There was a bond between Jaxon and Daniel he had never felt for his twin. Grayson had become a lawyer like their father. It was expected of him and Grayson always did what was expected. Looking back, Jaxon could see that Grayson had tried to be friends with him, but he had gone about it all wrong. What Jaxon always strove for was independence and individuality, but Grayson thought the way to get Jaxon to like him was to be more alike. When Jax would try to set himself apart from his brother, Grayson would follow suit. If Jax wanted to learn to play the pianoforte, so did Grayson. If Jaxon cut his hair and grew his sideburns, so did Gray. If Jaxon said he loved Brussels sprouts and hated custard, Grayson claimed he had long ago tired of custard as he stuffed the miniature cabbage in his mouth. If Jaxon liked a girl, Grayson would pretend to be him and sneak her behind the barn to kiss her.
That was why he never showed any interest in Millie Adams. She was the prettiest girl in school. The day he graduated, Jaxon went down to the docks and found a ship that would hire him. He began secretly corresponding with her and when he worked his way up to Captain, he proposed and she had accepted.
After their encounter with the French, Daniel made the decision to return to home while Jaxon remained unconscious. They were only few days out when Jax had recovered enough to take his first tentative steps on the deck. He had been angry they had headed home without consulting him. Instead of coming home rich, he came home broken. He would have to beg Millie to wait longer for him to make his fortune so he could marry her. The worst part would be facing Grayson; knowing only one twin was successful and it wasn’t him.
Jaxon stared at the horizon remembering that terrible homecoming. It seemed odd for the town looked the same when he was so changed.
Daniel had climbed up in the borrowed delivery wagon first, then reached down for his older brother. Jaxon winced at the pain of climbing in. A cold sweat dampened his brow even as he pulled the collar of his greatcoat up around his ears. The wagon seemed to find ever crag and pothole as Daniel slowly maneuvered it through the streets of Chimerical Cove. Word that they were home had undoubtedly spread all the way to the hills and beyond, but for once Jaxon wanted no welcoming delegation to greet them.
“That’s new,” Daniel said as they passed their father’s law office. Jax raised his gaze to see a new shingle reading Bloodworthy & Son Esq. hanging next to the door. “Do you want to stop?” A year later that sign would change again with their father’s passing.
“Just get me home.”
The large house sat another quarter mile down the road. Daniel glanced at Jaxon. “Criminy, you’re as white as a sheet.” The angry, raw scar the only color, he found when he saw his face in the mirror later. Even his normally blue eyes seemed washed of their color until all that was left was a steely gray.
Late in the evening, Jaxon awoke. It was disorienting to be back in the room where he’d spent his childhood. His foggy mind remembered arriving and he remembered a doctor giving him some laudanum that had helped his pain tremendously. Gingerly, he stood up and walked to the door. There he found his grandfather’s cane hanging from the doorknob. A myriad of emotions shot through him. Annoyance was the first. He wasn’t an old man too feeble to get around. But even as he thought it, he knew he needed it…for now.
He took the cane with a vow he’d return it to the attic before he shipped out again and made his way to the stairs. The short walk had exhausted him. He paused in the dark hallway to catch his breath before descending. From where he stood, Jax could see lights on in the front rooms of the house. Normally, sounds of laughter and merriment filled the house when they came home from sea, but on this day, the mood was quiet, almost mournful.
Suddenly, all the noises stopped. Millie came bolting out of the parlor. A moment later Imelia and Grayson followed. She stopped near the door; the light streaming from the room cast an ethereal glow upon her countenance. Jaxon, unseen at the top of the stairs, held his breath not knowing if he could face her. He wondered if his family had brought her up to his room as he slept. Her beauty bewitched him again as it had the first moment her saw her even as she dabbed at her eyes with a lacy kerchief.
“I think I must go home now,” she said. “Will you drive me, Gray? Imelia, be a dear and fetch my cloak.”
As soon as Imelia left, Millie began to weep. Grayson reached over and patted her back. “There, there,” he said dryly, making Jaxon rankled at the rude tone.
Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed in earnest into his neck. “You know how much I love to dance. With whom shall I dance now?”