”
Ben shrugged. “ Of course you miss home, but you just deal with it. Besides we sent letters and there ’ s this new invention called a telephone. We rang each other all the time. ” Ben teased.
“ I don’ t get most of this lifestyle. ” I admitted.
“ I don’ t know how to explain it. ” Ben laughed. “It ’ s just the way we are. ”
“ Well, what else is there to you, other than just a stable boy? ”
Ben laughed at that. “I ’ m stable boy to you then? ” he chortled.
I rolled my eyes. “I ’ m pretty sure you know what I meant. ”
“ What do you want to know? ”
“ This is going to sound really weird, but what can you tell me about James? ”
Ben shrugged.
“ What kind of a person is he? ”
“ I don’ t know if I ’ m the best person to talk to about this. ”
“ Why not? ”
“ Juliet, he ’ s my employer. He employs most of my family. ”
“ I didn ’ t even think about that. Sorry, I understand. How about you tell me a little about you instead? ”
Ben smiled. “ What would you like to know, love? ”
I thought for a moment and shrugged. “ Can you swim? ”
He cocked an eyebrow. “ Yes, why? ”
I smirked and pushed him in. I was looking down at the water waiting for him to surface. All I saw were bubbles. “Ben?” I looked around frantically. “Shit,” I jumped in and started searching, when I felt like my lungs were about to burst I surfaced and looked around and heard howling laughter. Ben had been hiding under the dock. I shot him a glare. “ I take it you didn ’ t drown then, ” I sounded disappointed as I swam for the edge of the lake.
“Sorry,” he shrugged and swam over to me. “ Give a guy a little warning next time. ”
I shrugged. “ It seemed like a good idea at the time. ”
“ You aren ’ t like them, that ’ s for sure. ” Ben said after a moment.
“ Is that a good thing? ”
“It ’ s not a bad thing. I don’ t know if they ’ d agree, but I think so. ”
I shrugged. How could I be like them? I ’ d hate myself if I was like Angelica. I had to work for everything I had. I had earned all of it myself. I couldn ’ t imagine something just being handed to me. “ No, I don’ t think I am. ”
Ben stood up and offered me a hand. I accepted and he pulled me to my feet. “It ’ s getting late. They ’ ll be serving dinner soon. Millie is strict about meal times. ”
I smiled and nodded. “ Are you going to walk me back? ”
“ Of course, ” Ben gave me a leg up onto my horse and we continued laughing and joking all the way back up to the main house dripping wet.
“ Where have you been? ” came a shrill scold. I looked up to see Millie glaring at me, arms crossed and her anger surrounded her like a cape.
“ I was looking around my father ’ s grounds. ” I smiled back up at her. I had a funny feeling we would never get along.
“ Benjamin, take these horses back to the stables immediately. ”
“ Madame Eastgate, ” Ben bowed and smiled. I looked back at him, and his smile turned to an impish grin. “Lady Juliet,”
“Now, Benjamin.”
“ As my lady commands. ” Ben took both horses by the reins and led them back towards the stables, I watched him until Millie cleared her throat. I turned back to her.
“ We need to have a very serious talk. ” Millie started.
“Do we now?”
“ I don’ t know who you think you are, but I am willing to pay you whatever it takes to get you back on a plane today. ”
I took a step back. “ Excuse me? ”
“ You heard me. How much money will it take to get you to go back to wherever you came from? ”
“ Are you kidding me? ”
“ I am not one for kidding. ”
“ Then you disgust me. ”
“Pardon?”
“You disgust me. That ’ s insulting. You think you can buy me? ”
“ Everyone has a price. ”
“ No,