“Yes. Over the years, we got in the habit of concealing it. It’s been difficult for me to change my thinking about it.”
“Does Clara know?”
“Yes, and it’s been killing her to remain silent, especially with how you’ve befriended us.”
“Why tell me now?”
“Well, there is an odd event that transpired. I was visited by a newspaper reporter from London.”
“Whatever for?”
“It’s the twentieth anniversary of the shipwreck.”
“The vision you and I shared? That was the shipwreck, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. It’s why I try to never recollect any details. It haunts me, so my mind has protected me by blocking most of it.”
“I can certainly understand why.”
“Anyway, the newspaper is planning to write an article about the three of us.”
“You’re joking.”
“No, and they’re scheduling a reunion. I agreed to participate, so my past won’t be a secret much longer. I thought I should apprise you so you didn’t read about it first. I would hate to make you faint.”
“I can’t believe this!” He physically shook himself. “A shiver just rushed down my spine. There is the eeriest sense in the air, as if Fate is playing with us.”
“Or your father’s ghost.”
“Have you felt him hovering?”
“Recently, yes. He’s definitely been hovering lately.”
“Another shiver just flitted down my spine.”
“The last time I ever talked to him,” she said, “I asked him to watch over me, and I’m of the opinion that he guided me to you.”
“What do you suppose it means?”
“I can’t guess.”
“Would you come to the manor tomorrow?” he inquired. “Would you spend an hour or two with Margaret and me so we can discuss my father? We were so young when he died, and he was never in England. We barely knew him, and our memories are warped by our finding out about his second family. Would you do that for us?”
She wasn’t keen to ever visit the manor again. She was in no hurry to bump into Roxanne Ralston, but she comprehended his yearning to hear what she recalled about his father.
“I will stop by. When would be convenient for you?”
“How about in the afternoon? Around four? You could join us for supper.”
“I’ll meet with you at four, but I’ll have to reflect on supper. Despite how you constantly forget that you have an almost fiancée, I haven’t forgotten. I can’t sit at the dining table with her. It wouldn’t be appropriate.”
He laughed off her prim attitude, and he looked happier, as if she’d lifted a burden off his shoulders. “This is such a wild story. My head is spinning. I may grow so dizzy on the trip home that I’ll fall off my horse.”
“I’m glad I told you about it. I’ve been biting my tongue so hard that I’ve practically gnawed it off.”
“You are such a scamp. I keep thinking there were some deep corners with you, but apparently, I had no idea.”
“I’m very different from everyone else. I can’t deny it.”
“That, my dear Joanna, is the understatement of the century.” He blew out a heavy breath, then said, “I should be going.”
“Yes, you should.”
“I shall tell myself that my father’s ghost dragged me to you. If I’d tried to gallop on by, I couldn’t have. It felt as if a magnet was drawing me in.”
He pulled her onto his lap and delivered a stirring kiss. It was awkward, and they were off balance, and they giggled with merriment.
“Would you get out of here before we wake Clara?” she said. “I can’t fathom how you wound up in my bedchamber, and I have no desire to explain it to her. It is not a conversation I ever intend to have.”
He smirked, then slid off the bed. She climbed down too, then they tiptoed out and down the stairs. Mutt was loafing by the fire, and he cast a jaundiced eye in their direction, as if informing them they weren’t fooling anybody as to how they’d been misbehaving.
“Don’t come outside,” he said.
“Let me walk you to your horse.”
“No. Just wave from the window again. I like that.” He enjoyed a final, urgent kiss. “Bar the door after I’m gone.”
“I will.”
They gazed over at the dog, and he said to Mutt, “Will you run with me?”
But Mutt simply sank down, indicating he wouldn’t leave his warm spot.
“Lazy dog,” Jacob muttered, then he smiled at her. “I’ll see you tomorrow. At four.”
“I can’t wait.”
He marched out, and she went to the window to watch him depart. She waved as he’d requested, and long after the darkness stilled, she reached out to him with her mind. She observed him riding through the woods, turning onto the lane, proceeding to the manor. She continued to focus on him until she sensed he’d arrived safe and sound.
Goodnight, she murmured, her silent message winging out. Sweet dreams . . .
He flinched and straightened, as if he’d heard her clearly. Then she chuckled and headed back to bed.
“How was your trip to London, and why are you back early?”
Jacob grinned at his sister. “I missed the estate so much I couldn’t bear to stay away.”
“You were always the worst liar,” Margaret replied. “You’ve never spent much time here, and when you did, you never liked it.”
“Maybe I’m changing.”
“Ha! If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Ralston men, it’s that all of you are stubborn as mules. You never change.”
“Should I apologize and try to be more spontaneous?”
“That would be like asking the grass not to grow. It’s just your nature to be obstinate; you can’t help it.”
They were in the dining room at the manor, having a late breakfast. He enjoyed these quiet conversations with her, and he found himself liking her much more than he had when they were younger. Back then, their home had been filled with bickering and strife due to their mother’s erratic temperament.
He hadn’t bonded with Margaret or Pamela, and he’d escaped most of the discord by leaving for boarding school at age seven. Pamela had escaped when she’d eloped at eighteen. The minute their mother had started naming possible husbands for her,
