Moonlight Lover

by Ferrarella, Marie

  "Now the only one I need to convince is Rachel."

  Riley laughed. "And I'll be lighting candles for you on that score, bucko. I've always wanted a brother."

  Sin-Jin grinned. "Knowing Rachel, her retort to that would be to tell you to adopt me and leave her alone."

  Riley threw his head back and roared. "You're getting to know Rachel very well at that, Sin-Jin. Very well indeed."

  Not well enough, Sin-Jin thought, still feeling the imprint* of her mouth on his and the ache it generated. Not nearly well enough.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Rachel wrapped her fingers around the tall column of the four poster bed that Franklin had slept in during his stay at Sin-Jin's house. She watched as Franklin finished packing. The others were downstairs, waiting.

  It was her first visit to the house and she tried not to look as impressed with it as she was. It was a grand house, a wonderful house. Not so grand as theMcKinley manor, perhaps, but it had a personality all its own. Sin-Jin's personality. She felt it everywhere. There seemed to be sunlight in all the rooms. She felt a warmth as soon as she walked past the twin towering Doric columns.

  Riley had brought her here for the sole purpose, or so he said, of paying their respects to Franklin. The elder statesman was leaving for Paris again.

  "But do you have to leave so soon?" she asked sadly. "You've only been here a short while and now you're going off again. It would hardly seem worth the trouble of getting yourself seasick, you going back again like this."

  Franklin closed the two sides of his valise. There wasn't much to pack these days. His needs had gotten a great deal simpler since he was a young man.

  "It was worth any amount of trouble. And seasickness." He placed an arm around her slim shoulders and gave her a squeeze. "Seeing you, seeing my friends, has added years to my life. But as you might have guessed, treaties do not wait for the whims of common men."

  She returned the affectionate hug. "You were never common."

  Franklin released her, only to turn her so that she could face him. "I do like you, Rachel O'Roarke. My only wish is that you were ten years older or I twenty years younger." He winked at her. "Come. I hear Master Sin-Jin has had his cook prepare a feast, and I am near the point of starvation."

  With a chuckle, he patted his stomach and led the way down the stairs into Sin-Jin's dining hall.

  They shared a last meal together. Rachel had little appetite. She couldn't help wondering if she would ever see the old man again. She tried not to dwell on the fact that he was advanced in years. On the one hand he seemed invulnerable to such things as time and death. On the other, she knew that no one was. She wished that there was some way that he could stay with them here, or at the very least, remain a while longer.

  Franklin had dominated the conversation, not because his ego had prompted him to seize the reins from the others, but because the others kept handing the reins to him, delighting in the various insights and homilies that came from his lips.

  Franklin paused now, lingering over the wine, his favorite part of the meal. He studied Riley for a long moment before he spoke. "I have a proposition for you, Riley."

  The statement, pregnant with promise, caught Riley by surprise. He raised his eyes to look at Franklin through the man's half-glasses. "Yes?"

  "Come with me."

  The words were so simple, Riley wasn't sure he had heard correctly. He glanced at Sin-Jin and Rachel before saying, "What?"

  "Come with me," Franklin urged again, his voice growing in volume as the impulse took seed in fertile soil. "This will be history in the making, our history, and there should be someone to preserve it for us." He leaned forward, the fluted glass in his hand all but forgotten. "I've read you, boy. You've a happy way of phrasing things, a succinct way. Not ponderous, like some." He placed the glass down and then spread his hands on the table for emphasis. "And the children who will come after will have a need to know of these events. History is not history until it is properly recorded. What do you say, Riley?"

  He was tempted. So sorely tempted. It was a chance of a lifetime. But he had obligations. His gazette was still in its infancy, far from able to stand on its own legs yet. If he left it now, it never might.

  The temptation receded as common sense took hold. Riley sighed. "Much as it tempts me to go off with you, I can t.

  Franklin understood obligations. And the beginnings of the future. "Ah yes, the Gazette." He nodded, disappointed. "It is a pity." For a moment, he was silent, then his eyes strayed toward Rachel and a light entered them. "Well then, how about you?"

  Rachel was certain she hadn't understood his meaning. "Me?"

  "Why not you?" From what he had seen, and what he knew of her, she had proven herself able time and again. "You learned the trade as well as he. You're of one voice, one mind." He shrugged as he took up his glass again, the wine appearing to be more sparkling this time. "I know it is highly unusual, but then, you have always been an unusual girl to my way of thinking."

  Rachel bit her lip. Sin-Jin could see by her eyes that she liked the idea. A great deal.

  And he didn't. Not that he thought she couldn't do the task. He knew she could. Rachel could do anything she set her mind to. If stubbornness had a face, it was hers. And he wasn't so small-minded that he thought it incorrect for her to go off with Franklin. He just didn't want her away from him for that length of time. Especially not when there were so many things that were unsettled between them.

  Rachel slanted a look toward Sin-Jin. Well say something, you dolt. Tell me you don't want me to leave.

  But even if he did, she wasn't certain how she would take it. She didn't like being ordered about, even by someone she cared for and she had no idea how she really felt about him. Torn, she thought of what her going meant. She thought of what Franklin was saying. History. She would be recording history.

  "All right," she said enthusiastically. "If Riley can spare me."

  "Spare you?" Riley laughed, envying her already. "I could use the peace and quiet." He grew serious. "Still, it is a long journey." And there was so much that could befall her.

  She knew he cared and she didn't want him worried. "And I'm not up to it?" she demanded.

  Riley smiled. "I was thinking more of the poor captain and Mr. Franklin having to put up with the likes of you all that time."

  Franklin enjoyed the exchange. He'd grown up in a family of seventeen siblings, and there was always some sort of warfare underway, sometimes affectionate, sometimes not.

  "I would welcome the company. Still, there might be some merit in taking another with us, in case of trouble." He looked toward Sin-Jin. He couldn't think of a likelier candidate. "And how about you, young sir? Would you care to accompany us? The aide I had has decided to stay on in the colonies. In the states, I mean," he corrected himself, laughing at his own error. He enjoyed wrapping his tongue around that word. States. It had taken so long to accomplish that. "So I am in need of a strong man to help me."

  "He's got a strong enough back if you need someone to carry your bags," Rachel agreed.

  Try as she might to keep the excitement out of her voice, she failed. She only hoped that Sin-Jin took it to reflect her joy at the journey and the chance at history, not the fact that he was coming along as well.

  "I wasn't exactly thinking of Sin-Jin being my lackey, Rachel." Franklin looked at Sin-Jin in earnest. "How about it, Sin-Jin? Can you arrange it?"

  Sin-Jin thought of the letter that lay on his bureau. The one from Vanessa, calling him home for a last visit. He hadn't answered that yet. There hadn't really been time. Now there was this invitation. It seemed as if the gods were conspiring to make him return.

  There were a thousand and twelve details to be seen to on the plantation. The planting season was going to begin soon. He was needed here. And then he thought of facing the long summer months without Rachel. There was only one decision he could make.

  He would have to move heaven and earth and fall back on the
kindness of friends. But he would be with her. There was nothing so pressing here that it outweighed his need of her.

  "It can be done," Sin-Jin agreed.

  "Splendid!" Franklin cried, clapping his hands together.

  "For how long?" Jason asked, leaning against the corner of his desk in his study.

  "Until the harvest, possibly." Sin-Jin rose and dragged a hand through his hair. He knew what he was asking and how difficult it all seemed. He trusted Bronson implicitly, but the man's intelligence only carried him so far. Sin-Jin needed someone to direct Bronson.

  Sin-Jin turned on his heel, facing Jason again. "I wouldn't be asking if it didn't mean so much."

  There was no need for explanations. Jason nodded. "I know."

  Still, guilt pricked him. It wasn't as if he was asking to stable a horse for the night. "If it is too much—" Sin-Jin began.

  Jason laughed then and shook his head, signaling Sin-Jin to go no further. "If I refused you and stood in your way, Krystyna would skin me alive. Or worse, bar me from her bed."

  He turned toward his desk and the account book that lay there. A few things would have to be moved about, he mused.

  "It can be managed. Christopher is old enough to lend a hand. My nephew has a good head on his shoulders, thanks to Krystyna's schooling and my father's guidance. He can be trusted to work with Bronson and oversee the planting. And if any problems arise, I can handle both properties for a few months. It's not as if I were alone and without help."

  Jason folded his arms before him and studied his friend's face. "Really taken with her, aren't you?"

  "Taken the way I've never been before." Sin-Jin bit his tongue. After all, he had been married to the man's sister for a number of years. "I didn't mean—"

  Jason raised a hand to fend off an explanation. "It's all right. I was her brother, but I wasn't blind to Savannah's shortcomings by any means. She was a selfish little brat, except where you were concerned. And I'm not such a fool that I can't see that a man can love more than once." He thought of Rachel and of the few times he had observed her. "She just seems like a handful to me, that's all."

  There was no arguing with that. Love was not blind, at least, not in his case. "She certainly is that. And in a way, that's what I like about her. She's as fiery as Krystyna is."

  Jason understood perfectly. "Then you have my blessings and my sincerest sympathies." He clapped the man on the back. "And my congratulations as well. If you wed her, you will never know a dull moment and never have time enough to regret anything."

  "Regret what?" Krystyna asked as she crossed the threshold into the study.

  Jason rose from the desk and laced his arm around her waist, bringing her close enough to kiss her cheek.

  "Nothing. Not a single thing since the very first day I laid eyes on you."

  "It was night," she reminded him tolerantly.

  "Yes, it was that." He thought back with a sigh. "And I thought you were a virago that spirits had conjured up to lure me."

  She knew better, but said nothing in front of Sin-Jin. There were more important matters being discussed here. She could tell by the look in her friend's eyes.

  "Why are you two reminiscing?" She looked from one to the other, waiting. "You are too young to cling to memories."

  "Sin-Jin's going away."

  "Oh no." She looked at Sin-Jin as disappointment tugged at her heart. She was fond of him and had grown so used to the idea of his living here. Krystyna had hoped that he would eventually marry Rachel and raise a family, not pull up roots. "Why?"

  He could see what she was thinking. "Not forever," Sin-Jin told her. "Just for a few months. To Paris. With Franklin."

  Jason inclined his head toward Krystyna. "And with Rachel," he added significantly.

  Now this was beginning to sound better, if confusing. "Explain," she ordered Sin-Jin.

  He put the matter as plainly to her as he could. Krystyna nodded, approving of his decision. She placed her hand over Sin-Jin's. Since the day she saved his life, she had considered it partially her responsibility to see to his happiness. Now it looked as if it was within reach.

  "Go, do not worry about your plantation. I will see to it that Jason will take care of everything for you."

  Jason winked at Sin-Jin before turning to his wife. "You're very free with my time."

  She patted his cheek the way a mother would with an errant child. "I just know what you are capable of, my love."

  Because she was a part of every decision he made, Jason told her, "I intend to use Christopher to help."

  The smile bloomed until it covered her face completely. "He will be very proud, as will his parents and his grandfather." She thought of Morgan. "Especially his grandfather. So," she laced her hands through Sin-Jin's arm, "it is settled. When are you leaving?"

  "The ship leaves tomorrow."

  She began to urge him toward the front door. "Then you must hurry home and pack."

  Sin-Jin stopped her with a shake of his head. "Already done."

  He had been sure of them, she thought. That was good. Friends should be sure of one another.

  "Then the matter is truly settled." She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. "Seize your happiness while you see it, my friend. It does not wait for us to catch up." She glanced at Jason.

  Sin-Jin nodded and brushed a kiss on her cheek, then shook Jason's hand. "You've a rare woman here, Jason. But then, I think we've both always known that."

  Jason only nodded, remembering how they had once both been in love with her. He did not doubt that somewhere within Sin-Jin's heart, he still was, at least a little. Jason was truly glad that Rachel had come upon the scene.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Sin-Jin watched as the ocean breeze played with the ends of Rachel's hair. The curls moved about her shoulders like soft, dark red streamers waving good-bye to the shore. Waving good-bye to all who stood on the dock as the ship put out to sea.

  Rachel had gotten through the leave-taking surprisingly dry-eyed for a woman, Sin-Jin thought. But then, there seemed to be no end to the surprises that were connected with her. He wouldn't have thought that a woman would be eager to go halfway around the world to bear witness to the birth of something that was heralded as the natural evolution of years of sacrifice and selfless devotion. The women he had known, with the exception of Krystyna, would have wanted to stay by a hearth, safe, warm, protected. They would have willingly let the men carry on the deeds that made up history, fight the battles, sign the treaties and make the laws.

  But not Rachel.

  He couldn't help the warm wave of pride he felt swell within him. Though he knew that a more docile woman, a more orthodox thinking woman, would give him far less trouble than Rachel would, he wouldn't have had Rachel behave any differently than she did. He liked her the way she was. The vital, startling, exciting way she was.

  Leaning his hands on the railing before him, Sin-Jin watched as Jason, Krystyna and Riley grew smaller and smaller on the shore, looking almost like marionettes that were controlled by some omnipotent hand that was pulling the strings to make them wave.

  Near the group stood Christopher, now a strapping six foot three in height. Even at this distance, he looked proud of the faith everyone had shown in him.

  He was a good boy, Sin-Jin thought. No, he amended, Christopher was hardly a boy now. He was a man. A man with no war about in which to prove his mettle, thank-the-good-Lord.

  As always, when he thought of the end of the war, Sin-Jin offered up a quick prayer of thanksgiving. He himself had had enough of war to last more than one lifetime. He remembered all too vividly what it had been like to don a uniform and be ordered to kill a man because the colors he wore were different, because his dreams differed from that of the realm's.

  It was time to put all that behind him. It was time to put all his past behind him as well, he decided. Right after the visit to his brother.

  Seagulls screeched overhead as the sails swelled like the chests of pr
oud fathers and they made their way to the open sea. They would be weeks upon the water. And when they reached France, it was just a short trip across the channel to England. He thought of the wording in the letter he still carried with him. Perhaps it would be his last opportunity to see Alfred. And Vanessa.

  The thought of seeing Vanessa once would have caused the very blood to pound madly within his body. He had been insanely, blindly in love with her at nineteen. But now, with the separation of time, seeing her held no attraction for him. Vanessa was his brother's wife. The Earl of Shalott's wife. And the first woman he had ever loved. But that had ceased to matter a long time ago, he mused as he looked in Rachel's direction. She stood a little way from him, isolated in her bittersweet sadness.

  Rachel could feel his eyes on her. The scoundrel was probably waiting to see her blubber like some baby torn from its mother, she thought. Well, she wouldn't cry. At the very least, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. Tears were for the weak. And she knew she would be back before the year was out, if not before.

  But oh, the sight of her brother, growing smaller and smaller on the dock wrenched at her heart so. It was hard to keep those wretched tears from falling, no matter how strong her resolve. She could feel them clawing at her throat, bubbling over within her, trying to spring free.

  Rachel took in a big gulp of the salty air, hoping it would be enough to banish the painful ache she felt. She was being a ninny, and she refused to let Sin-Jin see it.

  After having given it some thought, Rachel had very nearly changed her mind about going once Sin-Jin had actually agreed to join their party. Of course Franklin had a perfect right to take on whomever he wanted as his assistant. She fidgeted slightly, thinking about the situation. The idea of being aboard a ship all those long days and nights with Sin-Jin had her wondering about the wisdom of her decision.