AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Giulia stepped into the carriage, taking the seat beside Mabel and smoothing down her skirts.
“Are you not going to sit beside Pippa?” Mabel asked, grinning. Why else would Pippa have acted as though the seat was taken?
“Good morning, ladies,” Mac said in the doorway, his slow smile causing her stomach to flip over. The way he tilted his head a little to see into the carriage, looking at her from under his eyelashes, sent a warmth through Mabel’s chest.
A chorus of good mornings met Mac and he ducked his head further, climbing inside. Pippa was all but bouncing on her seat, grinning up at the beast of a man. “We are going to finish our lessons today, yes?”
He smiled and creases formed at the sides of his lips. “What lessons are those?” His gaze flicked to Mabel before settling back on her sister. “You don’t mean the pirate…”
“No, not that,” Pippa said hurriedly. “I mean the skipping, Mac.”
“Oh, yes, the skipping. Well, I hate to disappoint you, Pippa, but the sea is not a great location for skipping rocks.”
Jutting out her lower lip, Pippa scowled, her eyes unfocused. Brightening, she turned back to him. “But you will still teach me?”
“Yes, I shall still teach you. Just not today.”
Satisfied, she leaned back in the seat. A shadow fell over the open doorway and Mr. Wright appeared, resting a hand on the door. “Is there room for one more sailor among you?”
“Of course,” Giulia said at once. “Pippa, move over, dear.”
Mac halted her. “You sit in the middle, Pippa.” He maneuvered around her until he was sitting across from Mabel, his knees pressing against hers. Her gaze rested there, where they touched, unsure of what she ought to do. This was entirely the opposite of creating space between Mac and herself. And blast her wretched heart, but she liked it.
The carriage rocked as Giulia crossed to the other side, squeezing beside Pippa. Mr. Wright claimed the seat beside Mabel. The door was closed by a servant and within moments they were rolling forward. Mabel looked out of the window at the tree line in the distance and the glimmer of the morning sun on the pond—anything to keep her mind from the man whose knees were pressing into hers, and the other one whose shoulder was brushing hers.
Why did men take up so much dratted space? Surely taking the tallest man and tallest woman and seating them across from one another was faulty planning. But—well, Mac had done it on purpose, hadn’t he? The moment the thought took root in her mind, Mabel looked at the man in question and found him regarding her thoughtfully, his eyebrows pulled together faintly and fingers drumming against his thigh.
Swallowing, she felt as though he pressed against her knees again, and she could not move her gaze from his, held captive as she was in his hazel eyes. It was out of her control.
And the way she felt about this man was entirely out of her control, as well.
* * *
Why had Mabel been avoiding him? If Wright hadn’t weaseled his way into their carriage, perhaps Mac could have found a way to ask her. As it was, she was entirely silent for the duration of the ride to the ocean, her eyes glued to the window for most of it, broken only by the occasional attempt at a conversation from Wright.
Was the man an idiot? By his third failed attempt at engaging Mabel in conversation, Wright should have known to cease trying. But he was not a man to give up, evidently, and the frustration showed on both his and Mabel’s faces.
“Do you think we will arrive soon?” Pippa asked wearily.
“Very soon,” Mac said. He had traveled this road twice since coming to Graton this summer and knew Camden Court was just around the bend, the sea just beyond that. He watched Mabel’s face as she looked out the window, eager for her reaction when she set eyes on the moss-covered stone house.
The occupants of the carriage swayed to the side as they rounded the bend, and Mabel turned to watch out the window. Mac’s gaze fastened on her lovely face; the gentle curve of her neck was milky white, and a loose curl danced along her skin, blowing in the slight breeze. He was faintly aware of Wright speaking to Giulia, but his attention was so wholly focused on Mabel, he could not tell what they were discussing, and neither did he care.
This was it. The house was just outside their window, down a tree-lined path overgrown and dripping with foliage.
Mabel’s eyes lit, her brows lifting so faintly Mac would have missed it had he not been watching for that very thing. Had she not seen this house before? Surely she’d been to Camden Cove. It was not a private beach by any means, but the path that led from the house down to the water was on Camden Court’s land. It could have been Mac’s land, but he would not allow himself to think on that.
Mabel’s breath hitched, her lips parting, and Mac’s chest warmed. Her gaze sought his and he stilled. Had he been pressing his knees to hers again? It wasn’t intentional, but he found himself doing it occasionally. What was he supposed to do, though? With legs as long as his, he was cramped in any carriage.
Clearing his throat, he turned to Pippa. “I believe we shall be seeing the ocean from that window in just a moment.”
She bounced on the seat again and Miss Pepper put out a staying hand, reminding Pippa to sit still. She was just a child, though. Mac didn’t see the harm in her eagerness. He had felt much the same way when he was a boy. The carriage pulled out from behind the overgrown trees and up a small rise, and the ocean appeared as though from thin air. A small volley of gasps sounded in the carriage.
“Oh, it is lovely,” Miss Pepper said. “It has been ages since I’ve been to the seaside.”
“Then we must make this a day to remember,” Wright said. “I admit to being partial to it myself. I could never tire from the view.”
“Nor I,” Mabel agreed. “There is something quite heavenly about the majesty of the ocean, is there not?”
