Chapter 28
At breakfast, I sat next to Graham and asked if he’d read any of the letters.
“Aye,” he said. “I got through a few.” He turned toward me slightly. “I have questions, if ye’d be so kind as to answer them on our walk to the mission.”
I grinned. “I would love nothing more.”
His smile was slight, but it was more friendly than yesterday. Perhaps my letters had a positive effect, even if they didn’t recall his memories. I’d written them with sincerity, and I always liked to think that sincerity made a difference in any interaction, whether in person or in post.
Mr. Ashby arrived and sat across from us. “What are you up to today, Miss Findlay?” he asked.
“We’ll be going to the mission to help the children make hymnals.”
“So am I. Do you mind if I walk with you both?” He scooped some potatoes from a dish.
“Of course you’re welcome,” I said, not looking at him directly. He was welcome, but that didn’t mean I felt perfectly comfortable with the idea. I picked up a container of jam and put a generous amount on my toast, then took a bite. The three of us ate in silence for several minutes.
“Are ye working on the budget again today, Mr. Ashby?” Graham asked.
“Arthur, please. It’s strange hearing you address me so formally.” He chuckled, taking a sip of tea. “But yes, I’ll be going through ledgers in Mr. Weiss’s office at the chapel. I suppose we’ll see each other when I inevitably come out for a break.”
“Aye, seems probable.” After finishing his breakfast, Graham took his dishes into the kitchen, then went outside. I wondered why he didn’t wait at the table for us.
I sighed, and Mr. Ashby noticed. “You seem tired,” he commented.
Rubbing a hand over my forehead, I sighed again. “I suppose I am.” Then, remembering he hadn’t heard my news, I leaned forward. “You will never guess what happened.”
His eyes widened. “What?”
“Our dinghy showed up on shore. All the letters I wrote to Graham were actually preserved in my bag. Can you believe it?”
“No, actually. That seems far too fantastical.” His eyes narrowed. “Perhaps… No, that couldn’t be.”
“What?” I asked, laughing prematurely. I anticipated something humorous.
“Do you think the dolphins pushed the boat to shore?”
As I suspected, his idea was silly. I laughed loudly, and even snorted. I had to cover my mouth before I finished laughing. “You are truly ridiculous.”
He grinned widely, watching me laugh. We stared at each other for a few moments, and I couldn’t be sure why, except that I liked to study his features.
My gaze roved over his face, taking into account the tilt of his light-brown eyebrows, the smile lines around his blue eyes, the curved shape of his mouth.
Looking at him felt natural, as if I were seeing something as commonplace as nature—and yet I felt his face would be the kind of nature that inspired painters and poets.
I would never have thought so before, but being with him every day for three months had changed my perception.
I smiled softly, and he returned the gesture.
Then we both stood and met Graham outside as if nothing had passed between us at all.
It was a long walk, and I was glad of it. The three of us had that much more time to talk.
“So did anything strike you while reading my letters?” I asked Graham.
He glanced at Mr. Ashby. “Are ye sure ye want to talk about this now?”
“Oh, don’t mind me. I’m just enjoying the exercise. I won’t get between you two.” Mr. Ashby had put his hands in his pockets as he walked. I got the feeling his words had more than one meaning.
“I don’t mind if you listen, Mr. Ashby. We are comfortable enough that anything contained in my letters wouldn’t shock you.
” I looked at Graham. “We talked at length about memories of you while on our journey. He knows you almost as well as I do.” I could have added that Mr. Ashby probably knew me almost as well as Graham did.
Perhaps better, in some aspects. I tried not to think that he also knew the way I kissed, just as Graham did…
but it still crossed my mind, creating butterflies.
It took effort to ignore them. “So say anything you like,” I said.
Graham nodded. After thinking for a moment, he began. “Ye wrote about Melody often. She is yer… sister-in-law?”
“Yes. And my best friend.”
“Ah. And ye have a nephew, Logan.”
“I do.” I found it interesting that his questions were focused on me.
“I’ve never met Logan, though?” he asked for confirmation.
“No, you left before Melody and Cameron married.”
“I see. I’m wondering…what exactly kept me away longer than expected?” He looked at me for answers I didn’t have, so I gestured to Mr. Ashby. “He would know that much better than I.”
Graham moved to walk beside Mr. Ashby. “Have ye not told her why we were gone for longer than a year?”
Mr. Ashby looked at me. “Not in detail, no. She never asked, and I never thought she wished to know. But I can explain.”
“I would like to hear,” I admitted.
So he went over their business dealings, and as he spoke I realized it was a fascinating topic.
Why hadn’t I been curious about it? Perhaps because I had a prejudice against business, it being the reason Graham hadn’t returned.
That had made me dislike hearing anything about it.
Somehow, though, Mr. Ashby made it sound like a challenge worth tackling.
Would I have been more understanding if I’d been more open to discussing it?
“Once we purchased the second ship, we realized staying another year would be beneficial. The captain we hired was young, and we had reservations about leaving him to run the business without us, at least for a while.”
“Why would you hire an inexperienced captain?” I wondered aloud.
“Because we thought he would be excited to grow and learn alongside us. After a few months, however, we found he simply wanted to bark orders at others and didn’t have the talent we were looking for in a partner.
Our other ship’s captain did exceptionally well, but he was elderly and we worried he’d soon retire.
We realized our mistake in hiring the young man, and decided to fire him.
He didn’t take it well and caused problems with our shipments.
We changed our routes to avoid him, but then we came to St. Kitts and ran into Captain Corsaire.
That was the beginning of the end.” Mr. Ashby ended there, though I knew there was more to be said.
Graham had been listening intently, nodding along as he took in the information. “So what did I do in our partnership?”
“You were our strategist, our solicitor without a law degree, and my best friend,” Mr. Ashby told him.
“We worked well together. I handled the finances and investments, and you worked with trade policies and shipping routes. We are both excellent at maintaining social harmony, so our employees were always treated well and there were few disagreements.”
“’Tis a shame it all went up in flames,” Graham said.
“Indeed. We were both ruined men by the time I left for Scotland.”
“I’ve been curious about that, too. Why did you go without me?” Graham’s question was slightly accusatory.
Mr. Ashby frowned an apology. I knew his guilt would always weigh on him.
“You told me to. We had a few crates to sell, and you insisted that you knew someone who would give us a fair price, but we had to wait for him. I had to get back to Scotland to speak with our investors and try to cut a deal. We sent letters but never heard back, so we had to return and speak to them directly. There was a ship leaving Basseterre immediately, so since I was the one who’d formed the relationships, you sent me ahead.
I assumed you’d catch the next ship and meet me there.
But then Miss Findlay read your letter and I knew you’d gone after Captain Corsaire.
And we know how that turned out.” Mr. Ashby sighed.
“Ye impulsive eejit,” he said in a Scottish accent.
I smirked at his humor, and Graham chuckled.
“That explains a lot.” Graham put a hand to his scar, the one that must have caused his memory loss.
“I wonder what I was thinking, going against those pirates. Whisper told me I had formed a gang of men, consisting of a U.S. Navy man and a few freed men who were ill-treated by the captain. It seems they were all killed. I feel guilty; I should have thought of others instead of my own vendetta.”
I frowned, saddened for him. “I’m certain you were seeking more than vengeance. You have a low tolerance for anything unjust or unfair.” I placed a hand on his shoulder. “You’re an honorable man.”
When he looked at me, I could have sworn I was seeing my Graham again. His eyes shone with gratitude and something like camaraderie. It was the closest thing to love I’d seen in his eyes since reuniting with him.
We arrived at the mission and went directly to the chapel. Mrs. Weiss was there with the children, already starting their project. “You came! Mrs. Bowers sent me a note early this morning, telling me you would. Children, here are our helpers!”
The ten or so children ran over to us with typical childlike excitement, wide eyes and bright smiles. “Slate!” many of them cheered, taking Graham’s hand and pulling him to the tables at the front of the chapel.
A few boys and girls came up to Mr. Ashby.
He had spent time at the mission the other day, so they knew him.
He greeted them with sweets from his pocket that I hadn’t realized he’d brought.
It was just the kind of thing I’d expect from Mr. Ashby.
He was extraordinarily thoughtful. He followed the children to the table, even though he was supposed to work on the ledgers.
Three little girls came up to me with curious eyes. “Who are you?” they asked.
I bent down. “My name is Elsie. And yours?”
“I’m Caroline,” one of them said. She was wearing a red dress and her hair was done up in little knots all over her head.