“Who?” Caer said.
Sean laughed. “No, of course not. You’d have learned Irish history in school. Besides, Nigel died too quickly to have made it into most of the history books. He was a great patriot, though, sailing out in secret one night with a delivery for the Continental army. He was young, just twenty-six, and they said he could navigate the sometimes-treacherous seas of New England like a fish. But he was caught, and executed by the British. Anyway, for years, Eddie—he’s been my partner practically since the beginning—and I have tried to follow his trail. Apparently he knew the British were hot on his heels, and he managed to hide not just some of his treasure—funds collected for the struggling patriots—but also dispatches, letters that named names and would have led many of his fellow patriots to the gallows for spying. Maybe it sounds silly, I’ve always loved tracking a good historical mystery.”
He looked up at her, and she stared into his eyes and assessed what she saw: a man who had spent a lifetime working hard, a man with zest and energy, an all-around good guy.
His gaze turned inward then, and he said, clearly upset, “I’ve got to get out of here—got to get home. Right away.”
Caer looked at him curiously and asked gently, “I know I don’t understand your business, but why do you feel you have to get home so quickly? You do understand that you’ll be taking a chance, right? The doctors still haven’t figured out what made you so sick.”
“Why do I have to get back?” he asked, as if the answer should have been obvious. “Eddie is missing.”
“Your partner,” she said.
“One of my partners,” he said gruffly. “There’s Cal, too, but he’s young and hasn’t been with us that long. But Eddie…Eddie joined me right after I moved to the States and helped me modernize the business. We added year-round dinner cruises, and he worked like a son of a gun right beside me to handle all the business we added. He lived in the little house out back—well, little by Newport standards—and we worked like dogs, maintaining the boats, captaining them, doing the paperwork at night.” He grinned wryly and went on.
“Eddie…he lived my dreams with me. A lot of people thought I was crazy—still do, but I’m rich now, so I get to be eccentric—but I study the past, and Eddie and I…we’ve followed Bridgewater’s trail. He was heading south with dispatches for the Continental Congress and a hold full of English coins, and he managed to hide both before the British caught up to him. He was hanged without ever giving up the secret of where he had stashed everything. There’s bravery for you. You see, I don’t think he was just holding out on the money. Like I said, I think the papers he was carrying would have condemned some of his fellow patriots, so he died in silence. I mean, that was honor. Real honor. I’ve always dreamed of discovering just where he hid that cache, and maybe even writing a book about it.” He laughed suddenly. “Listen to me. I’m just a rambling old man, taking advantage of a beautiful young woman who has no choice but to sit and listen to me.”
“No, this is fascinating,” she assured him.
“But you have other patients,” he reminded her.
“The floor is well staffed. I’m all right, really. Trust me, if someone wants me, they’ll find me.”
His story was fascinating. She liked him, and she enjoyed sitting with him. She wasn’t quite sure why he had wanted to acquire a wife like Amanda, but then again, who was she to judge?
“I’m worried about Eddie,” he said, and there was a deep sadness in his eyes. Then he saw her watching and tried to make himself look strong again, but he couldn’t hide his troubled thoughts. “…I have a bad feeling something’s happened to him, and I owe it to him to find out the truth,” he said firmly. “They’ve found the boat—and no sign of Eddie, I have to get back. I should have known something was wrong when everyone was there to see us off—except Eddie. He never missed a party, and he’d promised he would be there…. Something must have happened. Maybe he’s in hiding.”
“In hiding? Why?”
Sean waved a hand weakly. “Who knows? I just know I have to get home, though I’ll bet I won’t find a nurse like you back there.”
Silently, she agreed. No, he would never find another nurse quite like her. Deciding she needed to change the subject—now—she said, “Tell me about your family.”
“Family. It’s really all that matters in the end,” he said softly.
She felt a tug of emotion at her heart. She felt a strange ache to belong to someone’s family and be spoken of with such love. She’d never really known a family.
“They were what called me back,” he said.