Page 3 of The Swan Syndicate
“I’ll drive.” He grabbed his keys from a blown-glass dish on the counter and patted her backside.
He was definitely up to something, but she couldn’t see any reason to complain or argue, so she inwardly sighed and grabbed her purse on the way out. He chattered about everything and nothing on their way, and, once they were at Donna’s, which she had to agree, had arguably the best pies she’d ever tasted, and she’d tested quite a few in her life, they both got lost in staring at the numerous selections.
They bought a Dutch apple, a strawberry, and a Marionberry because they lived in Oregon, and everyone had to have the best blackberry pie. He put the pies in the car then took her for coffee.
“I know Mary and Hensley will be able to join us at Waverly for a hunting weekend, but I’m not sure about Elizabeth. She tends to make plans several weeks out.”
Stella loved Dame Elizabeth Ellingsworth. She scared the bejesus out of AJ, but Stella found her to be a woman out of time. Basically, not one to mess with. She knew all the ways of manipulation and machinations to get things just her way. Stella snickered to herself. A skill all young women should learn.
“I’d miss her if she weren’t able to attend, but a weekend with Eleanor and Mary will be just as fun. Eleanor will come, right?”
“In the past, it’s always depended on her mood and whether she felt like company. But if we’re there, she’ll want to catch up.”
“Does the hunting take up the whole day?”
He laughed. “No. Just a few hours, and sometimes we come home with nothing to show for our efforts.”
“So, it’s kind of a guy thing to get away from the women?”
“Not at all. Women join the hunt as well. Mary and Eleanor wouldn’t be interested, but you could join us.”
She shuddered at the thought of racing around the countryside on a horse. Though, surprisingly, her skills on horseback had improved since the first time when she had to share one with Beckworth during their escape from Gemini.
“Let’s wait and see how that goes.”
He chuckled and gave her a swift kiss before picking up her empty cup and tossing it in the trash. “Let’s get these pies home.”
When he missed the turn for home, she didn’t question him. He liked to take the long way, still getting familiar with the streets. It was instinctual for him to want to know where he lived. He grew up a street urchin in London, working for the gangs, which required knowledge of the city and quick escape routes. Not something he needed now, but when he’d been in Baywood previously, he’d been the enemy. It was a habit he couldn’t shake.
He didn’t make any other turns, and the city began to give way to the coast. Her knee began to bounce.
“Where are you going?"
“You didn’t think we were going to eat all those pies with the few days we have left.”
“You tricked me.” Her fingers played at the edge of her sweater, and when Beckworth glanced over, he smirked. “What?”
“I should have brought some paper for you.”
“You think making a few swans will make up for this?” She glanced out the window as he made a turn into the driveway of the Westcliffe Inn, the non-functioning bread and breakfast hotel that AJ and Finn called home. She suppressed a smile, reminding herself she should be angry with him. Her penchant for making origami swans was widely known among her friends both in this time period and in 1805. She made them when she was nervous, bored, or working through problems. So, pretty much all the time.
She didn’t just create swans. She could fold a single sheet of paper into a crane or a fish, but she preferred swans and could make them with her eyes closed. Charlotte, AJ’s niece, had become adept at making origami figures, pushing Stella to learn more shapes to satisfy the youngster, who’d begun to idolize her “auntie.”
“I simply thought it would be an easier discussion with family.” Beckworth didn’t seem fazed by her grumpy attitude.
She understood how important it was for him to see Waverly. For a kid raised in the harsh streets of London, he’d worked hard and, admittedly, had performed some unscrupulous tasks while working for the Duke of Dunsmore. It paid off with the acquisition of Waverly Manor and the title of Viscount.
Most might consider the manor to have been bought from tainted money, but how else was someone from the streets able to rise above their station? Besides, Beckworth, the bastard son of the duke, had tried to make a connection with his father, only to have it all thrown back in his face. If Finn hadn’t killed the man, she would have done it—just on principle.
When he gently squeezed her hand, she had to admit this was the best way. She expected AJ and Finn to push back on their crazy idea to call the fog. It wasn’t like time travel was a science. The mysterious stones and secret incantations,discovered in an ancient text written by paranoid Druids before the time of Julius Caesar, would be considered outlandish, if not a downright immediate path to a sanitarium, which should make most people question their actions.
But AJ and Finn had traversed the mysterious fog several times—not completely by choice—and lived to tell the tale.
“This will all work out. You’ll see.”
Stella had expected Beckworth to call in the entire army, but the only other car besides AJ’s and Finn’s was the large black SUV Ethan drove. The small group was, as expected, sitting around the dinner table in the kitchen. The French doors that led to the wrap-around deck overlooking the Oregon coast were closed against the chilled air.
Though everyone appeared to be drinking coffee, except for Sebastian, the elderly monk from France who preferred tea, there was a new bottle of Jameson whiskey in the center of the table with seven short glasses circling it.
