ever suspect it,” he murmured. “You’re not a bad actress.”
“Then why was I turned down for the lead in our school play?” she asked unblinkingly.
“What was your school play?”
She grinned. “King Lear.”
He chuckled deeply. “What was the matter—couldn’t you grow a beard?”
“You guessed it.” She reached out and touched one of the patterned straw hats, done in royal blue and yellow flowers with green petals and little red buds. “Isn’t it lovely?” she murmured.
He picked it up and handed it to her, choosing a plain tan one with no frills for himself. He handed the smiling vendor a big bill and waved away the change and the thanks.
“That was nice of you,” she said as they walked away, with her new hat perched jauntily on her dark head.
“You’re welcome. It suits you,” he added with a grin.
“That, too, but I meant letting the woman keep the change. I asked one of them how long it took to make one of those big straw purses, and she said it was a day’s work. Most people like to bargain until they get the price down to almost nothing.”
She felt his eyes on her, although he didn’t say anything. Perhaps he was remembering what she’d left unsaid in the restaurant last night—that she knew what it was to be without.
“Do you like old things?” he asked suddenly.
“I’m hanging around with you, aren’t I?” she replied blandly.
He glared at her. “Old things, madam, old things. How would you like to see a fort?”
“I saw Fort Charlotte yesterday,” she recalled. “But I don’t mind going again...”
“Fort Fincastle,” he interrupted.
“Fincastle? Oh, that was the one I didn’t get to see,” she murmured. “The tour guide didn’t want to have to drive up that enormous steep hill. He said it wasn’t worth looking at, anyway.”
He looked irritated. “It most certainly is. Come on. We’ll get one of those picturesque little carriages. You’ll like that—it’s right up your alley.”
“How disappointing that we can’t take a jet to it,” she returned with a grin. “That would be more your style.”
“Keep it up and I won’t feed you lunch.”
“That,” she said, “is blackmail.”
“Persuasion,” he corrected. “I hope you’re up to the climb, you delicate little thing.”
“I hope you don’t mean we have to do any mountain climbing,” she murmured, glancing down at her flat sandals. “These weren’t designed for climbing.”
“There are steps. Come on, honey, let’s get going. I’ve got a conference at three o’clock with the Minister of Architecture.”
“Going to build something, are you?” she asked.
“Mmm-hmm,” he murmured, scanning the area for the carriages. “A hotel. The biggest and best the out islands have ever seen, complete with hot tubs, saunas, a built-in spa, lounge and a shopping center.”
Strange, he didn’t look like an architect. But then, she thought, what did he look like?
He hailed a carriage and helped her in, the conveyance groaning under his formidable weight as he settled in beside her.
“This is how you get the best tours of Nassau,” he told her, and settled back as their driver began to give them a brief history of Nassau, highlighting it with stories of pirates and the first governor, Woodes Rogers, who drove them out and made Nassau safe for its residents.
As they passed the Christ Church Cathedral, with its beautiful wrought iron fenced courtyard and masses of tropical flowers in bloom, the guide told them that the first building had been erected in 1670. It was destroyed by the Spaniards in 1684 and rebuilt in 1695. It was destroyed again by invading Spaniards in 1703. The third church, built of wood, was built in 1724 but had to be replaced in 1753 with cut stone. The fifth church, the present one, opened in 1841.
“The tower there,” the guide added, “is all that remains of the fourth church.”
“It’s beautiful,” Nikki remarked, and wished they had time to go inside.
“We’ll come back,” Cal assured her. “The inside is a treat to the eyes.”
“You’ve been inside?” she asked him.
He nodded. But he didn’t say anything more, leaving the talking to the guide as they went past a huge silk cotton tree, old buildings, landmarks and flowering hibiscus, bougainvillea, and towering poinciana trees with their wild orange flowers that lined the way to the fort.
Minutes later the driver pulled up in front of a grove of towering trees with limbs almost interwoven to make an arch leading to a barely visible set of steps far in the distance.
Cal helped her out and took her arm to guide her along. Other