She wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead. Strange to imagine Harrison getting married, but they weren’t kids any longer. After all, she was nearly engaged. And the Archers were one of the oldest and wealthiest families in New York. Word of Harrison’s return and interest in finding a bride would cause a minor sensation.
“Please, Mads,” Harrison said. “You’re the only one I trust to help me find a wife who won’t make me miserable. You know me better than anyone else.”
“That may have been true three years ago, perhaps, but not now.”
“You’re wrong. I am the exact same person who beat you at croquet all those years.”
A surprised laugh tumbled out of her throat. “You lying liar! I beat you at croquet.”
His blue eyes twinkled with familiar mischief, a look she recognized from years of their escapades. “I don’t want to do this without you. Please, Maddie.”
Warmth blossomed in her chest and her resentment toward him softened. This is Harrison, your childhood friend. You’ve always helped each other.
Like that time she fell and skinned her knee, and he carried her all the way home on his back . . .
Or when his father had been so drunk and angry that she hid Harrison in her room for an entire day . . .
And how he willingly went along with all of her schemes and games, never complaining once . . .
How could she possibly refuse him one weekend in Newport with her friends?
“All right. I’ll speak with my mother and start forming a guest list.”
Leaning over the net, Harrison pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. “You’re the best. Thank you.”
It was nothing he hadn’t done a hundred times before, but Maddie’s stomach flipped for some inexplicable reason. She ignored the reaction and pointed to the house. “If we are finished, then I’ll go get cleaned up.”
Harrison tucked the racket under his arm, appearing extremely pleased with himself. “We shall leave you to it, then. Until Newport, Maddie.”
Chapter Two
Eleven Summers Ago
Eight weeks of freedom.
Soon. Very soon.
The carriage ride from the train station was excruciating, yet Harrison didn’t dare speak. He tried to hold still and not give his mother any reason to shout at him—or worse, confine him to his room. A summer away from his family depended on his good behavior.
The early June Rhode Island air wafted through the carriage windows as they rode, carrying the familiar smells of salt and sand. Flowers and sea grass. The ache behind his eyes began to recede, anticipation building like a crescendo in his veins. This was what he lived for, what kept him sane the rest of the year, these few weeks he spent outside of tutors and classes. Where there were no responsibilities and he could slip away, unnoticed, to see the other children. Swimming, sailing, riding . . . Newport was paradise compared to the grim confines of New York City.
As they turned along Bellevue Avenue, they passed the Websters’ new cottage. Mother sniffed and fanned herself. “That family is obscene. Look at them flaunting themselves.”
Harrison disagreed. The structure, completed just this year, looked like a castle, with its stone columns and massive iron gate. It had been named Chateau de Falaise, or Cliff Castle, because it overlooked the Cliff Walk. He couldn’t wait to see the inside. There were probably all kinds of hiding places and secret rooms. Maddie would show them to him.
He tapped his fingers on his knee, wishing he could jump out of the conveyance right there. The Websters were their neighbors in the city, and their only daughter, Maddie, was his good friend. He hadn’t seen her since she’d shown up at his house late one night in April, throwing pebbles at his window until he came out and talked to her.
There were lots of children hanging about in the Newport summers, but Maddie was his favorite. He didn’t know why, exactly, except that she liked all the same things he did. Plus, she never backed down from a challenge and competed as fiercely as anyone else. Even though she was younger than the group of boys Harrison had befriended, they were all fairly terrified of her.
Harrison wasn’t afraid of her, though. He thought she was the bravest, smartest and surest child he’d ever met. She listened to him, even when he complained about his family, and invited him to dinners with her parents, which sounded as if it would be awful but never was.
With Maddie around, the loneliness retreated. He felt accepted and understood. Normal. Happy.
One more turn and the carriage arrived at the Archer cottage. Harrison waited as patiently as possible while his mother descended, then he started to exit. Thomas pushed him back onto the seat. “Wait your turn, maggot,” his older brother snapped, and stepped down.
The rudeness didn’t bother Harrison, not today. He was about to escape anyone with the surname of Archer for eight weeks. They would see one another at the occasional dinner, when their mother wasn’t busy with her social engagements. Otherwise, he and Maddie would explore and run and swim until they were exhausted.
His feet crunched on the gravel as he walked toward the house. No one looked at him or offered a comment. His family went inside while the staff busied themselves with the bags, and Harrison glanced over his shoulder. He could be at Maddie’s new house in less than ten minutes, if he ran.
He was sprinting before his brain arrived at the decision.
His summer traveling suit chafed as he sprinted, but he didn’t stop. If Maddie was already down at the water, he would look ridiculous wearing a light wool suit. But it was too late.
The massive gates were open, the drive lined with carriages. Was Mrs. Webster entertaining? Hoping to go unnoticed, he slipped around the side of the house and around the back to peek. The view took his breath away. Blue as far as the eye could see, whitecaps flashing as the waves rolled toward shore. Sky that reached for miles, with clouds like cotton in the air. He stood and took it in, frozen.
“There you are!”
Blinking, he found her. Maddie. She was grinning from beneath a straw bonnet, the yellow ribbon tied under her chin. Freckles dotted her nose, proof that she’d already spent a fair amount of time outside. The restlessness in him quieted as he watched her approach, like a curtain coming down at the end of a play. Her presence meant he could finally relax. Finally breathe.
As if they’d seen each other yesterday, she grabbed his arm. “Come on. Mama is hosting a garden party and there is a cake with white icing that I have been dying to try.”
He allowed her to tug him across the lawn toward a row of hedges. “She let you attend a garden party?”
“Of course not. I am supposed to be inside with the dancing instructor. So we must steal the cake.”
They stopped behind the hedges and Maddie pointed. “Look at it. Tell me you don’t want a piece.”
Harrison peered through the branches and leaves and looked toward the dessert table. A three-tiered cake with strawberries on top lorded over the other desserts, its white icing gleaming in the sunlight. Two footmen hovered nearby, while tables of guests chatted under the enormous tent. Big silk hats layered with chiffon and ostrich feathers dotted the landscape.
The cake looked delicious and he was starving. He liked this idea. “I’ll wait until the footmen are called away,” he declared. “Then I will rush out there and take it.”