Sadie's Secret: 3 (The Secret Lives of Will Tucker) (26 page)

T
hursday evening came before Sadie was ready for it. Despite her prayers to the contrary, Gabriel arrived right on time and seemed ready to give her more than her fair share of his attention.

Mama kept her dinner conversation light and decidedly away from any hint of matchmaking. Sadie gave thanks for that, although her nerves were still stretched taut after the conversation with her uncle earlier that afternoon.

As the time came to join Gabriel on the walk she had promised, Sadie was more than ready to bolt from the confines of the dining room in favor of the more expansive outdoors. Her mother, however, appeared ready to linger.

“Since Gabe was raised on the property, you should show him all the new things Daddy has been working on in his absence,” Ethan said. “Or I can, if you’d prefer, Gabe.”

“No,” Mama and Gabriel said in unison.

“You have things to do, Ethan,” Mama said, her smile never slipping as she set her napkin aside and stood.

“I don’t, actually.” Ethan trailed Sadie and Gabriel out of the dining room and into the foyer. “And I do not mind.”

“Then come along,” Sadie said casually as she moved to open the front door. She would owe Ethan a debt of gratitude for this, something she had no doubt he would eventually come to collect.

“Ethan,” Daddy called, “I believe you were going to show me your new idea for the evaporator. Now’s as good a time as any, don’t you think?”

Her brother shrugged. “I suppose I ought to take advantage of the opportunity. You’ll have to manage this stroll without me.”

Sadie smiled, although her disappointment rose. With Ethan as entertainment, she might not have been called on to make polite conversation with Gabriel. And tonight she had too much on her mind to consider polite conversation with anyone, least of all the man who had spied her in disguise two days ago.

Sauntering out into the late afternoon sunshine with what she hoped would be a casual expression, Sadie inhaled deeply of fresh Louisiana air and then exhaled slowly. She never tired of the view from the porch, of the stately avenue of trees that swayed in the gentle breeze off the river.

A bell clanged, announcing a steamboat passing by, and Sadie looked over in that direction. The vegetation had grown too thick to allow for an unobstructed view of the river from her vantage point, but she could see the pair of smokestacks and the string of words indicating the name of the vessel above the tree line.

For a moment she thought of the last time she had stood and watched the river go by. With Jefferson Tucker.

Gabriel stepped between her and the river’s view and offered his arm. “Shall we?”

“Yes, of course,” she said as she stepped away to walk down to the lawn.

The evening was warm for early May, and the breeze was just light enough to allow for no need of a shawl. She chose their path, taking the lead as they strolled down the avenue beneath the oaks.

“I always wondered how these trees got so big so quickly,” Gabriel said when Sadie paused to look back at the house perfectly framed in the distance.

“Surely you have heard the story.”

He shook his head. “No. Or if I did I’ve forgotten.”

Sadie shrugged. “The trees were planted some thirty years prior to constructing the house,” she said. “Apparently, the property’s previous owner envisioned a home there someday, but unfortunately he did not live to see it built.”

Sadie said the words by rote, the story behind the Callum home committed to memory after years of hearing it repeated on far too many occasions. Interesting as it was that Seamus managed to build a monument to Mama on the very spot where another man had hoped to do exactly the same thing for the woman he loved, the story had lost its luster in the retelling.

The steamboat bell rang again, sending her attention to the river and the conversation held upstream of these same waters that afternoon in New Orleans. For all the reasons stacked against the plan she and Henry had formulated, it was so far out of the realm of possibility that it just might work.

“All these years of playing all over this property with your brothers, and I feel as though I am only just seeing it.” He reached to take her hand. “Very much the same way I feel about you, Sadie.”

She tore her attention from the avenue to the man standing beside her. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

Frustration etched his handsome features and then quickly disappeared to reveal a smile. “You weren’t paying a bit of attention to me, were you?”

“I was. Mostly.”

“Mostly?”

“Forgive me,” she said, and she meant it. “I’m just distracted this evening.”

“Unlike our last conversation.” His statement, casually made, belied the serious look he slanted down at her through the dappled shade.

“That conversation never happened.” She paused to look up into eyes so different than she recalled. “Remember?”

Whatever she’d seen was now gone as Gabriel ducked his head and then looked up with a grin. “Do you still read those stuffy books on the arts, Sadie?”

“I’ll ignore that.”

“I will take that as a yes.”

She caught sight of two figures walking in the distance. Daddy and Ethan, heading for the sugar mill. The way Ethan’s hands were gesturing and Daddy’s head was nodding, it appeared the conversation between the two was going well.

It did her heart good to see that her father was actually taking an
interest in the changes her brother was suggesting. Or at least he was finally willing to listen.

“Sadie, where are you?”

Gabriel stepped into her line of sight, obscuring her view. “You look every bit as deep in thought as you did the other afternoon in New Orleans.”

Her eyes narrowed. Would Gabe ever let the matter rest?

“And you seem insistent on bringing up an event we had agreed we would not discuss.”

Sadie took measure of him, judging his expression and the way he stood. Confidence and something else. Not amusement, despite the hint of a smile on his face. But what?

Was he offering torment in the form of good-natured jesting? No matter. She would put an end to the conversation or leave him to stroll the gardens alone.

And though the former was the better choice, the latter had great appeal.

“Gabriel Trahan,” she said with the full force of her Pinkerton training. “I welcome any questions from you on what you saw. Ask away, but when you’ve been answered, I will require that you never bring up the topic again.”

Her assertiveness must have caught him off guard, for his smile slipped. A moment later it was back in place.

“No questions at all. You wished for privacy,” he said with the nonchalance of a man suddenly captivated by something off in the distance.

“And you aren’t curious as to why I resorted to a disguise?”

“No, of course not. A woman of your beauty and social standing must find it difficult…”

Gabriel’s words slowed to a halt as whatever captivated him took precedence. She looked behind her to see what had interested him and found nothing more than the sight of a carriage coming up the road.

“Expecting visitors?” he asked, his attention on the approaching conveyance.

“No, but that doesn’t mean someone else isn’t.” She turned her back on the carriage and resumed her walk. If Gabriel wanted to greet the guest, he could do it without her.

Veering off toward the river and the bench where she and Uncle Penn had sat earlier in the day, Sadie contemplated her uncle’s advice. She did find Gabriel disconcerting, not a quality that would endear him to her beyond maintaining their tenuous link to shared childhoods.

He followed, finally, and arrived at the bench with the news that the carriage had apparently come to retrieve Penn. She found it odd that Gabe would care about the comings and goings of her uncle.

No, disconcerting. She turned her attention to the river, where a few logs were slipping by, buoyed by the downstream current. With the motion of the tide came thoughts of the case notes she would be studying again as soon as she could get upstairs alone.

Her mind reeled with the possibilities of what the merging of the Tucker and Astor cases might bring. While she was glad she didn’t have to seek out the missing Tucker to apprehend him, managing some sort of arrangement with—

“All right, I admit it. What happened in New Orleans is still on my mind,” Gabriel said abruptly. “I am curious.”

It took Sadie a moment to return her rambling thoughts to some semblance of order. “I have secrets,” she said crossly. “Is that what you’re thinking?”

“That is how things appeared, yes.”

“And yet a few minutes ago you weren’t concerned at all.”

Before he could respond, she held up her hand and then stood, her attention still focused on the river. “Forgive me,” she said in what she hoped would be a gentle tone. “It’s just that I’m a bit confused about your interest in my activities and why you can’t seem to let what happened go. You were offered a chance to ask questions, and you declined. You promised to never mention it, and you can’t seem to manage that.”

She turned to face him, her arms crossed over her midsection. Gabriel first appeared to be stunned, but then, by degrees, the corners of his lips turned up to reveal he was apparently amused. This only fueled her irritation.

“Go ahead and smile,” she snapped. “But you will do it without an audience.”

“Wait, Sadie,” he hurried to say. “I’m sorry, though I fail to understand what is so confusing. I’ve had an interest in your activities since we were children. Are you only just noticing this?”

Apparently he wanted an answer. She had none. Nor did she have any recollection of him treating her differently from anyone else when they were young.

His expression sobered as he rose. “I meant no harm. I just thought we might renew our acquaintance now that we’ve both returned to River Pointe, and your parents seemed to believe…”

He looked away, his voice trailing off as she saw he was sincere. Sadie’s anger evaporated.

“My parents mean well,” she said gently. “However, they have conveniently ignored the fact that I am a grown woman, and as such am fully capable of making certain decisions for myself.”

She paused only a moment. “Among those decisions would be the choice of whom to wed.” She allowed another pause as he lifted his gaze to meet hers. “And when.”

“Perhaps I should go.” He turned toward the house and began walking in that direction.

Hurting him had not been her intention. She hurried to catch up to him.

“Yes, you should,” she said as she slanted him a sideways glance. “But only because I’m awful company this evening.”

His steps faltered as he looked down at her. She could almost read his thoughts as he tried to make sense of her comment.

Sadie quirked her brow to lighten the mood, even as she pretended serious concern. For although Gabriel likely did not realize he had interfered in a Pinkerton meeting of grave importance, he had spotted her in a situation she did not wish for him to repeat. There was nothing to gain and everything to lose by allowing him to leave in his current state.

“I am blaming myself,” she said. “Now it appears we are at an impasse.”

“I don’t follow.”

“It’s simple. Will you forgive me my lapse into impolite behavior or
not? If not, I fear my matchmaking parents will require an explanation. They despair of me even as they not so subtly hunt for a suitable match for me, hence the need to go out in disguise on occasion.”

“Ah, well. Things are beginning to make sense, although I cannot imagine how anyone would despair of you.”

“I am difficult at times.” That was the truth and she knew it.

He chuckled, an indication she had soothed over his rumpled feelings. “You forget I’ve known you long enough to recall that Sadie as well as the one who is very sweet.”

“I miss Sweet Sadie. She was lovely.” Again, the truth, although there would be no return to the naive girl she had been all those years ago.

Gabriel offered his arm and she took it. Together they set off for the house, likely much to the delight of her mother who was unsuccessfully attempting to hide while watching them from an upstairs window.

“I suppose you know we’re being observed,” she said.

He nodded. “You may not have noticed that Brent is pretending to exercise his mare in the pasture over there, and yet he has been sitting still astride the horse for some ten minutes.”

She cut her eyes in the direction of the pasture. Indeed, Brent was in the saddle, reins in hand and not budging. When she waved, he pretended not to see as he dug in and sent the mare racing away from the fence.

In the process, she spied Cade standing beside the smokehouse a few yards beyond the house. Nudging Gabriel, she watched as he did the same and waved. Cade responded with a nod and then ducked inside the outbuilding.

“You have three other brothers and a father. I wonder where they are. Or do they take turns?”

“I apologize. On those occasions when I fail to remind myself how much my family loves me, I get a bit perturbed at being unable to move about without observation.”