“Bertie Abernathy,” he said as he reached out to shake Patrick’s hand. “It’s probably a challenge to keep us all straight. Remind me again who you are?”

“Patrick O’Neill. I’m handling some legal work for Liam.”

The jovial look in Bertie’s eyes cooled a bit. “Oh yes, the lawyer. Say, if you’re going to be staying for a while, would you like to borrow a dinner jacket? Old Frederick would never breathe a word, but he likes everyone decked out appropriately at meals.”

“No, thank you,” Patrick said, feeling every eye on him.

The men turned back to a discussion about breeding horses, and Patrick struggled to find common ground as he scanned the estate.

Then he spotted Gwen down on the beach with some children. She wore a white cotton dress with a crown of flowers in her hair. Children clustered around as she showed them how to make crowns of their own from sea oats and hawthorn berries. The sound of her laughter carried up to him, making his heart ache. She seemed so natural here, like she belonged.

He didn’t, but he owed it to her to try. He wandered over to join a group of the younger cousins seated around a picnic table and reached for a chair to join them.

“Don’t touch it!” Edwin shouted.

Patrick’s hand froze. He had no idea what he’d done wrong, but every man stared in rapt attention at a loaf of bread and wedge of cheese on the table. Oddly, there were several ten-dollar bills weighed down beneath a plate. All four men held their breath as they stared at the center of the table.

One of the cousins leaned over to whisper what was going on. “Edwin bet us all ten dollars that the beetle will go for the cheese instead of the bread.”

Patrick looked again. Sure enough, a tiny green beetle was inching toward the center of the table. Everyone watched the beetle’s clumsy progress with breathless anticipation.

These were the people Gwen thought were so wonderful? He crossed his arms and withdrew a few steps to watch the beetle’s slow journey. Maybe he shouldn’t be so judgmental. Ten dollars meant nothing to people this wealthy, so the gamble was probably harmless. Sixty seconds later, the outcome of the bet was determined when the beetle hauled itself onto the bread plate to a chorus of cheers. Money started changing hands, but Edwin was annoyed to have lost and smashed the beetle with his fist before brushing it away.

Patrick remembered the first moment he laid eyes on Gwen in his office. There had been a beetle squatting on her chair. She had cradled it in her palm, then carried it to the window and set it free.