Page 96 of The Swan Syndicate
“Well, everyone missed the two of you.” Stella emptied her mug, and feeling better, shuffled into the house, returning with the coffee pot and a hot pad. She refilled cups before sitting down.
“Do you know how theDaphneis fairing?” Finn asked.
“She’s still a fine ship and the crew sharp as ever under Jamie’s hand.” Beckworth grinned at Finn, who raised a brow.
“And you know this firsthand?” Finn asked.
“We might have taken a short sailing trip while we were there.” Stella straightened and sipped her coffee, staring at AJ over the rim of her mug. She was rather proud she’d been able to spit that out.
AJ almost choked on her coffee. “You went for a sail on theDaphne?”
“Just up the coast to Swansea.” Beckworth smiled at Stella like a proud father. “We had fair weather, and Stella didn’t get sick once.”
“Mostly just using the herbs, but I admit I took a motion sickness tablet twice.”
“That seems odd.” AJ squinted at Stella, her truth radar on high alert.
“Stop that,” Stella scolded. “Jamie all but dared me. What choice did I have?” She couldn’t believe how flippant that sounded, but it did the trick.
AJ relaxed and settled back in her seat.
“Oh, I almost forgot.” Beckworth pulled the envelope and a stack of letters out of his pocket and slid it to Finn. “For you to read later. Letters from your mates and a few for Sebastian.”
Finn’s expression softened when he ran his fingers over the top of them. “I appreciate this.”
“And we arrived to discover a new foal in the barn.”
The two men fell into horse discussions as AJ asked Stella more detailed questions about the people.
Soon, the rest of their family and friends began arriving, all bringing food that Stella immediately sampled. They stayed for another hour before Finn and Ethan took their duffels to Stella’s car.
“Give us a day to acclimate,” Beckworth said. “Then maybe dinner at Joe’s?”
“Sounds good.” Finn rubbed the back of his neck, his signature grin sneaking through. “It’s a shame you didn’t have a camera to take a picture of that colt.”
“He’s going to be a fine stud. I think Hensley will be spending more time at Waverly than his own manor.” Both men laughed at the truth of it before Beckworth climbed into the passenger seat. He knew how to drive, but he preferred taking the wheel on long drives. City driving drove him crazy, and as many times as Stella had shown him the shortcuts, he would lean his head back to watch the city—or as Stella knew—the people.
Neither spoke as they drove to their bungalow-style house. It was in her name, purchased with well-earned money from her broker business, but as far as she was concerned it was theirs, just like Beckworth considered Waverly theirs, though they weren’t married.
When she pulled into the driveway and parked, Beckworth turned to her.
“I think Finn knows we’re lying to them.”
Stella dropped the duffel on the bed and stared at the floor. She’d wanted to turn on music and dance with Beckworth, excited for their ability to keep their secret. Instead, she collapsed on the bed. Beckworth placed his duffel on a chair and opened it, removing his clothes and laying them on the dresser.
The bedroom originally had a king-sized bed, a stuffed chair with a round side table, two dressers, two nightstands, an electric fireplace, and a walk-in closet. When Beckworth moved in, they found a second chair that complemented the original one, and then a bookcase was added. It was only the first step in making the room efficient for their lazy streaks.
An LCD monitor was added to a wall, and some days they only left the room for food. Beckworth had drawn the line at adding a mini fridge, declaring they wouldn’t leave the room for days and they might as well give the food delivery man a key so he could just bring the food to their bed. Stella had laughed, and he’d picked her up and tossed her on the bed. She was fairly certain sex had ensued afterward.
Beckworth placed his boots next to the door so he could take them to the utility room for cleaning. Once his duffel was empty,he placed it next to the boots where it would end up in the guestroom closet. Then he sat next to her on the bed.
“Why do you think Finn knows we’re lying?” Stella picked at a loose string on her sweater. “I’ve been playing back all the conversations. I don’t remember saying anything that would’ve given it away. And AJ would have called me on it the moment she caught the lie. She was suspicious enough about theDaphnestory.”
“We didn’t really lie. We simply left out what we did on our sailing trip.”
“That’s walking a mighty fine line.”
“I don’t think Finn caught us in any specific deception. I think it’s more intuitive. He senses we left something out, he’s just not sure what.”
