She seemed to know it, but, like always, she refrained from calling me out. That was not how proper society did things. All that mattered was one’s intentions, or their supposed intentions. Which was how Anna and I had become so good at pretense with one another.
She muttered something under her breath, and my lips itched to smile.
I added, “And might I comment on the view. The day isso brilliantly sunny, if you look hard enough, you might be able to make out the coast of France.”
“Indeed?” She shaded her eyes with her hand, then dropped it and stood still, peering out with critical focus for a moment longer. “I think you are toying with me.”
“I would not dare, Miss Lane.”
She crossed her arms, still staring hard in the distance, then Tabs called, “Anna, I’ve a spot just for you!”
I knew better than to ask if she’d saved one for me. But I followed anyway.
Anna sat down beside Tabs, facing the shore, and took a crumpet from the basket between them. She placed it on a plate, then spooned out a little raspberry jam from a jar. “This smells heavenly,” she said.
I took the opposite side of the blanket, sitting a healthy space apart from them.
“It’s my favorite,” Tabs said with a grin. Her two front teeth had come in with a wide gap between them that I hoped would never close, for it was very decidedly Tabs. She had a speckling of auburn freckles across her cheeks and over her nose. Seeing her wild curls so tame did something paternal to my heart that made my throat tighten. I’d been at school when she was born and missed her first few years of life. Now, every time I returned home from a business trip, she’d grown an inch.
“What do you think of the shore, Anna?” her little voice asked. For all the rotten things she’d done, especially the surprise she’d pulled on Anna this morning, I could forgive her anything when she spoke so sweetly. Especially because she asked the very question I wanted Anna to answer.
“It’s different,” Anna said, dapping a napkin at the crumbs on her lips. “Much rockier than I anticipated.”
“It’s better if you remove your shoes and stockings,” Tabs insisted, pulling her foot up and tugging at her shoe.
Blast.Here she goes.“No, Tabs. Let’s not today,” I said. Heat tinged my ears, and I hated it. I hated that Anna had forced this on us. Tabs did not understand the impropriety of the situation, nor would she easily be swayed against it, and I would look like a fool trying to stop her.
“But we always do,” she whined, continuing to take off one shoe, then the other.
“We have a guest. Let’s not today,” I repeated more firmly.
Anna reached for another crumpet, likely trying to give us a moment to find peace. These were the times when I realized that Tabs dearly needed a father, which was a role, as her brother, I could never adequately fill for her.
She was resolved. Stockings removed, she shifted to her knees, scowling. “I shall be quick, Graham. I want to show Anna how easy it is to walk with bare feet.”
I leaned toward her and said in a voice I hoped was both quiet and gentle, “Tabs, this is improper. Please sit back down, or I shall have the servants take you home. Miss Lane does not wish for such familiarity.”
“I’m sorry?” Anna sat up straighter and set aside her plate. “I doubtyouhave any idea what I wish, Mr. Everett.”
Tabs’s scowl eased. She looked Anna up and down, then mimicked her raised brow and crossed arms before facing me again. “Yes, indeed.”
Ugly, impolite words hovered on the tip of my tongue that I wished I could let free. Because of course, just to spite me, Anna Lanehadto oppose me. She had to getherway.
“You—” I started, but my voice was too cross.Keep her happy, Mr. Lane had said. I stretched out my neck, drawing in one calming breath, then tried again. “Of course, Miss Lane.” I waved a hand, dismissing my hold over the situation, my pride, my opinions, everything disagreeable. “Whatever you wish.”
Anna turned to Tabs. “I should love to watch you explore the shore. After I finish my crumpet and cake, perhaps I shall join you, and you can show me all that you have found.”
Tabs practically glowed. “You’ll join me?”
“In a bit, yes,” Anna said with a laugh.
“Watch me,” Tabs said as she stepped out on the rocks toward the shore. “You just have to have good balance.”
“I see that,” Anna called. “You are very, very good.”
I settled back down, working hard to calm my frustrations. What did Anna Lane know about hardship? I was on my own here, taking care of an entire family, trying to parent my littlest, wildest sister, and she thought a day out would solve Tabs’s blatant disregard for propriety?
Oh, how I wished I could loose my tongue and tell her exactly how wrong she was.
