Beloved Counterfeit (35 page)

Ruby’s chuckle held no humor. “Ironically, on that trip, we had. Tess was complaining of a sore ear, and the twins were both getting over bouts with some sort of stomach bug. I told Tommy I’d not go anywhere with them in ill health. I awoke to find them gone. Tommy had them. Said he’d let me board the ship and go with them, but only if I did as he said.”

Micah let out a long breath while his temper cooled down a notch. Would that he’d come across the pirate in a fair fight. He’d have demanded payment for all of these wrongs and more.

“But the vessel was not headed toward New Orleans, Ruby,” he said, the easiness in his tone hopefully masking the concern he felt at this new piece of information. “And in the ship’s belly was a fortune in what we figure to be stolen cargo.” He paused to take another long breath. “Did you know about what you were walking over?”

“No,” she said quickly, and he could tell she didn’t. “Tommy only said he had to leave due to what he called ‘business trouble.’ I always figured the law was about to catch him—else he wouldn’t have gone without Jean Luc.”

“Or the rightful owner of the treasure he was using as ballast.” Micah shrugged. “Maybe they are one and the same, this Frenchman and the treasure’s owner.”

“I don’t know. Those men, they never told me anything, and all I did was try to keep the girls and myself out of the way.” Her eyes blinked, but her gaze never wavered. “I swear to you I was only on that ship because I couldn’t leave those babies with him alone.”

“Just like you couldn’t leave Opal with him.”

Her nod was slow in coming, as if she hadn’t put the two memories together until now, and it took all he had in him not to gather her onto his lap and hold her until her smile returned.

“Ruby, here’s how I figure it,” he said. “The Lord’s given us both a second chance. You know my story, and I know yours.” Micah paused. “Which means there’s nothing left hidden between us.”

Was it his imagination, or did his bride hesitate?

“Nothing’s hidden,” she echoed as she reached across the distance between them to take his hand.

“You’re sure.”

This time he knew she paused, though he preferred to think it was so she might better search her heart to determine whether she could answer truthfully.

“Good—then you should know you’re about to become the pastor’s wife.” He smiled as her eyes widened. “And we’ll be moving into the parsonage while the Carters will be settling in here.”

“But what about. . .that is, how will—”

“Later, Ruby. Right now I’d like breakfast.”

“Breakfast,” she mumbled as she scurried from the room. “Yes, of course. Breakfast.”

* * *

Micah headed to the courthouse, and Ruby left for the beach. She collected an apron full of sand dollars before dumping them back into the surf. Try as she might, she knew she couldn’t be the pastor’s wife.

Not until the pastor heard the rest of her story. The part where she admitted that the girls were not hers.

The horizon tempted her, and it seemed an easy solution to stand and stare at it as she’d done as a child. But she was no child, and she had three girls to protect. Surely the new pastor wouldn’t turn her out for this one last missing fact.

Two, she decided, for he would also have to know about the other men.

Her knees shook, and she nearly turned around several times before she actually stepped onto the courthouse grounds. When she opened the door, she found Caleb Spencer sitting where she’d expected Micah to be.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said. “I was looking for my husband.”

“You’ll find him down at the docks, I believe.”

She smiled. “Thank you, and welcome home.”

He matched her grin. “I’m very happy to be here,” he said. “As is Emilie. Do go by and see her when you can.”

“Yes, of course,” she said, though she doubted Emilie would want to speak to her once the woman heard of the scandal attached to her name.

Ruby found Micah supervising some sort of work being done on his boat. “Perfect timing,” he said as he waved to her. “Come and see this.”

She looked past Micah to the man now painting the last flourish on the bow. “
Ruby
,” she read.

“My wife in whom I trust,” he whispered as he gathered her to him. “I love you, Ruby.”

“Might we discuss something?” She slipped from his grasp. “It’s important.”

“Of course.” He gestured to the vessel and led her aboard. “I’m all yours.”

“I saw that Caleb’s back,” she said. “I suppose that means you’ll not be the acting judge anymore.” A stupid statement, yet it bought time.

“I happily turned over the desk and chair.” He sat and urged her to do the same. “I’ve told Rev. Carter he can have the boardinghouse as soon as he’s ready. I’m a bit concerned about the stairs, however, as is Josiah. I think he and Mary will be taking that back bedroom downstairs and leaving the third-floor apartment for Josiah and Isabelle. It means one less room available for guests, but I don’t suppose that’s a problem.”

Micah paused, and her heart stalled. It would be her turn. She wasn’t ready.

“Close the door,” he said, and she complied. He leaned back and patted the place next to him in the bunk. What came next, she could guess, though he would likely change his mind once she told him her tale.

“I’ve spoken to Drummond. He’s a good man. Didn’t think so when I met him, but he’s won me over.” He shifted to look at her. “I’m turning over my duties as head of the militia to him. Or at least I will once he decides whether he’ll accept them. With the Seminole proven not to be a threat, there’s really no need to keep the militia on full-time watch, so if Drummond agrees to it, he’ll have minimal duties. That much was decided yesterday.”

“Is that so?” Ruby perched on the end of the bunk and drummed her fingers on the mattress. “Micah, might I tell you one more thing?”

“One more thing?” He gathered her to him. “Ruby, you can tell me anything. No secrets between us, right?”

“Well. . .” She leaned away then moved back to the edge of the bunk. “Just let me say this, all right?” After a deep breath, she said, “The girls’ father. He’s alive.”

“Oh?”

Ruby dared not look at him lest she be unable to continue. “And they are not mine. The girls belong to Opal, Micah. She died birthing Tess.”

“So the girls belong to. . .”

“Tommy,” she offered. “Thomas Hawkins,” she amended as she risked a glance in his direction.

He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, seemingly heedless of the fact that Ruby had to scramble to get out of the way. “And what more do you have to tell me?”

“You’re not mad that I didn’t tell you who the girls belonged to?” She let out a long breath. “Well, then there’s just one more thing to tell you. You see,” she said slowly, “the work I did in Galveston, well, it wasn’t. . .that is, it was. . .”

“Out with it, Ruby,” he said sharply. “How bad can it be compared to the fact you’ve lied about the parentage of the girls? I mean, it’s not like you were a prostitute or anything. So tell me, what sort of demeaning work did you take?”

Sarcasm, she knew, yet a measure of pain seemed to come through. Or perhaps she only thought so.

“Ruby?”

Somehow she met his gaze. “I was Claire,” she said. “When the Lord wiped away my sins, I figured to take another name. The girls knew me as Ruby because that’s what Tommy. . .” She shook her head. “Anyway, now you know.”

“Now I know what?” He shook his head. “Ruby, I asked you if you were a—” His expression changed, and he looked away. “Why?”

“Opal was—”

“Delicate. Yes, you mentioned that. And you. . .” Micah shook his head. “No, not you.
Claire
,” he said with what sounded like disdain. “Claire spent her free time entertaining anyone with enough coin or promises of protection.”

Shock rendered her speechless.

Micah rose. “Why didn’t you offer to pay me off that way? Was there something wrong with me?”

His words hit her every bit as hard as any blow she’d taken. Somehow Ruby ended up on her feet, even though she still swayed as she fought to remain standing.

“Please,” she managed through the roaring in her ears. “Micah, listen to me. I was a different person then. Nobody had told me about Jesus. Once I learned there was a better way, I changed.”

His stare sent her tumbling backward. She crumpled to the floor, helpless to move.

Micah closed the distance between them to scoop her into his arms. For one brief moment she thought perhaps he might be offering his forgiveness.

Instead, he dropped her in the middle of the bunk then took a step backward. “I didn’t want to know.”

“But—”

“No,
Claire
,” he said. “I did not want to know this. This exercise was for me. I never expected you to offer up the sordid details of your life.” His laughter held an icy tone. “But then, I never expected there were
sordid details.”

“Micah, please,” she pleaded. “Listen to me, please. I was different then.”

“Were you?” He came to her then, pinning her beneath him as he pressed lips that held no love against her neck. “Were you different, Claire?”

Tears stung Ruby’s eyes, but she refused to cry. Her husband was a good man, a man who regularly preached the gospel on Sunday mornings. A man who vowed to protect her and who preached that both he and the Lord would forgive her.

A man who’d governed the island, led the militia in protecting its citizens, and preached in its pulpit.

Never had he touched her with anything but tenderness. As he moved away to stand once more, Ruby wondered whether this might be the time when he became like the others.

He must have recognized the fear in her eyes, for abruptly Micah turned and moved toward the door. “Micah?” she called. “Where are you going?”

But he was gone.

Chapter 41

Had she the strength, Ruby might have gone after her husband. Instead, she could only trace his path as far as the boardinghouse. As the door slammed behind her, Ruby made her way into the kitchen to prepare lunch as expected. Later she made dinner as well, all the while wondering where her husband was.

The last of the day’s work done, she trudged upstairs into the girls’ room, where she climbed into bed with Tess and forced back her tears.
He’ll be back by morning.

But he wasn’t, nor did he come for his lunch. The warning bell rang at half past two, calling all wreckers to an unfortunate merchant vessel stuck on the reef. This much she determined from the boardinghouse porch, for she’d decided not to go into town to fetch him back.

Her determination wavered a bit when Tess found her. “Is Papa out there?” Tess asked.

Papa.
A stab of pain pierced her heart. Lies built on top of lies, all now falling shattered around her.

“Yes, I think I see Micah’s boat.” She pointed out the most likely vessel. “Do you see it?”

“I see it,” she shouted. “Papa’s a hero, isn’t he?”

“Yes, darling,” she managed to say. “Papa is a hero.”

Tess laughed then clapped her hands as the vessel in question pulled away, its decks visibly full of what appeared to be persons and cargo. “When he comes home tonight, I’m going to tell him I saw him saving people with his boat.”

But her papa didn’t come home that night or the next. On the third night, Ruby stopped making excuses and admitted to the girls that she was uncertain as to when Micah would be back.

Maggie and Tess took the news in stride, but Carol’s response was sullen silence.

Long after the girls were slumbering, Ruby lay on Micah’s side of the bed, her eyes refusing to close. By the light of the moon, she could see the shimmer of the ocean and the cluster of vessels moored at the docks.

Likely Micah was on one of them, unless he bunked elsewhere. “Enough of this foolishness,” she said as she threw off her wrapper and donned the dress it seemed she’d only just put away. “You’ll come home, Micah Tate, or the girls and I will find another place to live.”

She found Micah curled in the tiny cabin, his jacket taking the place of a pillow. Until that moment, Ruby hadn’t realized her husband had left with only the clothes on his back.

“Micah, please listen,” she said before she knew whether he was awake to hear it.

“Not now, Ruby,” he said, shifting position to offer her his back. “It’s been a long day, and I’m in no mood to talk to you.”

The old fear of a man’s fists returned, spurred by the way Micah’s voice echoed in the small cabin. To continue could very well provoke him. To leave, likely the best choice.

Yet Ruby couldn’t leave, wouldn’t let this man go.

Ruby squared her shoulders and faced down her fear. “That’s unfortunate,” she said. “You’re going to listen. What you do with what I say is up to you, but I’d suggest you think carefully before you respond.”

Micah sat up and swiped at his hair, then scratched his chin. “All right,” he said. “You’ve got my attention.”

“Good.” Ruby sent a prayer skyward. Somehow she had to find the words to bring him home. To bring forgiveness.

“I am
not
Claire. Not anymore. Not for a long time, actually.”

She paused to see if Micah might respond. When he didn’t, she pressed on.

“I’m Ruby,” she said. “Ruby Tate. That’s who I am, Micah. Not a perfect person, not even a person who is proud of her past.”

Ruby ignored his inelegant snort.

“What I am is forgiven, Micah. I listened closely when you spoke about it,” she said, “and I read up on the parts I didn’t understand by finding all the citations you gave in the Bible.”

He seemed about to say something but then looked away.

“What I found was what you said. The Lord, He casts our sins as far as from east to west. We have to ask, and we have to mean it, but if we do, He does it, and then it’s done.”

Another pause, this time with the hope that Micah would respond. He did not.

“Micah Tate, do you know what you are?”

While his eyes blinked, Ruby couldn’t tell whether Micah was listening at all. “You’re a hypocrite, Micah Tate. A hypocrite. Oh, you talk like a preacher. You tell people things that the Bible says, but then you turn around and hold them to a different standard.” She paused to blink back the tears. “An impossible standard,” she continued. “And that’s just not fair.”