“Good, gentlemen, good,” Nathaniel Huntley chanted. “But I offer simple hospitality, that is all, as I expect we shall enjoy each other’s company for some time. It’s going to take at least two weeks, Captain, to haul your merchantman into the deep waters of the bay, not including the time afterwards when her masts and spars will be rigged.”
“Two weeks? Isn’t that an unusually long time to launch a vessel?” Jabez inquired of the shipbuilder.
“I’m afraid so, Mr. Smith, but you see, our Bluefish River is quite shallow, too shallow to accommodate a ship of this magnitude. My men will only be able to move her a few yards with each new tide. But not to worry.” With his next words, Huntley included Brogan, saying, “When you see her, you’ll agree she’s well worth the wait.”
Brogan refrained from telling the man he already had, as the dull ache in the back of his head well reminded him. “I have every confidence in you, sir.”
Nathaniel Huntley grinned, motioning to the rear of the house. “And now, if you’ll follow me, I won’t keep you waiting any longer. We shall step out through the back, and I shall take you straightaway to the shipyard so you may have a look for yourselves. Then we’ll stop by my carpentry shop. I wish to introduce you to George Louder, the talented master shipwright who designed your merchantman.”
Brogan followed, his thoughts not so much on his ship as on all the possibilities two weeks could hold. For that matter, an evening could hold, because tonight he’d be dining with his son.
Standing before the looking glass of her two-tiered Sheraton dressing table, Lorena worried her bottom lip as she tried to contain two handfuls of tight spice-brown ringlets that seemed to overtake her head the way English ivy overran a brick wall.
“No, Drew, you mustn’t” came Temperance’s voice from just outside her bedroom door. “A gentleman never intrudes upon a lady’s bedchamber. If you wish to see Lorena, you must wait until she is ready to receive you.”
“Oh, she won’t mind.”
Lorena dropped her hands, releasing the unbound coils that spilled to her waist, and then opened the door in time to see Temperance narrow her eyes at the rebellious little scamp. “I saw how rudely you behaved to Papa Huntley’s guests, and won’t you be embarrassed when you greet them for supper?”
She didn’t pause for Drew’s response, but marched past the boy, only to have him squeeze by her into the bedroom before she could finish closing the door in his face.
“I’ve seen him, Lorena.”
“He’s come!”
They spoke at once, both Temperance and Drew rushing to her side. Lorena raised a hand to ward them off. “Please, one at a time. Of whom do you speak?”
“Captain Talvis.”
“The giant!”
Again, they spoke at the same time, and it was all Lorena could do to still her racing heart long enough for reason to assure her they could not possibly be referring to the same man.
Temperance scrunched her nose at Drew as if he were something green and slippery that had crawled out of the root cellar. “The giant. What giant?”
Drew stuck his tongue out at the girl.
“Wait for me in your room, would you, Drew?” Lorena directed. “I’ll join you in a few minutes.” The giant . . . well, nothing could be more urgent than the giant, but Lorena needed to dismiss Temperance first. The giant was a most private and embarrassing matter.
“But—”
“No argument. Be a good boy and go to your room.” She eyed him sternly to end further protest.
Her astute little man got the message. He turned and walked out the door, practicing with his sling.
With an inward sigh of relief, Lorena turned to the fourteen-year-old servant girl she mentored like a sister. Both Temperance Culliford and her mother, Wealthea, had been fixtures in the Huntley household these seven years. Long ago, Temperance’s father vanished at sea amidst rumors he’d been impressed by the British, and Papa, being the good Christian man he was, had taken compassion by offering Mrs. Culliford employment as the family housekeeper. This included not only a steady income, but a cozy home within walking distance from Lorena’s own residence. Temperance and her mother were treated with the fondness and consideration of family members.
Lorena pulled a long piece of straw out from under the small ruffled cap hugging the top of Temperance’s head. “I thought I smelled horse,” she teased.