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All that summer Jared had heard the incessant complaints of Mrs. Wyndam—all of them directed toward her daughter. As for young Toby, she didn’t seem to be affected by anything her mother said. She stood in silence, keeping her eyes down, never challenging her mother. Jared had the impression the girl was immune to the woman’s harangues. Toby spent her days in the kitchen baking treats she carried out to the construction crew, or she was in the garden tending to the flowers.
It was in September, just before the Wyndams were to leave the island, that Jared saw Toby kneeling at one of the flower beds. She was crying.
He didn’t have to ask what was wrong, as he’d just heard her mother telling Barrett that Toby was “impossible,” that she wouldn’t go out with the son of some man who owned a yacht. Jared knew both father and son and he wouldn’t have let any female relative of his alone with either of them.
Jared put his roll of plans down and sat on the edge of a chaise longue. “What are you going to do to fix this?” There was no need for a preamble of explanation; they both knew what the problem was.
“What can I do?” Toby said, her voice angry, and it was the first time he’d seen any emotion in her. “I have no training for an actual job. I know that if I ran away my father would support me, but what kind of freedom is that?”
“Your garden is nice and I’ve seen how you create those big flower arrangements.”
“Great! I can put flowers together so they look quite pretty. Who’s going to pay for that?” She looked at him. “A florist?” she whispered.
“That would be my guess, and I happen to know one who could use some help for the winter. If you want to stay on Nantucket, that is.”
“Stay? Alone in this big house? So far f
rom town?”
“Do you clean up the kitchen after you use it? I’m asking because my cousin Lexie lives near Kingsley House and she’s looking for a new roommate. Her last one could only fry things and she never cleaned up after herself.”
For the first time Toby’s eyes had hope in them. “I scour, disinfect, and put lemon juice on the counters to make them smell good.”
Jared wrote on the back of one of his business cards. “This is my private cell number. If you think there’s any possibility that you’d take the house, let me know. But I can only hold off Lexie about twenty-four hours before she rents it to somebody else.”
For a moment, Jared hesitated. Was he making a wrong decision? He didn’t really know this girl and she seemed almost delicate. He’d seen her quietly and serenely take whatever her mother dished out. Lexie was a strong character, and Jared wasn’t sure Toby could stand up to her. And what if she was one of those girls who went wild the moment she was out from under her parents’ rule? Jared looked her up and down, trying to figure out what would happen.
At his look, Toby straightened her back. “Mr. Kingsley, do you have an alternative reason for this offer?”
At first he didn’t know what she meant, but her eyes let him know her meaning. Jared was used to women liking him, saying yes to him, but not this girl. She was putting him in his place flatly and without question. In that moment Jared saw how someone as fragile-looking as Toby could stand up to her mother. As he looked at her, he knew that if he’d ever had a little sister, she was it. She brought out something protective in him. “I only want to help, and you and Lexie will do fine.”
He glanced up to see her mother at the window, frowning, probably thinking that Jared was too close to Toby. He stood up. “If you want to do this, I’ll see that you get a job.”
He wanted to say but didn’t, If I have to hire you myself. “I’ll come back tomorrow at eleven and you can tell me your decision.”
“I think I’ll probably be waiting with my bags packed.”
“I’ll be sure to bring my truck.” Smiling, he walked away. The next morning she moved in with Lexie and he’d been looking after the two young women ever since.
“How does it feel to be a married man?” Toby asked him.
“Perfect. Where have you been tonight?” he asked as he twirled Toby about the dance floor. “I was going to search for you, but Lex threatened my life if I did. So what’s up?”
“Do you know that the man who walked me down the aisle is a prince?”
“Isn’t that name already taken?”
At first she didn’t know what he meant, then she understood and laughed. “No, he’s a real live honest-to-gosh prince who will someday be a king.”
Jared lowered her in a dip. “Since he and I are related, does that make me a duke? Or maybe I’m a prince too.”
“Prince of Fishes,” Toby said as he pulled her up. “He wants to stay on the island for a week and he needs some peace and privacy.”
“So nobody is to know he’s here? Won’t the flags on his line of cars give him away?”
“Jared! This is for real. Stop making jokes.”
He led her in a circle. “I’ve never heard you talk about a man like this. So what were you two doing when nobody could find you?” Jared’s protective instincts were coming to the fore.
