The Wild Belle

by Lora Thomas

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Walking to the ship, Andi explained to Max the situation of Slim and Ruth Ann. The entire way Max would shake his head and say, “I can’t believe it.” Every time the words left his mouth, they were mocked by Sophia, “Can’t beweve.”

  As they walked up the gangplank onto the ship, the crew that were still on board rushed over to greet little Sophia. Max set the child down and she began exuberantly accepting the attention. Andi watched the toddler bat her eyes and smile, causing the sea-hardened crew to melt like butter to a warm knife.

  Mr. Smitty approached and the young girl raced over to him and held up her arms. The old pirate bent down and picked up the small girl. She rubbed his white whiskers and squealed with laughter.

  “Papaw,” she said and wrapped her tiny arms around his neck.

  “How’s my little pun’kin? Is your daddy being good to ya?”

  “Si,” Sophia said.

  “I see your mother is making sure you know Spanish.”

  “And why would I not?” Kris asked when she reached the top of the gangplank.

  “What the hell are you doing up here with Amelia?” Max asked, the worry apparent in his tone. “You could have fallen or dropped my daughter.”

  Kris gave Max a sassy look. “And you dragged my daughter onto a pira . . . er . . . a shipping vessel.”

  Smitty walked over and looked down at the small bundle in Kris’s arms. “Amelia, eh?”

  “Si.”

  Smitty began laughing. “Well, the devil does have a sense of humor. Why else would Max be granted two girls?”

  “Old man, you’re beginning to work on my nerves,” Max replied.

  “What’d I do, pup? I haven’t spoken ta ya . . . yet.”

  “Where’s Slim?” Max asked, ignoring the older man.

  “He’s hauled himself off to find a preacher or some such man. Little blondy over yonder brought a woman on board that Slim couldn’t resist,” came the deep voice from above.

  “James!” Sophia yelled, pointing upward.

  Andi watched as the captain came sliding down the rope to land with a thud on the deck. He had his long red hair pulled back. The boisterous man walked over to Sophia. The child grinned from ear-to-ear as he took her out of Smitty’s arms. Sophia gave him a warm hug and then pulled the hairs on his long red beard.

  “When did he leave, James?” Michael asked.

  “Just after you did,” James replied, tossing Sophia up in the air. The little girl squealed with delight as she sailed through the air and then was caught by the gentle redheaded giant.

  “You drop my daughter and I will cut your hands off,” Max warned.

  James just laughed his usual boisterous laugh. He looked around at the group. “Is something wrong?”

  “Only that Noah has hightailed it off to his parents’ house,” Andi said, disgruntled.

  “Oh,” James calmly replied.

  “Oh. Oh!” Andi repeated. “You people are the most irrational group I have ever met.”

  “Now hold up there. How are we irrational?” James asked.

  “Because you cannot see the urgency I have. I need to find my sister and you act like I’m asking to take a walk in the park!”

  “Well, Miss Andi,” Smitty replied, looking in her direction, tearing his attention away from baby Amelia. “Right now there ain’t na hurry ta find—”

  “There ‘ain’t no hurry’? There ‘ain’t no hurry’?” Andi mimicked. “I have been searching for my sister for almost three months so—”

  “And an hour longer ain’t gonna make no more difference,” Smitty interjected.

  “It makes all the difference to me! I don’t even know for certain if Alyssa is with Noah. All I know is that he docked here with a woman with ‘reddish-blond’ hair. That’s it. He may be traveling with some whore he picked up at a tavern. Hells bells, you are all driving me crazy! Michael, where’s my pistol?”

  Kris leaned cautiously towards Michael and asked, “What does she want with a pistol?”

  “Probably going to shoot someone would be my guess,” Michael casually replied.

  “Oh. Well, then, in that case make sure it’s someone of little importance,” Kris yelled at Andi.

  Andi wasn’t paying attention to what anyone was saying. She spotted Max’s pistol in his belt and jerked it out. She pointed the weapon at Smitty. The old man raised the brow over his blind eye.

  “Is she really gonna shoot me?” Smitty calmly asked.

  “Well, her mother shot her father—twice, so your guess is just as good as mine,” Michael nonchalantly replied as he shrugged his shoulders.

  “Your mother shot your father?” Kristina asked. She lightly bounced the now crying infant.

  “Looky what ya did. The baby’s cryin’,” Smitty said trying to draw the blonde’s attention to someone other than him.

  “Why don’t you try to tame this hurricane, Smitty,” Max asked as he leaned against the railing and crossed his muscular arms over his chest, referring to the time Kris tried to destroy The Abyss when she was angry at him and Alex.

  Just as soon as Max had finished his sentence, Andi cocked the pistol. “I don’t give a hoot who sails this ship, but it is leaving this dock . . . now!”

  “I think she’s serious, Max,” Smitty said.

  “Don’t tell me, tell her husband,” Max replied, looking towards Michael.

  “Michael?” Smitty said with some urgency.

  “Andi?” Michael stated calmly as he approached his wife.

  “Don’t ‘Andi’ me! I’m tired, and I’m worried about my sister—”

  “Don’t forget pregnant,” Kris interjected.

  “What?!” Michael asked and turned towards Kris. Kris just raised her shoulders in a shrug. Michael turned back to his wife. “Andi?”

  “What?’ Andi snapped.

  “Are you?”

  She narrowed her eyes and gave him a heated look. “Well, what did you think would happen when we have sex every night?”

  At her statement Max laughed. “She doesn’t mince words, does she?”

  “You should meet her mother. She’s worse,” Michael informed his newfound brother.

  Max laughed even harder. “You picked a hell of a family to marry into. Better gather the crew, James. I can’t find a gunner who works as cheap as Smitty.”

  “All are here except Slim,” James said.

  “Well, then send a runner to find him. And if he can’t be found in five minutes, have the runner send him and his new bride to my home. They can rest there until we return.”

  “We’re going to Governor’s Harbour?” Kris asked excitedly.

  “No. I am going to Governor’s Harbour. You and the girls are staying here.”

  “Which girls are you referring to? Our housekeepers, I hope.”

  “Now, Kris,” Max warned.

  “Don’t use that tone with me, Max. You do not scare me. I have sailed with you many times.”

  “Kris, what about the baby?”

  “What about her? Her meals are portable. Besides, it only takes about half a day to get to Governors’ Harbour and I so want to see Madison again.”

  Max looked at his wife and knew there was no use in denying her. She would be on board, even if she had to stowaway . . . again.

  “James, make that ten minutes. I have a feeling Kris will need to pick up a few things before we depart.”

  “Go?” Sophia asked.

  “Yes, sweetheart. You are going with Daddy,” Max answered as James handed her to him.

  “You can uncock yer pistol now, Miss Andi,” Smitty said.

  “Who’s going to be second-in-command?” Andi asked.

  “James,” Max informed her.

  “So who is going to captain the ship?”

  “I am,” Max answered as he carried Sophia to the helm.

  Andi started to protest and then remembered that Max was a former pirate.

  Kris gave her husband a huge smile and
walked over to Andi. “You come with me. I will need help purchasing the supplies I need.”

  “Remember your budget, Kris,” Max warned.

  “Yes, dear,” Kris answered, tossing her head sassily at her husband.

  Max shook his head. His wife’s love of shopping would have bankrupted him if it hadn’t been for piracy. Luckily, he had saved up enough bounty that even his children’s children could not spend it all.

  Andi uncocked the pistol and handed it to Michael.

  “We need to talk,” he said.

  “It will have to wait until I get back.”

  “You have ten minutes.”

  Andi took a page out of Kris’s book and replied, “Yes, dear.”

  Michael watched as Andi and Kris departed the ship. He walked to Max and handed him back the pistol.

  “Is it safe to let those two go together? I know my wife, and she has a tendency to say what she means and doesn’t care who it offends,” Michael informed Max.

  Max sat Sophia down beside the wheel. The child began turning the huge wheel back and forth. Max rustled her black hair and looked to Michael. “Don’t you worry about Kris. She can handle herself.”

  “I’m afraid of what Andi will say to the merchants. Your wife has a newborn and there could be an issue.”

  Max narrowed his eyes. “And they know the consequences if they so much as look at my wife disrespectfully.”

  Michael raised a brow at Max. “I’m sure they do. That is the only reason I am not following them now.”

  “Did her mother really shoot her father?”

  “Yes. And she nearly shot me.”

  “What did she do? Find you in bed with her daughter?”

  “She was shooting at a rooster.”

  “One thing’s for certain, you would be easier to hit than a chicken. So why did she miss?”

  “My charming personality convinced her otherwise.”

  A derisive snort escaped Max. “That would be the perfect reason to shoot you.”

  “Is there something you should be doing?”

  Max’s black brow shot upward. “Like what, pup?”

  “I don’t know? Keelhauling someone? Pulling fingernails out? Something?

  “Are you volunteering for such torture?” Max drily asked.

  “No,” Michael answered with notable agitation. “It just that these conversations with you usually end badly.”

  “Then shut up,” Max replied as he turned his attention away from his brother and began barking orders at the crew to make ready to sail.

  Michael closed his eyes and took a calming breath. It didn’t work. He clenched his fists at his side. He needed to hit something. But instead of hitting something, a tiny hand grabbed his. He looked down to find Sophia at his side. She looked up at him with her large dark eyes and took hold of his finger. Calming down, he looked back to Max.

  Max was watching them both closely, his face expressionless. He gave a curt nod, letting Michael know that all is right and that he meant no disrespect.

  Michael looked back down to the little girl. She had placed her thumb in her mouth and began happily sucking it. She was trusting of everyone at such an innocent age. He wondered how he would fare as a father. Walking behind the helm, he leaned his back on the railing. Sophia pulled his arm until he was in a sitting position. She sat down on his leg and began playing with her doll. A sense of pride filled Michael. This was his niece.

  He looked back to Max and began to realize he could not hold the man any hard feelings. Max had known his entire life that Robert was his father, but said nothing. The bitterness that must have built up inside the man over the years must have been unbearable. Michael and his siblings had the unconditional love of their parents and everything money could buy, but Max was raised dirt poor in a tavern by a whore who hated and abused him. How could anyone hate or harm something so precious as their own child?

  Sophia leaned her back against Michael and closed her eyes. As she drifted off to sleep, Michael began to wonder if Andi would have ever told him about the baby. The thought was saddening—to never get to know your child, never to hold them in your arms or be able to share your love with them. His eyes turned skyward as the reality hit him—Andi was planning on leaving him. His heart ached so severely at the thought that he thought he would die. Somehow he must not allow that to happen. He closed his eyes and laid his head against the mast, his thoughts racing as he tried to come up with a way to keep Andi with him forever.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Andi and Kris returned to the ship twenty minutes later. The runner never found Slim, so he was instructed to wait at the docks to inform the second-in-command what had transpired.

  Michael attempted to have a conversation with Andi many times, but she would either disappear before he got to her or stay by Kris’s side. She was avoiding him. So he gave up. If she wanted to talk to him, then she could come find him.

  Michael began helping the crew with the sailing. His nautical knowledge impressed Max. Michael would take any task ordered to him. He found himself keeping to the sails, tending the halyards or repairing the rigging. Working always helped him think. He still did not know what he would say to his wife, but he had to think of something . . . fast.

  Kris and Andi had made their way to Andi’s room, which just happened to be the room Kris shared with Max when they sailed on The Abyss. The women talked for several hours. Kris spoke of how she and Max came to be. Andi told of how Michael and she ended up married, about her sisters and of Alyssa’s kidnapping. Kris studied Andi and noticed the tension around her. She looked at her new friend.

  “Are you going to talk to your husband?”

  Andi looked at Kris. “Not yet.”

  “Why?”

  Andi gave a weak smile. How could she tell this woman that she knew Michael did not want her? She had heard him talking in his sleep about sending her home. It broke her heart. She could see the love Max had for Kris, and she wanted that. Michael had told her he loved her when they were in England, but he hadn’t said it since. She did not return the words to him, but men didn’t need to hear those things. Or did they?

  “Is everything all right?” Kris asked, placing a hand on Andi’s arm.

  Andi looked at Kris with eyes brimming with tears. Kris wrapped her arms around Andi. “All will be fine. You will see.”

  “No, it won’t. Michael didn’t want to be married to me and he plans on sendin’ me back,” Andi blurted out as she began to cry.

  Kris patted her head. “No, you are wrong. He loves you.”

  “No, he doesn’t,” Andi said as she cried harder.

  “It’s in his eyes. Look in them and you can see the love he has for you. Why do you not see it?”

  Andi didn’t answer. She didn’t know how to.

  “Do you love him?”

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  Kris pulled Andi back from her and gave her a gentle shake. “Then you must fight for your man. Show him why you love him and find him attractive. Why you want his body.”

  “I don’t know how.”

  “Be a tease. Don’t give in to his desires. Play hard to get.”

  “How will that work?”

  “Men always want what they can’t have. You are a beautiful woman, Andi. You are Michael’s soul mate. I’m just not sure who hasn’t realized it yet—you or him.”

  Andi gave Kris a worrisome look.

  “We are about to come to port,” Kris informed and walked over to check on Amelia, who was lying in the makeshift cradle made out of the dresser drawer.

  “How do you know that?”

  Kris walked to the bed and looked down at her sleeping child. “The ship has slowed. Can you not feel it? The bow is not rising up as high and you can feel the sway of the ship more. Time to wake up, Sophia,” Kris told her oldest child and gently stroked her hair.

  Sophia yawned and gave a small stretch. Kris smiled as she looked at her daughter, lying in the bed where she was ma
de. This room had so many memories, both good and bad. She turned and walked to the dresser and picked up Amelia.

  Andi walked over and picked up the sleepy toddler. Sophia laid her head on Andi’s shoulder as she was carried out of the room. When the group made it to the deck, Governor’s Harbour was in plain view.

  “We were closer than I thought. But then again, Max was always an aggressive captain.”

  Andi turned her eyes away from the island towards the quarterdeck. She could picture the man at the helm as a pirate. The sleeves of his black shirt flared outward, making his arms appear larger, not that they were small. His black hair was just long enough that it whipped around in the wind. She watched as he looked up and bellowed out a command, his deep voice carrying easily over the deck.

  Her eyes scanned the deck for her husband. After several minutes, she spotted him talking to Smitty at the bow. Smitty said something. Michael nodded and began walking towards the helm. He looked at Andi, turned away from her and then climbed the rigging. Andi’s heart sank. What love he had had for her must be gone and all because of her stubbornness.

  The docking procedures went quickly. The crew hustled about readying the ship, while Andi, Kris and the girls stayed safely behind Max. The ship slowly made its way to a berth and docked.

  “Your destination, Mrs. St. John,” Max said when the ship was tied off.

  “How long does it take to get to Noah’s house?” Andi asked.

  “Not long,” Michael answered as he approached from behind. Andi turned and the sight of him made her catch her breath. He was dirty and covered in sweat. His fine linen shirt was tattered and his hair was a mess. The brown locks were tussled about wildly, giving him a rustic look. His sun-kissed skin gleamed in the sunlight. As she studied him, her breath quickened and a funny feeling began to stir in her loins.

  Kris watched Andi looking at her husband and smiled mischievously. She knew that look. It was lust, plain and simple. She cleared her throat to get Andi’s attention.

  Andi shook her head and blinked rapidly. “What’s that?”

  Michael pointed to a hill in the distance. “That is where I live. That is where Noah will be.”