Beloved Counterfeit (19 page)

To her it showed a happiness of heart that came from the inside out.

There I go thinking silly thoughts again.

The coffee was warm, as was the morning, and Ruby soon felt beads of perspiration dot her forehead. She should awaken the sleeping guard, or at least hand him his coffee and flee for the safety of the kitchen.

Instead, she rose and tiptoed toward him. When Micah didn’t awaken, she knelt once again, this time directly beside him.

He’s to be my husband. I’m certainly entitled to. . .

Before she could talk herself out of it, she set the coffee cup on the porch and leaned over to kiss his forehead. A compromise from what she intended, but a kiss after all.

Micah’s lack of response was a mixed blessing. How to explain was as difficult a prospect as why she’d done it. Better that she didn’t have to speak of either.

She rose, knowing there would be a dining room full of boarders demanding refills for their empty plates and three girls who didn’t want to leave their beds. Turning her back to tiptoe away, Ruby thought she heard him rouse.

“Next time try the lips, Ruby. It makes for a much more effective kiss.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she tossed over her shoulder as she hurried inside.

“Oh, Ruby,” he called.

Leaning out the window, she found him up on one elbow as he ran his hand through spikes of hair that needed a comb. “Yes?”

“Do you remember that day on the beach when I told you I saw a miracle?”

She did, but barely.

“Well, it occurs to me that you never did ask me what that miracle was, and I never took the time to tell you.” He sat up and reached for the coffee to take a sip. “Ah, that’s good. Now as I was saying, the miracle. Have you figured out what it was?”

Searching her mind, Ruby came up blank. “The sand dollar?” she asked, though that seemed a silly answer.

“No.” Another sip as he made her wait for his response. “Come back out here a minute.”

“You’ll have to wait. They need me in the dining room.”

“Ruby,” he called.

“What?” This time her response was tinged with irritation.

“The miracle.”

“Not now, Micah,” she said.

She got halfway across the kitchen when she heard him call her name once again. She determinedly completed her duties as hostess before returning to the kitchen. The wrecker sat on the steps, his boots on and his hair combed. Only his jacket bore signs of having spent the night out on a porch. Micah, to her surprise, looked quite well rested.

“I’m working,” she said.

“About that.” He pointed to the door. “I’ve taken the liberty of finding someone to care for the boarders for the rest of the week.”

“You found someone. . .” Ruby was at a loss for words. “Who told you to do. . . That is, how could you just. . . ?”

He rose and walked toward her, his long strides slow and easy, his face all smiles. “Ruby,” he said softly, “you said you wanted our marriage to look like a real one. Who’s going to believe we married for anything but convenience if we leave the church and come back to the boardinghouse in time for you to roast a chicken for dinner?”

“Actually, I’d planned stewp.”

“Stew,” he corrected.

“No, stewp.” She held up her hands to counter any questions he might have. “It’s a long story that begins with Tess.”

He nodded. “Then perhaps you’ll tell it to me later when we’re alone.”

Alone.

“I see I’ve taken you by surprise.” Micah shrugged, moving close enough to hand her his empty coffee cup. “I’m going to do this your way, Ruby, and I’m doing it because I owe you and your three girls the protection I promised.”

“Your three girls.”

He stood very close, so close that Ruby had to look up to meet his gaze. “About the girls, Micah. There’s something I should tell you.”

The wrecker cupped her jaw then gently pressed his forefinger to her lips. “Nod if this is something that happened in your past.” When she did, he looked away. “Ruby, Ruby, Ruby. We’ve already talked about this. I don’t want to know any of that. If God has washed you clean of it, what business do I have to hold it against you?”

“You’re certain?” She paused. “I’m willing to come clean and tell you all if it.”

Ruby searched his face, stared into eyes that were the color of strong coffee, and prayed this man told the truth. For if he didn’t and he knew even a part of what she’d done, who she was, and how she came to have those three girls, he’d likely forget any promises he made to her.

“Mama,” a sleepy voice called. “I’m hungry.”

Micah lifted his finger from Ruby’s lips, and she answered, “I’ll be right there, Maggie.”

“Lest you think I’d leave this place and those children with just anyone, you should know the Carters will be running things while we’re away.”

“Josiah and Isabelle?”

“No, Josiah’s parents, Mary and Hezekiah.” He smiled. “Last night I had a long talk with the reverend. I figured it best to speak to him ahead of time rather than surprise him with a wedding. He’s most pleased for us, by the way.”

“Good,” she said for lack of anything else to say.

“As your husband, which I will be in a few hours, I’ll be insisting the girls not sleep here in our absence. I’ve arranged for them to stay with Mary and Hezekiah. Should the worst happen and the thug return, at least he won’t be able to find them.”

“You’re very kind,” she said. “I thank you for thinking of them.”

“Mama,” Tess called.

“The only question left,” Micah said, “is when to tell them.”

Ruby smiled. “After breakfast?”

“Exactly what I was thinking.” She’d nearly departed when his fingers encircled her wrist and stopped her. “Ruby, the miracle? Remember I asked if you recalled my saying I’d seen one that day?”

She nodded.

“It was your smile,” he said. “Until that day, I’d not seen it.” Again he cupped her jaw, and the feel of his calloused hands against her skin gave her an unexpected shiver. “You should know I’ve grown fond of it and will do my best to find it more often.”

“Mama.” Carol stepped out onto the porch. “What’s
he
doing here, and why’s he standing so close to you?”

“I
told
you he was courting her,” Maggie said.

“What’s courting?” Tess called from somewhere inside.

Micah seemed to be deliberately standing his ground, for he didn’t move even when Carol tugged on Ruby’s sleeve. “Come inside,” she said. “We’re hungry.”

“Girls,” Micah said, “your mother and I aren’t finished with our conversation, but we will be in just a minute or two. Why don’t you wait inside?”

“But I—”

“Carol,” Micah said, “you’ll go inside now.”

Ruby looked up in surprise but saw no anger on his face. “Listen to Micah,” she said. “And after breakfast, we have a surprise for you.”

His nod was almost imperceptible; his smile was not. “You’re sure that’s how you want to tell them?”

“I am,” she said, “but I have a question. How’d you know that was Carol? The girls are identical, and Tess and I seem to be the only ones who can tell them apart.”

Micah winked. “I guessed. Now let’s go in and—”

“No. Not yet.” Her smile faded. “Walk with me. Please.”

“What of their breakfast?”

Ruby nodded. “Then give me just a minute.”

It took her almost five, but Micah waited with all the patience of a man who would take a wife before sunset. When Ruby returned, she offered no explanation, only a gesture toward the front gate.

“After you,” he said as he trotted along behind her. “I’m at your command.”

She turned to face him, one hand on the gate. “I’m not much of a commander,” she said.

He looked down at a face he knew he’d die for and grinned as he touched the tip of her nose. “Well then,” he said as he reached beyond her to brush the small of her back as he opened the gate. “I think we’re going to get along fine, because I am.”

“You’re what?” Her tone was part teasing, part taunting.

“I’m a man who is comfortable leading, Ruby. You’ll not have to worry for anything.”

Was that relief or concern in her eyes? Before he could decide, she turned and headed down the road, leaving him to follow.

He did so at a leisurely pace, for the view was not altogether unpleasant.

“And tonight she’ll be my wife,” he whispered as his pulse quickened.

She turned the corner at Main and glanced back to see if he still followed. That was when he saw the look on her face. His heart sank.

Chapter 23

With that one look, Micah developed a nasty suspicion things were about to go terribly wrong. Ruby certainly hadn’t seemed tense when she gave the older girls their instructions for what to do until they returned, nor did she have that look on her face when she teased him at the gate.

Having left the main road to start up the footpath to the beach, however, Ruby’s back had gone straight, and her arms were crossed over her chest. She’d not said a word, though he figured it was contemplation and not something else keeping her silent.

Now with the trade wind blowing her hair and dusting their clothes with fine white sand, Ruby O’Shea looked as though she was marching to her death.

Micah judged the distance to the beach and thought to try to lighten her mood with a joke but could come up with nothing suitable to say. Instead, he matched his pace to hers and tried to block the wind as much as possible.

It seemed as though she might walk the entire circumference of the island, for they’d certainly trudged down the half of it before she abruptly stopped and began to remove her shoes. While Micah watched, she rolled down her stockings and set them aside, too.

A brazen thing to do, yet he was to be her husband soon. Then, without sparing him a glance, she lifted her skirts above the lapping waves and walked into the surf.

Now
that
was truly beyond the pale. “Ruby, what in the world are you doing?”

She ignored him.

“Come back here,” he called as she showed no signs of slowing, though the water reached nearly to her knees.

Were he not about to meet her at the altar, Micah might have wondered about the propriety of a man who would be standing in the pulpit on Sunday now standing at the water’s edge watching a half-deranged woman soak her skirts. Yet something about the way she moved through the surf, the way she stared at the horizon, beckoned him to join her.

He shouldn’t, of course, for who knew who might find them?

Yet his fingers moved of their own accord to toss aside his jacket, to remove his boots and roll up his trouser legs. Still, he stood at the water’s edge, hoping Ruby would come to her senses and remember she did not dance in the ocean unwatched.

At least it appeared she was dancing. It started with a leap over a wave; then when she landed, she leapt again. By the time Micah reached Ruby, she’d begun to twirl, her blue dress circling her exposed knees and her hair loose and flowing about her shoulders.

Micah caught her and whisked her into his arms, ignoring her protest. “What’s gotten into you?” he demanded. “You’re acting like—”

“A lunatic?” She met his stare then turned her face to the sun, her eyes falling shut.

“What? No.” He struggled to think even as he worked hard to keep both of them upright in the surf and as he took in every curve and line of her face. Of cheeks burnished by the sun and shoulders that bore much more responsibility than they should.

If the fool who left her to raise those girls alone wasn’t already dead, Micah knew he could easily dispatch him.

A wave slammed his back, and Micah stumbled then righted himself. Ruby curled toward him and rested her head against his chest. “But I am, Micah. That’s what I’ve tried to tell you. Now you’ve seen it for yourself.”

His mind raced as he reached damp but firm sand. What sins could this innocent possibly have committed?

When he said nothing, Ruby slid from his grasp and ran back into the water. “Enough, Ruby,” he said as he shielded his eyes against the sun. “You’ve made your point; now come out of the water before we both miss the wedding.”

She turned but said nothing. Nor did she move or even bother to hold her skirts above the tide. He took a step toward her, and Ruby moved back. With each movement in her direction, she took another away.

Finally, his temper flared. “I find no humor in this,” he said.

“Nor I, Micah.” Ruby turned her back on him, further fueling his irritation. “Aren’t you curious about my life before I came to the key?”

He was. “It doesn’t matter.” Not completely the truth, but it would become so with time. And with prayer.

“And the girls.” She continued to walk away, making her voice reed thin on the wind. “Aren’t you curious about their father?”

“I’ll admit I am.” He paused and prayed for the right words. “But I assume he is no longer a factor in their lives. And so I will endeavor to treat them as if they were my own.”

When she didn’t answer, he decided to take action. Nothing good could come from this conversation. “Come out of the water this instant,” he said, “or I’ll—”

“You’ll what?” She glanced at him over her shoulder, swiping a curtain of damp red hair from her face to stare in his direction.

“I’ll show you what,” he said as he stormed across the sand, intent on hauling his bride-to-be back onshore and into the nearest church so he could marry her before he, too, lost his mind.

The response seemed to be the one she sought, for Ruby froze.

Rather than fear, Micah saw. . .what? It certainly wasn’t surprise.

He sloshed toward her, heedless of where the waves hit him until he came close enough to speak to her without raising his voice. What he would say did not require much speaking.

“You were trying to provoke me.” Not a question, so no answer was required.

Nor was it needed.

Right there in the surf, he knelt before her. A wave slammed him in the chest and washed across his face. He ignored it, spitting salt water until the words would come again.

“What will it take for me to make you understand that I don’t want to hear about your past? I don’t need to.”