Chapter 6

CHAPTER6

This was exactly why Ellie hadn’t wanted to go to the beach. She sat under the tent between Nurse McMullan, who maintained her dignity in her linen dress and hat, and Lewis, his strong form all too apparent in his striped bathing shirt and shorts, clutching her long bathing coat over her own suit while Ada romped with Cora.

Cora held to a rope attached to an offshore buoy with one hand and Ada’s hand with the other. Jesse kept a firm grip on Ada while she made a game of jumping the waves. Her shrieks and peals of giggles drew even Lewis’s gaze. And why wouldn’t they? Ada looked adorable—curvy in all the right places—in her lilac taffeta blouse, knickerbockers, and short skirt, trimmed in black braid, with matching stockings. Even the cork-soled sandals she’d kicked off under the tent laced with lilac cord.

“Do you not wish to go in with them?” Lewis eyed Ellie in a way that asked why she was suffering under her hot coat.

“Not yet.” Not ever, if she could help it. Next to Ada, she would resemble a drowning crow in her conservative black mohair ensemble. Ellie made a show of folding bologna around an olive and popping it into her mouth.

Lewis had somehow arranged a picnic before their hurried departure from the boathouse. Some people swam in the freshwater spring—uniquely positioned in the saltwater bay—that supplied the hotel’s drinking water, but for a true beach experience, they’d steamed a mile and a half out to Sand Key Island. A bathing pavilion between the lush undergrowth and palms and the jewel-toned sea offered amenities and privacy for changing, and tents dotted the strip of white sand, sheltering beachgoers from the late-afternoon sun.

Lewis squinted toward the shore. “This is good for Cora. She seems to be having fun, don’t you think?”

To Ellie, Cora appeared to be clinging rather tightly to the rope, but she refrained from saying so. Instead, she suggested, “Don’t let me stop you from joining them.” If Lewis left, she could take off the infernal coat. “I’m sure Cora would like you to play with her.”

“In good time.” He chuckled low. “Miss Ada seems to be doing a good job of it.”

“Yes.” Ellie’s midsection tightened. “Miss Ada is very fun.”

Lewis turned to study her. “I’m thankful for a few minutes to visit with you.”

“Oh.” She drew a circle in the sand next to her blanket. “I doubt you’ll find my company particularly diverting.”

“On the contrary. I can’t rest until I’m assured of your good opinion.”

She whisked a glance at him. “What do you care for that?”

“A great deal, I promise you. Don’t we all share a desire to be rightly known?” Lewis reached into the hamper for a slice of ham and laid it out on a piece of cornbread.

“I suppose.” While the question speared an answering longing in her own heart, her brain puzzled. Once Lewis was no longer needed to excuse Ada’s outings with Jesse, he would surely have nothing else to do with them. He was merely providing a favor to a friend. Wasn’t he?

“Well, so far, you’ve labeled me a womanizer with questionable business dealings. I’d like to be sure I’m cleared of your charges.” He took a bite of his sandwich without looking at her.

“Of the first? Yes.” Although the red sleeve still intrigued her. When he stared at her with his mouth agape, she giggled. “You never told me what you were doing with dangerous cargo in the basement.”

“I’m afraid I’m sworn to silence.”

“By whom?”

“By the hotel.” Lewis finished the ham and cornbread in another bite.

She sat back, propped on one hand, and asked only half teasingly, “Are you running drugs and munitions out of the Gulf?”

“With my nine-year-old niece as cover? Assuredly. You’ve discovered the secret source of my fortune.” He licked his fingers and matched her posture but reclined on both elbows.

Obviously, she was getting nowhere with this line of questioning. For now. She tried another. “Why does she call you Poppy?”

Lewis’s face straightened, and he sat up, scrubbing a hand over his eyes. “I imagine it’s because she misses having a father. I’m the closest thing she has. My parents are good to her but rather strict. She spends too much time alone there.”

Ellie crossed her ankles. At least they looked shapely in her black hose. “Have you thought of having her come live with you?”

“I have, but until I wed…” When Lewis’s sentence trailed off, a dart of surprise pierced Ellie’s chest. So he did not intend bachelorhood for life? “My mother at least provides a woman’s guidance for her.”

“Was she a child of your brother or your sister?”

“My sister.”

“And she is…no longer…” As Lewis’s face tightened at Ellie’s bumbling questioning, she shot her hand out to touch his arm. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pried.” At the feel of his muscular forearm covered in light hairs, she quickly withdrew. She found the brush of starched linens much less disconcerting. “I was only attempting to better grasp her situation.”

“It’s all right, though your curiosity surprises me.”

She couldn’t resist a tiny snort. “Have you not found me of a curious nature thus far?”

Lewis laughed. “When you were acting as a spy for your aunt, yes. But I received the impression when your cousin suggested this outing that it might not please you.”

She stared at him. Had he read her that well?

“Cora,” he prompted her, an edge to his tone. “Many single adults find children an inconvenience.”

“Oh! Oh no.” Ellie sat up, heat washing her face that he’d thought she considered herself above taking notice of his ward. “It was not the company, but the destination that evoked any displeasure you sensed. I’m less enamored of the wind and sand and heat than Ada and other goodtime girls.” She folded her hands in her lap. “I suppose that makes me a stick in the mud.”

After a moment of silence, Lewis said, “I would rather a good conversation any day…which I think we’re having.”

She darted a sideways glance his direction, breath catching. “Indeed, we are.”

He met her eyes squarely. “Cora’s mother is gone from this world. Her story is one I keep private. At least…for now.”

She nodded, releasing her breath. Too much sudden intimacy with this man and she might liquefy like the jellyfish Cora had sighted upon their arrival. “I understand. I have stories like that as well.” Such as her own.

Lewis eyed her with open curiosity. “And you have no siblings?”

She shrugged. “There is only me. My father was the younger brother of Ada’s father. My mother was the daughter of a politician. They married young, and my grandfather, who is now also deceased, got my father a job in Washington. He set aside his dreams of being a writer to raise his family, but my mother died of illness when I was only four.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” The space between his brows creased. “So you spent your first few years in the capital?”

“Yes. I don’t remember it much.”

“I went there once, when I was an adolescent. It was when I first invented…”

Shadows and scuffing sand caused him to trail off. Three dripping forms hurtled into the tent. Cora threw herself on Lewis.

Ellie handed him a blanket to wrap her in.

“My! That was invigorating.” Breathless and laughing, Ada toweled off. Her stylish handkerchief kept her mounds of dark hair perfectly in place even when she patted it dry. “I can’t believe you two just sat here the whole time.”

Ellie straightened a bit. “We were enjoying the picnic.” She peeked at Lewis. “And a talk.”

As he smiled at Ellie, Ada’s brows rose, but she refrained from comment.

Cora eyed the basket. “I’m hungry.”

“Would you like me to make you a plate?” Ellie lifted the lid, and Cora scooted forward to peer in at the contents.

“Yes, please.”

Lewis frowned. “Nurse can do that.”

“I’ve got it.” Ellie was already selecting the items Cora pointed to. She winked at the girl. “I also saved you a ginger ale.”

“Oh, thank you!” Cora took the bottle Ellie unwrapped, and Lewis found an opener for the cap. Within minutes, she was drinking and eating with gusto. “I like your friends, Poppy. I’m glad you finally found some girls to make friends with.”

Ellie joined Ada in light laughter. “We’re glad to get to know you, too, Cora.”

Cora turned to wind her finger around the hem of Ada’s skirt. “I want a suit like Ada’s.”

“That’s so sweet.” Ada grinned over her shoulder, snuggled up next to Jesse.

Lewis chuckled. “I’ll have to see what I can do.”

Ellie touched the coral design on the top of Cora’s light-gray silk blouse. “I personally like your shells.”

“Thank you.” Cora smiled and abruptly pillowed her head on Ellie’s lap. “I’m tired. The wind makes my ears hurt. I’m ready to go back to my room and read.”

“You like reading?” When Cora gave a firm nod, Ellie responded with a big smile. “Me too. What kind of stories do you like?”

“When I was little, Uncle Lewy read me The Jungle Book, but now that I’m older, I like Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea.”

“Oh, I love Anne Shirley and Diana Barry! I even love mean old Mrs. Lynde. I think she has a good heart.”

Cora giggled, and Ellie twined her fingers with Cora’s. Despite her assurance to Lewis, she hadn’t spent much time around children. It came as a bit of a surprise that she had anything in common with one. “You must read quite well if you’re up to Lucy Montgomery’s novels.”

Lewis beamed their way. “She’s very advanced for her age.”

Cora giggled. “Is that what you read, too, Miss Ellie?” She smoothed her finger over Ellie’s nails.

“I like mysteries best. I haven’t read Anne of Avonlea yet, but I would like to.”

“You can borrow it when I’m done.”

“Why, thank you, Cora.”

Lewis drew one knee up and cocked his head Ellie’s direction. “Was The Return of Sherlock Holmes to your liking?”

“Yes, but more so books with female detectives—Dora Myrl, Lois Cayley, and Loveday Brooke, who was actually created by a woman author, Catherine Louisa Pirkis.”

“Naturally.” Despite the cynicism in the word, Lewis’s expression was warm.

“They’re quite good. I can only wish I could write that well.”

“You’re writing?” His eyebrow rose.

Ellie flushed. Shrugged. “I’ve tried my hand at a few tales, but for some reason, what keeps coming to me is a children’s story. Maybe because that’s what my father wrote.”

Cora’s wide brown eyes stared up at her. “What’s your book about?”

If only Lewis weren’t observing her so intently. She smoothed back a strand of his niece’s wet hair and tried to block him out as she answered. “It’s about a plain bird that doesn’t fit in with its brightly plumed family.”

Still she felt that intense gaze.

“That’s sad.” Cora stroked her hand. “You need a happy ending.”

“Yes, I’ve been trying to think of one.”

Cora blinked. “I know. The plain bird finds another bird that looks like it does, and they start a new family.”

“I like that idea very much.”

In the oblivious way children possess, Cora abruptly pushed aside Ellie’s coat. “I wanna see your suit.”

Ellie attempted to let her have a peek without revealing anything to Lewis. “It’s not very exciting. It’s just black.”

“But it has hot pink trim. That’s cute. I want you to wade with me.” Cora sat up.

“Oh, I’m afraid I’m not very good at jumping waves.”

“I don’t want to jump waves. I want to look for shells. But you have to take your coat off because you can find the best ones as they wash up and the water goes back out.”

Ellie stiffened and looked around.

Ada smirked at her. “Well, go on, Ellie.”

She couldn’t let the child down when Cora was trying so hard to bond with her. Who would know better than she what being an orphan felt like? That longing for closeness and affirmation. Sucking in a breath, she rose and followed the girl to the edge of the tent. She was just about to shed her coat when Lewis called out, “Can I come too?”

“Sure, Poppy.” Cora trotted toward the shore. “Come on, Ellie.”

“Wait for us,” Lewis warned her.

Ellie cringed as he came up behind her, but his hands on her shoulders were gentle, and his smile as he folded her coat was kind. His brief touch on her back ushered her forward.

“Look!” Cora held up a shell. “I found a curly one!”

Ellie soon forgot herself in the hunt for specimens. The water cooled her feet and ankles, and the breeze fanned her flushed cheeks. As she bent to search the shallows and came up with a piece of coral, Lewis captured the little oil-skinned cap she’d pinned above her bun before it could blow away.

“I think this is fairly pointless.” With a chuckle, he tucked it into the waistband of his shorts.

“Thank you. Yes, I could’ve used more hairpins.”

“Or less.”

Gooseflesh rippled Ellie’s arms. She tried to meet his eyes to rule out flirtation, but a strand of hair whipped into her face. “Ugh. My hands are full of shells.”

He stepped closer and slid the errant lock behind her ear. “How’s that?”

Better, only she couldn’t answer because his nearness stole her breath.

“Your hair is very pretty. It’s always been covered by a hat.”

Surely, she’d misheard. No one admired her shade of blonde-brown these days.

Cora darted between them, holding up another find. “Look. A heart-shaped shell, like a butterfly.”

Ellie welcomed the distraction. “That’s my favorite kind.”

“Then you can have it.”

Lewis took the shell from Cora and inspected it. “Very nice. See here where the two parts join?” He pointed. “It’s very delicate there. You should probably take it back to the tent so it doesn’t get broken.”

“Right. Because it wouldn’t be so special if it didn’t have both parts.”

Was that her? Half a shell? Having her heart broken had demolished any hopes of marriage. Lacking a fortune, beauty, and now youth, what did she have to offer? Besides, she found most men, from the uneducated to the upper crust, self-centered—if not as duplicitous as Will Howell. But Lewis Thornton was not what she had expected.

Ridiculous. Even if Lewis might eventually marry and provide a mother figure for Cora, she most assuredly would not be it.

A horn from the dock drew their notice.

Lewis looked toward the steamer. “It must be time to return to the hotel.”

“Yay! I can get a bath.” Cora went frolicking toward the tent.

Lewis laughed. “She’s an unusual child.”

“I like her very much.”

“And it’s clear she likes you too. Would you not mind much…seeing her again?”

“Mind?” Ellie tried to contain the surge of joy that rose from her middle. “It would make my time here ever so much better.”

“I’m glad. The female companionship will do her good.” Lewis’s smile, complete with dimples and laugh lines, rivaled the setting sun. He offered his hand to help her back to shore, and she struggled to breathe past the sudden swelling in her throat.

She couldn’t—wouldn’t—consider how spending more time with Cora’s guardian made her feel.