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Sebastian chuckled. “I wish she were my lady.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to retort, “It’s my money you want, not me.” But this wasn’t the time or the place for that, so Laura smiled instead and said nothing.
“Give my regards to your wife,” Sebastian said to the man. “And I should warn you tha
t Helen mentioned she needs a fresh supply of honey, so I expect she’ll be paying you a visit this weekend.”
“Home for the weekend, is she? The missus and I will look forward to seeing her.”
“They raise honey, do they?” Laura remarked idly after they had ridden past the cottage.
“The best in the Cotswolds,” Sebastian confirmed, then smiled wryly. “Or, as Helen would say, the finest from Frohme’s. She has a fondness for alliterative phrases.” After only the smallest break, he continued, “There’s a lovely stretch of river ahead of us. Shall we ride along it?”
“Sounds wonderful.” Both horses moved into a trot.
Tara sailed into the sunny breakfast room and cast a cheerful smile at the trio gathered around the table. She was dressed simply in a silk blouse and tan slacks, but it was the tasteful addition of jewelry that gave her the look of country elegance.
“Good morning, all.” she said in greeting.
Max had his face buried in the financial section of the London Times. He lowered it long enough to grunt a disinterested response, then snapped it back into place. Boone simply nodded.
Helen was the only one to offer an actual response. “Good morning. You slept well, I hope.”
“I did indeed.” Tara confirmed and sat down in the chair that the butler had readied for her. Immediately he shook out the folded napkin and placed it across her lap. “Don’t tell me I’m the last one up.”
“Not quite.” Finished with his breakfast, Boone picked up his coffee cup. “Laura isn’t down yet.”
“She isn’t?” Tara repeated in surprise. “How odd. I heard her stirring about long before I ever got out of bed.”
“I wonder where she is,” Boone mused, his forehead creasing with a slight frown.
“Didn’t you know?” Helen gave him a wide-eyed look of innocence. “She and Sebastian went riding this morning.”
“No, I didn’t know,” he replied, his mouth tightening with displeasure.
Max lowered the newspaper to glare at Tara. “Didn’t you have a talk with her last night?”
“Yes, I—”
Boone never gave her an opportunity to complete her sentence as he turned his hard gaze on Helen. “How long have they been gone?”
“Perhaps a half to three-quarters of an hour. Wouldn’t you say, Grizwold?” She looked to the butler for confirmation.
“About that, yes ma’am.”
“Where would they have gone?” Boone pressed for more information.
“I expect Sebastian would have probably taken her riding over the countryside.” Helen buttered a slice of toast and lifted a curious glance to him. “Why? Were you thinking of joining them?” She instantly followed that question with another. “Do you ride? Of course you do,” she said, shaking her head in self-reproach. “For a minute I had forgotten you have a ranch in Texas. I’m surprised Sebastian didn’t ask you to join them.”
“I’m not,” Boone countered in a flat, hard voice.
“That oversight is easily rectified,” Helen assured him, a pleasant smile curving her lips. “If you like, I can take you riding.”
“Do you think we could find Laura and your brother?” he challenged.
Helen paused a moment to consider the matter. “Springtime rather limits the routes he can take. Farmers take a dim view of riders galloping across the crop fields,” she explained. “I should say it’s likely we would come across them somewhere.”
“Good.” Boone removed the napkin from his lap and laid it on the table and pushed his chair back. “Let’s go, then.”
