True Love (14 page)

She was looking at him as he drove, his scraggly beard and hair making him look older than the thirty-six she knew he was. “You sound like you’re in love with her.”

Jared smiled. “Everyone is in love with Toby. She’s very sweet.”

Alix looked out the window at the beautiful procession of houses on Main. The cobblestones were jolting the car so much that she had to hold on to the door handle. In spite of the beauty around her, she couldn’t help feeling deflated. Since the moment she first saw Jared Montgomery standing in his boat and smiling at some girl in shorts that were much too short, she’d been on a high. She’d assumed she was going to learn from him, work with him. And that night as she’d reread her poem, she’d even thought of having an affair with him. It would be something to tell her grandchildren. Those thoughts had driven her so that she forgot about her boyfriend dumping her and about her fear of spending a year alone where she knew no one.

But, gradually, everything she’d imagined had dropped down through the cracks. No talking of architecture to this illustrious man. And certainly no hanky-panky with him. He seemed to be attracted to her, but jumped away when her hand almost touched his. He probably had an unbreakable rule against students, but now he was melting into the seat at the mention of some very young girl named Toby—whom everyone loved.

“Are you always this quiet?” he asked. Before them was the glorious town of Nantucket, one divine building beside another. He halted at a stop sign and turned right. They went past a pretty little bookstore, then a magnificent church. It was a street full of houses, each one fascinating.

“It’s like going into the past,” she said. “I can see why you come here to escape. I think maybe my mother visited here, and maybe rather often.”

Jared looked at her quickly. Victoria had been coming to Nantucket every August since he was a kid. She was beautiful and fun and he’d loved every minute he spent with her. But he was well aware that her daughter didn’t know that she came to the island. “This is my place of privacy,” Victoria had often said. Caleb said, “This is where she steals her plots.” On the first day of every August, Aunt Addy handed Victoria one of the journals that had been written by the Kingsley women over the centuries. For the rest of the month, Victoria would spend the mornings reading the antiquated handwriting and making an outline for her next novel. She skipped the boring bits about how many quarts of pickles the women put up, and went right to the drama and excitement.

Victoria had never wanted anyone to know that she—as Caleb said—“stole” her plots, so she kept her visits to Nantucket a secret from her friends, her publishing house, and especially her daughter. But the secret was relative, as everyone on the island knew about it. For eleven months of the year, Kingsley House hosted Addy’s committee meetings and good works, but in August—while Alix stayed with her father—the house rang with music and dancing and laughter.

Jared came back to the present. “Here’s a bakery,” he said to Alix at the next stop sign, “and they do wedding cakes.”

“And Toby does flowers,” Alix said. “I’m going to talk to my friend Izzy, but I don’t think I’m going to stay. It’s just that …”

He waited for her to finish, but she didn’t. Great! he thought. If she doesn’t stay, everyone will be angry at
me
. His grandfather was convinced that Alix held some key to finding out what had happened to his precious, long lost Valentina. Ken wanted his daughter to assemble a portfolio of work. And Victoria was the worst. She called frequently and though she never came out and said so, he knew she wanted to see Aunt Addy’s own personal journals, which were hidden somewhere in the house.

Besides them, Lexie would give Jared hell for scaring Alix off, and even Toby would probably be sad. And no doubt every relative on the island would say that Jared had run her off because he wanted his house back.

Any way he looked at it, Alix leaving before the year was up was bad.

Alix was looking out the windshield as they went down the streets and around two English-style roundabouts, one of which was called a rotary. Wherever they went, she was amazed by the courtesy of the drivers. Jared motioned to any vehicle that was stuck on a side street to go ahead of him and all the drivers waved back their thanks. He stopped for all pedestrians, who also raised their hands in gratitude. Cars, people, bicycles, road-crossing critters, were all given spaces and all actions were acknowledged with courtesy and thanks.

They pulled into the parking lot of a pretty little building with a big doughnut above the door.
DOWNYFLAKE
was painted on it.

“Why’s it called that?”

“I have no idea,” Jared said. “You can ask Sue.”

He opened the door for her and they entered a homey-looking restaurant that Alix immediately liked. And she had her first glimpse of what it meant to have grown up on an island. Jared knew
everyone
. He said hello to the staff and to nearly every table full of people.

“Sit anywhere,” a pretty woman with a menu said.

“Thanks, Sue,” Jared answered and went left to a booth by the windows. He stopped to exchange greetings and comments about deer and boats and fish with a group of men sitting at a large round table, then took his place across from Alix.

“Sorry about that. I’ve been away for days and I needed to catch up. Hi, Sharon,” he said to a cute, tall, slim waitress.

“You get back last night?” she asked.

She had a lovely Irish accent and she handed Alix a menu as she poured coffee for him. Alix nodded yes for the coffee. When she left, Alix looked at the menu. “What’s good?”

“Everything.”

“I think I’ll have the blueberry pancakes and a couple of doughnuts.”

He turned, nodded to Sharon, and when she returned, Alix gave her order. Jared said nothing.

“You aren’t ordering?” Alix asked when the waitress left.

“I always get the same thing and they just bring it.”

“I can’t imagine living somewhere that a restaurant knows your order.”

He glanced out the window for a moment. “When I’m in New York, sometimes I get so homesick I think I’m going to evaporate.”

“What do you do then?”

“If at all possible I get on a plane and come home. Aunt Addy was always here and always up to something, and my—” He stopped talking. He’d been about to mention his grandfather—which was unusual, as that had been an unbroken taboo all his life.

But it was as though Alix read his mind. “Izzy said that Nantucket was one of the most haunted places on earth. Have you seen any ghosts? Or maybe Kingsley House is haunted.”

“Why do you ask?”

Alix was aware that he’d avoided answering her questions. “Odd things keep happening. Pictures falling off tables, fireplace soot coming down in a lump, that sort of thing. This morning I was trying to decide between a blue shirt and a peach one and the collar of the blue one moved.”

Jared knew his grandfather liked blue the best. “It’s a drafty old house. Have you heard the floors creak?”

He was still avoiding her questions. “No, but I think a man kissed me on the cheek.”

Jared didn’t smile. “Were you frightened?”

“Not at all. It was rather nice.” She started to say more but an older couple came by and wanted to say hello and how very sorry they were to hear of Addy’s passing. Alix drank her coffee and watched him as he smiled and talked. With his messy, graying beard and his
long hair, he looked tired. She’d followed his career enough to know that he was a hard worker. Sometimes it seemed that everyone in the U.S. who could afford it wanted a house designed by Jared Montgomery. There were at least four books about his work, and many others that contained photos. His work seemed to be featured in half the magazines on the stands. She’d often wondered if he ever slept.

It was odd to think of him as a person with a life, friends, and family. That he had a talent that was off the charts was just something that happened. He was supposed to stay on the island but he’d said he was leaving, and she had an idea that it was to get away from her and all the things she’d planned to ask him.

When the people left, he turned back to his coffee.

“Thank you for the flowers,” she said. “That was very thoughtful of you.”

“I shouldn’t have lied.”

“No, you should have. If you hadn’t, I would have bombarded you with questions. You don’t have to leave Nantucket. I promise I won’t bother you.” She’d said this earlier, but this time there was no resentment in her voice. “I won’t ask questions about designing, or about where you get your ideas. I won’t even ask how you came up with the Klondike building. Not while we’re on Nantucket. Here, you’ll be Kingsley to me, not the great and famous Jared Montgomery. But …” She smiled at him. “Off-island, all bets are off. Is that a deal?”

Jared gave her a weak smile, and he wasn’t sure what to reply. This morning he’d gone into the house early to have another look at the model of the chapel that she’d made. His business partner, Tim, had sent him yet another email saying he needed the design for the California house
now
! The movie couple wanted a Jared Montgomery design—not one from someone else in the firm, but from Jared personally.

This morning Jared had the idea of persuading the movie stars to build something designed by Alixandra Madsen. He’d tell them of
her father, who’d taught Jared everything he knew. He’d lay it on thick about how she was up and coming and they’d be the first to have one of her designs. And a private chapel secreted away on their big estate would be just the thing.

And giving Alix a commission would partially pay back Ken for all he’d done for Jared. “Pass it on.”

“What did you say?”

He didn’t realize he’d spoken aloud. “I was thinking about what a generous deal you’re offering. When I was a student I was insatiable for knowledge.” In between carousing, he thought. Away from home, all those long-legged college girls … Half of his designs had been done three hours before he had to present them.

He smiled at her. What he had to do now was to get Alix to show him her model so he could act surprised at the sight of it. He didn’t want her to think he’d been snooping—or that someone who didn’t exist had shown him her plan.

Their breakfast orders were put before them, scrambled eggs with spinach, bacon, and cheese, a toasted cranberry muffin on the side for him. Alix had pancakes rich with blueberries and a couple of chocolate-covered doughnuts.

As Jared started to eat, he thought that he needed to get her away from her thoughts of leaving. She needed a reason to stay on the island. “Did you know that weddings are a big business on Nantucket? Multimillion. I don’t know much about it, but I’m sure it wouldn’t be too difficult to make a wedding for your friend here.”

“And your girlfriend Toby could help?”

Jared smiled so broadly that the hairs on the back of Alix’s neck stood up. That lip of his! She looked away.

“Toby’s not my girlfriend. She’s out of my league. I’m much too …” He ran his hand over his beard as he searched for the right word. Earthy? Salty? Too male?

“Too old?” Alix asked.

Jared looked at her. “Old?”

“You said she was a kid. Twenty, wasn’t it?”

“She just turned twenty-two. Her father gave her a refrigerator for her birthday.”

“Oh!” Alix said. “Did he wrap it?”

This time Jared realized she was joking. “Knowing her dad, he probably filled it with hundred dollar bills—all of which Toby returned. She’s determined to support herself.”

“By raising flowers?”

“That and working in a florist shop. She can advise you about wedding flowers.”

Alix wasn’t sure if she greatly admired this young woman or hated her for making people fall in love with her.

“And of course, there’s always Valentina. You can find out about her.”

“What does she do for weddings? Cakes? Photography?” Alix wondered how many girlfriends he had on the island.

He was looking at her so intensely she felt like she’d been put under a microscope. “You weren’t told about Valentina?”

“It seems that I wasn’t told about a lot of things. My mother visits Nantucket and from the quantity of supplies in the cabinet in the green bedroom she’s been here many times. And then there’s
you
. It’s hard for me to believe that it’s an accident that I, a student of architecture, was put into a house owned by an American Living Legend.”

“A what?” He looked horrified.

“An American—”

“I heard you, but that’s absurd.”

She took her time chewing as she looked at him. “Is it my imagination that every time I ask you a direct question, such as about my mother or ghosts or even why I’m here, you change the subject?”

Jared almost choked as he held his laughter in. If no one had told him she was Victoria’s daughter, in that instant, he would have known. “Isn’t your mother that famous writer?”

“If you grew up on Nantucket and later ran home every chance you got, and my mother stayed here often enough to turn a room in your house into the Emerald City, then you
must
have met her.”

Jared picked up his coffee cup to hide his smile.

It was Alix’s turn to look at him with the intensity of a kestrel falcon homing in on its prey. “I know my mother arranged this year in Kingsley House, so what’s she after?”

“Mind if I have one of your doughnuts?”

“Help yourself. The big question is why you’re trying to give me so much to do that I don’t leave the island.”

“Hey, Jared, old man,” a male voice called.

“Saved!” Jared said under his breath.

“Ha! You’re not safe by any means.”

A young man who looked vaguely familiar came to the table. “I see you found him,” he said to Alix. “You don’t remember me, do you?”

Wes, where the sun sets, she remembered, but said, “North by northwest, isn’t that your name?”

He laughed. “How wonderful to be remembered by a beautiful woman. You and this old man aren’t a couple, are you?”

Alix was still smiling and out of the corner of her eye she could see Jared frowning. “Mr. Kingsley and me? No way.”