“Indeed,” Wren snapped with a nod and crossed her arms. “I can’t believe his cheek. He … he hardly even knows me. He’s … he’s not even in the Church.”
Louisa closed her mouth over the reply that instantly popped to her lips. Whether Jamie was a member of the Church or not, he had spoken words of incredible wisdom to her. He had been the Lord’s instrument for turning things around in her life. She took a deep breath and held her tongue. There was only one reason Wren would react so strongly to a man who was playing his cards with heavy-handed enthusiasm. She must like him too.
“Well, promise me you will at least be polite.” Louisa kept her voice as steady as she could. “This is Andrew’s party too. Remember that.”
Wren sighed and looked duly penitent. “I will. But only for Andrew’s sake.”
Louisa nodded and gave her friend’s hand a quick squeeze before rushing off to a place where she could laugh without getting caught. She shook her head. Love was a hard enough lesson to learn when the parties involved weren’t as bull-headed as Wren McBride and Jamie Darling.
As she reached the railing, the rowboat made its final approach. Andrew scanned the guests watching them, and when he saw Louisa his face split into a grin. She’d had a hard enough time learning her own lessons of love, and she didn’t consider herself bull-headed at all. Well, at least she hoped she wasn’t. Even as the thought struck her, she blushed, knowing she had been a handful.
When the rowboat got close enough, its crew reached for the ropes and secured it against the yacht’s side. Both Andrew and Jamie were well used to being at sea, and scrambled up the side of the big yacht without much trouble, even though it was twice the size of their own schooners. They were greeted on deck with cheers and applause, and then they headed straight for the refreshments. Louisa battled to control her grin as Jamie made eyes at Wren while sampling one of her buttered biscuits. Wren, of course, ignored him as hard as she could. Knowing the truth, Louisa wasn’t fooled for a moment.
“It’s as bad as I thought.” Andrew’s humor-filled whisper as he approached her from behind broke her composure completely.
Louisa put a hand over her mouth to hide her giggles and turned to him. “You know?”
He returned her smile tenfold. “I’ve known all summer.”
“Apparently, Wren is offended because Jamie told her he loved her,” she whispered behind her hand.
For some reason Andrew found the comment hysterical. Louisa blinked in confusion, especially when he whispered back, “Jamie’s a smart man. I could learn a thing or two from him.”
Andrew’s tone switched from jovial to intent at the end of his sentence, and Louisa realized how close they were standing to each other, how close their faces were. She held her breath, gazing into his blue eyes, a heartbeat away from hers. It didn’t matter that the yacht was packed with their friends. All there was in the world at that moment was the two of them.
In a flash, the moment was broken. Andrew straightened and took her hand to pull her into the crowd of guests. She thought that she would feel awkward standing so close to him like that as they talked to their friends and family, like they were a unit. But instead it was the most natural thing in the world.
In fact, it gave her the courage to talk more freely with Mrs. Wick and Mrs. Cleveland and some of the older people from church. Instead of asking them if they knew of any situations she could arrange for herself for when her mother went home to England, she talked about her work, about the things she knew about the boats and Andrew and Jamie’s business. She didn’t worry about what would happen next in her life. She knew what would happen next. She would be happy.
As the sun cast longer and longer rays across the deck, Wren moved the sweet treats aside and brought out heartier supper foods. Louisa stayed close to Andrew, feeling a swell of pride and joy that his enterprise was turning out to be such a success. She watched her friends closely. Wren had promised to be good, and so she had doubled her efforts to present the food as perfectly as possible. If only Jamie weren’t taunting her by following her around the table offering to help.
“He’s going to get his head snapped off,” Louisa observed to Andrew as he tapped her arm and motioned for her to walk with him up to the front deck.
“I think he likes it when Wren snaps his head off,” Andrew figured, with a grin.
Louisa climbed the steps to the font deck and glanced back to find Gayle. She sat on the rail at the side of the boat, four or five men circled around her as usual. At least she was back to her old self. The men, C.J., Mark, Henry, and a couple that might have been Jamie’s friends, laughed at whatever silly story she was telling. Her face was bright with amusement. Rowan stood in the thick of them, his faint smile marred by a darker concern. He watched her intently, and Louisa caught at least one sharp look thrown in his direction by Gayle.
“Something tells me that Rowan is not the kind who likes to have his head snapped off,” Louisa observed. Andrew had started to the front of the boat, but came back to look over her shoulder to see what she was seeing. Louisa nodded at the unfolding scene. “She’s furious with him over something. I can’t think what he did wrong. It’s not like he’s trying to run her life for her.” She turned to Andrew at the end of her sentence with an arched eyebrow.
