He threw back his head and laughed. "Haven’t I made myself clear? I want to marry you, Annalisa Montgomery. Tomorrow. And then I want to carry you off on my pirate ship and have you all to myself. And cherish you forever."
Marry. Not just love, or sleep with, but cherish. Forever. She had gone so still, he felt the first tremor of fear. Drawing himself up very straight, he said softly, "Annalisa, would you consider marrying a whiskey-drinking, card-playing ex-womanizer?"
She bit back the happiness that struggled to break free and kept her face expressionless. "Only if you’re willing to tarnish your reputation further by marrying the ex-madam of Hannah Elliott’s House of Pleasure."
"Tarnish my reputation? The Masters men have a reputation for falling in love with prim, proper little firebrands. I must live up to my family honor." He swept her into his arms and carried her downstairs where the others crowded around them, chattering like noisy jays.
"I’ll make the wedding gown," Hattie Lee said. "If I start right now, I’ll have it finished by morning."
"If it takes any longer than that, the bride will have to wear nothing at all," Chase said, winking. "As soon as I make her my wife, I’m taking her to the high seas."
"Who will give the bride away?" Corinna asked, tucking a lock of orange hair behind her ear.
"All of you," Annalisa said, wrapping her arms around Chase’s neck. "You have become my family, and my family will give me to my husband."
As Chase carried Annalisa out the door, a chorus of voices asked where he was taking her.
"To my ship," he called over his shoulder.
As the door closed behind him, he lowered his mouth to hers and groaned. The kiss was long, slow, lingering. Feeling the heat begin to spread, he muttered, "The ship seems so far away. How would the bride-to-be like to spend the night before her wedding in the barn?"
Annalisa laughed and pulled him closer. The heat became a raging inferno. "I care not where I spend this night. Or the rest of my life. As long as I spend it with you."
Epilogue
1871
The sun-bleached sails of a pirate ship waved proudly beside those of merchant ships, and sleek, modern sailing vessels in Boston Harbor. As the crew made ready to dock, Annalisa sat beside the little wooden cradle, now and then gazing at the sleeping babe while she read the letter. Footsteps sounded across the deck, and she looked up and felt her heart stop. For a moment she was seventeen again, riding a riverboat to her destiny. And a man in tight-fitting black pants and a black tail coat, looking every inch a riverboat gambler, was coming toward her.
He dropped a kiss on her cheek and felt the familiar stirrings. "What did the letter from Hattie Lee say?"
"Her dressmaking business is doing very well. At first she thought that the ladies of New Orleans wouldn’t visit a former house of pleasure to buy their gowns. But she said that most people have completely forgotten its past. The Hannah Elliott House of Design is becoming world-famous. She just had a request from a famous designer in Paris for one of her patterns. Jessie is trying to persuade her to open a second shop in New York."
Annalisa unfolded the letter and read, "Eulalie and Luther were sorry you couldn’t be here for their wedding. Luther has decided to run for Louisiana state senator. He has the president’s blessing and support."
"Good for Luther," Chase murmured. "I knew he would continue to work for the people."
When the baby in the cradle began to cry, Chase picked her up and ran light kisses across her forehead. The soft frizz of hair was dark; the eyes staring at him, a soft amber. Snuggling her against his shoulder, Chase asked, "Is that all her news?"
"Let’s see." Annalisa scanned the second page, then let out a little squeal. "Gabrielle has finally married Dr. Lynch. It took him all this time to persuade her that it wouldn’t harm his career to be married to her." Reading further, she looked up with a smile. "Oh, Chase. Nate and Francine had a little boy. He’s nearly the same age as little Sara. Wouldn’t it be something if someday they met and fell in love?"
Chase chuckled, and Annalisa marveled, as she always did, how that laugh could warm her. "I think it’s time little Sara, and her mother, had a chance to meet their Boston relatives." Taking her hand, he added, "Who knows? Maybe before the cold winds of winter blow, we’ll head down to New Orleans for a long visit."
"I’d like that." She wrapped her arm about his waist and walked out into the clear bright sunshine. Staring at her handsome husband and infant daughter, she realized she’d never intended to discover a love so fulfilling, a life so rich in love. All she’d ever wanted was to find her way home. And she had. "But this time, with you and Sara along, I would truly be going home."
The End
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Epilogue
Destiny's Daughter Page 38