Wrecked (15 page)

Captain Andrew Wentworth stood in the kitchen - almost the
exact same spot where his beloved Lizzie had died – and stared at Ethan.
Elizabeth held his hand, as if to give him the support he needed to be
introduced to the man who’d captured her heart and started it beating with
purpose again.

“Ethan,” Bess stammered. “
This
is Andrew.”

When no reply came, Bess continued.

“I know this is going to be… quite…
difficult
, but
Andrew lives here and has done so for… well… a long time.”

“How the hell…” Ethan didn’t know what to say. He didn’t
understand what he was seeing.

“Let me explain,” Andrew said. “Why don’t you have a seat.”
Then he turned to Bess and said, “I hate this part.”

Bess just scowled at him in jest and shook her head,
released his hand, and helped Ethan to the sofa in the family room and sat down
next to him, her hand on his knee.

Andrew was wearing what he always wore; his frilly white
shirt, open at the neck, his hair tied back in a black ribbon, his white
breeches, and black leather boots that came up to his knees. The difficult part
for Ethan, however, was not his attire, but the fact that he could see right
through Andrew.

“You…”

“Am a ghost. Yes, I know,” Andrew smirked.

“But how?” Ethan mouthed.

“I have no explanation for you,” Andrew declared.

“He’s trapped here,” Bess offered. “He’s waiting for his
daughter to return, and he can’t leave until she does.”

“His daughter?” Ethan marveled.

“Yes, Andrea. Andie. But obviously she has died, seeing as
though she was born in 1779,” Bess added.

“WHAT?” Ethan threw his hands in the air in shock and then
jumped up and began pacing the floor. “This is not real.”

“It is, Ethan,” Bess assured him. “Andrew is real.”

“He’s a… a…
ghost
?”

“He is, and he’s my friend. This is who I have been talking
to. I’m not crazy,” she chuckled.

“Maybe we both are,” Ethan babbled to himself as he
continued to pace back and forth.

Andrew stepped in front of him, essentially blocking his
path, as Andrew knew that Ethan wouldn’t try to walk through him, even though
it was actually quite easily done.

“This has come as a shock to you.”

“No shit, Sherlock,” Ethan muttered.

“How about you try and relax and let me tell you who I am…
was
,”
Andrew offered.

“Please?” Bess begged.

Ethan did as he was asked and sat back down on the sofa,
Bess right beside him and pulled his hand into hers. She smiled at him in
encouragement and Ethan took a deep breath.

“Let’s have it,” he uttered.

Andrew began at the beginning, just as he’d done with Bess.
He told Ethan about Elizabeth Sherton and how quickly they’d fallen in love. He
told him about her father’s absolute refusal to let them marry and of his
decision to join the Navy and find his fortune as other men before him had
done. And with great reverence, Andrew spoke of their last night together when
their love had created a new life – Andrea – the daughter he’d never gotten to
hold… or kiss… or say goodbye to.

Ethan listened, captivated by the tale of forbidden love and
separation with skepticism and wariness. His expression told Andrew and Bess
that he was having a difficult time believing any of it.

“The idea that I was finally going to see her again,” Andrew
continued, “made me push my ship as fast as she could go. My crew worked night
and day getting us across the water as quickly as possible. And then I saw land
and my heart all but bolted right out of my chest. I was
so
close.” He
paused, looking visibly upset and Bess wiped a tear from her cheek. With a
gulp, Andrew went on. “The storm was bad. If I’d been more concerned with the
safety of my ship and my crew, I would have not brought her so close to shore,
but tried to ride out the storm and waited for calmer seas before bringing her
towards the port. As it was, I killed my men and ripped my ship to pieces on
the rocks. I was so impatient to see her again… to be with her again, that I
ruined everything. The fortune I had acquired was lost, and so was my life.”

“You’re serious?” Ethan marveled.

“Very,” Bess solemnly replied. “He found his Lizzie… and
discovered he was a father, but all after he’d died.”

“So she was here?” Ethan asked, his curiosity winning.

“She lived right here,” Andrew answered.

“Here? As in this house? Not possible.” Ethan wasn’t going
to be fooled.

“Well, not this
exact
house,” Bess replied. “But as
you told me, this
very room
was original to the first settlement here on
the east coast. Remember? I asked you about it?”

“That was weeks ago,” Ethan recalled. “You’ve been…
friends
with
him
all this time?”

Bess nodded. “This was built for Lizzie and Andie. It was
where they lived until she died.”

“Lizzie?” confirmed Ethan.

Bess nodded. “Probably of tuberculosis.”

“Oh,” Ethan exhaled. “Not good.”

“No,” Andrew agreed. “It wasn’t good. And then her father,
William, came and took Andie and I had no idea where they went.”

“I can’t even imagine,” Bess cried, unable to hold the
sadness in.

“No,” Ethan agreed and squeezed her hand.

“She never even got the pearls,” Andrew said to himself.

“The pearls!” blurted Bess. “Do you think they’re still
there? In the fireplace?”

“What pearls?” Ethan inquired, but to no one. Both Bess and
Andrew had hurried to the original brick fireplace and were examining it in
great detail.

“Get a chisel and hammer!” Andrew barked to Ethan.

Without giving it a second thought, Ethan leapt from the
sofa and ran out of the house and back to his garage, retrieving the required
tools and racing back to Bess. By the time he’d returned, Andrew was sure he
knew which brick it was that needed to be removed. Bess stood by impatiently as
Andrew instructed Ethan what to do.

“I know how to do this,” Ethan snapped. “Back off would you.
Please
?”

Bess looked at Andrew and shrugged, then they both took two
steps back. Two seconds later, Ethan had popped the brick out and held a small
black velvet bag in his hand. His jaw dropped and he believed. Bess wasn’t
crazy… and neither was he. Andrew was a real ghost and inhabited his house.

“So you’re telling me, that the whole time I lived in this
house, you were here?” Ethan questioned Andrew as he slowly turned around.

“Yes.”

“Well, I’ll be damned.”

“Doubtful,” Andrew chuckled good-naturedly.

“Here.” Ethan opened his hand and gave Bess the velvet bag.
She burst into tears.

*****

As Bess and Andrew cried over finding the pearls, Ethan saw
the bond they had forged and felt like an intruder… a third wheel. He wasn’t
jealous. In fact, he had no clue how he felt. The last hour had been nothing
short of a make-believe story from a third-rate novel. Ghosts. Shipwrecks.
Hidden pearls. It was fantasy, nothing more. Yet, as Ethan found himself
walking back to his house after assuring Bess he was fine and just needed to
check his email and voicemail, he was convinced that Andrew
was
a ghost
and his story was
not
fiction. The idea didn’t settle well. 

After answering one email, Ethan grabbed his laptop and sat
down at the island in his kitchen and began searching for any evidence that
Captain Andrew Wentworth existed. It took all of about twenty minutes and he
had The Mighty Elizabeth’s registry number and confirmation that William
Sherton had a daughter named Elizabeth and that they had left England in the
summer of 1778 for America. He had been a member of Parliament in England so his
arrival in the US had been well-documented at the time. Ethan leaned back in
his chair, ran his fingers through his hair and exhaled loudly.

“Well,” he mumbled. “What a night.”

“Ethan?” Bess yelled as she ran into the house.

“Kitchen!” he yelled.

“Are you okay?” she asked as she ran to him.

“I think so,” he chuckled. “It’s been an interesting
evening.”

She jumped into his lap and threw her arms around his neck,
laying her head on his shoulder. “I am so relieved that you know. It’s been so
hard not telling you, but Andrew wouldn’t let me, and besides, it wasn’t my
story to tell.”

“I understand.”

“Do you? Really?” Bess lifted her head and peered into his
eyes.

“I do,” he smiled and nodded.

“Are you upset with me?”

“Why on earth would I be?”

“Well, you know, I have a ghost for a friend,” she laughed.

Ethan laughed too. “I think it’s fine.”

“Oh, good. I’m glad you’re not angry because I have an idea to
help Andrew and I think I’m going to need your help.”

With brows furrowed, Ethan gazed into Bess’s eyes. He was in
love with her and she could ask him to fight lions and he’d probably do it for
her. A request to help Andrew was easy to agree to.

“What is your plan and what do you need me to do?”

Bess smiled that smile that melted his heart in an instant. Yeah.
He would fight lions and tigers and bears all at the same time if that’s what
she wanted. Gladiators too.

When the weekend finally came, Bess was packed and ready to
go by seven on Saturday morning. Ethan could only laugh as she jogged in place
and whined about his
slow
coffee drinking.

“You can put it in a travel mug and take it with us. Come
on
,”
she pleaded.

Bess’s plan was in full swing and Ethan had made it happen.
The weekend would be spent in Boston with a genealogical specialist who had
been given as much information as they had on Elizabeth and Andrea and was
already elbows deep in research. And, per Bess’s orders, Andrew knew nothing
about it.

Over the couple of days after Ethan had met Andrew, evenings
were spent in Bess’s family room, the three of them. Ethan found Andrew to be
articulate, intelligent, and had a dry, but fun, sense of humor. There were
moments when Ethan would look at Andrew and then Bess and have to shake his
head at the absurdity of the situation. It was a scratch-your-head-in-disbelief
kind of moment…
every
time. Once they pulled onto the freeway and began
the drive to Boston, Ethan replayed the conversations of the past week over and
over again in his mind. Nobody would believe him if he told them about Andrew,
not that he would tell anyone. He had agreed that it was best that it was kept
between the three of them.

The three of them
, Ethan thought as he weaved through
the Saturday morning traffic. It was such a bizarre situation it made him
smile.

“What?” Bess asked, noticing the smile appear on his face.

“I was just thinking about how crazy this all is. I mean,
six months ago, if someone had told me this is what I’d be doing today, I would
have committed them to a psychiatric hold myself.”

Bess laughed. “Oh, I
know
the feeling.”

“It is pretty miraculous that we are here… together,” Ethan
continued. “I had pretty much given up on finding anyone in Port Lincoln that
was someone I could envision marrying. And then you arrived in an ambulance and
somehow I knew that you would be an important person in my life, although I
didn’t know at that moment just
how
important.” He reached for her hand
and brought it to his lips, kissing the back of her hand and then turning it
over and kissing the inside of her wrist. “Elizabeth Williams, I am very much
in love with you.”

Smiling shyly, Bess looked up at Ethan and quietly said, “I
love you, too.”

It was the first time she’d told him how she felt and Ethan
gasped in joy. “I’m very happy to hear that.”

“It’s not easy for me to say,” Bess admitted sadly. “My life
hasn’t been full of gushing sentiments and displays of physical affection.”

“Well, we can change that,” Ethan promised and kissed her
wrist again. “I will tell you every day how I feel and hold your hand in public
and do all those things that I thought were cheesy,” he chuckled. “Because I
have realized that it isn’t cheesy at all, but rather nice.”

“No, it’s not cheesy,” Bess agreed.

Ethan drove the last few miles to the hotel with one hand –
his other still held Bess’s and he wasn’t letting go, and Bess seemed
comfortable with the arrangement.

As they pulled into the Hyatt, two bellmen helped them from
the car and wanted to place their two small overnight bags on a cart and wheel
it up to their room for them. Ethan was having none of it. He did however
accept valet parking and tipped the bellman as he handed over the keys.

At the check-in desk, they had to wait a few minutes while
other guests were checking out. Ethan had pre-arranged an early check-in as
their appointment with the genealogist wasn’t until one o’clock, and when
they’d decided on spending the night in Boston, Bess insisted that they leave
in plenty of time. Four hours early seemed a tad excessive for Ethan, but Bess
was so excited at the prospect of discovering what had happened to Andie, she
couldn’t wait to get going.

“Welcome to the Hyatt, Dr. James. We have your room ready
for you. I just need a credit card and a valid ID.”

Ethan pulled out his wallet and gave the clerk his American
Express and driver’s license.

“How many keycards will you be needing?”

“Two,” replied Ethan.

*****

Bess walked into the hotel room, Ethan right behind her
carrying their bags. She knew that they were sharing a room, and she’d been
fine with the idea at the time. But now it became all too real.

Being a sixteen-year-old girl, Bess had been very interested
in clothes, make-up, music, celebrities, and of course, boys. She represented
the average American teenager perfectly. She was a happy girl, despite the lack
of love she felt at home. While not one of the
popular
kids, she had
friends at school and was a good student. Her teachers liked her and she never
got into any sort of trouble. And then there were the boys. She’d had several
major crushes by the time she’d turned sixteen but hadn’t had a boyfriend. The
boys that she always seemed to be interested in, didn’t seem to notice she was
alive. But after all, that’s what high school memories are made of – unrequited
love. Bess had sat at lunch and awkwardly stared at the young men that made her
heart go pitter-patter, and watched the football and basketball games in awe of
their physical prowess. She dreamed at night, and day-dreamed in class about
the perfect prom night, even perhaps experimenting a little and finding out for
herself what was so amazing about getting to second or third base. She’d done a
little kissing but nothing more and looked forward to the day when she was
ready to lose her virginity to the boy she would one day marry after they
graduated from college. Yes, she was just a typical teenage girl.

And then it all changed.

The night her stepfather entered her bedroom unannounced and
climbed into bed with her, it all changed. The night her stepfather tried to
rape her and take from her what she refused to give him, it all changed. The
night her mother looked at her with such disdain and hatred, after she’d kneed
her stepfather in the balls as hard as she could, her life changed. In that
instant, she was no longer your typical teenage girl.

Bess had packed her clothes and a few personal possessions
into a duffel bag and a small carry-on suitcase, loaded it in her car and left
without looking back. She didn’t say goodbye. She didn’t leave a note. She
didn’t call her mother to tell her where she was. She backed out of the
driveway telling herself that she was angry not upset; resilient not weak;
capable not dependent; a survivor not a victim. She’d driven to her best
friend’s house and stayed for three months until she could afford to rent a
room in an apartment building that catered to the local college kids, and in
the summer she’d bounce around to relatives on her father’s side until she’d
saved some more money and could move back into an apartment for the school
year.

Her employer at the burger joint loved her – she was always
on time and worked hard – so when Bess asked for as many hours as he could give
her, he did as she’d asked. Once she turned seventeen it was much easier, as
child labor laws changed with her age and Bess was legally allowed to work as
much as she could, which she did. She still kept her grades up and was able to
pay her rent each month on time.

But as grown up as Bess appeared, she was nowhere near the
adult she was made to behave like. And repressing the feelings and emotions
she’d not allowed herself to work through only caused more isolation and
loneliness. When Bess graduated from high school, the once lively, happy girl
with friends and dreams of the future had been replaced by a sullen introvert
who could only look to the end of the month. Anything past that was too far
away to be real… or warrant attention.

Attending college was a dream of that
other girl
, not
the young woman Bess had become. She worked two, sometimes three jobs in order
to pay her bills and have enough money to put a little aside in case of an emergency.
Bess lived a day at a time. It was the only way she knew how.

It was difficult for her to make friends. The assumption she
made was that if people knew who she
really
was, they wouldn’t like her.
And men? Well, they weren’t to be trusted and she kept as far away as possible
from them. Her stepfather was a man and look how that had that turned out. She
had no use for them… at all.

The emergency came just two years after she’d moved into the
studio apartment. Finally, on her own with no roommates to contend with
anymore, her move to her very own place had cost her more than she had planned
but she could handle it as long as nothing else went wrong. It was touch and go
every month but she’d somehow been able to manage. But then she found herself
sitting on the side of the road in her car, smoke billowing out from under the
hood. The repairs to her Subaru took every last penny of her small emergency
fund that remained. When she became ill and missed so much work, it was just a
matter of a few weeks before she was so far under there was no way to crawl out
of the enormous hole she was in. Being evicted was just a matter of time.

That was the day her life changed again.

Bess sat on the edge of the enormous hotel bed and looked
around. She placed her small purse beside her and watched as Ethan opened the
closet and placed their bags inside.

“Well? Now what?” he asked. “We have just under four hours
until we meet Grace.”

Bess shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m just glad we are here and
nothing will make us late to the meeting.”

“Are you hungry?”

She shrugged again. Bess was nervous, even though she was
glad she was with Ethan. She felt very much out of her comfort zone.

“Why don’t we go down to the restaurant and have breakfast.”

Bess picked up her purse and stood up. “Okay,” she said and
followed Ethan out of the room, down the hall, into the elevator, and back down
to the main floor and to the restaurant. They were seated and handed menus and
Bess was able to relax for a moment or two.

Ethan could sense her anxiety and was doing everything he
could think of to ease her nerves. As he glanced at her over the menu he held
in his hands, he was sure that the last few months had taken a huge toll on her
and was trying to be sensitive and accommodating in all he did. It only made
him love her more.

While being a child with an ill mother, Ethan, and his
brother Evan, grew up never wanting for anything, attending good schools, and not
ever experiencing poverty or want. In the summers, his grandparents took over
the caretaker rolls for the boys and the three months spent in Port Lincoln was
the stuff dreams were made of. They were carefree and happy months, playing on
the beach and climbing on the rocks. The boys built forts and a treehouse,
which fell down in a storm the following winter, and ate corndogs and nachos.
They went roller skating and to movies and science camp. They were carefree and
loved every moment.

For Ethan, going to college was another summer camp.
Naturally smart, he whizzed through his first two years with ease, and played
hard. He discovered beer and marijuana, girls and sex, and all the time living
his life with no responsibilities. It was when his mother died that he got
serious about life and what he was going to do with his. As a boy, watching his
mother suffer, he’d dreamed of becoming a doctor so that he could
fix
her.
And while that never came to fruition, he knew he had found his calling after
his first rotation in the emergency department in a Chicago hospital where he
spent his years as a resident. While he may have been unable to cure his
mother, he’d helped thousands of people over the years and it gave him a real
sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.

He was a natural nurturer. He wanted to take care of people
and it was the first thing that had drawn him to Bess. And after getting to
know her a little better, she needed someone to take care of her. Not that she
wasn’t capable of taking care of herself – she’d been doing it for years. But it
was time for her to take a needed and well-deserved break and let someone else
take over for a little while. And Ethan had been eager to apply for the job. It
had started as just that – someone looking out for her, but the more he got to
know her, the more he liked her. Like turned into something much,
much
more. It made him happy and excited to think about the future, knowing that
Bess would be a part of it.

And here he sat, in a Boston hotel, waiting for the evening
to begin so he could show her, without any words, just how much he loved her.