When Jules followed Chauncey from the room, Saint joined Tony Dawson. ‘I should
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have told you, but I forgot. It isn’t for publication, of course.’
When he finished, Tony Dawson whistled softly. ‘Jesus, Saint, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass her.’
‘You didn’t know. Forget it, Tony.’
‘That poor girl. Thank God you were here, Saint, and put a stop to it.’
Del joined them shortly thereafter, laughing a bit. ‘The joys of fatherhood,’ he said. ‘Ah, I see you’ve told Tony. There is something else, Saint. Wilkes is entrenching himself quite thoroughly here. One sees him everywhere. Are you worried that he will try to make things difficult for you and Jules?’
Saint said without thinking, ‘If he knew she was still a vir – ‘ He broke off, appalled. ‘I think I’ll have some of your whiskey, Del. Excuse me.’
Tony started to say something to Del, but Del shook his head and said very softly, ‘Shit.’
16
Brent Hammond, Jules thought, was probably the most beautiful man she had ever seen. He was tall, lean, and his incredible dark blue eyes glistened with pleasure and pride as he listened to his wife, Byrony, telling the Saxtons and Michael about Wakeville.
‘So you see,’ Byrony concluded, ‘not only are we shortly to be real parents, but we’ve also got an adopted family of about four hundred former slaves. And that’s why it’s taken us so long to come home.’
‘Wakeville, huh?’ Del Saxton said. ‘It has quite a ring to it. Now, my dear Mr. Hammond, I have a feeling that we need to talk of finance, don’t we?’
Brent Hammond grinned. ‘Well, maybe just a bit, Del. Many of our people are quite skilled, but I’m afraid I’ll need a loan to buy seed and machinery and lumber. Buying all the land, and tents to keep everyone out of the rain, about wiped me out. The land is so rich – Lord, I think you could grind any kind of seed in the world into the earth with the heel of your boot, and you’d end up in three months with –
‘The largest tomatoes,’ Byrony continued, ‘the largest cabbages, heavens, every kind of food! We’ll be self-sufficient in no time at all – ‘
‘And of course we’ll need to build houses and stores and a church,’ Brent finished. ‘That’s quite an act you two have,’ Saint
said, grinning back and forth between Brent and Byrony Hammond. ‘I even forgot to buy a ticket.’
Jules found herself simply staring at the couple. They’d actually transported former slaves to California and were planning their own town! ‘I wish I had some money to donate,’ she said to Byrony. ‘But I do have a lot of time and I could do something to help.’
Byrony patted her hand. ‘I appreciate that, Jules, and you may be certain that I’ll be knocking on your door.’ Suddenly Byrony blinked, then broke into surprised, bright laughter. ‘Brent, he moved!’
Brent Hammond gave his wife a long, lazy look. ‘He always kicks up a dust when we’re in company. What do you think, Saint? A spot of brandy to quiet him down?’
‘Nope, let the little devil move about. You feeling all right, Byrony?’
She nodded happily. ‘Not even one moment of nausea. But I’ll tell you, Saint, Brent is driving me crazy! You would think
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that this is the first child ever to be conceived.’
‘By me, at least,’ Brent said. ‘I’m still not convinced that the rest of you could manage it half as well.’
Jules’s eyes flew to her husband’s face, and she swallowed a knot of unhappiness. He was smiling from his great height at Byrony Hammond.
‘Brent,’ Chauncey said to Jules, ‘believes the rest of the male population adheres to the medieval paintings showing conception through the ear.’
‘Really, love,’ Del said over the laughter, ‘a most unladylike observation. Even Saint is blushing, and Jules’s face is as bright as her hair.’
Unabashed, Saint said, ‘I was just trying to picture in my mind how that would work.’ Jules gasped. ‘You’re terrible!’
‘I have to be somewhat outrageous to keep up with Chauncey, sweetheart.’ He continued to Brent, ‘Are you going to keep the Wild Star?’