Passion's Tide (13 page)

“Maybe she’s goin’ to see her husband,” offered Abe.

Logan shook his head
.
“She’s not married.”

“How can you be sure? She’s looks to be the right age.”

“No ring,” Logan said
.
“And I can also just tell.”

“He’s practically made it a life skill to be able to tell if a woman is married or not
.
Hazards of the trade I guess
,
”
Eli explained to Abe.
A look from Logan quickly shut him up
.

“Well how old do you think she is, Elijah?” asked Abe as he added another pungent spice to the stew
.

“I reckon abou
t mid-twenties or so.”

“She sure doesn’t act like it,” Logan muttered
.

“I’m twenty-three,” came Amber’s cool voice behind them, causing the men to swing their heads in her direction
.
She met Logan’s gaze as she walked towards the center table
.
“And I act in the only rational way one can while dealing with you.”

Abe jumped forward with the pot of coffee and a mug
.
“Good morning, Miss Amber.” She took it from him with a grateful nod
.
While she poured some for herself, Logan took the opportunity to survey her appearance.

A faint blush was visible on her cheeks from the brisk walk outside, and her curls were twisted on top of her head, a feat that must have been difficult to accomplish without a lady’s maid to assist her
.
As evidence of this, a few strands fell from the pins as she tilted her head back to drain the last drops of coffee from her cup
.
Her dress was dusty pink, and cut stylishly low as was the current fashion, though it was still far less tight and revealing than her previous gown
.
Logan continued his silent scrutiny, from the small pearl bobs in her ears, to the lace at her wrists, down to the soles of her slippers peeking out from the hem of her dress
.
When he was finished, he was disappointed that he could find no fault; she was beautiful
.

He looked up to see that Eli had left, and Amber was staring at him
.
“Are you quite finished?”

“Excuse me?”

“Please don’t play games with me,
Captain
.
”
The last word came out as a sneer
.
“If you’re done gawking at me, I’d like to discuss how we are going to get through these next couple of weeks
.
I’ve come up with a solution.”

He raised an eyebrow
.
“Have you now?”

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?” he asked as his eyebrow rose another degree
.
She scowled.

“Obviously I don’t like you, and you don’t like
me—”

“I never said that,” Logan cut in
.
“Abe, did I ever say that I disliked Miss Amber?”

Abe stopped pouring her another cup of coffee, looked back and forth between the two, and then nervously cleared his throat
.
“Well, no, you didn’t say anything of the sort.” Logan turned to Amber with a triumphant shrug
.
“You aren’t being very nice to her, though.”

Logan’s cockiness faded as she raised her eyebrow back at him
.
“Like I said: you don’t like me, and I don’t like you
.
The only way we are going to survive being on a ship together is if we avoid each other.”

“It’s a large ship, but don’t you think we will run into each other on occasion? Especially during meals, and at night when you sleep in my bed?”

“I’ve figured that out too,” she replied, refusing to respond to his baited comment about the bed, knowing he said it to irk her
.
“We speak to each other as little as possible, and keep the conversation polite and impersonal.”

“You’ve really thought this through, haven’t you?”

“Yes.”

“What if I tell you it isn’t going to work?”

Abe shook his head with a silent groan as he peeled potatoes
.
Amber crossed her arms
.
“Why on earth wouldn’t it?”

Logan pulled himself from his leaning stance against the wall and approached her, stopping to grab an apple from a barrel
.
“I’d think it would be quite obvious to you, by now.” She narrowed her gaze as he took a bite
.
“I’m a pirate
.
I can’t be civil.” Juices from the ripe apple ran down his chin as he chomped
.
“So I guess you have to come up with a new plan.”

Amber stood
.
“I guess I do.” As she walked past him she knocked his mug off the table, spilling hot coffee all over the front of his breeches
.
Logan leapt away with a bellow as she disappeared around the corner
.

Abe approached with a damp cloth and tri
ed to dab at the mess, but Logan snatched the rag from him and rubbed angrily
.

“I have never met a more irritating woman in my entire life,” he seethed as he pressed the cloth to his burned thighs.

Abe bit back a smile
.
“I hate to say this, but I think you deserved that one.”

The rest of the day passed without much action
.
Amber made good on her half of the deal by avoiding Logan as much as possible
.
He too decided to adhere to the plan, his change of heart perhaps stemming from the incident at breakfast
.
But all too soon, it seemed, the sun sank below the horizon and the smell of dinner cooking tempted the crew to rush through their nightly duties so that they could eat sooner
.

After procrastinating as much as p
ossible, Logan surrendered the helm to Jean and did a quick survey of the ship that led him to the door to his quarters, where Amber had been most of the day
.
He sighed and entered the room.

At the sound of his entry she spared a single glance in his dire
ction, then returned her attention to the
worn
copy of
Othello
she held in her hands
.
By the looks of it, she had almost finished it.

“Hungry?” he asked as he walked over to the clothes that hung drying on the rafters
.
She licked her finger and turned the page
.
“Are you still ignoring me?” She stayed silent
.
“Othello kills himself at the end.” He could see the muscles in her jaw working as she held back her angry response. Shaking his head, he pulled off his shirt and replaced it with a clean
,
though
damp
,
one. The door opened again, sending in a gust of cool air as Eli entered
.
Amber looked up and smiled.

“Good evening Elijah,” she said as she marked her page and put the book down beside her.

“Hello Miss Amber
.
I hope you had a relaxing day?”

“I did, thank you very much for asking
.
And you?”

“Well, I wouldn’t call it relaxing, but it was a pleasant enough afternoon
.
Are you hungry?”

“Famished.”

“That’s good, because Abe made some incredible stew for tonight’s dinner—”

“Enough!” Logan interrupted, looking annoyed
.
“I can’t take much more of you two magpies, or I’m going to lose my mind!”

The meal progressed in strained silence, Noah occasionally sending fearful glances in his Captain’s direction, afraid to say anything
that might
prov
oke his ire
.
Amber was less affected by Logan’s dismal countenance, but could see how it would repel unwanted conversation
.
Once the meal had finished and the place settings were cleared, Logan grabbed a jacket from a peg near the door and, without saying a word, stormed out
.

Noah cleared his throat and excused himself, leaving Amber alone with Eli
.

“Well, at least the food was good,” Eli said, for lack of a better response to the evening’s awkwardness.

“It was delicious,” she replied with a smile
.
“Though was it necessary to point out that he had
dribbled
some broth on his shirt? I was afraid he was going to throw the bowl at your head. I think you got off lucky with a glare.”

Eli chuckled
.
“Logan’s biggest problem, in my opinion, has always been his inability to lighten up
.
I’ve taken it on as my responsibility to tease him mercilessly, in the hope that one day he will realize that life isn’t as dire as he makes it out to be.”

A silence fell over them as they contemplated this
.
It was Amber who finally spoke. “How long until we reach Tortuga?”

“I would say about two weeks, maybe a little more
.
We are at the mercy of the weather.”

“And the temperature?”

“It’ll warm up in a few days as we travel farther south
.
Then you won’t be stuck inside the cabin as much, and you’ll be able to enjoy the Caribbean sun.” He stood and walked to the dresser where the maps had been rolled up before dinner, selected one and spread it out on the table
.
“We are around here,” he said, pointing to a spot in the Atlantic near the coast of Connecticut
.
“In about a week and a half we will stop in the Bahamas to leave Lyle, then continue down to Northwest coast of Haiti, where Tortuga lies.”

“I’ve only heard a little about Tortuga, and none of it very pleasant
.
Does it live up to its reputation?”

Eli rolled up the map and grabbed a
handful
of grapes from the bowl that was set out after dinner
.
“I’m sure many of the stories are exaggerated,” he said as he popped one in his mouth
.
“But to answer your question, yes
.
It has a long history of violence and is considered a stronghold for pirates because it is easily defensible
.
There is talk that it won’t be used for much longer as the French outlawed piracy a while ago
.
But for now, we retain control and they have yet to breach our defenses.”

“And it is truly filled with debauchery? Taverns and wenches?” The smile that crossed his face then could only be described as fondly reminiscent
.
Amber laughed
.
“I take that as a hearty yes, then
.
I must say I’m curious to see it!”

He sobered
.
“Tortuga is no place for a lady
.
I doubt Logan will let you set
foot off this ship when we land.” She pouted
.
“That reminds me, what on earth were you doing on the
Queen Charlotte
?”

“Trying to get to England as expediently as possible,” she said with a shrug.

“Not enough of an explanation, dear
.
There has to be more to the story than that.”

“My mother…” she searched for the strength to say the words out loud. Taking a deep breath, she continued. “My mother passed away last week.”

He reached across the table and took her hand for a brief second, urging her to continue
.
She struggled
to find a way
to explain her predicament without giving away too much information
.
“Her dying wish was that I go to England and live with my father’s family.”

“Do you want to live in England?” he interrupted.

“Excuse me?”

“Well, it seems to me that you are old enough to choose where you want to live
.
If you want to go stay with your father’s family, then do it
.
But if you wanted to stay in the colonies, you should have
.
You’re laughing at me
.
Why are you laughing at me?”

“You really think I have a choice in the matter? I’m a woman! My life is decided for me, it always has been, and always will be.”

Eli stared at her incredulously
.
“But you seem so independent, I thought—”