Sadie's Secret: 3 (The Secret Lives of Will Tucker) (50 page)

Later that night, after breaking the news to her maid that she would be returning to Callum Plantation with Daddy and Uncle Penn, Sadie lay in bed trying to sleep but failing miserably. If she were back home in River Pointe, she might have rung for Julia to fetch her a glass of warm milk. Or perhaps she would have donned a wrapper and stepped out onto the balcony to take in the night air.

Because neither was possible on the vessel, Sadie tried again to fall asleep but could barely keep her eyes closed. Giving up, she lit the lamp, reached for her valise, and retrieved the first notebook her fingers touched.

As was her habit, she started at the beginning and read every line as if it were the first time she’d seen it, studying each statement to find connections between facts or persons. She had been at the exercise for almost an hour when she despaired of it and returned the notebook to its place and then shut off the light.

Because of the moonlight shimmering through the porthole, the room dimmed but did not darken completely. Sadie went to the porthole and opened it, hoping the sea breeze might coax her into a sound sleep.

Deep voices and deeper laughter drifted toward her from somewhere outside. Crewmen going about the disposition of their duties, she decided as the watch bells rang out.

The voices soon fell silent and then footsteps rang out in the passageway. A door closed somewhere nearby. And then she heard snatches of conversation again. Though the words were not clear, the origin of the voice was.

Daddy?

Sadie donned her wrapper and tiptoed to the door. Easing it open, she peered out into the darkened hallway and found it empty. The latch on the door next to hers moved, and she darted back inside, leaving just enough space open to spy on whoever might walk past.

Uncle Penn?

He moved swiftly down the corridor and then a door shut again. Braving a look in the direction in which her uncle had gone, she saw a light burning in the salon.

With a glance down at her wrapper, a decision was made. Sadie hurried back to her stateroom and did the best she could to tame her hair and then slip into a simple dress that would be suitable for a walk in the night air.

Not that she planned to go any farther than the end of the passageway. But when she reached the salon, she found it empty.

“This is odd,” she said under her breath.

“What’s odd?”

Sadie stifled a scream as she whirled and found Jefferson standing an arm’s length away. “You scared me,” she said as she gave him a playful swat on the arm.

He caught her wrist and held it. “Sadie,” he said softly, “what are you doing walking about at this time of night?”

“I couldn’t sleep.” The warmth of his palm against her arm distracted her, rendering her unwilling to continue the conversation.

“I have just the remedy.” He gestured to a chair near the starboard porthole. “Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be right back.”

He returned a few minutes later with a tray containing a teapot and two mugs as well as a plate of what appeared to be cookies and a sugar bowl. “I didn’t find milk, but I think we can manage without it.”

She smiled. “You Brits think tea is the remedy for everything.”

He looked up at her, seemingly astonished. “Isn’t it?” A moment later, he had skillfully poured a tasty cup of tea. “I am only half British, but I manage.”

“Duly noted. This is very good. What’s in it?”

“I have no idea. Something my mother discovered on one of her trips to India. It should have you wanting slumber in no time.”

She sipped at the tea and Jefferson did the same. After a moment, he set his cup aside and regarded her with a serious look.

“Did you deliver the news?”

“To my maid?” Sadie nodded. “She took it quite well, although I’m sure she was disappointed. She’s keen to travel, and I cannot blame her for that.”

“I suppose.” His eyes became thoughtful. “When I came in you were talking to yourself. Something you found odd? What was that?”

“Oh.” Sadie returned her cup to the tray. “I’m certain I heard my father talking in here, and I saw my uncle walk this way. But by the time I dressed and came in here, the room was empty.”

“So perhaps they went to bed?”

“It’s possible.” She sat back against the cushions. “But I never heard anyone go past my door, so I doubt it.”

Jefferson leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “Then they’re probably out on the deck. Shall we go and look for them, or are you more interested in finishing your tea?”

She shrugged. “I think I’d like to look for them. I have a feeling that something’s not right. I can’t exactly put my finger on it, but I would feel better if I investigated this just a little further.”

“I understand.”

Sadie studied him a moment. “Yes, I believe you do. You haven’t changed your mind about the person you investigated earlier, have you?”

“No.” He stood to reach across the distance between them and offer her his hand. “Shall we?”

Her fingers touched his palm, felt his hand envelope hers. And she smiled.

“I like that,” he said when they reached the corridor.

She slanted him a look. “Like what?”

“Your smile.”

Two words and yet she held them close to her heart as she followed him through the corridors and out into the evening air. Overhead the stars were a canopy of sparkling light that punctuated a clear black sky.

Though the lights of Key West blurred their brilliance at the edges, they lost none of their beauty above. And as they strolled to the opposite end of the schooner where the shadows were deep and the ocean lay vast and dark before them, the stars danced in tiny pinpricks on the rolling waves.

Sadie breathed in the warm salty air and let it out slowly as she looked around and found they were alone. Whether it was the tea or the beauty of her surroundings or merely the presence of the man beside her, she felt herself relax.

“I do so love the ocean,” she whispered.

He threaded her fingers with his and together they stood very still. “Sadie, look. A falling star.”

She saw the flash of light before it disappeared. “Just like the last time.”

They were quiet for a while. How long, Sadie couldn’t say.

And then Jefferson squeezed her hand. “We’re professionals, you and I.”

“Yes. Why?”

“I needed the reminder.” He turned to face her, his fingers still holding hers. “Because all I can think about is you.” He paused to allow his gaze to meet hers. “And not professionally.”

Nervousness caused her to smile when what she really wanted to do was flee. For she also felt the same way in his presence. Less like a seasoned detective and more like a giggling debutante.

She thought of the afternoon and the kiss under the mangroves. Of how his closeness in the darkened stateroom distracted her. Yes, that was why her face burned now, and not because of the sun.

“Sadie.” He released his grip to rest his palm on the small of her back, his free hand now tracing the curve of her jaw. “I don’t know what to do about you. About us.”

“Us?” she managed.

“Us.”

“There cannot be an ‘us,’ Jefferson,” she insisted, even as she looked into blue eyes that dared her to entertain the idea, even briefly. “Not while you and I are working on this case together.”

“So you’re saying you don’t feel this connection that has grown between us?”

Connection. Yes, that was a good word for it. For the beginning of what was a deep well of emotion she preferred not to acknowledge.

“There’s something there.” She paused. Where were the proper words? The witty statements she made with ease on a regular basis.

They had flown away, soared on the wings of her nerves as she stood too close to Jefferson Tucker.

“Yes, there is something there.” He sighed, and she almost did the same.

“We are two professionals with a case to solve. There cannot be an
us.”

“Of course there can,” he whispered against her ear. “Eventually.”

And then he kissed her.

Thirty-Eight

T
he next morning, Sadie said goodbye to Uncle Penn and Daddy and tried not to think about the kiss she had shared with Jefferson the night before. In the letter her father carried in his pocket, she had promised Mama she was traveling for the purposes of bringing to a close the case that the Pinkerton Agency was paying her to solve and for no other reason.

She emphasized this as the reason for sending Julia back. The truth, of course.

If Mama didn’t believe she was a Pinkerton agent, then perhaps Daddy or Uncle Penn could convince her. Failing that, she’d just let the woman stew until she could come home and have a proper discussion on the topic. After all, she had tried to tell her.

“Do take care, miss,” Julia said as she paused beside her. “Perhaps next time I can accompany you.”

Sadie took note of the girl’s mournful expression and offered what she hoped would be a reassuring smile. “I would like that very much, Julia. You’re quite a help, and I do appreciate you.”

“Thank you,” she said in a more hopeful tone as the captain beckoned her. “I look forward to that, then.”

Sadie watched the maid go and then offered her uncle a hug one more time before he set off in the same direction. After that it was Daddy’s turn.

“Take care of yourself, sunshine.”

“Good luck with Mama,” she whispered along with a reminder of how very much she loved him.

“The good Lord will take care of that,” he said as he stepped from her embrace.

“Yes, I believe He will.”

Sadie stood at the railing and waved as Daddy followed Uncle Penn and Captain Tucker and Julia down the gangplank and across the docks to the steamship
Montmartre,
which would be leaving shortly for Mobile and New Orleans. For, according to Daddy, Aunt Pearl had changed her mind about traveling to River Pointe and instead had asked that Penn would cease his journeys and return home.

Only when both men were completely out of sight did Sadie realize she never did figure out where they went last night. For that matter, she hadn’t even completed her search of the schooner.

It was a lapse in judgment that might have extracted a heavy cost had she made it while on an official investigation. The knowledge of this chilled her even as the thought of Jefferson’s kiss warmed her.

The reason for that mistake stepped up beside her and leaned his elbows on the rail, offering her a wide grin in the process. “Good morning.”

It was just a kiss.

She spared him a brief glance. “Good morning.”

A kiss stolen under the stars.

“Sleep well?”

She nodded. “Yes, thank you. The tea worked wonders.”

His smile was quick, warm. Her thoughts strayed to his lips. The stars.
Us.

Captain Tucker emerged from the crowd at the docks and waved in their direction. Jefferson responded in kind while Sadie offered a polite nod. Neither spoke until he had crossed the gangplank.

“Safely aboard the
Montmartre,”
he said to Sadie.

“Thank you.”