Her father examined the label on the brandy bottle. “Shall we have a drink to start the evening on a high note?”
“I’ll pour,” Emma offered, reaching for the bottle.
While the gentlemen gathered in the great room to discuss the weather and the latest wireless communications from the mainland, Emma moved into the kitchen. A moment later, she returned with a tray of four brandies in fine crystal snifters and settled in to join the men.
They were about to toast to good weather at last when a knock sounded at the door. Emma rose to answer it.
Outside on the steps stood Frank O’Reilly, the chief wireless operator.
“Hello, Frank,” she said.
He swiped his hat off his head and crumpled it in his hands. “Good evening, Emma. You look pretty tonight.”
“Thank you.” She stepped back. “Come in.”
He entered the foyer. “I have important news for your father.”
Without delay, she led him into the great room.
“I apologize for the interruption,” Frank said to the men.
“No need,” her father replied. “We’re about to devour a roast-chicken dinner. There must be enough for an extra plate, Emma?”
She smiled at Frank. “Of course. Will you join us?”
“I wouldn’t want to impose.” He studied her intently, searching for some additional form of encouragement, which she was not prepared to give.
“It’s no imposition,” her father insisted. “Have a seat, and Emma will fetch you a brandy.”
She took Frank’s hat and coat, hung them up, and went to the kitchen, but continued to listen to the men’s conversation in the great room.
“This must be important news,” her father said, “if you’ve come to deliver it in person. Did they find the crewmen?”
“Not yet,” Frank replied. “But theArgylewill be here the day after tomorrow to transfer everyone from theBelvedereto the mainland. Weather permitting, of course.”
Emma nearly lost her grip on the crystal snifter as the news jetted through her mind. She didn’t want to think about the captain leaving so soon.
Her father spoke warmly. “There. You see? I knew it would be no time at all before help arrived. We always take care of our guests at Sable. Cheers to that.”
Emma poured a glass of brandy for Frank, returned to the great room, and handed it to him.
He looked up at her with unabashed adoration. “Thank you, Emma.”
Emma couldn’t meet his gaze, or anyone else’s, especially after the news he’d brought. When she returned to her place on the sofa, she picked up her brandy and took a deep swig that burned her throat. Then she locked eyes with the captain. His eyebrows lifted a fraction, as if to communicate that he recognized Frank’s crush on her, and he remembered what she’d said about not wanting to encourage any of the young men on the island. He looked faintly amused.
Emma grinned, then had to look away before anyone took notice of this familiarity between them—and the fact that she felt drunk from something that had nothing to do with the brandy.
Conversations about theArgyleresumed, but Emma couldn’t escape her physical awareness of the captain, which brought a glut of unhappy thoughts about him leaving.Stop, Emma. He’s a married man.
“Emma?”
Her father’s voice ripped through her emotions. “Yes?”
“What do you think of that?”
“Of what?”
“A musical evening here tomorrow night. A party. For everyone.”
