Caleb nodded his understanding. “I won’t tell.” The silence stretched as they sat there lost in their own thoughts. Justin was comfortable enough with him that small talk was unnecessary.
After a while, Justin spoke up, “Are you going to marry my mother? I know Pa said you didn’t have to, but I think you should. She needs you, ya know. She has since Pa died, but she won’t admit it. She’ll come around. I think she already has.”
“I want to.” Caleb leaned on his elbow on the tabletop. “It’s up to her, though. I’ve done some things in my past I’m not proud of, and not courting your mother when I had the chance, was one of them. She married your dad and then you were born, so I guess it was meant to be.”
“Well, you have another chance now I think, Caleb. I hope you find out how to win her again.”
“Me too, son. Me too.”
The kitchen doors opened and Vanessa came in, leaning heavily on the walking stick Justin left in her room.
“Ma!” Justin all but yelled as both Caleb and Justin raced to help her to a chair. “You shouldn’t be up.”
“I’m fine. I needed to work my leg a little. Will you excuse us please, Justin? I need to speak to Mr. Thackley.”
“Sure, Ma. I’ll go check on the lantern in the tower.”
Caleb watched Vanessa smile at her son. “Thank you,” she said, and turned to Caleb as soon as the door shut. “Adam wanted me to let you in our lives again, and I will. I think it is the best thing, for me and Justin.”
“I agree.” He couldn’t be any more overjoyed than he was at that moment. “Marry me, Nessa.”
“No.”
Caleb’s hopes sank to the bottom of the sea. “Why?”
“I can’t leave this place. It’s my home. The board accepted my request to be keeper after Adam died, and I’m going to keep my word to them. I won’t leave the place I love, and I don’t want to be branded as a saloon owner’s wife.”
“You won’t be.” Caleb reached in his back pocket and withdrew a piece of paper. “I’ve sold the White Pelican.”
“You have?” Vanessa’s hand went to her chest. “When?”
“As soon as I found the letter.” It was time to tell her; time to let her know how he felt deep inside. “The day you married Adam was the day my life ended, Nessa. I broke as a man. I’m not proud of what I became after that, but I can tell you I’ve changed. I want to be the man worthy of your love. I want to lie next to you in bed every night until the day I die. I want to help raise Justin. I want to be your assistant keeper.”
Vanessa laughed—the sound of happy tears. “You can’t be my keeper. The lighthouse board is already sending me one. I found the letter on the mantel. Doc must have brought it when he came.”
“No. I brought it.” He drew out another letter from his pocket. “I’m your assistant keeper, Nessa. The day I sold the Pelican, I wired the lighthouse board, and they accepted my request.” He opened the letter and pretended to read. “I’m to report to you with all haste to begin training. That’s why I came when I did. I came to beg your forgiveness and start my life as assistant keeper. My belongings should be here within a fortnight. A friend of mine will drop them off when he sets sail.”
“A friend of yours? From the tavern?”
“No, an honest friend. A merchant I met in the village years ago.”
Vanessa took the paper from his hands and scanned the missive. Tears welled in her eyes. “You did this, for me? You gave up your life, for me?”
“I did.”
A pregnant moment stretched as she struggled with her emotions. “Then, I do. I do take your offer to marry you, Caleb. I love you!” She almost wailed the last.
“I love you, Nessa—with all my heart and soul. I’ve been a fool for too long, but no more. From this day on, I live only for you.” He reached out and grabbed her wrists to haul her up to stand.
Her body was warm and soft when he tugged her against him. With one hand he reached up and cupped the back of her neck. Her chest rose and fell with deep breaths and her lips opened slightly. Loving acceptance shown in the depths of her eyes as he bent his head to hers for the kiss, that would seal their fate forever.
Afterword
The Life Saving Series stories were my very first works ever published. I will forever be grateful to the first editor to take me on and help me make these stories what they are today. As a former Coast Guardsman, writer, and lover of historical romance, these books are very dear to my heart. I hope you like them as much as I loved writing them.
Did you enjoy Wade and Laura’s story? Check out the rest of the books in the Life Saving Series by Dawn Luedecke.
https://www.dawnluedeckebooks.com/historical-seafaring
Freebie Book: The Price Of Love
Please enjoy a free prequel to Dawn Luedecke’s MONTANA MOUNTAIN ROMANCE Series. Published by Kensington Lyrical.
In wild and untamed country, there's not much choice for an unwed woman. June doesn't need a man to keep her alive in the new town of Hellgate, Montana. But when the nephew of her father's sworn enemy begins to court her, she must choose between independence and love. Does she give her heart to the man she thought was her enemy, or turn her back on love?
The Montana Mountain series
The Montana Mountain Series
White Water Passion (Book 1)
Wild Passion (Book 2)
Fiery Passion (Book 3)
Chapter 1
Hellgate (A new settlement) Missoula County Montana 1863
From somewhere behind June Havens, the soft crunch of dried pine needles drew ever closer as someone, or something, approached. She kneeled in the huckleberry patch with skirts cascading around her like ripples in the water, but she wasn’t unprepared. For within her basket sat a gun powerful enough to take down a grizzly.
God knows she’d already had to use it once in this wild, untamed country.
The crunch sounded again, this time slightly to her left. Closer. The animal wasn’t very big, as far as predators go. An Indian? Black bear? A wolf? Certainly not the massive bear she’d killed while out picking berries last July. In fact, she’d been at this same huckleberry patch when the grizzly had found her the year before.
She wrapped her hand around the butt of the pistol and spun around to fight. Ready to kill. Her skirts twisted around her body to pin her in place, but she managed to point the gun directly at the heart of the sound.
“Blast it, William Webber!” June lowered the weapon and struggled to fix her skirts and sit back on her bottom. “I almost shot you.“
“You’d have a hard time since it wasn’t cocked.” William tipped his mouth back in that infuriating grin of his. The one he gave her every time she came across him in that three-building place they called a town. Which, luckily for her, wasn’t often seeing as though his uncle was her father’s sworn enemy.
William didn’t seem to care about their familial war. Instead, he stayed rooted to the grass below his feet. With brows furrowed, he surveyed the trees surrounding them, and then turned back to her and smiled. “What would your daddy say if he came home from peddling goods to find his dear little daughter eaten by a mountain lion?”
“I’m more likely to get shot by one of your big bug family members than eaten alive by a wild animal.”
William placed his hands over his heart in a dramatic tale of injury. She started to smile at the playfulness, but thought better of it. To do so would only encourage him.
Plus, if she was going to hurt the blasted man, she preferred to do so where it would count most. His ego.
“I would never aim a weapon at such a pretty woman,” he claimed, but the words only managed to irritate her further. “I can’t say the same for the rest of my family, though.”
He wasn’t lying, either. His uncle would just as soon lynch a member of her family than buy her father a round of whiskey.
If it wasn’t for the way William looked at her all to often, she’d think he was the same as the re
st of them. But he was different.
At least he seemed to be.
June tossed her gun back into the basket, squishing a few berries in the process, but she didn’t care. “What do you want?”
William searched the trees around them again, but June didn’t worry. This far into the mountains, she’d find the man foolish to not be aware of his surroundings. He focused once more on her. “I was out hunting and saw a flash of blue the same color as the one you wear whenever you come off that little piece of homestead your family has over there. Imagine my surprise when I found you all alone on the mountain. Dangerous. What’s so important that you need to pick berries alone in bear country?”
“Jam. My mother and I wanted to can a batch before the berries are gone for the year.”
“Where are your parents?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but my ma isn’t feeling well and pa is making a living. I had to get the berries alone.”
“You could have asked me to accompany you.” He lowered his eyes to the ground, and the muscles near his eyes tensed.
She gave a quick chuckle. “I’m perfectly fine without a man. Especially one who might just shoot me in the back.”
William’s jaw flexed, and his eyes flashed from their usual blue to a stormy grey. “Is that what you call the handcart full of goods that your pa peddles? A living? You’re pa would be better off working his land, and not trying to out sell my uncle.”
Had she wounded his pride? Did she care if she did? In all honesty, yes. She may be known as being brash and independent, but she wasn’t uncaring. Then again, everyone in town seemed to focus on her father’s business, and nothing else. She had to be defensive.
“For your information, a few of the miners found gold just up the mountain, so they’ve been buying up his supplies. Instead of wasting time coming to your store. They’re better off working the mines than dealing with your swindlin’ uncle and his partners.”
“S’that so?” William crossed his arms over his chest and gazed smugly down at her. His eyes changing back to their normal blue, only this time with a slight fire in their depths. Like the sun had just peaked in an azure sky. She had to admit, the man cut quite a swell. He would make a fine husband to some ninny-headed woman. But not June. She had no intention of being forced into a loveless marriage just to survive the cold northwestern winters.
He tipped one side of his mouth up as though harboring a secret. “Thanks for the information. I’ll let my uncle know your pa has been swindlin’ customers again.”
“Ugh! You’re impossible.” She gave a feminine growl as she plucked the last of the berries, and tossed them on top of her gun. “You tricked me into giving you information.”
“No ma’am. You gave it willingly.” William shook his head, and adjusted his stance to force her to turn in a circle as he watched the trees over her shoulder again, his hand on the pistol strapped to his hip. Apparently satisfied at whatever he was looking at, his shoulders dropped and he smiled down at her once more. “I would never force you to do anything.”
“I don’t believe you, and in case you haven’t noticed, Mr. Webber, this is a country founded on the principle of freedom, and that includes business. My father has just as many rights to sell his goods as your uncle does.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, my uncle and his partners founded this place. The government had Mullan Road built through here because of them. There was even talk about naming the town after one of them. Not that it excuses their behavior.”
June started toward her horse. With luck, he’d take the hint, mount his own ride, and leave her be. She didn’t need the nephew of her father’s greatest competitor tormenting her day. Even if he was the best looking enemy this side of the continental divide. “Yes, but your uncle and his partners can’t decide which one of them is more important so they settled on Hellgate—a fitting name, don’t you think?”
“You don’t like it here?” The tone of his voice made her stop and turn toward him. Had she hurt him with her confession?
“If there wasn’t a war going on,” she said, to justify her comment. “I’d move back east just to get out of this God-forsaken place.”
“It ain’t all that bad. At least we have pretty women.” The tone of his voice changed. Even and sincere. As if trying to convince her of something. Of what, she wasn’t certain, but it softened her heart just a little.
But what was his game? To woo her with veiled compliments? She wasn’t one to be wooed easily. “There are only fifteen women around. Seven of them are married, and three are too young to be wed.”
William tipped his hat against the sun, shading his features so she couldn’t see his reaction. “A married woman can’t be pretty? Why, I’ll bet once you’ve hitched your wagon to a husband, you’ll shine even brighter than you do right now. Standing here with the mountain sun making those copper strands in your hair glisten.” He reached up and grasped a piece of her hair and made her breath catch in her throat. Her heart beat fast in her chest.
A feeling she’d never had before. One that forced the air from her lungs and made her head grow dizzy. Forcing herself away, she pivoted and continued to her mount, causing him to drop her hair in the process.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?”
“Away.”
“Why?”
She placed her hands on her hips as she reached her horse, and spun around to face William.
A mistake.
To her surprise, he stood close. Towered over her in all his masculine brilliance. His eyes darkened as he moved his stare between her eyes and her lips. “You’re a hard woman, June Havens. I like that. You’ve got spunk and grit enough to survive in a town like this. I don’t care what my uncle says, I want to marry you. We could change this town, you and I. Together. What do you say? Be my wife?”
June tightened her lips against the new sensations bubbling around with the huckleberries in her stomach. Did William really just propose marriage? The William she’d sworn to loathe. The man she thought felt the same way about her. Until this moment, that is. This couldn’t be reality. She must have eaten a bad berry or fallen asleep in the bear grass nearby.
Just to check, even though secretly she knew it was real, she reached out and touched his chest.
Her fingers were met with nothing but pure solid male.
Before she could answer, he took a step closer and her stomach flipped as her heartbeat kicked up once more. She swallowed to moisten her dry mouth and peered up at him as he lowered his head until his lips hovered above her own.
“You don’t have to answer right now, Ms. June. But I will need one eventually.” On those words, he pressed his lips against hers, and her world spun.
He reached around her, and tugged her into an intimate embrace. One that grounded her to the earth with him. Heat shot to even her toes as her concentration centered on how powerful and warm his body felt pressed against hers. As though this moment would define the remainder of her life.
Would it?
Would this kiss, this touch, change the way she viewed the world? Did she love her sworn enemy? Her heart certainly worked to convince her of much, but her mind told her otherwise.
On at least one occasion, William had stood next to his uncle as the second man aimed a rifle straight at her father’s heart. Could she do that to her father? Marry into such a family.
June forced her mind to control her emotions, and stepped back. She couldn’t betray her parents in such a way. Had to reject his proposal.
William let her go and simply stared down at her. A mixture of desire and reluctance danced in his perfect eyes.
“Meet me at the auction tomorrow?” He reached out to the basket in her hands and began to play with the one broken weave on her handle. He studied her hand as she grasped the basket—both stained purple from the berry juice. “Bring a huckleberry pie and I’ll know its your basket.”
June nodded absently as her mind wandered back to
the moment they’d just shared.
It wasn’t until William leaned down and placed another quick kiss on her mouth that her mind focused once more. Had she just agreed to meet him at the social? The one aimed at finding suitable husbands for all the unattached women in town.
William tipped his hat, and spun around toward his horse before she could argue. Leaving her with jumbled thoughts.
“Wait! No…I can’t…” she let the words trail off when she realized her half-hearted argument was too late. He was already too far away to barter with.
She was committed.
Chapter 2
William swung up into the saddle and clutched the reins in his right hand as he adjusted his foot in the stirrup. To his left, June shouted something at him, but he suspected it was an argument to his oddly timed proposal.
What was he thinking? She’d yet to even show an interest in any of the men in town, let alone hitch herself to a coward like him.
No. June Havens was too good for him, but she’d stolen his heart. Something he didn’t think he’d had lately.
In this backwoods town single women were scarce. An able bodied man had to snatch one up when he could. But even if all of the women in Walla Walla were to move to Hellgate, he’d still want June.
The way her neck turned red every time she defended her father. The way her eyes flashed with desire when he’d drawn close to her. The way a whisper of a smile had graced her beautiful lips when he’d dramatically feigned a broken heart.
The Lighthouse Romance Anthology (The Life Saving Series) Page 12