“You are actually a businessman,” she said.
“I like to think of it that way, but I have to wear a lot of different uniforms and smile constantly.”
As Toby ate the last strawberry, she leaned back in the chair. “This really is your last moment of peace, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” he said, smiling at her understanding. “I would like to have a week of no schedule, with no one telling me where I have to be when.” He paused. “Now I must ask. Why are the men on this island working so hard to win you? I can see your beauty, but is there anything else?”
“Just that I won’t go out with them,” she said. “It’s male machismo, that they feel they must win what they can’t have. When—?”
She was cut off because Lexie threw back the tent flap and looked at Toby. “Sorry to interrupt, but people are getting worried about you. They won’t cut the cake without you there, and if another kid asks me when they’re going to get cake I might throw them on top of the thing—except that they’d like that too much. Brats! Do you know where the keys to Jared’s truck are? And Plymouth wants me to leave tomorrow morning to go to the south of France to chaperone his sister.” Lexie looked at Graydon. “Oh, hi. You and I are cousins.” She looked back at Toby and waited for an answer.
Toby took a breath. “I’ll be there in ten minutes. Give the kids the cupcakes stored in the blue cooler at the back corner of the tent. The truck keys are over the visor. You want to leave tomorrow?”
“Yeah,” Lexie said. “Tomorrow.” She held up her naked left hand. “Now I have a reason to postpone everything.” As she turned away, she looked back at Graydon. “Toby is great, isn’t she?”
“I do believe she is,” Graydon said.
Smiling, Lexie left the tent.
The instant Toby stood up, so did Graydon. “It looks like I’m needed,” she said.
“Who is Plymouth?”
“Lexie’s boss, and I fully believe there’s more to them than just work.”
Graydon’s eyes were intent. “What does he do?”
“For a living? Nothing that I know of. Family money. I think he plays all the time. A lot of people who come here are like that.” She glanced at the table. “I’ll send someone to clear this away.”
“I can arrange that,” Graydon said.
Toby remembered how he’d easily commandeered three of the waitstaff to put everything out for him. At the time she’d not understood how he’d done it, but a prince would be able to do that. “Should I curtsy?” she asked, trying to keep a straight face.
“Yes, please do,” he said. “I love it when women bend before me.”
“Hold your breath.” She was laughing as she left the tent.
For a while, Graydon stood there looking after her. He liked that she was perceptive and wasn’t intimidated by his … as she said, his “job.” Never before had he felt so quickly at ease with a person.
Abruptly, he came out of his reverie. He remembered her roommate saying she wanted to leave the country tomorrow, and she was going with a rich man who did nothing. That fit the description of every friend his brother had—and Graydon knew, without a doubt in the world, that his brother was behind this trip. It seemed that Rory—yet again—thought that his brother couldn’t handle his own life.
Graydon took his phone out of his pocket and texted his brother, NOW!
Toby went back into the big tent, into the noise of the band and the many guests, but all she could think of was the man she’d had dinner with. A prince! And somehow, she’d been given full charge of him.
She looked up at the swags of ribbons and flowers that hung around the top of the big white tent. She and Alix and Lexie had spent hours consulting to come up with the design, but it was Toby who had done the actual work. She’d wired every little bouquet together, trying to make it seem as though someone had skipped through a field and gathered wildflowers.
Turning full circle, she looked at each one. For the last weeks, her whole life had revolved around this wedding. She couldn’t help envisioning the great extravaganza that Prince Graydon’s wedding would be. If she helped him now, would she get an invitation?
No, no, she told herself, she couldn’t think like that. She must help him without thought of anything for herself.
As she looked around the room at the crowded dance floor, she tried to see if everyone was having a good time. In one corner was a large round table packed with older kids. They were silent, not participating in anything. Each one was tapping out messages on his or her phone. Earlier, Toby had stopped by and asked who they were writing to. It turned out that they were texting one another. Shaking her head, not understanding why they didn’t just talk, she left them. They certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves.
The bride, in her beautiful dress from the 1950s—found in a Kingsley attic—was dancing with a little boy named Tyler. They were holding hands and the boy was smiling angelically. As Toby watched, Jared walked up to the two of them and asked to join in, but Tyler’s face instantly went from happy to ferocious. He glared up at Jared and said “No!” loud enough to be heard over the band.
When Toby laughed, Jared put his arm around her waist and pulled her onto the floor. “Laughing at me, are you?” He had to put his head close to her ear to be heard, but then, abruptly, the fast, loud song ended and a slow one began. “Thank God,” he mumbled and pulled Toby closer to him for the dance.
As he twirled her about on the dance floor, Jared couldn’t help remembering how they’d met. A few summers ago he’d designed a guest wing for the house Toby’s parents owned on Nantucket and stayed in every summer. Toby’s dad, Barrett, flew in and out every weekend, but her mother, Lavidia, stayed on the island.
Once a week Jared stopped by the site to check on the construction—and every time he went he had to listen to Mrs. Wyndam berate her pretty daughter, Toby, who had recently graduated from an exclusive all-girls college. One day Mrs. Wyndam had been loudly telling Toby that she wasn’t standing up straight enough, that her clothes were a disgrace, and that she was never going to get a husband if she didn’t start paying attention to how she looked.
“I guess I better go save my daughter,” Barrett had said with a sigh and he’d plodded off to the patio.
All that summer Jared had heard the incessant complaints of Mrs. Wyndam—all of them directed toward her daughter. As for young Toby, she didn’t seem to be affected by anything her mother said. She stood in silence, keeping her eyes down, never challenging her mother. Jared had the impression the girl was immune to the woman’s harangues. Toby spent her days in the kitchen baking treats she carried out to the construction crew, or she was in the garden tending to the flowers.
It was in September, just before the Wyndams were to leave the island, that Jared saw Toby kneeling at one of the flower beds. She was crying.
He didn’t have to ask what was wrong, as he’d just heard her mother telling Barrett that Toby was “impossible,” that she wouldn’t go out with the son of some man who owned a yacht. Jared knew both father and son and he wouldn’t have let any female relative of his alone with either of them.
Jared put his roll of plans down and sat on the edge of a chaise longue. “What are you going to do to fix this?” There was no need for a preamble of explanation; they both knew what the problem was.
“What can I do?” Toby said, her voice angry, and it was the first time he’d seen any emotion in her. “I have no training for an actual job. I know that if I ran away my father would support me, but what kind of freedom is that?”
“Your garden is nice and I’ve seen how you create those big flower arrangements.”
“Great! I can put flowers together so they look quite pretty. Who’s going to pay for that?” She looked at him. “A florist?” she whispered.
“That would be my guess, and I happen to know one who could use some help for the winter. If you want to stay on Nantucket, that is.”
“Stay? Alone in this big house? So far f
rom town?”
“Do you clean up the kitchen after you use it? I’m asking because my cousin Lexie lives near Kingsley House and she’s looking for a new roommate. Her last one could only fry things and she never cleaned up after herself.”
For the first time Toby’s eyes had hope in them. “I scour, disinfect, and put lemon juice on the counters to make them smell good.”
Jared wrote on the back of one of his business cards. “This is my private cell number. If you think there’s any possibility that you’d take the house, let me know. But I can only hold off Lexie about twenty-four hours before she rents it to somebody else.”
For a moment, Jared hesitated. Was he making a wrong decision? He didn’t really know this girl and she seemed almost delicate. He’d seen her quietly and serenely take whatever her mother dished out. Lexie was a strong character, and Jared wasn’t sure Toby could stand up to her. And what if she was one of those girls who went wild the moment she was out from under her parents’ rule? Jared looked her up and down, trying to figure out what would happen.
At his look, Toby straightened her back. “Mr. Kingsley, do you have an alternative reason for this offer?”
At first he didn’t know what she meant, but her eyes let him know her meaning. Jared was used to women liking him, saying yes to him, but not this girl. She was putting him in his place flatly and without question. In that moment Jared saw how someone as fragile-looking as Toby could stand up to her mother. As he looked at her, he knew that if he’d ever had a little sister, she was it. She brought out something protective in him. “I only want to help, and you and Lexie will do fine.”
He glanced up to see her mother at the window, frowning, probably thinking that Jared was too close to Toby. He stood up. “If you want to do this, I’ll see that you get a job.”
He wanted to say but didn’t, If I have to hire you myself. “I’ll come back tomorrow at eleven and you can tell me your decision.”
“I think I’ll probably be waiting with my bags packed.”
“I’ll be sure to bring my truck.” Smiling, he walked away. The next morning she moved in with Lexie and he’d been looking after the two young women ever since.
“How does it feel to be a married man?” Toby asked him.
“Perfect. Where have you been tonight?” he asked as he twirled Toby about the dance floor. “I was going to search for you, but Lex threatened my life if I did. So what’s up?”
“Do you know that the man who walked me down the aisle is a prince?”
“Isn’t that name already taken?”
At first she didn’t know what he meant, then she understood and laughed. “No, he’s a real live honest-to-gosh prince who will someday be a king.”
Jared lowered her in a dip. “Since he and I are related, does that make me a duke? Or maybe I’m a prince too.”
“Prince of Fishes,” Toby said as he pulled her up. “He wants to stay on the island for a week and he needs some peace and privacy.”
“So nobody is to know he’s here? Won’t the flags on his line of cars give him away?”
“Jared! This is for real. Stop making jokes.”
He led her in a circle. “I’ve never heard you talk about a man like this. So what were you two doing when nobody could find you?” Jared’s protective instincts were coming to the fore.
“Eating dinner,” she said. “When Prince Graydon goes back to his own country, his engagement to a young Lanconian woman is going to be announced. A year later they’ll be married.”
“American girls aren’t good enough for him? Or is he planning to sow some wild oats here on Nantucket before he returns home?” His tone told her what he thought of that idea.
Toby tried to pull away from him, but Jared held her fast. “Okay, I’ll quit. What do you need?”
“Your cousin”—she emphasized the connection—“needs a place to stay while he’s here. And it would be better if he had a roommate, someone to help him out.”
“You mean like cut up his meat for him? Help him get his clothes on in the morning?”
“I don’t know what he can and can’t do. Is it possible for him to stay at Kingsley House?”
“That place is full to the brim for the next week. We had to put relatives in there, and Lexie’s boss took a bedroom. What about your house?”
“We only have two bedrooms, and besides, I don’t think that would be appropriate.”
Jared gave her a serious look. “Did this guy make any unwelcome advances at you?”
“No, not at all.”
It was the end of the dance and the band was leaving to take a break. Jared stopped and looked at her. “Toby, this guy can’t just show up here and think we can offer him a palace and a bunch of servants. He’ll have to take what he can get. You have a pullout couch in the sitting room upstairs in your house, so put him on it. Lexie will be there, so you’ll be fine. If he thinks he’s too good for that, then he can sleep in somebody’s car. Tomorrow Caleb or Victoria can find him a place to stay for a longer term. Prince or not, he’s an adult and he can take care of himself. Now, how about some cake?”
“Sure,” Toby said and motioned that it was okay for Jared to leave her, that she’d be fine. She knew he was right, but still, she did feel some responsibility for Prince Graydon.
She looked around the tent at the many guests. Alix and Jared were cutting the cake and everyone was focused on them. Lexie was behind the caterers, and Toby had an idea she was still hiding from the men in her life. She maneuvered around the crowd of guests and went to her friend. “Could I talk to you?”
“Gladly,” Lexie said as she grabbed two plates of wedding cake. “Get the forks.”
Toby got forks, napkins, and two cups of punch and they went outside the tent. “I want to know what’s going on,” Toby said as soon as they were out in the clear, clean, salty Nantucket air.
“I should ask you the same thing,” Lexie said. “That scene in the tent with that guy was out of a novel. Candlelight and chocolate. All you needed was a rose in your hair.”
“Are you trying to avoid telling me what you’re up to?”
“Completely,” Lexie said, and gave a great sigh. “Toby, I feel really bad about this, but Plymouth said he needs someone to stay with his fourteen-year-old sister in the south of France and he asked if I’d consider doing it.”
“I thought you didn’t want to travel with him.”
“He won’t be there. He’s going off to do something with a car, race it somewhere, I guess, but he promised his sister he’d take her to France.”
“Doesn’t the child have parents?”
“Plymouth’s dad is on his fourth wife. This one is barely twenty. She doesn’t want to be stuck babysitting for three months.”
“Three months?”
“Yeah,” Lexie said, looking guilty. “It’s until the first of September, so technically it’s only two and a half months, but still …”
Toby knew that this was one of those times when she had to work to be unselfish. This was a great opportunity for Lexie. And she didn’t believe for a moment that Roger wouldn’t show up. And on some level, Lexie probably knew it too. But maybe if she got away from Nantucket she’d be able to figure out what she wanted to do with her life.
On the other hand, the backyard of the house they shared had been made for their business of raising flowers to sell. There were a greenhouse and many raised beds, all of them needing weeding and fertilizing and constant care.
“I’ll send you my half of the rent,” Lexie said. “Plymouth is doubling my salary for these weeks, so I’ll be able to afford it.”
Toby would have liked to tell her to forget about the rent, but she couldn’t. Jared owned the house, and he let them have it for much less than it would bring if he rented it to an off-islander. But still, Toby’s half took a lot of her pay.
“Jilly can help you with the flowers,” Lexie said, her expression pleading with Toby to agree to this. “I know I’m letting you d
own, but I would really like to do this. I met Plymouth’s sister last year and she’s a sweet kid. She likes to read a lot and he says she wants to visit museums. Can you imagine Plymouth in a museum?”
Since Toby didn’t know the man at all, she couldn’t imagine anything about him. As for Jilly, she was in the early stages of being in love and all she seemed able to see was Ken. And besides, Ken’s teaching job was off-island, so they’d be there a lot of the time. Toby didn’t think Jilly would be much help at all.
But she knew her friend needed this time away. Toby took a deep breath. “Of course you should go. You can’t miss an opportunity like this. Maybe things will happen that will help you decide—”
“Thank you!” Lexie said as she set her plate on the ground and hugged Toby hard. “I need to go pack. Can you handle things here?” She nodded toward the tent and the wedding.
“Sure,” Toby said as she picked up the plate and watched Lexie disappear into the darkness.
For a moment Toby stood outside the tent, holding the empty utensils and letting the warm air soak into her. This had to be the most unusual day of her life. It was as though from the moment she and her friends had walked into a bar and seen that man sitting in the back, surrounded by women, everything had started changing.
She looked inside the tent. They were dancing, eating cake, drinking, and laughing. It looked perfectly safe to return.
Rory had changed his clothes and was now wearing a tuxedo identical to the one his brother had on. After Gray went back to his little blonde, it hadn’t taken Rory long to find Roger Plymouth. He was in a corner of the big tent chatting with three pretty girls. Rory motioned for him to come outside.
When they were alone, Roger spoke first. “I thought I saw you in the back hiding behind those people. So you and your brother both are here? What’s the occasion? Some royal shindig coming up?”
“We’re related to the Kingsleys,” Rory said quickly. He didn’t have time to make small talk. “Is it true that that bridesmaid Lexie works for you?”
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