The Detective's Dilemma (26 page)

“What are you thinking about?” Julianna asked.

She expected an answer that might make her shivery and languid, and was totally unprepared for what he said. “I’m thinking I should leave the city. We should, I mean. All of us could move to the country.”

His face held more than physical desire. Answering heat rose to her cheeks and other more intimate places. She instantly dropped her gaze to his hands, rough, calloused, so unlike the gentleman he looked and sounded.

The scar on his wrist bone could be a shadow of his past and his active life. “That might be a good plan for my Peter, and…and I know I’d like it. But does it suit you? My parents and I used to go to a house at a lake, and it was very quiet. No violent miscreants.”

“Sounds perfect.”

“For you? You’re as at home on the streets as Danny. And what might happen to that boy?”

“Good point.” He picked up his coffee cup, large hands cradling the delicate china. “I’d figure something out. Leave funds with Gordon, I suppose. He’d keep an eye on the boy. Any other objections?”

She leaned forward. “You crave the exhilaration of the city and your work. Wouldn’t you miss the excitement?”

“I’ll find something to make my heart beat faster,” he said, his voice gruff and his grin making promises.

She knew her own pulse raced at the thought of what would come next. “So many possibilities,” she said.

“Certainly. I’ll find something.”

“Oh, no, I was speaking of myself,” she said grinning. “I’d forgotten how exciting the world could be.”

“You
are
excited about selling the house.”

“Mm,” she agreed. “But other parts of my future thrill me more.”

He put down the coffee cup. “I’m all agog,” he teased.

“Then I’ll tell you I’m thinking of you, conceited man. That’s what you want to hear, yes?”

“Really?” He looked enormously pleased but then his smile faltered. “Are you saying that to gratify me? Do girls do that sort of thing? Try to make their suitors feel special?”

“You are joking aren’t you?”

He shrugged. “I not an expert at real courtship. You’re not the only one who hasn’t experienced it, you know.”

That horrid family of his had sent him into the world with doubts, no matter that he tried to ignore them. She folded her hands on the table. Abandoning foolery and flirtation, Julianna stared into his brown eyes, willing him to believe her. “You--and my future with you--are as thrilling to me as anything I’ve encountered in my life. But I’m a little afraid, too.”

He grimaced. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“Oh, I think it is! What you do to me is a healthy sort of fear. It’s as if I’d been hiding inside for years. You came along, opened a door and pushed me out into the wide open.”

“Wide open, ha. I’d like that, you wide open for me to enjoy.” His smile held too much warmth to be called a leer.

She snorted. “I wasn’t speaking of physical pleasures, if that’s what you’re smirk about. I mean possibilities, adventure, recklessness even. Mostly, umm…joy, do you know? And love.”

“Yes. Love,” he said, immediately serious as she. He lifted his coffee cup and held it high. “To the future, to love and to all of our marvelous new possibilities. Oh, and yeah, I don’t have a ring but I’m putting ‘to promises’ on the list. That’s all right, isn’t it?”

Was that yet another marriage proposal? “Yes.” She clinked her cup to his. “To them all, together,” she said. That made him put down his coffee to pull her off her chair into a kiss.

Chapter Eleven

Sixteen months later, Long Island

A cool breeze blew off the ocean, ruffling Peter’s blond hair. Julianna smoothed it from his forehead but spoke sternly. “No, my love, I will not allow you to go out on the boat until you have learned to swim properly.”

“Mama, I have a vest just like Deck wears. He never drowneds.”

Not yet, anyway, she thought. But at least he did wear the vest and had bought the entire lifeboat’s crew better vests.

“Mama. My vest—”

She interrupted her son. “He also knows how to swim, and I don’t mean splash like a dog. You learn to swim as well as Deck, and you can go out—” She raised a hand, because she knew what was coming. “But only during fine weather.”

“But Deck’s crew goes out in all sorts of weather. They’re practicing this afternoon.”

“They are grown men. Not little boys.” She scowled at the pounding waves and wondered if she’d have had to stop her son from wading into fights if they still lived in New York City.

Her husband had found an outlet for his restless need for activity. Instead of fighting criminals, Caleb pitted himself against the ocean every day as a swimmer and then as rescue boat captain. That position apparently came with another job, that of sheriff of the sleepy Long Island town.

Peter had begged to go down to the water after breakfast. Now they stood on the sandy shore and watched Caleb. Julianna allowed Peter to take off his shoes and socks and paddle in the cold water. Despite his talk of wanting to face the ocean, he ran away when larger waves crashed and threatened to tumble him.

She thanked her lucky stars that Peter apparently had inherited James’s caution. Her luck might run out, though. She carried another baby, and this one might come out as ready to dive into life and danger as its father.

She shaded her face with her hand and watched her husband duck under the tall waves, grinning like a maniac. He’d found new exhilaration fighting the ocean, although he still had some excitement at work. Last month, he’d uncovered and arrested a local potato thief—and then hired the man as a gardener and drafted him onto the lifeboat crew.

A few minutes later, Brennan appeared in the dunes, picking his way over the sand with some distaste.

He brushed the sand from the cuffs of his trousers, careful to stand downwind of them. He moved closer to her. “I can’t imagine swimming in that wild sea.”

“Hmm,” she agreed.

He stared out across the waves. “You could not have found a man more different from Mr. James if you had traveled the globe looking for one.”

“They share some similarities.”

Brennan gave his rare, grave smile at that. “They both were intelligent enough to love you.”

“Did James love me?” She had never asked before, but the words slipped out easily. That life seemed to belong to another woman.

“He loved you heart and soul,” he said solemnly.

“But not body.” She knew that love now. The memory of undiluted passion branded on every inch of her skin made her smile, all right, she must have worn a smirk.

Brennan shaded his face and looked out over the water. “Some men are not lucky enough for that,” he said.

“I’m so sorry, Brennan. I wish you and James could have…”

He glared at her and shook his head so she stopped. A moment later, he said, so quietly she almost didn’t hear over the sound of the ocean, “Thank you.”

A few more waves crashed before he spoke again. “You smile and laugh so often now, I barely recognize you. I believe you must be happier than I’ve ever seen you.”

“I am.” She nodded, unable to say more for her heart felt too full. Who knew happiness carried such weight?

Instead of talking, she leaned her side against his for several heartbeats. Not too long. This casual touch or serious conversation was new for them, and she had to be careful not to push too hard or allow him to slip away emotionally. He’d return with his employer but she didn’t want him to turn into only a visiting servant.

“I came to say goodbye,” he said after she’d straightened.

“Oh no. Manhattan must be blisteringly hot. You should stay a day longer,” she coaxed. “And Peter will be so disappointed to see you go only three days after you arrive.”

“Mrs. Winthrop is expecting me tomorrow.” He’d taken over the role of butler after Mrs. John Winthrop had dismissed nearly every servant her jailed husband had hired. Brennan touched Julianna’s cheek with the tips of gloved fingers. “You must use a parasol or at least a bonnet. You’ll have dozens of freckles if you’re not careful.”

She didn’t repeat what Caleb had said, that her freckles made her even more charming. She only laughed at Brennan. “Managing the staff of such a large household must be a treat for you after having only Isabelle and me to boss around.”

The shadow of pleasure passed over his fine features. “Usually.”

According to Brennan, only Harriet the maid refused to pay attention to his authority. Harriet flung arguments from philosophers and social movements at him when he tried to get her to do his bidding. He’d said he enjoyed baiting her just to see which long-dead thinker she’d quote at him.

“Deck!” Peter waded out up to his knees to scan the ocean.

For a moment, Julianna’s heart and breath seized. She couldn’t see any sign of Caleb. But then a silver spray of water splashed near the shore. He’d dived under a wave. Less than a minute later, he waded ashore, then ran to the towel he’d left on the sand. His wet bathing costume clung to his chest and thighs and other parts as well. Brennan grew very still, and Julianna wondered if he appreciated the sight of Caleb’s muscular arms and calves as much as she did.

Rubbing at his face and arms with the towel, Caleb trotted up to Julianna, out of breath and full of a vitality that made her want to stroke his skin.

It embarrassed her how much she longed to have some part of her touching some part of him. He’d be chilled with salt water, and she could lick his cheek.

Lucky Peter could wrap himself around Caleb’s legs any time he wished. Peter whined. “You teach me to swim. Hoffer is no fun. He says no waves.”

Caleb dropped to a crouch next to Peter. “Your grandmother made me promise to allow Mr. Hoffer to teach you first. If I break that promise, she’ll come after me with an axe.”

Peter squinted at him. “No, she wouldn’t.”

“You sound disappointed, my bloodthirsty little boy.”

Man and boy grinned at each other at that, and Julianna decided Peter resembled his stepfather after all.

“I heard Isabelle say Mr. Hoffer cost a right arm,” Peter said meditatively.

“Your grandmother does not lop off limbs. We have plenty of arms of our own to give your teacher,” Caleb reassured him. He rose to his feet and brought Peter with him.

“It means money, not actual limbs. We have enough,” Julianna told her son, smothering a smile.

They had more than enough. James’s inheritance from his maternal grandparents had been hidden away by Mr. Winthrop, and now the wealth would go to Peter. That, in addition to the funds Mrs. Winthrop insisted on bestowing upon their little family, meant they had even more money than Julianna had had before her father had lost his fortune.

Caleb still wore his worn suits and didn’t seem to cultivate any expensive tastes, although he did seem to enjoy refusing the money his brother sent.

When it became clear Caleb had married a wealthy young widow, Caleb’s brother and father grew far more cordial. Luckily neither of them had a taste for traveling to the seaside.

Julianna sometimes wondered if she and her new husband did Peter any favors, raising him in this quiet beach village far from the culture and opportunities of the city. But not when she saw him hoisted into Caleb’s strong, wet embrace. The three of them might be shockingly informal, but they were happy.

Brennan pulled out his watch. “I must be on my way. Your driver will be waiting to take me to the station. Do the trains run on time?”

“The Long Island Rail Road is a model of efficiency,” Caleb said.

Julianna and Caleb, with Peter between them holding their hands, walked their guest up to the house. Caleb vanished to change and reappeared almost at once. He’d told Julianna he learned to dress quickly as a cop.

They each shook Brennan’s hand, Peter with a great deal of energy. He begged Caleb for a handkerchief so he could wave it at Brennan, who waved back after he climbed onto the trap, serious as always.

Julianna’s old friend still wore a haunted expression, but that would always be true. No wonder she’d been so attracted to him. No young girl could resist such an air of melancholy.

She turned and regarded her grinning husband and forgot about everyone else. His ghosts had been vanquished, and his indifference had come to an end long ago. They’d kept their promise and taught each other joy and love.

Caleb examined his wife’s eyes, which had grown heavy-lidded and glowing with awareness. Her wide smile brought home the message. Oh yes indeed, she was often easy to read, and he deeply appreciated such an open book of a woman. He picked up Peter again. “You’re growing heavy, old son,” he grumbled.

“I’m hungry again,” Peter announced.

Perfect.

“We’ll find Isabelle and beg her for food,” Caleb said. “And she’ll take you for a nice long walk. A very
long
walk.”

He nudged Julianna, and her expression grew far too knowing for an upper-class young matron.

Never mind that it was the middle of the day. They’d go to their room and strip off every stitch of clothing. He’d put her on their big bed and examine her changing body, run his fingers over that hard stomach and tender, engorged breasts.

He’d take her, more cautiously now than before her pregnancy. Once he’d thought he preferred fierce and hard, but just thinking about their slow lovemaking could drive him insane. When it came to Julianna, he loved slow, fast, and anything in between.

Afterward, he’d hold her as if the world and its cares didn’t matter. This new life had freed him from more than the likes of Gregory. He’d been given more riches than he’d dreamed of—and all that money didn’t even enter into his equation. He nudged her again. “Thank you,” he said.

“I haven’t done anything. Yet.”

“You’re right. It’s a hopeful thank-you. For your future endeavors.”

Her wicked smile grew even wider. He put an arm around her waist and pulled her close as they walked. “At any rate, I should thank Brennan. He’s the one who handed you the gun.”

She glanced at Peter, who trotted ahead of them toward the kitchen. “You ought not speak about that incident so casually,” she said.

“It’s kind of you to hope to preserve my reputation. You think I appeared to be a fool for allowing you to take me captive? I was playing a very deep game.”

She snorted. “No, your memory of that day must be wrong. I was nabbing myself a new husband.”

“Very efficient job.” He kissed her. “I approve.”