St. Claire Island, West Indies
October 9, 1820
Though the journey had been quick and uneventful, Hunt was glad to set foot on solid ground again. He had a full list of things to do today—buy a horse, call on Governor Bascombe, rent a room at the local inn and meet his contact—but first he needed to take the lay of the land.
He shrugged out of his woolen jacket and draped it over his arm. The first thing that struck him as he walked the streets of San Marco was how truly international the town had become. A mixture of languages and accents buzzed around him as he strolled the cobbled streets.
He found an inn, several taverns, chandlers, locksmiths, haberdashers and greengrocers. Midway down Broad Street, he spied a tidy stone building with a divided door—the top half open to admit the morning breeze—and a wide front window with Pâtisserie lettered in black script. At the bottom of the window, in smaller letters, was the information, Mrs. Hobbs, Proprietress. A baker’s rack stood in the window to display a stunning array of pastries and breads.
This would be a good place to start. Bakeries, as much as taverns, were often the hub of gossip and news. He’d once uncovered a pickpocket operation being run out of a bakery in Cheapside. He opened the lower half of the door and entered, setting the shop bell a-jingle. A mouthwatering smell wafted from the back and, along with the sound of feminine laughter, enticed him.
A woman, using a towel to protect her hands from burning, carried a tray of biscuits from the back room. The task had her complete attention as she slid the pan onto the counter, and Hunt used the moment to study her.
Mouthwatering. Yes. Exactly. Sleek brown hair that fell halfway down her back and glinted streaks of sun was tied at her nape with a green ribbon. Her figure was neither thin nor stout, but definitely voluptuous, and a soft smile lifted the corners of those full rose-tinted lips. She was somewhere in her midtwenties, a head shorter than he and, when she turned toward him, he was stunned by the deep green eyes that rivaled her hair ribbon. Her features were a study in perfect symmetry. Greek sculptors would have done mayhem to carve her likeness.
A blush stole up her cheeks, a sure sign she had noticed his interest. “Is there something I can do for you?” she asked as she wiped her hands on a crisp apron. “I’m Mrs. Hobbs.”
Yes. Dear God, at least a dozen things she could do for him, and several she was doing at this very moment without even trying. Even her voice raised the fine hairs on his arms.
“Sir?”
“Oh, sorry,” he said. “I’ve come for something sweet.”
She smiled again, but this time his heart bumped. Then she glanced away, almost as if she were afraid to look at him too long. “Sweet? Well, then, we have cherry and blueberry tarts, buns with cinnamon and raisins, sweet biscuits, lemon and ginger biscuits and, if you care to wait, biscuits with a wee bit of chocolate. Oh, and pineapple cakes.”
While he was still mulling over his choices, another woman peeked out from the back room. Shorter, plumper and younger than Mrs. Hobbs, this woman was almost as lovely. He had the sudden notion that the wares at Pâtisserie could taste like chalk and the bakery would still do a brisk business.
As if sensing his thoughts, Mrs. Hobbs lifted a biscuit off the tray with a spatula and held it out to him. “Compliments of Pâtisserie, sir.” She turned her attention to the woman in the back room. “Do you need something, Mrs. Breton?” she asked.
“I just came to see if we have shelf space up front.” She glanced at the baker’s rack in the window and nodded. With a shy glance in Hunt’s direction, she disappeared again.
He took the offered biscuit, still warm from the oven, and shifted it from one hand to the other until it cooled enough to eat. The first bite convinced him that he was in heaven. He watched Mrs. Hobbs’s reaction as he ate the delicacy. Her lips parted ever so slightly and her chin lifted a fraction of an inch as if tilting upward to receive a kiss. Oh, would that he could! But, no. She was waiting for his verdict.
“Delectable,” he pronounced. “Make that a dozen biscuits, Mrs. Hobbs.”
She blinked and nodded, the spell broken. Turning again, she ripped a length of brown paper off a roll, placed the biscuits in the center and tied the package with a length of French blue ribbon.
Mrs. Hobbs took his crown and opened a drawer beneath the counter. “I fear my change is limited. Do you have anything smaller, sir?”
Actually, to his embarrassment, he had something growing larger by the minute. “Sorry, Mrs. Hobbs. Keep the change.”
“Oh, no. That is excessive, sir.”
The gleam of a gold band on her left hand caught his attention as she withdrew every coin in her till. Of course. Mrs. Hobbs. Damn the luck. The most charming shopgirl he’d ever seen, and she was unavailable.
She held her hand out with the change from the till. “Is there anything else I can get you?”
“Not at the moment, Mrs. Hobbs.”
When her eyes met his, she shivered, dropped the coins in his palm and broke the contact. “I shall get change, sir. If you will come back later, I will have it for you.”
Chains and an anchor wouldn’t keep him away. “Count on it, Mrs. Hobbs.”
Hannah Breton elbowed Daphne in the ribs as they craned their heads out the half door to watch the tall stranger walk back down Broad Street. “You’ve brought another visitor low with your charms, Daphne.”
She’d brought him low? She rather thought it was the other way around. It was a rare occurrence, indeed, when a man could so take her by surprise that she could not think. She must have looked an absolute fool.
“You should have mentioned you are a widow,” Hannah continued.
“Even if I were interested—which I am not—he did not even bother to introduce himself. Besides, I do not want a man.”
“And a crying shame, if you ask me,” Hannah teased. “You use that gold ring to keep them away. When are you going to take it off? There’s certainly no shortage of men for a woman like you.” Hannah sighed, then glanced back down the street. “But not many with eyes that blue.”
Not blue. Deep, deep periwinkle. Almost violet. And it should be a crime for a man to have lashes so dark and long.
But his eyes hadn’t been his best feature. No, that would be his smile. Sensual lips drew back to reveal straight, even teeth and a tiny dimple in his left cheek. Almost boyish, and completely charming. Daphne always noted a man’s smile—or the lack of it. Men who did not smile made her very nervous. She always suspected them of an ill nature.
Hannah chuckled and nudged her with an elbow. “There, that little sigh gave you away. And if you do not want a husband, who’s to say you cannot take a lover? You’re alone, after all.”
She shivered. Impossible! For so many reasons. And she’d never even been tempted before looking into those amazing eyes.
When she’d seen the Gulf Stream in the harbor this morning, she knew there would be strangers in San Marco—and she knew they’d be gone soon. The dark, compelling stranger was no exception. No one ever came to stay on St. Claire. And that was exactly why she did.
A knock on the kitchen door interrupted Daphne’s thoughts. The egg delivery, no doubt. Hannah put her spoon down and went to open the door.
“Here they are!” their visitor exclaimed. “The treasure of St. Claire.”
“My goodness! Captain Gilbert! Where have you been?” Hannah asked, an expression of pleasure curving her lips.
“Around the world and back again,” he teased. “But I came to see you all the moment I could.”
“How long will you be here this time?”