“Uptight?” I blew out a laugh. “You are one to talk.”
“I beg your pardon?” Anna’s brow creased in that familiar way, but her smile was new. Almost like she knew I was taunting her, and for once, she liked it.
I straightened, determined to play this new game she’d started. What could it hurt? Her father would never hear of it, as neither of us would ever tell him. And I was already solow in her opinion, I doubted I could fall much further no matter what I said.
“I have never seen you leave your house in any sort of disarray. Indeed, I hardly recognize you today.” I motioned to the whole of her.
“That is very rude,” Tabs chided me, and I could not help but laugh. She was right, but Anna had started it.
“I am quite at my leisure,Graham. You should try enjoying the view now and again instead of focusing on its investment potential.” Anna raised her haughty little nose in the air and turned away.
Tabs, the little devil, mimicked every motion, scoffing dramatically as she, too, turned away.
Lands above.
Anna was turning my own family against me. She drove me absolutely mad. One minute, she was still and quiet and beautiful, then the next she was irking me to no end. Uptight? I could relax, play, have a good time; Tabs knew it, too. I was not some titled or newly inherited well-to-do chap who dawdled about looking for the next round of entertainment. My family depended on me.
I sat on the rocks, set the bucket down, and wrestled with one of my boots. I’d show her how to have fun. I’d show the both of them.
One boot off, then the other. I threw them aside. Then I tugged off my stockings through muttered curses and threw them in the pile as well.
Anna and Tabs had left me behind, but all for the better. I rose to my feet, yanking an arm out of my coat. If they wanted me playful, I’d give them playful. I’d be as entertaining as any young buck strutting around London. Tossing mycoat aside, I navigated the familiar rocks with careful steps. I hurried up behind them, unexpected, then, for the last few measures, bolted into a run.
I caught Tabs around the waist, and she shrieked so loud the gulls took flight. I twisted her little body over my shoulder. “How’s this for playful, little sister?”
“Put medownat once!” Tabs hollered, pounding my back with her fists. But I could hear the laughter in her voice. The happy fear.
I laughed, stepping knee-deep into the frigid water. “Did you not say this morning how dearly you wished to sea bathe?” I tickled her sides, and she writhed, half laughing, half screeching.
“Anna, help!” she cried, and I turned.
Anna had her arms folded, her face aglow. “Your brother has gone mad,” she said, laughing. “It is the most fearsome sight I have ever beheld.”
“He won’t hurtyou. Save me, please!” Tabs called.
Anna looked happy. Wishful, almost. The sight of her so open, so rustled by the wind, made my breath catch and my heart pound in my ears. A reckless idea took hold of me. Poorly thought, I knew, but I wanted it. And when I wanted something ...
I whispered to Tabs, “I’ll let you free if you help me get her.”
“Deal,” she whispered back, breathless.
“What are you whispering about?” Anna asked. Slowly, she uncrossed her arms.
I understood her hesitation. We did not let down our walls with each other. This part of me, like her sea-drenched hems, was something new.
But instinct told me to try.
Just as slowly, I slid Tabs down my shoulder to the ground. “You go round to her back,” I whispered. “I’ll chase her straight on. On my mark.”
“What are you doing?” Anna started backing up, hands up in surrender, looking between me and Tabs. “Why did he let you go, Tabs?”
Tabs shrugged, grinning like a jackal as she rounded on Anna. “Dunno!”
When she’d moved far enough away, I shouted, “Now!” And Tabs took off.
Anna shrieked, struggling down the rocky shoreline.
Tabs with her nimble steps reached her in seconds, when I had only just begun to chase after them. “I have her!” she called, arms holding fast around Anna’s waist. “Get her, Graham!”
