While he waited, he looked out the window again. One hand idly moved inside the coin purse at his belt, feeling the cool metal within. He couldn’t help but feel a wash of pride. There was no question. Donny was his. Only his own blood could possibly get the better of him. Not even Brigid had managed to thieve from him.
A few minutes passed before he heard someone at the door. He turned away from the window to see Donny being ushered in before his mother. The boy clutched an apple to his chest and was ducking down to gnaw at it. The way he held his prize made Liam grin. He suspected that she had to bribe the lad to get him back upstairs. Even if she wasn’t fully ratkin, she seemed to be managing him well.
Brigid shut the door behind them—apparently, her mother wasn’t coming up for this—then knelt down beside Donny to smooth a hand over his fluffy red curls. “Donny, Liam here has some things to tell you.”
The boy looked up from his apple, eyes bright with curiosity.
“Um…aye, lad.” Liam rose to his feet to cross the room, uncertain of where to start. Had he been thinking ahead, he would have planned what to say. As he had warned Brigid, though, matters of the heart were not a place where he excelled. He knelt down to put himself closer to Donny’s eye level. “Has…has your mamaí ever told you anything about your da?”
“He’s a rat like me,” Donny volunteered around a bite of apple. He chewed it up, then swallowed and licked his lips. “And he sails on ships. I’m gonna have a ship, too. And I’ll sail all over.”
“Aye, he is, and he does.” Liam shifted to sit more comfortably on the floor, sliding a hand into his coin purse again. He pulled out one of the silver pieces, then held it up where Donny could see it. “And until today, he didn’t know you were here, but he does now. And he decided you could have one of the coins back, too.” He was a clever lad, after all. He deserved something for his efforts.
Donny’s eyes gleamed at that, before he gleefully snatched the coin from Liam’s fingers, then stuffed it into a pocket for safekeeping. His hand stayed in that pocket and Liam could see the movement of his fingers working over the metal as his little brows furrowed in thought.
“Are…are you my da?”
Liam smiled, pleased to see the boy wasn’t quite as dense under these conditions as his father was. “Aye, I am.”
A look of pleasure passed over Donny’s face, but he made no move to embrace Liam or offer any sudden warmth. Instead, his eyes narrowed slightly and he considered Liam. “Can I ride on your ship?”
First he stole Liam’s gold and next he expected to be let on his ship? It was more proof of his ancestry than Liam would ever need. He grinned and reached out to ruffle that red hair of Donny’s. “Well, of course you can. ‘Tis sitting in the docks now.”
Donny cried out in delight before throwing his arms around Liam to hug him tightly. The sudden exuberance wasn’t anything he was used to, but he found he enjoyed it all the same. He wrapped his arms around his boy to return the hug, resting his cheek on top of Donny’s head. “There, lad. Think it’s about time we all had a proper family, aye?”
He glanced up to Brigid, noting the way that she was biting her lip and her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. Whether it was joy or something else behind her expression, he couldn’t tell. He didn’t know if she still meant to have him after his idiocy before and all the time she had spent alone, but he decided then and there that she was going to have a damn hard time getting rid of him. When their eyes met, she offered a small smile that seemed genuine. It gave him hope.
After a moment, Donny wriggled free from the hug, grunting with the effort, then dashed over to the blanket by the desk. Liam watched as the boy squatted down to pick the blanket up, then rifled through things he had apparently hidden beneath it. When he found what he was looking for, he crawled out again, now holding a stuffed toy rabbit in his arms. The rabbit was about half the size as he was, made of blue and red fabric. A black waistcoat covered in pockets went around its middle. Donny poked his coin into one of the rabbit’s pockets.
“Keep it safe. That’s from my da,” he told it.
Liam rose to his feet and stretched as Brigid did the same. He smiled fondly at Donny again as he tucked his newest treasure away. The boy was quite the little treasure himself, Liam thought. “So, I was thinking England could wait a while.”
Brigid turned to meet his eyes. “Aye? It would be nice to spend a bit of time together before you have to leave.”
“I’m thinking I might not leave at all.” He reached out to take her hand again. “For ratkin, it’s just not done. Especially while the lad’s so young. He needs attention and teaching. He needs me here with him, Brigid. I need to be here with him.”
“Really?” She clutched at his hand before stepping closer, then rested her head against his shoulder. “I’d hoped you’d stick around. He does need you. I’ve been doing the best I can, but he needs ratkin. Even understanding him as well as I do, just not being able to shift and help him with those things is a huge problem. Thank you, so much.”
He wrapped his free arm around her and drew her closer. “You don’t have to thank me for doing what’s right, luv.” There was a lot more he needed to do to make it right, too. Bit by bit, he would get there. “I’ll have to go down to the docks again and arrange things. And we need to let Donny see the ship, too.”
Brigid drew her head back from his shoulder to meet his eyes, smiling once more. “We do. You should arrange things, then. Maybe when that’s done, you could stay here at the inn, so the two of you have more time together?”
“You should come with me. We’ll go and have a look at the ship, and you could finish up your shopping while I arrange things.” It seemed a wise idea. That way Donny would have more eyes on him, as well as someone who could shift to follow if there was an emergency. That he would be keeping her close for a while longer appealed, too.
“All right. That sounds like a good idea.” She drew back from his arms entirely, then took a deep breath. “And then…maybe dinner together?”
“Aye, I’d like that, luv.” He took her hand again before she could get too far away. “C’mon, lad. You ready to see the ship?”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
WHAT MARY KNOWS
HER mother chose against accompanying them to the docks. Ann claimed that the delivery of the brocade was expected soon and she was eager to start working out the gown they were making with it for Brigid, but Brigid suspected the real reason was that she wanted her and Liam to be without a mother’s watchful eye.
The Wild Rose was a lovely three-masted Bermuda sloop that balanced speed with cargo capacity. It showed a few scars of battle, but had been repaired well. Brigid had to wonder if the battles had been the result of pirates targeting it or if they had come from one of Liam’s adventures.
Donny rushed up the gangplank ahead of his parents. “This is my da’s ship!” he shouted at the nearest man, who drew back from him with a start before giving Liam and Brigid a look. She felt a flush crawling up her cheeks as she wondered what his crew would think of her. Just another foolish woman bearing a sailor’s bastard, she imagined.
Liam gave a short nod. “Aye, that’s my boy.” He turned to face Brigid, taking her hand once more. All of the touching from him since she had told him about Donny was flustering her, particularly now that he was doing it in public. “I’ll need to make arrangements with other ships now. You and Donny have free reign, though. Go and look all you like. I’ll try not to be too long.”
“All right.” She gave him a smile and for a moment she thought he was leaning in to kiss her, but either she had imagined it or he caught himself, as he turned away instead. The twinge of disappointment she felt was foolish and she vehemently tried to push it away. Such public affection, particularly between two unmarried people, was obscenely improper.
Brigid looked up at the ship, then took a deep breath before she followed Donny up on deck. The boy was rushing all around excitedly, climbing on everything he cou
ld get his hands on. Every time another crew member passed by, he would call out that the ship was his father’s.
“Mrs. Lynch. It’s been ages.”
She turned to see a familiar weathered face, beaming warmly at her. “Robert! You’re sailing with Liam?” she asked.
“Have been for the past two years. I was in need of a new ship and he was outfitting this one. He told me I had to cook better or else he was throwing me overboard, though.” The older man chuckled, clearly unconcerned with the threat, then sobered to give Brigid a curious look. “Don’t you care to sail any longer? I haven’t seen any hint of you before this.”
All at once, she realized the implications of what the cook was saying. He still thought she was married to Liam. Why hadn’t he ever revealed the ruse? Liam had too strong of appetites to have remained celibate for almost four years, which likely meant that he had been giving the impression of an unfaithful husband. Though she had no rightful claim on him, the thought awoke a hot flicker of unexpected anger.
“I’ve been very busy raising our son,” she answered diplomatically. There was no sense revealing the lie, particularly when it made her look like a loose woman.
Robert looked over to where Donny was attempting to climb his way to the sails, chirping to a rat watching him from a rope. “He does look like he’d try the patience of even the mother of God. Quite a bit like his father, I’d wager?”
“He’s Liam in miniature at times.”
“An ideal son, then. Your husband’s a good man, though he tries to hide it.”
The direct reference to Liam as her husband made her uncomfortable, though she had lied and told people about some frequently sailing husband often enough before. She had even used Liam’s name, as she wanted Donny to know who his father was, even if only by words. Yet lying about Liam when he was nowhere to be found—when she had often fretted that he had died, since none of her father’s contacts could find him—was quite a bit different from lying about him when he was there in the flesh. Particularly because she found herself torn between heartache and shame.
She shook her head slightly. “At times, he hides it too well.”
“Robert!” a woman’s voice called from the docks below. “Oh, Robert. Is Liam about?”
Brigid noticed that Robert blanched slightly at the voice, then turned her head to look down curiously at the woman. She appeared to be in her mid-twenties, with thick dark brown hair left down in a wanton mess around her shoulders. The red gown she wore plunged dangerously into her cleavage, which was much more modest than Brigid’s own, but made up for it by virtue of the display. Her skin was a pretty, soft brown that contrasted fetchingly with the red of her gown. The combination of her dark skin and relatively straight hair left Brigid to assume she was of mixed ancestry, which was not at all uncommon throughout the West Indies. In all, she made a beautiful, petite vision.
“Ah, no, Miss Mary. He’s doing some business now.”
The woman pursed her lips in a pretty frown, then gave her hair a toss back over her shoulder. “Tell him he has to come see me tonight, then. I’ll be leaving soon and it’s important we speak.”
Brigid moved closer to the gangplank to look down at the woman appraisingly. The choice of clothing seemed to hint at her being a prostitute, though Liam had once told her that he had no interest in paying for a woman’s company. Either he had changed his ways for the worse in the intervening years or some of Brigid’s own assumptions were wrong. It was difficult to dismiss them, though.
“I’m his wife,” Brigid said. That flame of jealousy burnt brighter as she embraced the lie. “You can give me your message for him.”
“He doesn—” Mary cut herself off, perhaps seeing the murder in Brigid’s eyes. Her own eyes narrowed slightly as she leaned forward and considered Brigid carefully. “Why don’t you come down here so we can speak without all this shouting.”
Brigid turned to check on Donny. He was now sitting on the deck of the ship, chatting with the rat he had found on the ropes and offering it bits of food he had stolen away in his pockets. “Could you keep an eye on Donny?” she asked Robert. “He should be fine where he is for a few moments.”
“Of course, madam.”
She thanked the older man, then hurried down to the docks to face the other woman. Mary was standing there in wait with her arms crossed, her pretty face looking serious beneath its painted veneer.
“Brigid?” Mary asked, looking her up and down boldly.
That Liam had said her name to the woman made Brigid falter, surprised, before she nodded. “Aye, but he never mentioned you.”
“We’re old friends.” Mary waved that off. “I wanted to warn him that there’s some disaster in the air. I don’t know if it’s a storm or what exactly, but it feels like doom. All the rats are leaving the city and I’m following them in the next few days.”
It might have been a lie, but it had the sense of truth to it. “I felt that, too. I thought I was being silly.”
“You felt that?” The incredulity in Mary’s voice was unmistakable, and insulting. Before Brigid could stop her, the other woman had raised up on her toes to reach Brigid’s face and was sniffing at her like an overly friendly dog. When Mary drew back, her expression had softened to something close to pity. “Oh, that’s so sad. You’re broken.”
Brigid curled her hands into fists, for she thought if she didn’t she would end up beating the woman. “Pardon me?”
“Broken. Liam thought you were a half-breed, but it’s so much sadder than that.” Mary shook her head to herself. “Anyway, yes. Something’s in the air and when I saw his ship I thought I should warn him. If he just arrived, he might not have noticed on his own. A doe is always more sensitive to that sort of thing anyway.”
Perhaps refraining from beating the woman had been a mistake, as she just became worse with every word she spoke. “I’ll be sure to pass on your message.”
“Good girl. Tell him he needs to find me after whatever this is, though. He gets so frustrated out at sea and needs to work it out properly.” Mary gave her bodice a sharp tug and adjusted her breasts, better accentuating her slim body. “He’s been so dreadful lonely these past few years and I have to do what I can.”
Brigid drew a breath inward through her teeth, glaring at the audacity of the other woman. That only made Mary smile faintly and one lovely brow arched. “Jealous? Are you going to make a proper claim on your territory, then?”
Rather than respond and before the woman could enrage her further, Brigid turned back to the ship. That the other woman had been ratkin was clear. Liam had never told her anything about Mary, though. Brigid had foolishly assumed that Liam and her father had been the only surviving kin in the Caribbean colonies, but that wasn’t so after all.
The wait for Liam to return gave her a chance to settle her anger. There weren’t many chances to stew when Donny was in such a bright mood and wanted to show her every nook and cranny on the ship. She had to stop him from exploring the captain’s cabin, as she worried what he might stumble over or damage there, but she let him explore everything else that was in a public area. The two of them had spent some time on the small fishing boat she had purchased, but it was his first time on a large ship and she relished the opportunity to share her knowledge of sailing with him.
An hour passed before Liam returned. She kept quiet while he told the crew members were around what the change of plans was. He had arranged to switch cargo with another ship. Instead of the more profitable and longer journey to England, they would be carrying molasses to the New England colonies and wouldn’t be leaving until the end of the week. Only once the change in cargo was underway did Brigid approach him.
“How does Donny like the ship?” Liam’s grin made her knees melt, as it always did.
Could she really blame him for that awful woman? No; the fault for the woman’s rudeness couldn’t be laid at anyone else’s feet. That didn’t make it any easier to banish jealous visions of him laying with
other women, though. Foolish questions like how many of them there had been over the years came to her, despite her having no right to ask such things.
“He loves it. I have a message from someone who came looking for you, though.”
Liam blinked. “Oh?”
“A woman by the name of Mary.”
“Ah.” He paused to clear his throat and his cheeks warmed to a faint pink. “Now, Brigid, I hope you don’t—”
“It’s none of my business what you do with other women,” she said firmly. “Her message was that she thinks something bad is going to happen. A storm or something like it. She said the rats were fleeing the city.”
“I thought I noticed more boarding ships than usual.” Liam mused on that for a moment, looking out over Port Royal. “Well, it can’t be helped. If it’s a storm, we might sail right into it. We’ll just have to trust our luck.”
“I noticed it, too.”
Liam turned back to look at her with a faint frown. “Did you now? I thought I noticed one of the catkind or something like it lurking in the market, but nothing like that.”
“Aye, there was that, but this was different.”
He pulled off his hat to drag a hand through his hair as he thought that over. “We’re not sailing until Saturday because the molasses hasn’t been delivered yet. We’ll just have to hope.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
COVERTURE
THE presence of Liam throughout the day made Brigid feel unsettled. Even when she and her mother were sewing and left Liam and Donny to get acquainted, she still felt keenly aware of his every movement and sound. If he cleared his throat, she would find herself automatically pausing in what she was doing to glance over at him. It would have been embarrassing enough when they first met—and she had found herself staring too often then, too—but it seemed so much worse coming from a mother instead of a foolish girl.
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