“Darn!” he said with such feeling that Hallie couldn’t help but laugh, and he joined her.
But he didn’t begin to disrobe. Instead, he made his way to a chair and sat down heavily. “That’s better.” He smiled at her as she took the other seat. “I would like to start over. I’m James, generally called Jamie.” He held out his hand across the little table separating them.
“My name is Hyacinth, but thankfully I’m called Hallie.” When she shook his hand, his eyes seemed to be offering only friendship, and she was glad of it.
Leaning back in their chairs, they looked out at the garden.
“Isn’t Hyacinth the name of one of the original owners of the house?” he asked.
“Yes. My father had only a small box of papers about his family. He didn’t talk about them, but my mother found them in the attic of the house I grew up in. She saw the name Hyacinth and gave it to me.”
“And your mother’s name was Ruby, right?”
“No. She was Shelly’s mother,” Hallie said tightly.
“Sorry,” Jamie said. “I’m afraid I’m a bit confused about it all. I don’t know if Jared told you, but I exchanged some emails with a woman I thought was you. She said her mother was named Ruby and that Ruby had died when Hallie—or Shelly, I guess—was four.”
“Part of that’s correct. My mother died when I was four, but her name was Lauren.”
“My biological mother died when I was a baby,” Jamie said softly.
We have that in common, Hallie thought but didn’t say, and
for a few minutes the air was heavy between them. Shared tragedy did not make for happy conversation, she thought, and wanted to change the subject. “So where does that gate at the end lead?”
“I have no idea. I just got here last night and I slept late this morning. When I got up, I looked around a bit, then came out here to see the gym. I was just returning when Jared found me.”
“But I saw you with an older woman. You looked like friends.”
“That was Edith and we’d just met. She lives in the B&B next door, so the gate probably leads there. Her son and daughter-in-law run the place, but I think she visits here often.”
“Maybe she was a friend of Mr. Bell’s and misses him.”
“Could be, but she didn’t say so. Tell me exactly what your stepsister did.”
“No,” Hallie said. “I’d rather not go into that. I really would like to have a look at your knee. And from the way you’re holding your shoulders, I think you’re carrying a lot of tension. I’d like for you to get on the table and let me see what’s going on with your body.”
“As tempting as that sounds, I’m hungry and you must be starving. Did Montgomery feed you?”
“We ate on the plane.” Hallie watched as he awkwardly stood up. It looked like she wasn’t going to get him on the table today. His leg was encased in the heavy brace and she knew that the slightest movement of his knee without it would cause him intense pain.
“Let me help you,” she said.
“Gladly,” he answered. He stood on one foot while she got the crutches and helped him put them under his arms, and they began to walk back to the house.
“So tell me about your injury.”
“Skiing. Being stupid. Nothing unique.” He paused. “It’s going to take me a while to remember all the things I told Shelly and that you don’t know. My aunt Jilly is getting married here on Nantucket soon and Edith was telling me that my family has booked all the rooms of the B&B for that week.” He stopped on the walkway. “I have a lot of relatives and they’ll be all over this place. Hordes of them. Like fire ants covering their territory.” He looked at her. “If that idea horrifies you, let me know now and I’ll keep them out.”
“I don’t think it will bother me, but I’ve never had a large family so I don’t know for sure.”
“Okay, but when they get here, if at any time they’re too much for you, tell me and I’ll send them away.” Jamie looked around at the garden. In front of them was an enormous oak tree with an old bench under it. “What are you going to do with this place?”
“I haven’t had time to think about it. When I woke up this morning my only concern was getting some papers to my boss before he left for the weekend. It was my last assignment for him. Next week I was supposed to start a new job. Anyway, when the papers weren’t in my bag, I had to go back home to get them. Minutes later I was being told I owned a house on Nantucket and soon after that I was on a private jet.” She looked up at him. “Which I believe is owned by your family.”
“True,” he said, “but not by me. My dad believes kids should pay their own way.”
Hallie knew he meant to sound like an average guy, but not many people had their own private physical therapist. And from the healthy look of him, almost anyone could have helped him. His injury wasn’t unusual, and certainly not life threatening. She could see no reason for him to be isolated with a therapist. He could have stayed at home with his family and been driven to an hour-long session five times a week and he would have done well. “Why do you want to be here?” she asked. “Rehabilitation of your knee could be done anywhere. You don’t have to—”