Mary Burton

by The Lightkeepers Woman

  He would spend the rest of his days protecting her. Her world would never shatter again. “Those days are past, Alanna. You are safe now.”

  She shook her head. “Safe is an illusion without money. I know that now.”

  “Debra Randall isn’t afraid.”

  “She’s a brave woman.”

  “You faced that surf today. You are brave.”

  “Not like Debra. Her bravery is the quiet strong kind that lasts a lifetime. Mine is always short-lived. It’s not consistent.”

  She was wrong.

  He laid his hands on her shoulders and turned her toward him. Time had changed her from a girl into a woman. At first he’d not seen it, but now he did. The spark remained in her eyes, the same fearlessness pulsed in her veins, but there was also wisdom. “You are a different woman now, Alanna. You can weather any storm, I’ll wager.”

  As if he hadn’t spoken she shook her head and moved to the window and stared through the clouded panes of glass. Outside the wind howled and the rain pelted the earth with uncommon ferocity. “Strength does not pay creditors, Caleb. Nor does it keep a child fed and warm. The only reason I didn’t lose the house two years ago was because of Henry.”

  “Henry.” He wished a curse on the man.

  “I know you don’t like Henry. But he was a good friend to me when no one else was. And he’s offering me security.”

  “The finest house in the world is a cold, sterile place without love.”

  She pressed her fingertips against the glass. “Henry loves me.”

  He could see her face reflected in the glass. “Henry’s love is an illusion.”

  She shook her head. “Our love was an illusion, Caleb. When we were tested, we failed.”

  He closed the distance between them. “We didn’t make it through the first gale, that I’ll grant you. But given a second chance, we might make it through just fine.”

  “There’s no hope for us.”

  His fingers on her shoulders tightened. “Then why are you here?”

  “At first it was to deliver the box. And then I thought it was to answer the questions surrounding Father’s suicide. But now I see that I was meant to come here. To see that you were well and to tell you about the baby. I had to come here to close the chapter on our life together. Now I see that I am better suited as Henry’s wife. When I return home, I am going to accept his marriage proposal.”

  Savage hot jealousy constricted his chest as he listened to her talk of marrying another man. He hated the idea of another man looking at her, let alone making love to her. The idea of her lying naked under Henry, her glorious curls strewn on the pillow, gnawed at his gut.

  He remembered how it had been with them. Her passion had been unbridled. She’d savored his kisses and matched his desire with one just as fevered. The nights they’d shared had held the promise of a lifetime of passion. He knew time would only make them better lovers as they discovered each other’s bodies and learned how to stoke the flames in the other.

  Now, Henry would be learning the curves of her body. Henry would kiss the tender flesh at the base of her neck.

  If he had a whit of sense, he’d send her away with that damn box of hers. But like a dam bursting, two years of desire exploded free. He pulled her to him and drew her to his chest. She stared wide-eyed up at him, her hand pressed to his chest. He could feel her warm breath on his face and the rapid beating of her pulse in her wrist.

  He covered her lips with a hard and possessive kiss. His hand slipped under her sweater to the naked flesh of her back. He pressed the small of her back into his hard arousal.

  Her scent mingled with her taste, inflaming his senses. Like a man lost in the desert, he greedily drank her in. He wanted to strip the clothes from her body and lay her on the bed. He imagined her wild and naked as she’d been years before, begging for his touch, calling his name in her husky, fevered voice.

  She rose on tiptoe and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her desire was an aphrodisiac, inflaming him in ways he’d never dreamed possible.

  He drove his tongue between her lips, determined to give her so much pleasure that all the miseries of the past were forgotten.

  A soft moan rumbled in her chest and she relaxed against him, giving herself to the kiss. This was the Alanna he remembered, the woman who’d haunted his dreams.

  When he broke the kiss, he stared down at her wide-eyed expression, a mixture of passion and horror.

  His breathing was ragged, as if he’d just run the length of the beach. “It’s better than I remembered.”

  “I’d hoped it wouldn’t be,” she whispered. “I wanted to hate touching you.”

  He reached out to her. “But you don’t.”

  Shaking her head, she stepped back from him. “No.”

  “This isn’t what I expected or bargained for, Alanna, but it feels right.”

  “Feelings get me into trouble. When I rely on feelings, I end up making terrible mistakes.”

  His mind clearing, he saw the fear in her eyes. “This isn’t a mistake.”

  She pressed her fingertips to her lips. “It is. We don’t fit anymore. We belong in different worlds.” Lifting her chin, she moved away from him toward the door. “It’s truly over between us.”

  Quietly, she left.

  As he stood alone in his room, her scent still clung to him. His fingertips still tingled from touching her.

  “It’s not over between us, Alanna. Not by a long shot.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Alanna’s head was spinning as she made her way down the hallway toward the back door. At this point she didn’t care if it was raining or not. She needed to get outside.

  She sat on the bench by the back door and pulled on her boots, still damp and cold from the rescue.

  Trembling hands made lacing up the first boot a struggle. Toby came up to her, his tail wagging. He barked and nudged her hands. “I know, boy, this place is getting a little small for me, too.”

  Hadn’t the last two years taught her anything? She’d been trapped in a living nightmare since she’d foolishly given her heart to Caleb. She’d paid a high price for her passionate nature. Yet, here she was nearly surrendering herself to him again.

  Fool me once, shame on you.

  Fool me twice, shame on me.

  The taste of him lingered on her lips. She was no longer a silly girl just out of the schoolroom with too much bravado and not enough sense. She understood how destructive passion could be and she’d not make that mistake again.

  It was more imperative than ever that she marry Henry. He was calm, even and he would never make her blood sing with his kisses. Together, they would build a good, stable life together.

  Flexing her stiff fingers, she tied the laces in a bow on the first boot. It was more important now that the Randalls not know who she really was. The trick now was keeping a safe distance from her husband.

  Sighing, she yanked on the second boot.

  “You ain’t going out in that mess are you?”

  The sound of the young man’s voice had Alanna lifting her head. There stood Alex and Ryan. Each wore Caleb’s castoffs.

  The tall, gangly boy, Ryan, was a bit too tall for the pants and sweater he wore. His sleeves and pants legs were a couple of inches too short whereas his friend had to roll up his pants and sweater. Alex, who was shorter and stockier, had rolled up his pants and shirtsleeves. Neither possessed Caleb’s muscular build and both looked as if they’d stepped out of the schoolroom.

  Alanna forced her muscles to relax and smiled at the boys. “I just need a bit of fresh air.”

  Alex and Ryan exchanged glances. By their expressions it was clear they thought she’d gone daft.

  “The wind will sweep you away,” Ryan said.

  “I should be just fine.” She kept her voice light as if walking in a gale was normal.

  Alex shook his head. “Ma’am, the trees is bent sideways in the wind.”

  “Sideways?” Alanna hesitated. Sh
e rose and looked out the back window. Wind and rain swept across the yard. She groaned. Lord, but she wanted out of this place, but the last thing she needed was to stumble into trouble, and then have Caleb come and rescue her again.

  “Perhaps you’re right.” Like it or not, she was stuck.

  She started back toward the kitchen. The cottage seemed to shrink by the moment. Out of politeness, she said, “Can I fix you anything to eat?”

  The boys nodded. “Thanks, ma’am,” Ryan said.

  The boys were bottomless pits, she decided. “You really are hungry?”

  “We’re still hungry enough to eat a whale,” Alex said.

  Just hours ago, they’d eaten more in one sitting than she did in a week. “Well, then, have a seat.”

  Still, within ten minutes she’d reheated the stew and sliced each thick pieces of bread. Her nerves had calmed and she felt her control return.

  Ryan ate his food as if he were half-starved. “We sure do appreciate your helping Caleb yesterday. I was sure we was gonna go down with the boat.”

  Alanna sat at the table across from them. Puppies. They were like growing puppies, she thought. “I’m glad we could help.”

  Alex swallowed a mouthful of cheese. “When we hit that shoal, my first thought was of Captain Pitt. I knew he’d be keeping watch.”

  “So you know Mr. Pitt?”

  Ryan nodded. “Ain’t many in these parts that don’t know the captain.”

  Alanna watched Alex gobble another piece of sausage.

  She wondered if the boy had a hollow leg. “I suppose they’ve gotten to know him these last couple of years.”

  “That and from before,” Alex said.

  “Before?”

  “My uncle Sloan served with the captain in the Navy.”

  “Sloan? Does he own the tavern in town?”

  Ryan’s face brightened. “Yep. He’s the one.”

  Alex mopped up his stew with a piece of bread.

  “Uncle Sloan didn’t say anything about the captain marrying,” Ryan said.

  She kept her voice even. “It was very recent.”

  “Wait until Ma hears this news,” Alex said.

  Slipping out of Easton unnoticed grew more difficult each day. “Your mother knows the captain too?”

  “They’re first or second cousins,” Alex said.

  “Cousins?” Caleb had family here? “I read in one of the old journals about another lightkeeper named Pitt.”

  “That was Caleb’s pa,” Ryan said.

  Caleb was from Easton? She tried to hide her surprise. November 1866, Keeper Pitt died today. Caleb would have been about ten. So much made sense now. He’d come to these shores because to him they were home. “Caleb hasn’t told me much about his time in Easton.”

  “The Pitts have been working the lighthouses for fifty years,” Alex said. “They’ve saved hundreds and hundreds of lives. But I guess the captain’s told you that.”

  “Actually, no. He doesn’t talk much about himself.”

  In all the time they’d shared he’d never told her about Easton or the lighthouses. Why hadn’t he told her about himself?

  “Caleb’s father was a famous keeper,” Ryan added. “He took care of this very lighthouse right up until the day he died. His pa drowned saving eighteen fishermen who’d gotten caught in a gale.

  Alanna’s heart tightened. “What happened to his mother?”

  “According to my aunt,” Alex said, “Captain Pitt’s ma wasn’t from this area. She didn’t like it much here. The wind and the long days alone ate away at her.”

  “Why didn’t she leave after her husband died?”

  “Didn’t have the money,” Ryan said. “She lived in Easton. She was a seamstress and took in laundry. As time went by, she grew to hate the town. My aunt says she turned the captain against this place.”

  Alex rose and refilled his bowl with stew. “Once the captain’s mother died, he wanted no part of this place.”

  So Caleb had joined the Navy and later moved to Richmond, where he’d played the part of the rising young shipping executive, made friends and enjoyed tremendous success for a time.

  Now that she thought back, she could see Caleb had never seemed truly happy when he wasn’t on his ship or near the docks. There’d been a stiffness in his shoulders and she’d always sensed he was on guard.

  Here he moved with confidence and ease, whether he was dragging a boat into the surf or striding across the lawn fighting a gale.

  The truth was, Caleb was as much a part of Lighthouse Island as the wind and surf.

  He belonged here.

  An hour later, Alanna wasn’t sure what caused the fight between Alex and Ryan. She’d been pulling biscuits from the oven when she’d heard them in the parlor, shouting.

  Her only thought was to quiet them down. Debra and Thomas needed their sleep.

  With a wooden spoon in her hand she hurried into the parlor ready to give each a piece of her mind. She found Alex holding Ryan around his neck as if he were wrestling a shark.

  Ryan swung at Alex’s midsection. “Let go of me, you underside of a barnacle.”

  Alex absorbed the punch and tightened his hold around Ryan’s neck. “Not until you give me back that letter and say you is sorry.”

  “You want it, get it yourself,” Ryan shouted.

  Alex muttered an oath. “Give it to me.”

  “Lower your voices.” Without thinking Alanna moved between the two just as Ryan pulled his fist back a second time.

  Alanna never saw the punch coming.

  The next thing she knew she felt a crack of pain and her head snapped back. She stumbled back ward a couple of steps, aware that the boys wore horrified expressions. Then she fell to her knees.

  She was only vaguely aware of strong arms catching her and of being held close before she passed out.

  When Alanna woke she knew she was cradled in Caleb’s arms. “What happened?” she muttered.

  “Shh,” he whispered. “Stay still until I can get you into a bed.”

  She didn’t fight the embrace but relaxed against him. Her head ached and she couldn’t seem to raise her head. She winced as her head touched the soft pillows.

  “Is she all right?” Alex said.

  “You best stay back, boy.” Caleb’s voice was tense with rage.

  “I didn’t mean to hit her,” Ryan said. “I was aiming for Alex. I didn’t even see her.”

  “Yeah,” Alex added. “He was just winding back when she came up. He didn’t mean to hit her.”

  Ryan sounded helpless. “It happened so fast, I couldn’t stop.”

  Alanna winced when Caleb brushed her hair away from her bruised jaw. “They were fighting,” she whispered. Lord, but it hurt to talk. “I wanted to stop them. Debra needs her rest.”

  “She’s awake now.” Caleb swore under his breath. “Hell, when are you two boys going to learn to stay out of trouble? I told you a month ago not to sail on the Annabelle Lee because Captain Jamison was a fool.”

  Ryan nudged Alex. “I told you he wasn’t going to be happy about that.”

  Alex shrugged. “He was paying well.”

  Caleb snorted. “Well he’s likely at the bottom of the ocean now. So you won’t be collecting a nickel.”

  Alanna opened her eyes. The vision was blurred at first but slowly it began to clear. She could just make out the worry lines etched in Caleb’s face. “Don’t be mad at the boys. I’m fine. It was my own fault.”

  Thomas and Debra hurried into the room. Thomas carried a basin and Debra a towel. Thomas set the basin down on the bedside table.

  Debra handed a cloth to Caleb. “Is she all right?”

  “Aye, but she’ll have a bruise on her cheek.”

  Ryan leaned forward. “She still got all her teeth?”

  Caleb winced as if the idea was too troubling to entertain.

  “Nothing worse than getting a tooth knocked out,” Alex said. “Last summer in Richmond when I was working the d
ocks a sailor didn’t like the look of me. He punched me square in the face. Knocked my molar clean out. Blood everywhere.”

  “Thanks, Alex,” Caleb said. “We can do without the details right now.”

  Alanna looked up into Caleb’s eyes. The way her head felt, she wouldn’t be surprised if a few were missing. “How does it look?” she said showing her teeth.

  “They’re all there.”

  “Are you sure?”

  His gaze was sure and steady. “I wouldn’t lie to you.”

  Relief mingled with guilt. He’d never lied to her. She’d just never had the strength to believe in him. “Thanks.” She closed her eyes.

  Caleb dunked the rag in the basin and wrung it out. Gently, he pressed the cloth to Alanna’s face. “It’ll help with the swelling.”

  She grimaced.

  He cursed as if seeing her in pain was more than he could tolerate. “For two smart boys, you two act like you don’t have a lick of sense between you. What were you fighting about anyway?”

  The boys fell silent.

  Opening her eyes, Alanna worked her jaw back and forth. It wasn’t broken but she guessed it would be sore for days. “I heard something about a letter?”

  The corner of Ryan’s mouth tipped into a grin. “A letter from Jennifer.”

  Alex faced Ryan. “I swear if you say her name again, I’ll knock you flat.”

  “Enough!” Caleb shouted.

  Alanna touched Caleb’s hand. “It’s all right. They didn’t mean any harm. Fighting over girls at that age is part of growing up.”

  Alex grinned at Caleb. “You’re one to talk. You snuck up to Virginia last month and got yourself a wife without telling anyone.”

  Caleb glowered at Alex. The boy drew back.

  Ryan kept his distance. “Ain’t there ever been a woman you was willing to fight for?”

  A wave of sadness washed through Alanna as she saw the tension tighten Caleb’s shoulders. How long had he fought for her before he gave up?

  “There’s no harm done,” she whispered.

  Ryan moved closer to her bed, careful to give Caleb a wide berth. “We is real sorry, Mrs. Pitt. I didn’t mean to hit you. Honest.”

  She smiled, and then winced. “Don’t give it another thought.” She eased herself up into a sitting position.