Swept to Sea (15 page)

"So now you see why I would not let you stay up on the deck. I could not bear to lose you, too." He had failed his dead wife again. Moore had escaped. The monster was still running free. Caspian wiped the stubborn moisture from his eyes and studied Eden.

Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and she was watching him intently, fidgeting with her dress.

Then she seemed to break free from her unmoving state and gasped. "Oh, Caspian, you poor, poor man! I had no idea it had happened like that. I am so sorry for your loss. It must have been horrible. It wasn't your fault in any way, I assure you. No matter what you may think, your wife is the one who chose to remain above, not you. You did not force her to do it. In fact, you did much the opposite." She rose and threw her arms around him.

He longed to believe her precious words.

"Thank you, Eden. But it truly was my fault. I should have forced her to go into our cabin. I should have dragged her down there and locked — no, barricaded her inside here. I should have saved her life. I should not have failed Reed." He started to pull away from her. If he let her touch him like that, he would become too attached to her. And he did not wish to become attached to a woman whom he could not protect.

"Nay, Caspian. If God wanted to take her home to Him, He would have done it whether she was in front of a cannon or safe in your bed."

The use of his Christian name flooded every nerve of Caspian’s body with warmth. She crinkled his shirt with her fist and buried her face in his chest. He had to catch his breath at her sudden closeness. Since when had she decided she liked him? Maybe he should have told her of his wife’s death much sooner. He would have, if he had known it would goad a hug out of this sweet lady.

"Thank you, milady, for caring enough to even listen to my sad tale. I had received word that Edward Moore, the captain of the ship that… that caused her death was in the Caribbean again. We were going to search for him in Port Royal. If he had been there already, I was certain I could have found out from somebody there where he was going off to. I planned to find him and make him pay dearly for Isabelle’s death. But he found us first, just now. The idiot out-sailed us and ran away before I could do enough damage. We will have to search for word of him when we reach Port Royal like I had planned originally. But never you mind that.” He tweaked her nose lightly, smiling when she giggled at him, her tears slowing. After a moment he grew sober. “Surely I am boring you to death. And I don’t want to think about what will happen when we arrive in Port Royal. I do not want to think of never seeing you again. I shall miss you dearly. You are a wonderful woman, and I know I will never forget you in my entire lifetime, Eden.”

Bright, clear tears were welling up yet again in those pretty brown eyes. "I-I'm afraid I do not feel well, Captain. I am going to take my leave. I-I think I need some fresh air. Forgive me, please, Captain." And with that, she rushed out of the cabin in a whirl of white lace and umber curls.

Chapter Twelve

A timid knock sounded on Matthew's door.

"Enter," he called, expecting to hear the heavy tread of one of his crew members. But the soft pitter-patter of a woman's slippers filled the air.

He spun around to see an angel in the doorway.

That was the only way he could describe the woman standing there. Soft, golden tresses haloed her perfect face. Jade eyes glistened in the soft candlelight that sent a warm glow across her delicate features.

"Captain Emery."

Trouble was the soft voice belonged to anything but an angel. It was Lady Dawson's.

"Yes, milady? Come to cry about little mice invading your precious cabin?" He chuckled and glared at her.

She shot a venomous look that made him feel a twinge of guilt for being so cruel to this girl. In all reality, what had she done to him to make him so mad at her all of the time?

"Nay. I… I came to discuss Ivy," she explained, her voice wavering. With what, though? Fear? Anger? Hate? From his past experience with the lady, it was most likely the latter.

"And what is it about Lady Shaw that you wish to discuss, Lady Dawson?" He folded his hands across his stomach. Was the girl actually concerned about something besides herself and which dress she would wear to the next ball? That was doubtful. She was just like his mother, and nothing would ever change her.

"Well, Ivy's been having these… these
horrible
nightmares. She's frightened sick about her baby brother, William. She wakes up sobbing every morning. I am just worried about her." She jutted her chin back up where it belonged.

"Ah, well then I shall pray for her, Lady Dawson. You should, also." He rose and led her to his door.

She stubbornly stopped in her tracks, causing him to scramble to a stop in order to avoid toppling her over. "That's it? You will
pray for her?
That is all you will do for your 'dear friend'? I might as well have not wasted my time here with the likes of
you.
" She slammed her fists onto her hips, further showing her obvious fury with him. He could not help but notice the feminine roundness of her figure.

****

Aimee slammed her fists on her waist, trying her hardest not to let them fly at the infuriating little man.

"What?" he scoffed, "Prayer will help her more than anything I could do. You know that. At least you should, since I see you in church every Sunday. Or are you just like most of the other silly girls I have seen in there? Do you see the Sunday service as merely an hour or so to plan your outfits for the next week and what the next thing you will embroider will look like?"

"You, sir, are daft!" Aimee threw her hands in the air with a shake of her head and stormed from the cabin.

How could he accuse her of some awful thing like that? How dare he? She paid attention just as much as she could to the sermons every Sunday. Who was he to judge her? He hardly even knew her. Aimee ran back to her cabin and slammed the door shut with the loudest
bang
she had ever heard.

****

Gage walked up to Caspian, who was standing on his deck, gazing up at the stars. “How did the battle go, Captain?” He moved to stand beside his friend and leader.

Caspian turned to Gage. “There were some flesh wounds, but nothing deadly, and we took a few hits, but we didn’t even have to resort to hand-to-to-hand combat. The fool of a man ran away with his tail tucked between his legs. Imbecile. We will have to continue to track him down. I am
not
going to let that man go free.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, Captain. I know how much this means to you. I know that man should not be free after what happened.”

Caspian glared at the sea before responding, “We will get him in time, Gage. There is no way I will let him go without justice doing its part. I will not let another man like him affect me or my son ever again.”

“Aye, Captain. You should not have lost your wife. Reed did not deserve to lose his mother before he even knew her.” Gage shook his head at that thought. The boy needed a mother to nurture him as he grew into adulthood. Which made him think… “Captain, do you realize Lady Trenton believes you don’t care about her?”

“Ah, Master Thompson, the matter of Lady Trenton is a dilemma altogether. That woman is a puzzle.”

“Aren’t most, Captain?” Gage flashed a grin.

Caspian chuckled. “But this lady is so sweet, and someone has truly abused her in the past. I don’t know if she realizes what I feel for her, and I don’t know if she should. It frightens me sometimes. Besides, I do not think she is ready to trust yet, after whatever happened to her. Ah, but she is a baffling little creature.”

Gage laughed. He wasn’t even sure Caspian realized how much Lady Trenton seemed to care about Caspian herself.

****

Caspian sat on the edge of his deck the next day with his feet dangling out above the water and watched his crew frolic in the ocean below him. He had given the whole crew a few hours off because the weather had grown so harsh with the hot air and the rare blazing winds. They had ended up reaching the Caribbean in the peak of the summer months. But, in truth, he had never stopped his ship like this in all his years as a captain. It was always more important for him to reach the port in good time.

No, it was not the weather at all that had led him to take a reprieve from sailing. Gage had even teased him about it. It was the beautiful young lady who was sleeping in his cabin at the moment. He could not bear the thought of reaching Port Royal and having to bid her goodbye so he was putting that dreadful day off as far as he could.

After he had complimented her, the woman had fled from his presence, bursting into tears and running out onto the main deck. Caspian had immediately followed and tried to comfort the dear, perplexing girl, but she had refused his attentions and protested vehemently by hitting and screaming at him. He had surrendered at last and let her return to his cabin because she was causing yet another scene that his crew was enjoying far too much. When he had returned to the cabin to retrieve the pistol he had left on the desk, the blasted woman had been sound asleep, curled up on top of his coverlet.

She was beautiful when she slept. When she was silent and was not yelling at him or giving him one of those nasty glares. He knew she held some affection or something of the like for him, however, because she had not refused all of his attentions. The lady had never actually told him to leave and stop spending time with her. She liked it when he was close to her; he could tell that. Maybe she did not despise him after all.

Why she acted like that, so unpredictable, when he had done nothing offensive to her, he had no clue. She was much more confusing than Isabelle had been. If Isabelle had a problem with something he had done, she straight-out told him, and they solved it together.

"Come and join us, Cap'n!" Jack Collie, his boatswain, shouted from below. Caspian glanced down to see the scrawny man cupping his hands over his mouth to yell.

"Yes, Captain! Come on and have some fun for once!" Gage urged.

"Please do come in, Father!" He heard Reed's little voice cry up. The boy was half-swimming while Gage held him. No doubt the child thought he was swimming on his own.

"I will." Caspian nodded acquiescence and stripped down to his breeches before leaping into the blessedly cool turquoise ocean. The refreshingly chilly, salty water energized him. He grabbed his giggling son from Gage and threw him up into the air. Reed chuckled and latched back onto his father after he landed with a splash in the water. Suddenly, a commotion sounded from up on the main deck.

The gentle lilt of Eden's voice from above made his heart sing.

"Pray tell, where are the captain and Master Thompson?" Her voice held a desperate tone, as if she was afraid the crew had mutinied overnight and tossed Caspian and Gage to the sharks.

Caspian smiled that she had inquired after him, but then bristled. Why had she asked for Gage also? He could not help but feel a twinge of jealousy.

"Er, miss, they's swimming out in the ocean. Cap’n gave all o' us the day off," the gruff voice of a sailor answered. Before long, Caspian was blessed with the sight of her creamy face leaning over the rail, those chestnut curls of hers looking tousled and tumbling over her shoulders. The woman always wore pins in her hair, but the stubborn strands never failed to escape their confinement after a few moments in the sea’s winds.

"Come in, Eden! You can swim with us down here!" Caspian teased, gazing up at her and winking playfully. He did not expect her to actually come down into the water, but he thoroughly enjoyed seeing her flustered.

She bit her pink bottom lip. "I am afraid I cannot swim, Captain."

He had not expected her to take his request seriously but now he did want her in the water if only to hold her.

"Well, come on in, and I will teach you how to swim. If you will want to live in Port Royal, or anywhere in the Caribbean, for that matter, you will need to know how to anyway." That at least was true.

"Yes, please come in, Miss Eden!" Reed shouted up at her.

Caspian prepared to tell the boy that she would not come to swim with him, that it would never happen, and that it was certainly most improper. But how did he know for certain? Maybe all the ladies in London swam in their leisure time. Perhaps Eden would join them after all.

Caspian looked to his son and then glanced out at the rest of the ocean. All the sailors excluding Gage had already left the water and were back on the ship, dripping wet. Some of them shook the moisture off of their bodies in the same manner as dogs.

His men had been in the ocean for hours and so had Reed. Surely the boy should not spend so much time in the water. But what did he know? Caspian had done nothing like this with his father and had no example of how to be a father to a young boy.

"By the bye, Reed, you should go back up on the deck and rest. You have been in here for hours."

"But must I, Papa? I just got in here!" He looked every bit like his late mother when he pouted. She had always had a stubborn tilt of the chin and used to cross her arms across her chest just as the boy did now. Caspian felt a pang of hurt remembering his dead wife. Were his feelings for Eden betraying Isabelle? He hoped not. Reed let out a loud breath, gathering his papa’s attention once again.

"Yes, Reed. You should obey your father without a question; you know that. Now come on up." Eden beckoned for the boy to join her on the ship.

The poor child reluctantly climbed the ladder. After a long glance between Caspian and Eden, Gage followed the boy right up the ladder, grinning from ear to ear like some crazy fool. Which he did quite often.

After they had left, Lady Trenton stammered, "H-how do I get in?"

"Jump!" Caspian said simply, laughing. "But first, you must remove your dress." He winked at her.

"My
dress
?" She shrieked indignantly, her face growing a dark shade of pink.

"Well, you may leave your… your… undergarments on, of course…" He smirked. In all reality, she would do much better at swimming without all the heavy layers of fabric dragging her down, but he supposed she would not take kindly to the idea.