For a moment Caleb closed his eyes in memory. They had all envied Leland so very much. Every man on Nantucket had tried to make the girls fall in love with him. They’d brought back gifts from their sailing voyages to far-off places, poems written on scrimshaw, busks made of ivory to slip into their corsets, buttons. The risks they’d taken to get recipes for the girls! Around Nantucket it became a saying, “What did you bring back for the Bell girls?” Their father made his daughters return silks and jewelry, but they were allowed to keep plants nurtured on long voyages, pretty pieces of china, and their favorite, recipes from foreign lands.
When the young men were home from their long voyages, they hung around the house constantly. The girls’ father used to run them off with an oar, threatening them. But it didn’t deter any of them. They were back again before daylight, with a new gift and a new hope.
But none of them came close to receiving that look of love. The girls were the same to all the men who visited. They were gracious, kind, generous. But there was no spark.
Until Leland Hartley arrived. He had come over from Boston, a young man who wanted time away from his blue-blood family, away from his endless studies. One of the Starbuck boys invited him to tea at the Bell house to meet the sisters. They were young and at the height of their beauty.
Caleb hadn’t been there that day, but he’d heard about it—as had everyone on the island. Hyacinth opened the door, smiling as always, and was introduced.
Then Juliana came into the room. She and Leland looked at each other and…Well, that was that. They were married six months later. A week after that…
Caleb didn’t want to think about the end of the story, of when he’d been told of their deaths. None of the Nantucketers could imagine the island without the Bell girls, and for days everyone was silent in grief.
Afterward, the girls’ father lived alone, willing himself to join his cherished daughters in Heaven. The garden became a mass of weeds and the house was always dark. As for Leland, Caleb was told that his deep sorrow had made him suicidal, and he’d been put under watch to prevent him from harming himself.
As Caleb watched the young couple, he could see Leland in the girl, and he couldn’t help marveling at how characteristics were passed down through the centuries. The way the girl moved her hands was like Leland. The tilt of her head was like him. Even her laugh sounded like his.
She was walking with a big, muscular young man on crutches, and their heads were very close together. He could hear quiet laughter between them. Like Leland and Juliana, he thought. They had eyes only for each other.
Oh, my poor, poor Juliana, Caleb thought. How it must hurt her to see this young woman who was so like the man she loved. Or did it make her feel good to see that he’d lived on in this pretty girl?
The couple were coming closer and even as absorbed in each other as they were, they’d soon see him and that would be embarrassing. He started to get up, but then that odious woman from the inn next door threw open the big red gates and came storming toward the couple. The gate slammed behind her, loud enough to be cannon fire.
The young man, Jamie, was a bit behind the girl so she didn’t see his reaction—but Caleb did. Jamie dropped to one knee, reached out to grab the girl, but then seemed to remember where he was and let his hand fall away. His action was something that Caleb had seen many, many times and he knew what caused it.
When the young man was using his crutches to get himself up, he saw Caleb sitting in the chair. Instantly, his face took on a look of aggression.
“Jamie!” Hallie called. She was with the angry woman. “Have you seen Edith today?”
He hardly turned around, but kept his eyes on Caleb. “No, I haven’t,” he said over his shoulder as he made his way to the older man. His face was glowering, menacing, even. “May I ask who you are and why you sneaked onto this property?”
“I’m Caleb Huntley,” he said, “and I shouldn’t have come unannounced. I apologize for my lack of manners.”
Jamie recovered himself, his face relaxed, and he sat down in the other chair. “Sorry for the…” He waved his hand, not knowing how to explain his actions, then nodded toward the older woman standing in front of the gate. “I take it you know who we are, but that’s Betty, and her mother-in-law, Edith, constantly runs away.”
“Do you blame her?” Caleb asked. They could hear the angry tone of Betty’s voice.
“Not at all. I think that even if Edith were here, we’d not tell on her. She sneaks us food from the inn, so we have these wonderful afternoon teas, or a lavish breakfast after an early workout.”
“Does she?” Caleb asked, smiling, his eyes sparkling as though from some mischief. “Does she still serve those little anise seed biscuits?”
“Oh, yeah. And cookies with bits of fruit buried in them. And fuzzy navel cupcakes.”
“From the 1960s,” Caleb said, nodding. “I remember them well. That recipe was from a woman trying to f
ind a man she’d met years before.”
“You mean someone who stayed at the inn?” Jamie asked.
Caleb was trying to think of a way to answer that when he saw Hallie coming toward them. He got up, introduced himself, and offered her his chair.
“I couldn’t take your seat,” she said to the very handsome older man.
“I’ll get a bench,” Jamie said and went into the gym.
Hallie sat down in his chair. “I’m sorry I didn’t greet you when you arrived, but Betty showed up and…” She shrugged.
“I’m afraid I came in through the gate behind your new gym. I was trespassing and I apologize. I haven’t been here in years and I wanted to see the place.”