Neither did I.
Serenity’s grip on the balustrade increased as she took the last four steps that brought her even with Kristen. “I have no choice.”
“Pity. I thought you were more of a fighter.”
Serenity laughed bitterly, and looked at a picture across the hall to keep from meeting Kristen’s sharp gaze. A gaze she knew would see through her and strip bare the depth of her feelings. “I guess I know this is one fight I can never win. Even my stubbornness has its limits.”
Nodding, Kristen forced a smile to her lips. “Well then, I wish you all the luck in the world. It’s been fun getting to know you.” Her smile turned sincere. “Tweaking Morgan’s nose…”
Serenity smiled at her teasing tone. “Thank you, Kristen. If you ever come to the Colonies…”
“I’ll make sure I find you. Who knows, I may yet demand George take me to see you.”
“I would like that.”
Kristen pulled her into a hug.
Serenity held on to her friend, knowing that once she returned home, she would never again experience this kind of female companionship. The women of Savannah would never be as forgiving or as kind as Kristen.
Time to go, Serenity.
Now, before you change your mind.
Reluctantly Serenity pulled away and headed out the door without looking back.
She refused to look back. Only regret waited there, and she didn’t want to regret knowing Morgan.
Loving Morgan.
She climbed aboard the coach and watched as Kristen came out to the steps to wave good-bye. Returning the gesture, Serenity was thrown back into her seat as the driver whipped the team into motion.
She listened to the early morning noises as the coach wound its way down the dusty dirt road to the shore. This island had been a wonderful experience, one she would treasure forever.
All too soon, the coach pulled up to the dock and the driver got down to help her out. She took his outstretched hand and descended. The driver reached in behind her and removed her valise from the seat, then handed it to her.
With a knot in her stomach, Serenity headed toward the small boat that would row her to the colonial ship.
In spite of her resolve, she found herself looking over at Triton’s Revenge. It stood proud in the water, like Morgan himself. The early morning sunlight glinted off the skeletal masts, and the ship swayed and dipped against the waves as the serpent masthead glared at her.
Gulls flapped and called loudly overhead. The ship looked deserted.
Was Morgan still asleep? Or could he see her now as she made her way quietly back home?
Not wishing to think about it, she waded to the boat. The boatswain helped her to her seat, then began rowing them out.
As they crossed the narrow distance to the ship, she tried to banish the image of Morgan rowing her out the night before. The incredibly handsome look on his face as he watched her with desperate longing.
Dear Lord, how she wanted him. Needed him more than she needed the very air she breathed.
Gripping the side of the boat until her knuckles burned, she fought the urge to jump out of the boat and swim to Morgan’s ship.
She didn’t want to leave him.
She would give anything in the world to stay.
Stop the boat! her mind screamed.
But they could never be happy. She wanted a home with a family and he loved the sea.
She remembered her father’s old saying, a bird and a fish can fall in love, but where do they live? If they make their nest at sea the bird will starve and if they make their nest on land…
“Good-bye, Morgan,” she whispered to the early mist.
Morgan stood on the poop deck, watching the small boat moving steadily closer to the colonial ship. Even from this distance, he could make out Serenity’s form.
An ache so fierce it was almost crippling consumed him.
If not for the netting that his crew had put in place the day before, he would launch himself overboard and swim out to her.
But that was ridiculous.
It was over.
Serenity was gone.
Sighing, he turned away and headed to his cabin.
Serenity paused on board the ship as she came face-to-face with Jake. Frowning, she looked up at the surly pirate who leaned down to whisper in her ear.
“They’ve no idea who I am, Miss James, and I’d deeply appreciate it if you don’t educate them.”
“Are you going to cut out my tongue?”
He gave a wry smile. “No.”
“Then you have nothing to worry about, I think my days of writing are over.”
He looked incredulous. “I don’t understand.”
Serenity sighed and looked back at Morgan’s ship. “I no longer believe in fairy tales and happily-ever-after.”
The colonial crew bustled around them as they prepared to sail.
“What about you?” she asked. “Are you heading home?”
“Aye. I can’t stand another day without my wife.”
What she wouldn’t give to have Morgan feel that way about her. “I’m sure she misses you.”
“No, you’re not,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “You’re probably wondering what she sees in me. If you want to know the truth, I ask myself that same question every day.”
She blushed at the truth of his words. “So why did you leave your wife to begin with?”
“Morgan needed me.”
“You think a lot of him, don’t you?”
He laughed. “Sometimes.”
“Jake?” she asked. “Why didn’t you kill him when you captured him all those years ago?”
Jake sighed, and she could tell her question made him uncomfortable.
He paused so long, she was sure he wouldn’t answer, and then he said, “Morgan had more guts than any man I’d ever seen. He was scarce more than a babe and yet he had the courage of a lion. How could I destroy a man like that?”
She thought about that and how strange life was. Had Jake killed Morgan that day, all the men Morgan had saved from the British would still be impressed, and she…
She would never have known love. Would never have known a man’s touch.
One life touched so many.
“You know, I have a lot to apologize to you for,” he said. “I should have never taken you away from your family.”
His apology stunned her.
“I am truly sorry, Miss James, for any pain or fear I caused you. I know we didn’t start out on the best terms, but I hope you’ll forgive me.” He extended his hand to her. “Friends?”
She smiled. “Friends.”
As soon as she touched his hand, the wind picked up the sails and they headed out to sea.
Serenity couldn’t help going to the netting for one last look at Triton’s Revenge.
Jake moved to stand behind her. “You know you’ve got a hard time ahead of you. What are you going to tell people about your absence?”
She sighed. “The truth.”
He looked stunned.
“What choice do I have?” she asked. “I’m a terrible liar.”
“Surely you can come up with something better. Tell people you eloped and your husband was killed, or he ran off after the nuptials.”
It was a thought. But she couldn’t do that. “No, Jake. My family deserves the truth.”
“The truth hurts. Don’t you want to spare them the pain?”
She thought about her father and his reaction to Chatty after she’d been caught alone with Stephen. He’d been cold, distant. Unforgiving.
“Tell you what,” Jake said. “Why don’t I pretend to be your husband. I’ll pick a fight with your father and then leave without ever coming back.”
She laughed at the image. “I appreciate the offer, but somehow the truth always comes out. I’ve lived my life dedicated to reporting the truth to people. I don’t think I could live with myself if I lied to them. No, I promised myself I would have no reg
rets about what I did, and I shan’t.”
He nodded in understanding. “If you ever need a friend, you just send word to me and I’ll be there for you. I’ll make sure no one harms you.”
“Why, Black Jack Rhys,” she said with a teasing note in her voice. “You’d best be careful or I might begin to think you’re actually a nice man and not a living scourge.”
His smile was wide. “Ouch, lass, you’ve finally discovered my deepest-held secret. Now I shall most definitely have to kill you for it.”
She laughed. “Never fear, it’s yet another secret I shall take to the grave.”
One of the boatswains came forward. “Miss James?”
She looked past Jake’s shoulder to where the boatswain stood. “Yes?”
“The captain bade me show you to your room.”
Serenity nodded, excused herself from Jake, and followed the boatswain below deck to a modest-sized cabin. It was clean and tidy, with a small bunk made into the wall the same way Morgan’s had been.
“The captain will be by shortly to check on you.”
“Thank you,” she said.
He took his leave.
Alone, she sat on the bunk, and for the first time allowed the pain to wash over her. Morgan was finally gone. He would never be back.
Never.
Her heart breaking, she reached into her pocket, pulled out the crumpled note of poetry he’d written her on board his ship, and she began to cry.
Chapter 20
“Well, Captain?”
Morgan flinched at Barney’s question as he sat himself down at the table in the crowded
Boar’s Head Tavern. The odor of unwashed bodies, roasting meat, and beer hung thick in the air as Morgan signaled a passing wench and ordered her to bring another round of drinks.
A double round of drinks.
Cookie, Barney, and Ushakii had been waiting here for him while he made yet another inquiry about Serenity.
“Nothing,” he growled as the wench placed eight tankards on the rough wooden table before him. “Not a damn word. No one’s seen or heard of her, or if they have, they won’t tell me.”
His temper boiling, Morgan grabbed the nearest tankard of ale and drained it in one gulp.
His men exchanged wide-eyed gawks, but he paid them no heed. Damn them all, anyway. And damn himself.
He was an idiot, a first-rate moron.
What kind of man let a woman like her sail out of his life?
For fifteen months, three days, and five hours now, he’d been searching for her. He’d even boarded the ship that had taken her home, but to no avail. They hadn’t known anything more than anyone else.
Jake had placed her in a hired coach headed for Savannah, and no one had seen her since. No one.
She’d vanished without a single trace.
Fine, so be it! He’d had enough with this. She was gone and he was glad of it.
“Glad of it, I tell you.”
“Beg pardon, Captain?” Cookie asked.
“Nothing,” Morgan muttered as he seized two more tankards and drained them.
“Well, well, look what the tide washed ashore. What brings you gentlemen back to my part of the world?”
“Lay off, Jake,” Morgan hissed without turning to look at the man who stood directly behind him. “I’m in no mood for humor.”
“Hasn’t been in a mood for humor in over fifteen months,” Cookie said with a nod to Jake. “Never seen anything like it in my life.”
Morgan gave him a hostile glare, but Cookie ignored it.
“We’ve come seeking the lass again,” Barney said. “He ain’t been able to find her nowhere and now he’s about ready to gut the lot of us.”
“You should have seen the face of the colonial captain when he boarded his ship and then took nothing from them,” Ushakii piped in. “He couldn’t believe Morgan had fired on his ship when all he wanted was to interrogate the crew about Miss James.”
Morgan cringed as he remembered what a jack-snipe he’d made of himself that day. He’d terrified the entire colonial crew and had almost lost one of his own.
And for what?
A bloomin’ chit who incensed him.
A bloomin’ chit who…
He tensed as he remembered a vital fact. Jake was the last one to see her.
He reached up behind him, grabbed Jake by the collar, and pulled his face close. “You were the last person to see her. Tell me where she is, or I swear I’ll have your gizzard.”
Jake laughed in his face. “If you were sober, I might take that threat seriously.” He wrenched Morgan’s hand free. “How long have you been in port?”
“A month,” Barney said. “A whole bleeding month and we’ve nothing to show for it. The captain won’t leave until he finds her this time. Says we’ll stay here till we’re dried bones and the ship rots.”
“Oh, Morgan,” Jake said with a tsk. “You’ve got it bad for the girl, eh?”
Morgan snorted. “She can’t have vanished. I know she’s somewhere, and sooner or later someone here is bound to hear from her.”
“Very well then, I suggest you wait it out at my place. At least I won’t have to worry about the sorry lot of you getting tossed in the stocks for public drunkenness.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Morgan snarled. “Not until I find her.”
Jake ignored him. “Ushakii, you and Cookie grab him and be ready to hold him, because if he doesn’t come willingly, I’m going to knock him unconscious.”
“Go ahead and try!”
The next thing Morgan knew, the world turned dark.
“You wield a nasty blow, Captain,” Cookie said to Jake as they dumped Morgan into a rented wagon.
“Aye, and it’s not the first time I’ve had to use it on Lord and Mighty Hard-Head.” Jake looked at his unconscious friend and shook his head. “What the hell happened to him anyway? He looks like he just crawled out of a pigsty.”
And he did.
Never had Jake seen Morgan look so disgusting. His unkempt hair hung lankly about his shoulders. Morgan had a thick beard on a face that had never known more than an afternoon’s stubble, and his clothes looked and smelled as though they hadn’t been changed in a long, long while.
“He’s been a raving loon,” Barney said, stepping up to take the driver’s seat of the wagon. “We stayed for a day at Santa Maria and then the captain decided it was time we went to find the lass.”
“Then that storm hit,” Cookie interrupted. “Knocked us off course so that we had a time finding the Colonials.”
“And by the time we did,” Barney finished, “you and Serenity had already gone ashore.”
Barney shook his head. “I haven’t seen him so grief-stricken and angry since Penelope died.”
Jake swallowed at his words. He remembered that time in Morgan’s life only too well.
Poor Morgan. His pride had always gotten the better of him, and this time…
“I think I know something that might help him out.” Jake retrieved his horse from the nearby hitching post, then returned to the wagon. “Follow me.”
He mounted his horse and led them the ten miles to his plantation home just outside of Savannah.
No sooner had they entered the stable than Lorelei came rushing out, holding baby Nicholas in her arms. Jake smiled at his wife. Her red hair was swept up around her head in an intricate braid and the color was high in her cheeks.
She was every bit as beautiful as she’d been the first day he’d met her.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked, enunciating each word in such a way as to convey her pique.
“’Tis my good deed for the year.” He dismounted and handed his horse over to one of the stable boys.
She cuddled the cooing baby up to her shoulder and narrowed her gaze on him. “You can’t bring him here, you promised.”
“I promised I wouldn’t say anything, I never said I wouldn’t bring him.”
“Jacob,” she said in warn
ing.
“Lorelei,” he responded with a laugh. “Trust me.”
She rolled her eyes as she patted the baby on the back. “I don’t even want to think about what happened the last time you said that to me.”
Jake gave her a quick kiss on her cheek. “Go on with you now, wench. I’ve some nasty things to do to make him presentable.”
“I’m not your wench, knave, and I would beg you to reconsider, but I know firsthand how very obstinate you are.” And with those words spoken, she turned about and took Nicholas back to the house.
Jake motioned for Ushakii and Cookie to drag Morgan out of the wagon and up toward the house. “We’ll need to bathe and sober him,” he said half to himself and half to them.
“That’ll be a task,” Cookie said. “I’ve not seen him sober since she left.”
“Me, neither,” Barney agreed.
Well, that didn’t matter, because Jake knew a surefire way to sober Morgan.
The man was in for the shock of his life.
Morgan sputtered and cursed at the thick, smelly concoction Cookie was forcing down his throat. “I’ll kill the lot of you,” he snarled.
But as before, his threats went unheeded.
“Quit your blustering,” Jake said. “You ought to be grateful to us. You’ve no idea what a chore it was cleaning you up. I ordered your clothes burned, by the way. I swear I’ve seen rags in better shape.”
Morgan glared at him. He’d strangle the man, but at some point the four of them had tied him to a chair and he wasn’t able to do more than curse them all.
And that was the one thing he was doing admirably well. “You better pray I never get free from this.”
Jake just smiled at him. “C’mon, men. I think we’ve earned a break from the good captain. Why don’t we go below and get a good stiff drink.”
They left the room, with Jake trailing behind.
“Don’t you leave me here, Jack,” Morgan shouted.
Jake stopped and turned to face him. “The name’s Jake,” he said, then pulled the door closed behind him.
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