Time Travel 02 Nothing but Time

by Angeline Fortin

  “I find that hard to believe,” Kate said. “He seems to be a bright enough kid to me.”

  His face wore an expression of confusion for a second before he continued. “Nathan is in need of a friend as well as a tutor. His nannies serve him well but I believe they distance themselves from him in deference to his station. So I ask you, do you feel up to the task?”

  Oh, she was up to it all right. Kate stifled an eager grin at the thought of getting her first promotion in her new life. “I suppose you might be able to talk me into it.”

  “Very well, if it pleases you, I will try,” the earl offered gravely, clearly not understanding the innuendo of her words. He folded his hands behind his back once more and regarded her soberly. “It is a position of much more prestige that the one you currently hold with a greater compensation. You would be answerable only to myself, my sister or my mother rather than to Mrs. Hendricks who I believe you so kindly referred to moments ago as the wicked witch of the west.” Again, amusement lifted the corner of his mouth just the tiniest bit. “The position would also allow you more free time in the evenings and an extra half-day off each week. You will need a wardrobe appropriate for the position however.” He looked her up and down with raised brows as if he were surprised to find her dressed as finely as she was.

  Her blue lawn gown, while not terribly high quality, was new and moderately fashionable. “It seems you already possess suitable clothing for the position.”

  Kate could see the questions whirling through his mind. He was wondering about the quality of her clothing in comparison to her need for employment. The two things did not mesh in his mind. “What else?”

  “You would need some tutoring as to the correct forms of address and other social niceties as I previously mentioned,” Harrowby added.

  “I can do that,” Kate replied, confident that she could pick up any mannerisms he required. “What about the other staff though? I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes here.”

  “I doubt there are others here with the education and speech to hold the position. Your accent will make you a curiosity but shouldn’t hold negative connotations. As to any rivalries here in the house, you would also be moved to a chamber of your own near the nursery on par with those held by Mrs. Hendricks, Geoffrey, the butler and my personal valet, Timson.” Harrowby considered her seriously for a moment before adding, “Is the offer sufficient to ‘talk you into it’ as you so quaintly put it?

  “You bet it was. I’d love to do it,” she told him firmly and with a nod, the earl turned away heading back to the mansion. “But still, I’m curious. Why me?”

  Harrowby turned back for a moment and Kate could see sadness mixed with hope shining in his eyes. “That conversation you just had with my nephew was the first time Nathan has spoken to anyone at all since his father died.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Kate was so blown away by the earl’s words that it took a moment for her to gather her thoughts. When she did, she ran behind him, grabbing his arm. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Are you shitting me?”

  Openly taken aback by her crude word usage, Harrowby merely stared at Kate in surprise. “I beg your pardon?”

  Waving away his astonishment, Kate huffed impatiently. “Oh, you get my meaning! You can’t just throw something like that out there and just walk away! Are you saying Nate hasn’t spoken at all since his dad died? Geez, Brand, I’m not qualified for something like this! That boy needs a psychologist or a therapist or something.”

  Understanding the gist of her words, Harrowby frowned severely. “He is neither mad nor a candidate for Bedlam, Miss Kallastad.”

  Familiar with the term, she just shook her head. “I’m not saying he’s crazy, Brand, but if his father’s death was so traumatic for him that he hasn’t even spoken to his own family since then, I just think he needs someone who’s trained in that sort of thing to help him.”

  “I don’t know about your Minnesota, but there is no one here who is trained to help the grieving,” the earl said flatly. “But Nate has taken to you, has spoken to you and smiled for the first time in months. You are his therapy.”

  “Are you friggin’ kidding me?”

  “You ask these nonsensical questions often,” Harrowby frowned. “Your sarcasm tells me that you’re not truly asking if I jest and, I am sure you can tell, I do not. Why do you insist on asking?”

  Kate just shook her head releasing a huff of laughter…then the tension abated. “It’s an expression of disbelief, I suppose. I’m sure you have all kinds of sayings here I would know nothing about.”

  The earl shook his head, allowing a small smile. “You sometimes seem very juvenile to me, Kate, even though I have seen maturity in you.”

  Kate twisted her lips. “I’m a child of Generation Me, Brand. It’s just how we are.”

  “Generation Me?” he echoed. “What in the world is that?”

  “It’s part of the typical American labeling policy, having to compartmentalize everybody and everything,” she explained as she stooped to pick up the fishing gear from the ground, though she was still trying to wrap her head around the bombshell Brand had delivered. “Like the Baby Boomers or Generation X. We just like to be able to stick a label on a whole generation and say, this is who and what you are. End of story.”

  She could tell by his expression that Harrowby didn’t really understand any of what she was saying, but he helped her pick up the remaining gear and they turned back to the mansion. “And you are a part of this Generation Me. What exactly does that entail?”

  “Well, generally, we’re entitled, self-important, easily bored and direct.”

  Harrowby snorted in amusement before recovering himself. “That you are.”

  Kate grinned up at him as they walked side by side. “The only parts I’ll cop to are the direct and easily bored parts… though I will admit that perhaps I might be just a wee bit egotistical…”

  “Egotistical?” Harrowby interrupted then. “What is that?”

  Kate frowned up at him, puzzled by the question before her mental light bulb lit up. “Oh, that’s right, no Freud yet. Self-important or… narcissistic.” Kate frowned at her own words. “Not sure I like that too much but anyway… You see, kids… children in my generation are raised to think that they can do anything they want, have anything they want. We’re catered to and spoon-fed on self-confidence from the moment we can walk. Most don’t seem to think they need to even actually work to get those things and expect a hundred K a year and a BMW right out of college. At least my parents got me straight on at least one level. I do work hard. I’ve worked very hard to get where I wanted to go.”

  Though once again taken aback by Kate’s unusual words and speech patterns – which Harrowby could only assume were an American idiosyncrasy – he didn’t feel the need to argue with Kate’s general assessment of her own self-worth. Given the education she’d received, he could easily imagine that Kate had indeed worked hard to finish her degree when few men made those same accomplishments. “It must be the result of this industrial revolution that is gripping both our countries,” he commented. “Seeing others achieve so much makes many believe they can do the same.”

  Swallowing back a laugh, Kate just nodded pleasantly. “I’m sure that’s exactly why we are the way we are.”

  “Why do I once more get the feeling you’re laughing at me?” Harrowby asked, studying Kate as they walked along. He had not noticed the gown she wore when all his focus had been on her interaction with his nephew earlier… along with the sight of her long and inappropriately unbound hair rippling in the summer breeze. The dress was lacking in detail, but more than suitable for a governess or one of equal standing. It had surprised him to realize that Kate wasn’t as lacking in funds as he might have thought and he wondered how she might afford such a piece of finery. Perhaps her circumstances had once and recently been much different. In either case, Harrowby had to admit he liked it better on her than the bland gray uniform he had seen her in duri
ng the week.

  Now she walked by his side, her stride was long and mannish. Her free arm swung freely as she moved. Her hair fluttered along behind her as the breeze caught it now and then. Glancing lower, he saw her breasts moving under the fabric of her bodice telling Harrowby she wasn’t wearing a corset either. What a puzzle she was!

  “Oh, Brand, I would never laugh at you,” she assured him cheerfully, recalling his attention.

  “Yet I can’t help but feel that you are,” he insisted.

  “It’s not laughter so much as…I don’t know, amazement?”

  Kate glanced up at him from the corner of her eye. Despite Brand’s rugged, masculine beauty, there was a definite starchiness of behavior that Kate had never before seen in any man in her entire life. Though it definitely had not been on display the first night they’d met in the library, this distant correctness he’d shown in his office and again today was interesting to say the least. Intriguing. It was if there were two sides to him and the stuffy earl definitely liked to be in charge. Maybe it was the aristocrat in him, Kate wasn’t certain. Even though she oddly enjoyed it, all she knew was that she was looking forward to seeing that more behaviorally rumpled Brand once again.

  Aware that he was waiting with polite patience for her answer, Kate went on with a shrug, “We just come from two completely different cultures, more than you’ll ever know. There are things here that just rub me the wrong way, some that make me want to cry and others that just make me shake my head in disbelief.”

  “Such as?”

  “Beyond basic plumbing issues, I’d say the most interesting is the fact that you’re a bit of a sexist.”

  “Sexist?” he repeated blankly.

  “Chauvinist,” Kate amended, then frowned. “Are you familiar with the term?”

  “Unfortunately, I am.” Harrowby stopped and turned to face her. “I cannot say that I appreciate your implication, however.”

  “I’m not implying anything, Brand.” She shook her head but a wide grin lit up her face. From his frown, Kate could tell the earl was firmly at his mental helm. Kate was glad. She was sort of enjoying these opportunities to shake him out of it. “I’m just telling you flat out! Oh, face it!” Kate laughed and hooked an arm through his, urging him forward once more. “Your whole disbelief that I, a mere woman, might be well educated? But don’t take it personal, Brand, all the men here are probably chauvinists. It just isn’t a part of your culture yet to think of women as equals.”

  Watching Harrowby nearly gag on her words, Kate only laughed harder. “See? You can barely take the thought of it without nearly choking on it.”

  “I wasn’t choking on the thought of equality,” he argued though Kate could plainly see he was trying to smother his disgruntlement.

  “Weren’t you?” she teased, nudging him in the side with her elbow.

  “Perhaps I was more astonished that you would think so poorly of me,” Harrowby replied, stopping again and drawing her out of sight just outside the tall, brick retaining wall that marked the end of the long flight of flagstone stairs that led to the terraced lawns above. “I truly believe that you could do anything you set your mind to, despite your gender, Kate.”

  “Ahh, poor Brand,” Kate affected a mournful sigh, her eyes sparkled brightly. “I know you think you’re a progressive thinker, but the very fact that you had to add the ‘despite your gender’ part just goes to show how deep the sexism runs.”

  Though he looked prepared to argue, Harrowby deflated suddenly, a sheepish – and utterly charming – grin emerging instead. Ahh, she had lured his more agreeable side out to play – Kate smiled at the thought.

  “Perhaps I do have an ingrained preconception about women in general,” he admitted, “but I’ve never met another woman like you, Kate. There’s something about you that makes me rethink everything I’ve ever known.”

  Touched by his softly spoken words, Kate lifted a hand to caress his whisker-roughened cheek tenderly before she even realized what she was doing. Though he seemed surprised by the gesture, he didn’t move away as Kate stroked his cheek and curled her fingers to rake her nails lightly over the scruff. “You actually like me, don’t you, Brand?” she asked boldly, knowing that such a forthright question could do nothing but startle him even more. “Just as I am, I mean. You don’t want to pigeon-hole me into what you think a woman should be like.”

  “A futile task if there ever was one.” Kate smiled at his teasing and was rewarded with his admission, “I do like you, Kate.”

  Harrowby did, he realized. Perhaps too much. It had been a long week since he’d spoken to her, but he had discreetly followed her activities as the days went by.

  She was fascinating. Fascinating to watch with her lithe movements as she walked or worked, that long tail of hair swinging freely behind her. Fascinating to listen to with her odd accent that flattened her tone and elongated most vowels. Harrowby would wager that he hadn’t heard a hard ‘T’ sound emerge from her lips in any conversation he’d over heard. Instead words like ‘better’ became ‘bedder’, ‘later’ was ‘laider’, but she laughed and teased in such a friendly fashion that it was hard not to find her engaging if not a tad mystifying. It was as if she never met a stranger. She treated everyone with the same comfortable acceptance.

  Kate looked up into Brand’s piercing blue eyes, reading the sincerity there and her heart melted just a little more. The earl was so somber, so earnest. The flashes of humor and the occasional smiles she’d seen during their brief acquaintance combined with the gravity of his expression tended to make Kate think that perhaps he wasn’t truly happy. It didn’t take much thought beyond that to know that she wanted him to be so.

  “I like you, too.”

  “I know you do,” he returned and Kate chuckled softly.

  “Talk about egotis… self-centered.”

  Though Kate meant the words to be playful, the tender expression on Harrowby’s face once again slipped into solemnity. “I don’t mean to sound… what was the other word you used? It sounds more interesting.”

  “Egotistical.”

  “Yes, egotistical.” He tried the word out himself. “I don’t mean to come across as such, but I noticed straight away when we met in the library that you don’t look at me and see what everyone else does first. You don’t see me as an earl.”

  “You’re an earl?” Kate repeated wide-eyed with false fascination, raising a hand to fan her cheeks. “Oh, my!”

  “There, you see.” Harrowby gestured to her reaction though he was enjoying her rather silly behavior. “You don’t care in the least that I am nobility, of a higher rank than you.”

  “Must be the American in me,” she told him, cocking her head curiously when he shook his in response.

  “Not true,” he argued. “Most Americans I’ve met fawn excessively over, not just I, but any English noble. You truly do not care about my noble standing.”

  Though Kate would have stood there all afternoon arguing with him just because she could, she shrugged giving him the point. “Okay, you’re right. In the big picture, I don’t care that you’re an earl. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s pretty cool and all but…”

  “You jest and poke a great deal of fun at me, Kate,” Harrowby went on, his tone still serious, “but you cannot know how much I’ve longed to just be simple Mr. Brandon Ryder once more. I miss the camaraderie of uncomplicated friendship, straightforward conversation without subtext. I’ve missed being seen as nothing more than the man I am. No one has treated me with such…” the earl struggled for the right word, “forthrightness in nearly a decade. You don’t look through the man I am or seem to want anything from me.”

  “Not true,” Kate said lightly though Brand’s words moved her deeply. “I do want a job.”

  A slight smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. “That you might, but I think you’d never kowtow to a person to gain employment.”

  “You know me so well, do you?”

  Harrowby look
ed down on Kate’s beautiful face. Her eyes were shining with humor and affection she probably wasn’t even aware she was showing so obviously. Her smile revealed a slight dimple on one cheek and, her parted lips showed very straight, impossibly white teeth. She just seemed as bright and wholesome on the outside as he thought her to be on the inside. Despite this egotistical tendency she claimed she had, he could see very well that, at the core, she was a very caring individual.

  Very loving.

  Confoundedly affectionate.

  How he wished he could simply drown in the compassion he’d seen her display. He had a feeling that being in Kate’s presence, having her tease her way through the issues that troubled him most, having her caress away the worries and pressures his new responsibilities had levied upon him, would bring him the greatest sense of contentment he’d known in many a year. She washed it all away, distracting him with her humor and banter.

  And desire. Harrowby knew that, lurking beneath it all, that same fire that had ignited so easily the night they met lay banked waiting to be rekindled. Keeping his most proper veneer about him kept his most base urges at bay, but it was with the realization that one misstep would send the flames leaping once more. The feel of her hand on his cheek had almost set the fire roaring. Just that ingenuous touch and he’d been nearly lost to those passions.

  It was all so very attractive and alluring. Her honesty, playfulness and that most physical wanting. She seduced him without effort and Harrowby wanted badly to give in to it. Wanted the dictates that ruled him to fall to the wayside allowing him the opportunity to take what he wanted.

  “Ahh, Kate.” Harrowby sighed softly, the sound rumbling deeply in his chest. Unconsciously, he raised his own hand to caress her cheek as well, leaning in over Kate until she was pressed back against the stone wall as he hovered over her. “How I wish you needed nothing from me at all. If you were not in my employ, I would…”