“I’ve managed to gather a few supplies, enough to last at least a week,” he told her. “The rest are being loaded into a boat for our return to the island.”
She wondered what was in the bag but refrained from asking. Whereas on the island they had formed a kind of bond out of need and had become friends, now there was a strain between them that was even greater than before.
He handed her the bag. “For you.”
Surprised, she took the bag from him and, handing him the kitten, untied the rope holding it together. Inside she found a lovely sapphire-blue taffeta dress and matching crochet lace shawl. She drew the dress from the bag and held it up against her shoulders. She had never seen anything so lovely.
“Wherever did you get this?” she breathed.
Laughter danced in his eyes turning them more blue than gray. “Mrs. Allison’s dress shop fared better than most. She was rather loquacious in her condemnation of the fact that the people of Apalach hadn’t taken her advice and built their homes of brick.”
Adrella had to chuckle at that. Mrs. Allison was the town busybody, always trying to run people’s lives, but she had a heart of gold. Everyone loved her.
“Do you like it? It should be the right size. Mrs. Allison remembered your size from the green dress she made for you.”
She glanced at the dress not knowing what to say. Surely this dress had to have cost a small fortune. It was one of Mrs. Allison’s Paris designs, dresses that only the wealthy in town could afford.
The green dress she had worn to the island was one of Mrs. Allison’s less expensive gowns, but equally well made and beautiful. At least she had thought so at the time. But this...
“Didn’t she have anything plainer? This will hardly do for trekking around the island.”
His slow smile told her that he knew exactly what she was thinking.
“Don’t worry about it, Adrella. It’s paid for, leave it at that and just enjoy it.”
He had to be kidding. They were married now and it was up to her to make certain that they could live within their means. It was a way of life passed on to her by her father and she wasn’t about to suddenly forsake it.
He took the bag from her and handed back Grace. “Get changed. We need to leave as soon as possible.”
“You want me to wear this now?” she asked dubiously.
He cocked his head. “Is there a problem?”
“It’s just...well...”
“Yes?”
“I don’t think the seawater will do it any good.”
Dathan laughed and Adrella felt that little catch in her heart again. He was such a different man when he laughed. She loved the little lines that fanned out from his eyes.
“My practical Adrella,” he said, smiling. “There’s more where that came from. Please. Put it on for me.”
If it would cause him to smile like that again, she would be glad to do just about anything he said.
Chapter 9
Adrella sat beside Dathan in the skiff as they made their return trip to the island. Part of her was filled with dread, the other part was feeling somewhat excited at what lay ahead. Dathan hadn’t been happy to have her along, but in the end, there was no way around it.
Things would be different this time, although she would still be sleeping outside and not in a house. Dathan had somehow arranged to scrounge up an old army tent, and now they wouldn’t have to sleep on the sand but, instead, on blankets. Where or how he had managed this, she had no idea. It wasn’t the first time he had shown his resourcefulness. She was only now beginning to realize just how intelligent and capable he was. She felt a small thrill of pride in knowing that he belonged to her.
She carried her mother’s quilt on her lap. Mrs. Evans had helped her to wash it before they had to leave and it looked almost like new, although it would never be as pristine as it had been before. She hugged it close against the chill air blowing across the water.
Grace was snuggled down inside of it, her soft mewling a protest at the undulation of the rocking boat. Adrella stroked her head gently, trying to comfort her as much as possible under the circumstances. Maybe Dathan had been right and she should have left the kitten with Mrs. Evans, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. It reminded her too much of herself. Lost and confused.
It was now the first week of November, and although the gulf was still fairly warm, the temperatures dropped quickly when combined with the fine sea spray and the approaching evening. She was thankful for the new dress and shawl Dathan had purchased for her. She would have preferred something much less elaborate, but then, as the old saying went, beggars can’t be choosers.
She glanced back at her husband manning the oars. He, too, was wearing new clothes. The cable-knit gray sweater he wore matched the color of his eyes, those eyes that were staring out over the gulf, his mind obviously miles away.
“Dathan?”
He turned his attention to her. “Hmm?”
She twirled her wedding ring on her finger. The blue sapphires exactly matched the dress she was wearing, the stones shining brightly in the waning light of the sun.
“Where did you get this ring?”
He looked away from her. “It was my grandmother’s. I retrieved it from the bank in Apalach.”
Before or after he had asked her to marry him? Demanded was more like it. Had he planned all along to use circumstances to his benefit so that he could fulfill his promise to her father? She glanced up at him and found him watching her.
“I know what you’re thinking, and no, I didn’t plan this. But I’m not sorry it happened, either.”
The timbre of his voice warned her that he didn’t want to discuss it any further. She opened her mouth, but then snapped it shut. The hurt must have shown on her face because Dathan sighed heavily.
“Adrella, there are some things we need to discuss. I had hoped to wait until we were settled, but maybe it’s best if we get them out in the open now.” His eyes filled with laughter. “At least this way you won’t be able to run away in a temper.”
He was amused by the words. She was not.
“We need to talk about our marriage,” he stated more seriously.
Adrella swallowed hard. Apprehension traced its icy fingers along her spine. Ever since she had made her hasty wedding vows, she had wondered what Dathan expected of her. That she loved him went without saying, but exactly how did he feel about her? What did he really expect from a wife he had married out of duty?
“Am I wrong in believing that we have become friends over the past two weeks?” he asked.
Adrella shook her head. “No, Dathan, you’re not wrong, at least as far as I’m concerned.”
“And do you trust me?”
Did she? Yes, she did. There was no doubt in her mind that everything he had done, he had done for her. If there was a slight hesitation in her nod, it wasn’t due to a lack of trust. The look he threw her was skeptical, but he decided to continue.
“You already know that I am...was...a doctor.” He paused and she could tell he was hesitant to go on.
“Yes?” she encouraged.
“I come from New York and my family is extremely wealthy. As am I.”
The color drained from Adrella’s face. That was the last thing she had expected him to say.
“I haven’t told you much about my family, but my parents are both alive. My father has his fingers in several pies; he is well diversified, but the main one is steel.” He hesitated, searching her face. “In actuality, as an only child, I am really an heir to an empire.”
He made the statement in such a matter-of-fact tone it took Adrella a moment to fully realize what he h
ad just said. The look on his face assured her that he was not joking. She blinked at him, her thoughts in sudden turmoil. She came from plain folk, people who farmed the land and worked hard with their hands. Her people had been slaves to the landed gentry for ages, and now Dathan was declaring that he was one of those people that she heartily despised and had fled Ireland to escape.
During the war in this country her father and she had been hard-pressed to side with the state they lived in when it came to the slavery issue. Although they loved their home, they knew what it was like to be nothing more than slaves. It was an abomination that put her on her mettle. Now what was she to say to his declaration?
“Adrella, I’m telling you this because I need to make arrangements with the bank to have some money sent down from my father. I want to be able to provide better for you...”
“I don’t need your money,” she interrupted quietly, her accent thickened by her stress. She would not become one of those snobbish people, no matter how much she loved Dathan.
He sighed. “I understand how you feel.” He held up his hand when she would have broken in and she fumed in silence. “Your father and I talked many a time about the injustices of life. I knew how you both felt about rich people. That’s why I didn’t want to tell you.”
Her Da would be horrified to know that Dathan was, in fact, gentry. Although in America there were no such things as lords and ladies, there might as well have been. The attitude was much the same. Had she known this about him before, she never would have married him, loving him or not.
She was filled with sudden misgivings about her future. She had no idea what it took to be a wealthy man’s wife. The fact was, she had no desire to find out. She had been content when she thought they would just be two lonely people struggling together. Things were different now.
Adrella had no pretensions about herself. When they had first arrived on the shores of the States, they had landed in New York. Those first months she had learned a lot about the wealthy. Their disdain for the very people who made their lives so good was intolerable to her.
She and her Da had been looked down on by not only the wealthy, but their hired help as well. They had been made to feel like second-class citizens. She was still the same person, the same person his kind had looked down upon. And him? What kind of man was he really?
“Adrella, look at me.”
She did so reluctantly. He too often could read her thoughts.
“This changes nothing between us.”
Shaking her head, she told him quietly, “It changes everything. You lied. You lied about everything. Who you are, what you are.”
Anger burned in his eyes. “I never lied to anyone.”
She glared back at him. “Pretending to be a lighthouse keeper? Acting like you had little money and asking me Da for credit?”
The boat slowed as he stopped rowing. He leaned forward over the oars, angry color filling his face.
“I am a lighthouse keeper, and proud of it! And I try to live on what I have earned on my own merit. A lightkeeper’s pay is minimal and there were times when I ran low on funds. I didn’t ask your father for credit. He saw I needed it and, being the man he was, he offered it to me.”
“Why didn’t you just ask your family?’
She realized her voice sounded rather snide, but she couldn’t help it. Too often her Da had gone without because he overextended credit to others. The Confederate money was proof of that. And this man had a fortune at his disposal yet took advantage of her father’s kind heart. She knew it was unreasonable to blame it all on Dathan, but she had to direct her anger and hurt somewhere and he was the closest target at hand.
When Dathan had been just a lighthouse keeper who struggled to make ends meet they’d had something in common. Now, with just a few words, they were miles apart and she was suddenly very frightened. What exactly was he trying to tell her?
He began rowing again, putting his anger into action. The boat skimmed across the water at a much faster rate. The silence between them was heavy with unsaid words.
It was some time before he finally spoke again. When he did, his voice was strangely quiet and she leaned toward him to better hear.
“My father and I didn’t part on very good terms. He was opposed to my going into the army. He wanted me to stay behind and run the company with him.”
It suddenly occurred to her that for the first time in their acquaintance, Dathan was finally opening up to her. How often had she tried to get him to open up about his past, yet he wouldn’t. He was giving her the honor of treating her as a wife, giving her a glimpse inside his life and mind. Pushing away her feelings of inferiority and her insecurities, she tried to accept that whatever he told her was because they would be sharing their future together.
“Go on,” she prompted uneasily.
His face registered his surprise at her sudden attentiveness and she knew that he hadn’t meant to say what he did aloud. After a moment he continued.
“We had a big argument. He threatened to disown me if I went into the army.”
“But you went anyway,” she reasoned.
“Obviously. Anyway, he not only didn’t disown me, he made certain that I was given a captaincy.”
“You called his bluff.”
His eyes glittered with feelings held in check. “I did. Since then, we have kept in minimal contact.”
“I take it they don’t know about me.”
He met her look head on. “They will soon enough. That’s what I was trying to tell you. I have to contact him to access my accounts.”
Adrella felt the bottom drop out of her stomach. If his father was such a hard man, what on earth was he going to think of her? One couldn’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear no matter how beautiful the clothes.
They were nearing the dock. By mutual consent they withheld further discussion until a more appropriate time. Dathan stowed the oars and leaped from the boat, the water coming up to his knees. He pushed the boat against the dock and Adrella hurriedly climbed onto the wharf and accepted the mooring line he handed her. She tied it to the post.
Dathan grasped the dock with both hands and quickly lifted himself from the water. Adrella couldn’t help but admire his toned physique, the way his muscles rippled even under the bulky sweater he wore. He reminded her of the sea, strong and powerful at times, gentle and kind at others. Unfortunately he was just about as deep.
He climbed back into the boat and began handing Adrella the supplies he had managed to procure before they’d left, along with the few things she’d salvaged from her home. Adrella placed the kitten in a small crate that held bags of flour and sugar and set it off the dock. The other bags and crates she placed on the dock next to her feet. There wasn’t very much and Adrella wondered just how long it would last them. Not very long at all from her reckoning, but she knew Dathan must have worked things out in his mind. He was so very meticulous.
Dathan pulled a Colt revolver from the last crate and stuffed it into the band of his dungarees. Adrella glanced in surprise from the weapon to Dathan. On an isolated island why did he need a gun? Sure there were moccasins and the occasional gator, but they usually stayed more inland near the marshes. Was Dathan expecting some kind of trouble?
She followed him up the beach, carrying the kitten wrapped in the blanket. Since the tide was still out, he chose to follow the beach to the far side of the island instead of going through the woods.
They finally moved out into the open area near the lighthouse. The remnants of their previous camp were still there, the palm frond shelters looking rather worse for wear. They both stopped, each lost in their own memories for a few minutes.
Dathan placed the crate he carried near one of the palm shelters and turned. “I need to prepare the light. If you would like, you can start a fire. There are matches in the c
rate. Do you remember how?”
Adrella nodded and Dathan headed for the lighthouse. She placed Grace on the sand and watched in amusement as the kitten walked around shaking its paws, obviously not liking the texture of the sand.
“You be good now,” she warned.
Adrella gathered some of the dry wood that Dathan had put next to the shelter before they had left the island and loaded it into a pile. It kindled into flame rapidly for which Adrella was grateful. The evening temperatures were dropping quickly.
The light in the tower began to gleam brightly. Before long Dathan joined her, pausing only long enough to tell her, “I need to retrieve the rest of the supplies. I’ll be back soon.”
He started to move away and Adrella rose to her feet. “I can help.”
He glanced from her to the kitten and smiled ruefully. “I think not. It won’t take long, but it will still be dark by the time I get finished.” He motioned to the crate. “You’ll find some sandwiches and fruit in a small wooden box. Help yourself.”
Sandwiches? They had to have come from Mrs. Evans, probably when Adrella had gone to change her clothes. The woman’s graciousness was the epitome of what she had always thought a minister’s wife should be.
Sinking down to the sand, she watched Dathan walk away until he disappeared from sight.
The light from the tower left a reflected glow in the area and brought a calming sense of serenity. It was as though she was back where she was meant to be, like this had always been her life. Her existence before the storm seemed more like an illusion. That life, the life with her Da, she perceived as more akin to a dream than a reality.
Grace was curled up on the quilt asleep. Even the kitten seemed to sense the peace that had settled down around them.
Adrella dug through the crate to see what it contained. She was surprised at the number of things she discovered. Where on earth had Dathan found all these things?
She pulled an iron tripod from the bottom, one like the soldiers had used during the war and the pioneers had used in their trek across the plains of this country. There was a small kettle to go along with it. She was thrilled with the find. This would have been so useful when they had first been stranded here.
There's Always Tomorrow Page 10