Emma’s blush deepened because she was aware of the nickname the staff men used behind her back. They called her “the Sable Beauty.” She dismissed it because there were so few young women on the island, and she was the only unmarried lady. That, she believed, was why they had singled her out.
“I don’t have relationships here, you know,” she said, not sure why she felt compelled to tell him this. Perhaps she didn’t want him to think she welcomed attention or was a flirt or a tease. “I mostly keep to myself.”
He gazed out at the swirling gray ocean. “That’s probably wise.”
They stood for a while, occasionally stepping back from the constant procession of waves as the tide rolled in, until Emma decided the captain needed to look at something new. She needed the same.
“Come with me,” she said.
Without hesitation, he followed, and they walked westward until they reached a break in the dune.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“To the old, abandoned main station. It’s a bit of a walk, but there’s a lovely rose garden there.”
“Roses? Imported, I assume.”
“No, they’re native. You’d be amazed at what grows here. We have cranberries and blueberries. As for the rose garden, the story goes that one of the previous superintendents planted it for his daughter who was in a wheelchair.”
They walked at a brisk pace, their footsteps in perfect sync as they tramped across the complex network of sandy horse trails through the dense heath.
“What is that?” the captain asked, stopping and staring.
Emma stopped as well. “That’s the old superintendent’s residence. This is where the community lived at the turn of the century.”
“But it’s half-buried.”
She took in the abandoned house with weathered gray clapboards. It was slowly being swallowed up by enormous drifts of sand that now reached the second-story windows in the front. Only then did she realize what an incredible sight it must be for someone who came from far away.
“Yes,” she replied. “That’s why the station was moved farther east—because the dunes are constantly shifting. Nothing ever stays the same around here. We can go inside if you like. An old calendar still hangs on the wall. It was left as a historical record, I suppose, to mark the day when they finally gave up trying to fight Mother Nature.”
She led him to the back of the house, where the level of the encroaching dune was less aggressive. Drifts of sand covered the steps, but Emma and the captain were able to enter through the back door.
“Clearly it needs a good sweeping,” Emma said facetiously.
“It might be a bit late for that.” The captain wandered around the main floor and spotted the calendar. “I can imagine archaeologists coming here, centuries from now, with their shovels and whisks, uncovering all this.”
“We don’t have to wait centuries,” Emma said. “We find things constantly. A few months ago, we found a ship’s wheel. I don’t know what vessel it came from, but we guessed it dated back to the 1700s.”
The captain faced her. “Do you still have it?”
“No, we sent it to a museum in Halifax. It’s still there if you want to see it.”
“I might.” He turned and wandered deeper into another room, where the wallpaper was peeling. “This entire place feels like a museum.”
“Yes,” Emma replied. “Or a tomb. Some of the men say there are ghosts here, but I don’t think so. I find it quite peaceful, sheltered from the noise of the ocean. Lately I’ve been coming here to write in my journal.” She pointed. “I sit in that chair.”
He turned to her with interest. “What do you write about?”
A flush of heat reached her cheeks. “Oh, just silly things. My dreams and goals for the future.”
“That’s not silly,” he replied, and she was caught by the low timbre of his voice and the blue of his eyes, which were so exceptionally unique. He listened to her attentively and didn’t seem to think her childish at all.
Suddenly, Emma worried that he could sense how fast her heart was beating and how her emotions were skittering out of control. There was something quite thrilling about this man, something different from anything she’d ever experienced before. Heat coursed through her body, and she reveled in the sensation. It made her feel happy and reckless.
She forced herself to speak calmly. “Why don’t we go and see the rose garden?”
He gestured gallantly toward the door. “Lead the way and I’ll follow.”
