Revenge and the Wild(47)

“Do you still miss him?” James asked.

She returned her focus to James. He had the kind of strong jaw girls lost their manners over, and kissable lips. She thought of Alistair’s lips too and was saddened to find it hard to remember what they looked like with James standing there.

“Every day.” She glanced at her machine, noticed how James’s fingers grazed the copper pieces. How she wished she could feel it. “What about you? You must miss your family, with you being here and them being—well, wherever they are.”

“My parents also passed away when I was young, and I have very little memory of them. I know my father had the same name as me, and he was the mayor of Sacramento before Ben Chambers, but that’s all.”

She scolded herself inwardly, remembering the news about the former mayor’s passing. She’d just moved in with Nigel when she’d heard about the horrible accident. “I’m sorry to hear that.” She hurried to find something else to say, but it didn’t feel right going into trivial topics like parties and talk of investments. She decided to take a chance and speak from the heart. If she was going to learn anything about the Fairfields, she needed James’s trust. “It gets lonely at times, doesn’t it?” she said.

“Yes, though there are times I am thankful not to remember my parents, for seeing their faces and remembering their touch would make me feel all the more guilty.”

The faces of her family flashed into her mind, her parents bound by the fire waiting to be slaughtered while she ran to her salvation. Tripp’s severed leg . . .

She swallowed hard. Guilt was a feeling she knew all too well.

“Why would you feel guilty?” she asked.

“My mother and father died in an airship crash over the Sacramento airfields when I was just a boy. I was sick and they were traveling to seek medicines for me. If I wasn’t such a weakling, they would never have been on board.”

“I’m so sorry, James.”

“Don’t be sorry for me. Your life is no less full of heartache.”

She didn’t want to travel down the path of her own heartache with him, so she steered clear, keeping to his story.

“It was very kind of the Fairfields to take you in,” she said.

He let out a humorless snort. “Good indeed.”

“They haven’t been good to you?”

Her eyes met his. She remembered them being a lighter green when she first met him. Under gaslight, with the sparkle of the chandelier overhead, they were the color of emeralds.

“Good enough, but anyone would be with the amount of gold they were given to take care of me. Since they’re my only living relatives, my parents left them money with the stipulation that they’d keep me in their charge until I could take over my trust when I turn eighteen.”

“It must have been a great deal of money for them to take care of a sick child,” she said.

“Eight gold bars.”

“Eight gold bars?”

She choked on the words and looked around, afraid she had spoken too loud. No one seemed to notice. Nigel still danced with Myrtle, and the Fairfields sat at a table talking to the mayor.

“One could live two lifetimes on eight gold bars.”

“Not the way Lavina and Hubbard spend money. They’re likely to blow through the whole thing and dip into my trust when they’re done.”

“They can’t do that,” Westie insisted. “There are laws.”

“Lucky for them, they know a former lawyer who’s excellent at finding loopholes.”

Ben Chambers, of course. She remembered Nigel mentioning that he’d been a property lawyer before he became mayor. No doubt he knew his way around tied-up estates.

“Mrs. Fairfield was a good mother to you, wasn’t she?” Westie asked, hoping to find some glimmer of light in James’s childhood since his parents’ passing.

He shrugged. “She made sure I ate well, went to the best schools, and had the best doctors. If I were to get sick and die, they would lose everything. She wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to me—at least not until I’m eighteen and sign my will.”

“Why do you stay? Why not stay with friends for a time? As bright and charming as you are, I’m sure there’s someone.”

A smile erupted on his face. “You think I’m bright and charming?”

She looked away from him, feeling her face heat up. “You’re all right, I suppose.”

James spun her round and round on the dance floor. Despite being overheated and feeling a bit faint, she was surprised how much she was enjoying his company.

“I’m afraid there’s no one. Being a sickly child didn’t allow me much time to make friends. . . .” His words trailed off. “Are you all right? You’ve gone pale suddenly.”

James stopped spinning her, but Westie felt as though the room were still moving.

Her legs started to wobble. James held her tight as she collapsed in his arms.

“I think Bena may have tied my corset a little too tight.” It felt as though her ribs were being crushed..

She put her head against his chest. He smelled of spiced cologne. She’d never liked the false smells of perfume before, but didn’t mind it on him. “Will you walk me to my seat, please? I need to rest a bit.”