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It was as though the room around them began to spin. They were standing still, but everything around them was moving. Around and around, faster and faster. The lovely scents intensified, the music became louder and quicker, but all Toby cared about was the man who was kissing her. She never, never wanted to break apart!
“Garrett!” came a low voice that sounded like Rory’s. “Crack it down! The admiral is coming.”
“Tabitha!” came a loud voice that Toby would know anywhere. It was her mother. But that made no sense, as this summer they were on a cruise and not in Nantucket.
It was Graydon who pulled his lips away and tucked Toby’s face against his chest. She stood there, her eyes closed, his strong arms around her; she didn’t want to see what was going on. Obviously, their private dinner had been invaded by others. Her heart was pounding, her breath shallow. Even her stomach felt odd.
Graydon loosened his hold on her. “I think you should look at this.”
Toby did not want to open her eyes. Didn’t want to see who was intruding on their dinner. Their farewell meal.
Graydon put his hand under her chin to lift her face to his. “Trust me,” he whispered, then pulled back so she could see around her.
Glaring at the two of them was her mother. Toby was still stunned from Graydon’s kiss, her mind and heart filled with the sadness that was to come, so it took her a moment to register that the frowning woman was in a simple dress of dark green, a ribbon at its high waist.
Toby took a step back from Graydon and looked around her. They were back in the past! People were in a circle around them, some faces she knew, some she didn’t. There was Rory with his gold earring, standing by a tall, pretty woman whom Toby had only seen in photos. She was Danna. Parthenia and John Kendricks were there, and the beautiful Valentina was standing by Captain Caleb.
“We did it,” Toby whispered. All she could think was that they had another chance to save Tabby and Garrett. Stepping away from Graydon, she nearly ran to her mother and flung her arms around her. “I’m so very, very glad to see you!”
Lavinia Weber gave her daughter a cursory hug, then pushed her away, her face stern. “A woman in your condition needs to control herself.”
“My condition?” Toby said as she put her hand on her stomach. It wasn’t big but what curved out was very hard. It seemed that she was going to have a baby. She looked up in wonder at Graydon.
Smiling, his eyes warm, he took her hand in his. “Let’s go home.” He lowered his voice. “I have a piece of Japanese art I want to show you.”
“I love skin art!” she said as she tried to keep up with his pace. They were in Kingsley House and it looked like they were again at a wedding. Since there was a ring on her finger and life growing inside her, it was a few months after the first wedding they’d attended—their wedding.
When Graydon flung open the front door, a blast of cold, wet Nantucket autumn hit them. He paused for only seconds as he removed his jacket and put it around her. He took her hand in his and they hurried down the lane.
When he opened the door to BEYOND TIME, they were greeted by the sight of a teenage girl trying to control five rambunctious young children. One boy, about seven, seemed to be determined to pull the logs out of the fireplace.
“Out!” Graydon bellowed in a tone Toby had never heard him use before. “Take the children and go to the party. Feed them.”
“Captain Caleb said we are to stay here,” the girl said, her face almost frightened.
“My brother does not own this house. Now go!” He squinted at the boy at the fireplace. “I take it you are Young Thomas. Leave that fire alone.”
/> When the child looked up at Graydon/Garrett he seemed to be measuring how much he could get away with. He must have made a decision because he dropped the log and gave Garrett a defiant look. “Didn’t want it anyway.”
The children ran to the open front door, the two little girls taking the older girl’s hands. “Thank you,” she said to Garrett.
“Come on, Deborah!” Young Thomas yelled. “Let us go before the captain comes and paddles his little brother.” He gave Garrett a look of daring, then, laughing, ran down the lane toward Kingsley House.
Graydon shut the front door. “Looks like I’ve been demoted to ‘little brother.’ If this is what my own younger brother has had to endure from me, I must apologize to him.” When he looked back at Toby, his eyes changed from a man who was bellowing out orders to very warm to hot.
“Sir!” Toby said, her hand by her throat. “How dare you look at me like that! It’s as though you’re undressing me with your eyes.” She fanned herself with her hand. “I do believe the heat of your gaze is making me feel faint. I find I must retire to my bedchamber.” Demurely, she lifted her long skirt just inches, then started up the stairs. When she got a quarter of the way up, she turned and looked back at Graydon, who was still standing below.
“Oh, my,” Toby said, “I do believe my undergarment is falling.” Slowly, she began to pull her long, thin, nearly transparent skirt up until she revealed one slim, shapely leg encased in a white silk stocking that reached only to mid-thigh. It was tied with a very pretty blue garter.
As though she had all the time in the world, she retied the garter, then looked up at him with a small smile. “All done.”
Graydon hadn’t left the floor and the only sign he gave that he’d watched her were eyes so hot they looked to be on fire.
One second he was standing and the next he was running up the stairs. As he passed Toby, as a seeming afterthought, he wrapped his arm around her waist and kept going. “Oooooh” was all Toby could say as she held on to him as he carried her up the stairs and into the bedroom. Inside the room a fire was going, and even though this time there were no rose petals on the bed, she knew it was their room. All the decorations were things that she loved. From the upholstery to the pictures on the wall, to the little box on the pretty bedside table, it was all her taste. In the corner by the fireplace was a tall pair of boots that she knew belonged to Graydon. A heavy wool coat was slung across the back of a big wing chair.
Toby opened her mouth to say “I am home,” but in one movement Graydon put her down and covered her mouth with his. The first time they’d been together she’d had to coax him to not be so gentle. But not this time.
He didn’t bother with words or undressing. He slammed her against the bedroom wall and lifted her skirt. That’s when he found out that, this time, she’d gone pure Regency. She wore nothing under her petticoat, just lots of warm skin.
