“Fuck this.” John came charging at Gordon like a bull, hitting him in the chest and pushing him clear across the front hall, crashing into the small Hepplewhite table and sending the mirror on the wall crashing to the floor. The women screamed and they all retreated a step as Gordon and John kept throwing punches.
“Stop it!” Linnea shouted.
The two men threw punches and, gripping each other, crashed into the back of the sofa, falling over it and tumbling, locked together, as they wrestled each other to the floor. The coffee table wobbled, tossing all the glassware to the floor. The sound of crashing glass and the screams of the women brought Cooper into the fray. The two men were back on their feet, circling, when Cooper stepped between them, arms out, only to catch a punch in the chin from John. Anna screamed again as Cooper spun and crashed to the floor.
Gordon and John stopped fighting and stood panting, staring at Cooper.
“I’m sorry, man,” John gasped. “Never meant…” He bent over, grasping his knees.
Gordon wobbled back, then stood wide-legged, eyes on Cooper.
Linnea ran to her brother and crouched beside Anna to check on him. He had raised himself to a sitting position and was rubbing his jaw. He was going to have a nasty bruise.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Cooper said, sounding more embarrassed than hurt.
“You tosser,” Gordon said to John.
John’s fists formed again, but this time Linnea’s voice was heard.
“Stop it, both of you,” she shouted at the top of her lungs.
She looked at both men. John’s hair was plastered against his face, his T-shirt torn, blood dripping from his lip. Gordon stood a few feet away; he was going to have a black eye and his collared shirt was ripped open, missing buttons.
“Go home. Both of you.” Her shoulders slumped and she felt she was ready to slide to the floor. “I don’t want to see either of you. Please. Just leave.”
When neither of them moved, Pandora stepped forward and clapped her hands. “Okay, fellows. You heard the lady. Everybody out.”
Linnea walked to her bedroom and quietly closed the door.
* * *
A HOT SHOWER had never felt so comforting. Linnea stood under the steady stream of water, relishing the warmth. She spread lavender soap over her body, washing away the musty smell of the blanket and the haunting sight of Flo looking like some mad homeless woman. She emerged cleaner, calmer, but beyond exhausted. Wrapping her hair in a towel, she slipped into a nightgown and a thick terry robe. She went to sit on the bed with Luna in her lap, stroking her soft fur while staring out at the dark night.
A soft knock sounded on the door. She closed her eyes and released a long sigh. “Please just go away.”
“Linnea? It’s me. Pandora. I’ve brought you a nice hot cup of tea. It’s just what you need.”
“Are you alone?”
“Yes.”
“Come in.”
Pandora walked in carefully balancing a tray in her hands. She kicked the door shut behind her. Luna rose and growled at the intruder.
“Hush, Luna,” said Linnea. “It’s Pan.” She held Luna back so Pandora could set the tea tray on the bed.
“I didn’t know what kind you liked, so there’s hot water and a selection. And some honey and lemon.”
“Thank you.”
Pandora went to sit on the opposite side of the bed. Luna came trotting to her side, sniffing, allowing Pandora to pet her.
“Are they gone?” asked Linnea, tearing open the packet of chamomile tea.
“Oh, yes. Anna and Cooper cleaned up the broken glass. That mirror is a goner, I’m afraid.”
“Oh no,” Linnea said. “Cara won’t be happy.”
“I think you have bigger things to worry about than a mirror.”
“Not tonight.”
“Yes, tonight,” Pandora persisted.
Linnea looked at her questioningly. She was exhausted. Worried about Flo. She didn’t have the bandwidth.
“You had to know this was going to happen.”
Linnea let her head fall back against the pillows. “You think I wanted them to fight?”
“Linnea, you’ve been dangling those two men in the air for the past few months! Leading them both on.”
“Wait a minute,” Linnea said, feeling her anger rise. Luna, hearing her tone, hurried back to her side of the bed. “I have not.”
“Linnea, I’m your friend and I’m going to spell things out for you. I should’ve told you before.”
Linnea looked at her warily.
“It’s about Gordon.”
Linnea set her jaw. “You take a pretty strong interest in him.”
“I do,” Pandora admitted. “That shouldn’t come as a surprise. I liked him last summer. I’ve had a thing for him for years, as a matter of fact. You stole him from me, remember?”
“Oh, please! I didn’t steal him from you. He was never yours to begin with.”
“You never gave us the chance. You swooped in and made him fall in love with you.”
“You can’t make someone fall in love with you. It happens.”
“Look, Linnea, I’ve tried to be a good friend. Better than you were to me. I didn’t come on to him—”
“What?” Linnea said incredulously. “You’ve been hanging all over him. Flirting. ‘Gordon let’s do this, Gordon let’s go there.’ ”
A flush crept up Pandora’s cheeks. “Yes, I admit it. I’ve been going after him. Why not?” Her eyes flashed. “You’re dangling him like a cat playing with some mouse.”
“I’m not playing with his affection. We’re still trying to figure things out. He came here to see if we could make it work. What’s the rush? I’m hoping he’ll stay on beyond the summer. Maybe take a teaching job here. Any place would jump at the chance to have him. We just need time to see where this is going.”
“Hold on,” Pandora said, sitting back with a look of wonder on her face. “Do you think, for a moment, that Gordon would even consider moving to the United States? Permanently?”
“I know he loves Oxford. But it’s possible.”
Pandora looked at the ceiling, her lips tight together, and it seemed she was going through some kind of personal struggle. When she looked at Linnea again, her eyes were hard with decision. “You really don’t have any idea, do you?”
Linnea’s face went still. “About what?”
“Darling, there’s no possible way in the world that Gordon could leave England. His family is there. He has an important family.”
“I have an important family. An old one that means something in Charleston. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t move. I went to California.”
Pandora rolled her eyes. “I promised him I wouldn’t tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
Pandora ground her teeth.
“You have to tell me now.”
Pandora blurted out, “Gordon’s father is a peer of the realm.”
Linnea felt her stomach fall. “What?”
“He’s the only son of a viscount. When his father dies, he will be Lord Gordon Carr of Rochester.”