Callie shook her head. “We were best friends. We rode and swam and got into mischief together. That’s different.”
“Was it?” Molly asked skeptically.
“It was,” Callie said firmly as she suppressed thoughts of several recent kisses that were very different from their childhood relationship. “And don’t question your elders!”
Molly laughed and they finished up the cleaning in silence. Sarah had already gone to bed, tired from the day, and so had Trey.
Callie said, “You look asleep on your feet, but I won’t rest until the men are home. Before you go to bed, will you help me move several of the tobacco barrels to make an alcove? I want to put my pallet there because I don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight and I don’t want to wake Sarah.”
“What about keeping me awake?” Molly said as she moved toward the tobacco barrels.
“Oh, I don’t mind if I ruin your sleep!” They both laughed, and once more Callie thought about how Molly was more like a little sister than a daughter.
It was easy to arrange barrels to create a U-shaped alcove that faced the balcony and the bay. Callie spread out the blankets as wide as they could go because she knew she’d be tossing and turning all night. And if she wept from shattered nerves, no one would hear.
Callie packed Molly off to bed, then took a lemonade and brandy out onto the balcony. The city had told residents to turn off all lights so as not to present targets to the enemy, which meant all was rain and darkness outside. They had two shielded lanterns that cast only a narrow band of light. One hung in the stairwell, the other sat inside on a table to guide the men when they returned.
It was a relief to hear the splash of oars, then the rasp of wood on wood as the sturdy rowboat pulled up to the pier. A minute or two passed, then a key grated in the lock of the street door below the balcony. That door was undamaged, so Henry must have had a skeleton key.
She heard the sounds of slow footsteps as two tired men climbed up to the apartment. As they entered, Josh muttered, “First thing tomorrow, I get this door fixed and give the one downstairs a better lock!”
She set her drink aside, collected the two small shots of brandy that she’d poured earlier, and met them at the door. “You’re both dripping like laundry just pulled from a tub,” she observed as Richard followed Josh inside.
“Feels like that, too. I could give a fish swimming lessons.” Josh covered a yawn. He’d brought up the lantern from the stairwell, carefully keeping the sliver of light turned away from the balcony.
Callie handed him a brandy. “Trey is asleep in your room. He wanted to give you the bed, but we bullied him into keeping it by pointing out that he’d been shot twice today so he might as well take advantage.”
“That boy!” Josh said affectionately. “No matter. I’ll be fine on the floor. Could sleep on rocks tonight.” He tossed off the brandy in one gulp and handed the glass back to Callie. “It surely has been a long day.”
“That it has.” There were pegs on the wall by the door, so Richard hung up his saturated hat and coat before accepting his drink.
“There are towels and dry clothes in the kitchen area,” she said. “Do you want to join me on the balcony to relax before you go to bed?”
“I’d like that.” His smile in the dim light was tired but peaceful. He took the second lamp and headed toward the kitchen.
Callie felt her way back to the balcony and folded her tired body into one of the chairs. A few minutes later, Richard settled into the chair on her left, lantern in one hand and in the other a tall glass that was probably a lemonade and brandy mixture like hers.
Though the noise of the rain drowned out most sounds, it felt natural to speak softly. She asked, “Your task went well?”
“Yes, we rowed out into the harbor and gave them to the sea in two different places. I don’t know how long until they’re found. Their deaths may or may not be associated with the fighting. I don’t think it matters.” He raised his glass toward the harbor and the fort that lay at the end. “There are more important things to worry about.”
“As Peter Carroll said, they deserved their fates. I don’t mind about those two, yet . . .” She hesitated as she searched for the right words. “I’m sad about Henry, who was the worst of them all. I despised him, but Matthew loved him.”
He reached out and took her hand. “Love can be very blind.”
They sipped in silence as the rain went from wild downpour to steady but more normal. After a last swallow of her lemonade, she set her empty glass on the floor by her chair. “I gather you intend to forge that very useful codicil to Matthew’s will?”
“Yes. Show me the old draft will and any other samples of his handwriting you have, and I should be able to create a document that will look convincing. It’s not as if there are other heirs standing by to take this to court.”
“True. And it really is what Matthew would have wanted. Justice, if not precisely the law. I like Peter’s perspective on this.”
“How are you feeling?” he asked. “I’ve had a long and tiring day, but all I did was travel to a battlefield to retrieve a friend, then dispose of a couple of dead villains. Your day was much worse.”
She tried to come up with a light warrior woman comment, but instead she began to shake. Gripping his hand like a lifeline in storm-tossed seas, she said raggedly, “I think this has been the worst day of my life. Worse than when we eloped and wrecked both our lives, worse than when the British burned my house and almost lynched me. Today, everyone I care deeply about was threatened. Trey was wounded and you and Josh could have been killed going after him. Then Henry came and . . .” She broke down, unable to speak.
He rose and lifted her in his arms, then sat down again with her in his lap. He tucked her head under his chin and stroked her back. “Those you love were violently threatened, and you had to kill. You have every right to have strong hysterics. Feel free to break china or throw yourself on the floor and pound your fists and heels.”
She wasn’t sure if it was his intention to make her laugh, but she did. “If I’m going to do that, better to throw myself down and pound the floor before I start breaking the china.”
