“Everyone out!” Seth yelled, waiting until Drusilla, Annaliese, and Seraphina had flung themselves into the water before he tossed them floatation devices.
Thankfully, the floatation devices weren’t needed since they’d already made it to shallow water. And after turning to check on Rhenick and finding him and Seth in shallow water as well, using two buckets Seth had wisely included on the boat to douse the flames, Drusilla waded to shore. After stumbling her way onto the beach, she took a second to wring water from her skirt as Annaliese and Seraphina did the same beside her.
She gave her skirt a last wring and lifted her head, finding Seraphina smiling brightly back at her.
“What could you possibly be finding amusing at this particular moment?” she asked.
“I’m not smiling because I’m amused. I’m smiling because we finally have a moment to ourselves, and a moment I’m now going to encourage you to use wisely, and by wisely, I mean use it to explain to me exactly what it was that I interrupted between you and Rhenick.” Seraphina plopped down on the sand and patted the spot beside her. “You will also divulge, and in great detail if you please, if I interrupted something romantic in nature, which I’m convinced I did. Then, I’m hoping you’ll tell us that you’ve changed your stance about never wanting a gentleman to court you.”
Before Drusilla could muster up a response to any of that, Annaliese’s mouth went slightly agape as she dropped down beside Seraphina. “You believe my sister was engaged in something of a romantic nature?”
Seraphina nodded. “I do, but I didn’t personally see theromance, which is why I’m now waiting with bated breath for Drusilla to tell us everything.”
“It’s hardly proper for a lady to kiss and tell,” Drusilla heard pop out of her mouth before she could stop the words, words that left Annaliese gaping again and Seraphina looking rather smug.
“I knew it,” Seraphina exclaimed. “But how unfortunate that my evasive driving techniques interrupted you, especially if that came before the two of you declared your affections for each other.”
“There were no declarations of any affections” was all Drusilla could think to say to that.
Seraphina seemed to deflate on the spot. “And isn’t that simply a shame since the two of you make such an adorable couple.”
Drusilla took a seat on the sand beside Seraphina. “I don’t know why you’d think Rhenick and I make an adorable couple.”
“Please,” Seraphina returned with a wave of a sandy hand. “The man absolutely dotes on you, looks at you as if you’re the most beautiful woman in the world, and would give you the moon if you ask for it.” She smiled. “That is completely adorable behavior, and you cannot tell me that you’re immune to Rhenick’s charm, as you seem to always be smiling when you’re in his company, which is also adorable.”
“She does seem to be smiling a lot of late,” Annaliese agreed.
“She’d be smiling even more if she’d simply set aside her stubbornness and admit that her vow to never consider marriage was made in haste.”
“I’m sure you’d swear off any romantic encounters as well if you’d endured what I did at the hands of He Who Shall Not Be Named,” Drusilla muttered.
“Undoubtedly, but since you’ve now learned that all men are not like that dastardly scoundrel, and that there are men likeRhenick out there, who, again, adores you, don’t you think it might be time to reevaluate your stance on romance in general?”
Drusilla blew out a breath. “I suppose I’m not completely opposed to doing some reevaluating.”
“Excellent,” Seraphina exclaimed. “Just as it’s excellent that I get the distinct feeling that you, my dear Drusilla, might have enjoyed that kiss you admitted you shared with Rhenick. And, to point out the obvious, when a lady enjoys kissing a gentleman, that’s a sign there’s a budding romantic relationship on the horizon—and the near horizon, at that.”
Drusilla found she didn’t have an argument readily available to that because ... shehadenjoyed Rhenick’s kiss.
Truth be told, she enjoyed quite a bit about Rhenick these days, and thatwaspresenting her with quite the conundrum because shehadvowed she would never become involved with a gentleman again as she was determined to embrace a sense of independence.
The problem with her vow, though, and why she might need to reevaluate her decision, was this—Rhenick wasn’t like any gentleman she’d ever known.
Yes, he’d made a muck of their first encounter, but then, after they’d begun working together, he’d started to become her friend, and a friend who respected her opinion and didn’t expect, simply because he was a man, that his opinions were more valuable than hers.
Besides respecting her opinion, though, Rhenick was an enjoyable gentleman to spend company with. Conversations were never forced between them, and he had an easy manner that left people disclosing their problems to him, something she’d seen his sisters do on numerous occasions.
“You might not want to let Mother, when we retrieve her, or Wilhelmine either for that matter, learn about the kiss,” Annaliese said, pulling Drusilla from her thoughts. “They’ll be planning a wedding before you can stop them, and I don’tthink you’d stand a chance of protesting a wedding if Mother, Wilhelmine,andRhenick’s delightful sisters decide that the two of you share a mutual affection for each other, and not simply of the friendly sort.” She smiled. “And while I’m no expert when it comes to the matter of kissing, I’m relatively sure that most friends don’t kiss each other in a romantic fashion.”
Thankfully, before Drusilla had to come up with something to say to what hadn’t exactly been a mistaken opinion on her sister’s part, Rhenick and Seth came striding up to join them, their faces blackened from the smoke the fire had caused and their clothes soaking wet.
“We’re going to have to find another ride back because the motorboat isn’t going to stay seaworthy for long,” Seth said before he dropped the two large rucksacks he was carrying on the sand. “I managed to save the bag of weapons you brought, as well as my own.”
Annaliese tilted her head. “What type of weapons did you bring?”
“Just some prototypes I’ve been working on.” Seth rubbed a hand over his face, smearing soot in the process. “I included my latest invention, something I’m currently calling a flamethrower, which I think might come in handy because I’m sure it’ll stop everyone in their tracks once I fire it up, which will make rescuing your mother easier.”
Annaliese blinked. “And while a flamethrower sounds downright enticing, you might want to show some caution when wielding it, especially if we make it onto the yacht my mother’s money paid for. I’m sure Mother would love to be able to enjoy a few abduction-free rides on it after we rescue her before it goes up in flames.”
