by Sara Orwig
The next week Sophia moved through the throng on the wharf. Boats lined the docks, one coming in, churning water in its wake. She pulled her deep green moire skirts close around her.
“Miss Sophia, we don’t belong down here. We need to go home now,” Mazie complained. “This is no place for a lady.” A shrill blast shattered the air from a steamboat.
“I’ve been told the Bluebell is carrying paper among other goods, and I’m not going home until I find out whether that’s true or not.”
“Miss Sophia, if Mister John or Mister Morris or Mister Amos or your papa were here, they’d want you home!”
“You stay right beside me. I have a pistol in my purse.”
“If you pull a pistol, no telling what will happen. Please, Miss Sophia.”
Sophia scanned the boats, watching the Contessa maneuver to get up to the wharf and unload. Ragged men stood at the rails. Another shipload of men returning to the South from prisons and battlefields. For days after the war’s end she would come down to the wharf and watch boats unload, praying for sign of Caleb or John, disappointment overwhelming her until finally she stopped watching the boats arrive.
Telling Mazie to wait, she pushed her way on board the Bluebell and in minutes found Captain Aguila.
“Ma’am, come to my cabin.”
Inside she sat facing him. “I’m Sophia Merrick, Captain Aguila. I’ve been told you’re carrying paper and I want to purchase some if possible. I have a newspaper, The River Weekly.”
“Yes, ma’am. You’ve heard right. With the war, everything is scarce, but it won’t be long until all sorts of things start flowing back to the South and factories start up again. In a few months, I expect to get paper from Georgia. They’re rebuilding already.”
She spent the next hour with the Captain, finally making arrangements for the paper to be delivered to her newspaper office.
“Now, Mazie, it’s all done,” she said as they left the Bluebell. “I have enough paper to last me for months.”
“Yes, ma’am, and we’re going home. This place is filled with thieves and murderers.”
The most danger wasn’t from anyone on the wharf, Sophia reflected. It was from someone like Dunstan Trevitt, a man who was admired as a pillar of society. A few families wouldn’t accept his Union affiliation, but many of them chose to forget now that the war was over. Men brushed against Sophia, causing Mazie to mutter and push some out of the way.
Sophia looked at the milling crowd along the wharf, the promenade, and the levee. So many coming home. At the Jefferson dock, a man, taller than many, a battered, broad-brimmed hat on his head, caught her attention. She studied him and her gaze slid away and then returned. His back was to her and he was shoving through the crowd. Sometimes she had thought she’d glimpsed Caleb or John only to rush after a man and be disappointed. It was probably the same now as she watched the soldier who was too thin to be Caleb, yet the stride was familiar. He glanced around. He was too far to see clearly, but her heart missed beats and she grabbed Mazie’s arm.
Chapter 19
“Mazie!”
“Miss Sophia, what’s wrong?”
He pushed out of the crowd and began striding away. Her heart pounded. Caleb! He looked leaner than ever, his gray trousers were faded, the gray shirt wrinkled, his hat battered, but there was no mistaking the familiar long stride, his broad shoulders, the thick curls on the back of his neck. She tried to push through the throng. She was a block away from him.
“Miss Sophia!”
Sophia knew Mazie was calling her name, but she couldn’t go back. Caleb was probably headed to her house. She wanted to cry with frustration trying to get through the crowd. She should get the buggy and find him, but she didn’t want to turn back. She had to catch him.
Finally she broke free and spotted him striding up Jefferson. She ran, feeling her bonnet slip behind her head, holding up her skirts, oblivious to people turning to stare.
“Can I help you, miss?”
“Miss—?”
She ignored the questions and offers, barely hearing them as she ran. “Caleb!” she shouted, feeling tears on her cheeks, not caring. “Caleb!”
He glanced around and continued walking, and she dashed across the intersection, running around a buggy and scared she had lost him when he was out of her sight. Then he was in front of her again. He carried a satchel and his long legs covered the distance swiftly. She gasped for breath. “Caleb!”
He turned around.
She waved at him as her heart pounded. He dropped the satchel and came toward her, his green eyes seeming to engulf her. He had a curly beard and a mustache and he looked so thin. He was dusty, disheveled, and she felt as if she would burst with joy. He broke into a run, and then she flung herself into his arms as he clutched her in a hard embrace that took her breath away. She raised her lips as he crushed them in his kisses.
“Sophia,” he said, his voice gruff. Her heart pounded, thudding against her ribs. He looked at her and she thought she couldn’t ever get enough looking at him or touching him.
“I saw you and I’ve tried to catch you. Oh, Caleb—”
He kissed her again. He smelled of smoke and his breath had a trace of whiskey and his whiskers tickled her, but she relished everything about him.
He released her and looked down at her with a hunger that made her feel hot and weak. “Lass, I’ve dreamt of ye for three long years,” he said, his brogue thick and his voice rough. “We go somewhere or I’ll take ye here on the street.”
“Oh, Caleb. You’re home,” she exclaimed.
“Sure and I am to stay, love.”
“I have a house on Washington. They burned my house that night.”
“I meant it, lassie. Find a place for us to be alone.”
Her pulse skittered and raced. “The buggy is back—heavens, I left Mazie in all that crowd.”
“Mazie? I want ye to myself,” he insisted.
“You’ll have me to yourself,” she said, breathless at the passion in his voice. “Your valise, Caleb—”
“Damnation. I’ll get it and we find Mazie and then we’re alone. Do ye understand?”
She felt giddy with joy. She wanted to pull him into a darkened doorway and run her hands over him. At the same time, her emotions were ragged. She had waited so long. And been so alone and so afraid for him. Tears of joy threatened.
“Hurry, Caleb. Get your bag,” she said breathlessly.
“Oh, lass, my love. Ye canna’ know.”
“Yes, I do know, Caleb,” she said solemnly. “I’ve waited for you.
“There’s been no other woman,” he said solemnly. “And there never will be. No cryin’ now, lass,” he said, wiping tears off her cheeks with his thumb. She twisted her head to brush his hand with a kiss.
“Caleb, get your satchel,” she whispered, “so we can go”
He ran the distance to pick up his belongings and then came back and she couldn’t stop looking at him, wanting to be in his arms. He gazed at her with a scalding, blatant desire in his eyes that made her yearn to be home with him. He draped his arm around her shoulders and she slipped her arm around his waist. If anyone who knew her well saw them, it would start a storm of gossip, but at the moment, she could no more stop touching him than she could stop breathing.
“Ye look beautiful in green. I think New Orleans has changed ye.”
“Oh, Caleb, I’m so afraid you’ll disappear!”
“I’m home. I’ll not disappear and within this hour, ye’ll know how real I am.” He looked down at her and gave up holding her around the waist as they strode along together. “Yer damned crinolines. I may burn them and to hell with fashion.”
Laughing, feeling joy bubble inside, she had to stretch her legs to the fullest to keep up with him.
“Mazie and I were going to the market.”
“We’ll take Mazie to shop at the market and you and I will go home. Alone.”
“Mazie may have gone to the buggy. It’s this
way,” Sophia said, tugging on his arm.
Mazie was seated in the buggy and as they walked up, she looked at them and her eyes became round. “Lordy, Major O’Brien! Thank the Lord, you’re home again!”
“Hello, Mazie,” he said, grinning at her and giving her a squeeze. “Sure and I had to fight all across the U.S. to get home to your cooking.”
“Yes, sir. Looks as if you could use a little of my cooking.”
He helped Sophia up beside him and he stopped in front of the hotel. “Sophia, wait while I get a room.”
“You can stay at the house,” she said softly, and he shook his head.
“It would start gossip,” he said solemnly, his green eyes telling her what he really wanted. He jumped down and strode into the lobby.
“Miss Sophia, if you’ll get Major to kill a chicken for us, I’ll get to cooking as soon as we get home. Are we still going to the market?”
“We’ll go. Here he comes.”
Caleb climbed up beside Sophia, and she touched his arm again, wanting to hold him and not let go. “We were going to the market,” she said.
He nodded. “We’ll take Mazie and let her shop and you take me to your house so I can wash up. You can go back and pick her up.”
He helped Mazie out of the buggy, and she beamed at him. “I’ll get you something you can’t resist! I know how you like my chicken,” she said, adjusting the basket on her arm. Sophia handed Mazie the list and money.
“I’ll be back to get you. You can wait in the shade there where you can sit down,” Sophia said, pointing to benches across the road beneath a line of oaks.
Caleb drove to her small house. He swung her down from the buggy and lifted out his satchel, taking her arm and walking into the house. They stepped into the kitchen and he kicked the door shut behind them and dropped the satchel as he reached for her.
“Ah, Sophia, lass, how I’ve waited …”
She was in his arms, her heart feeling as if it would pound through her chest while she ran her hands over Caleb and clung to him, wanting to kiss and hold him forever.
His kisses were searing, dreamt of so many nights and now real, devouring her as he thrust his tongue deep into her mouth and crushed her to him. He held her away, trying to unbutton her dress, fumbling and yanking it open to shove it over her hips and unfasten the crinoline. He peeled away the chemise and pulled off his shirt, unbuckling his belt as she ran her hands over his chest.
His green eyes held her gaze, the hungry expression in them making her pulse race as he pushed her to the kitchen table. With a sweep of his arm he sent a cup and a bowl of fruit flying and pushed her back on the table, moving between her legs and unbuttoning his pants to free his throbbing manhood.
“I have dreamt of ye night upon night. Ye are why I kept going and why I survived, love. Ye are all to me forever and I want ye now. I will kiss you, every inch of you, later, but now, I canna’ wait.”
He thrust into her softness as he pulled her to him and kissed her. Sobbing with joy, wanting him desperately, Sophia wrapped herself around him, clinging to his hard body while they moved in wild abandon. She felt consumed, and she wanted to be part of him. He was big and hot, driving into her with a frenzy of need. She felt as if she spun into dizzying darkness and then wave after wave of sensation washed over her, ecstasy pounding her.
“Sophia, my lassie,” Caleb cried, kissing her deeply, passion engulfing her.
She stroked him and then was lost in blinding waves as she held him tightly and cried out. “Caleb, please, oh, love, my love!”
They moved together, the climax ripping through her, and then he sagged against her while she held him tightly and ran her hands over him, continually reassuring herself that he had finally come home to her safe from war. “I knew you would come home. I knew you would. I’ve watched for you and prayed for you.”
“And I’ve dreamt of you and needed you and wanted you and thought about you constantly when I wasn’t on a battlefield facing cannon. God, it’s good to be here and hold you.”
“Caleb.” She wanted to touch him, to say his name, to constantly reassure herself he was home.
He kissed her temple, trailing kisses to her ear, to her throat and shifting away, helping her up. “I have to wash,” he said. “I’d rather not let go of you for even a few seconds.” His gaze roamed over her bare breasts while she caressed his chest and shoulders, sliding her hands down over his hips. She ran her hands along his ribs and felt a ridge that suddenly made her heart lurch. “Turn around.”
“I’m all right.”
“Turn around, Caleb,” she said, pushing him. He turned and she looked at the red scar that cut across his flesh from his ribs up across his shoulder blade. “Oh, Caleb!” she gasped, kissing his back. “You were hurt!”
He turned around. “It’s a saber wound and I’m over it and I’m all right. Let’s forget the war, Sophia,” he said solemnly. “I don’t want to think about war now. It’s over.”
She stood on tiptoe and brought his head forward to kiss him hard, to move her hips against him and hear him groan.
“I’ll have to go back to get Mazie before long.”
“I like Mazie, and my stomach is protesting not eating any decent food since the war started, but I want you all to myself.”
“I suppose we need to build a fire in the stove to heat water for your bath.”
“You can’t imagine how good that sounds. I’ll build the fire, but I don’t want to let go of you.”
“I think you have to make a choice,” she said, looking up at him, feeling his body respond to her as his arousal came, pressing against her.
“Sophia, I want ye and want ye and want ye,” he said, lapsing back into the brogue. He kissed her as hungrily as the first time. He picked her up in his arms and strode across the room. “Where’s the bedroom?”
“Down the hall,” she whispered, kissing his ear, trailing kisses over his temple. He placed her on the bed, his weight coming down beside her and then he moved over her, to hold her and kiss her. He rolled over to stroke her bare breasts, taking her nipple in his mouth, flicking his tongue over its tip.
She gasped and shifted, winding her hands in his thick soft hair, feeling him spread her legs apart and move between them. His body was lean, all muscle, his skin taut over bones that showed too clearly. His arms and upper body were copper from days in the sun, and in spite of his leanness, he was stronger than ever. Her heart pounded with desire, reaching for him.
He came down, going slowly this time, easing into her warmth, moving his hips in a sensuous torment that made her lock her arms around him and moan.
“Caleb, my love. Don’t ever leave again.”
“I love ye, lassie. Always.”
She felt his body tense as she responded, waves of sensation buffeting her, her body moving with his and then bursting with release. They clung together until finally she ran her hands over him.
“Caleb, I have to go back to the market soon.”
He smiled at her and stroked her hair away from her face. “Oh God, Sophia, I’m home.”
She buried her head against his throat, a knot suddenly coming in her throat. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she whispered, tears stinging her eyes. “I’ve prayed and prayed that you would come home to me.”
“Ah, love,” he said, tightening his long arms around her and holding her against him. “Sophia. I’m home, and the damnable war is over.”
She moved away. “We need to start a fire in the stove and heat water for a bath—”
He laughed. “Love, I’ll take care of the fire.” He caught her face with his hand. “John? Have you heard from him?”
“I haven’t heard from John in two years. I can’t give up on him, Caleb. I never gave up on you, and you came home to me.”
He pulled her to him to hold her. “Before the day is out, I want to write Rafe and Darcy and you have to catch me up on all their news.”
“The biggest news from the New Orleans O
’Briens is that Chantal is expecting their second child in early January.”
“Grand! I’ll be an uncle again. I haven’t even seen Daniella.”
Two hours later Sophia sat facing him in the dining room while they ate Mazie’s sumptuous fried chicken, hot biscuits with thick gravy, steaming black-eyed peas, and fried okra. Sophia listened patiently as he told her about his battles in Tennessee and Georgia, but what she really wanted to do was hold him. He had shaved away the beard and trimmed his mustache and she couldn’t keep her hands off of him.
Mazie entered the dining room to pass more biscuits. Caleb leaned back in his chair. “Mazie, thinking about your cooking kept me going all through the fighting. You’re the best cook in the whole country.”
“Major, you eat up. You need every bite of this,” she said, grinning. “It’s good to have you home in Memphis.”
“I think I can eat another six biscuits.”
“You do that, sir.”
She passed the bowl to Sophia who shook her head and watched Caleb slather butter on a golden hot biscuit. Mazie pushed through the swinging door to the kitchen and they were alone again. He glanced at Sophia. “What’s happened in Memphis? When did you get back from New Orleans?”
“A month after General Lee surrendered. There was still all the furor over Booth shooting President Lincoln.”
“Tell me about Daniella.”
“She’s beautiful. She has large dark eyes and your brother’s black hair and they all dote on her, particularly Darcy. He’s good with his hands and he’s carved several wooden toys for her.”
“I want to go to New Orleans and get him soon,” he said, glancing at her between bites of chicken.
“I’ve saved their letters if you want to read them. Will Stanton is going soon to visit the Therries.”
Caleb wore a white cotton shirt tucked into his gray trousers. He was so lean, Sophia was thankful he was eating a hearty meal.
Soon Mazie whisked away the plates, and Caleb glanced at Sophia’s half-eaten supper. If Mazie noticed, she didn’t mention it. Rice pudding was served for dessert and Sophia ate only a bite.