Karen Michelle Nutt (39 page)

Keldon then spoke to Nicholas. “Ye best keep goin’ in that direction.” He pointed to the right of Nicholas. “Ye should find yer unit soon enough.”

He nodded. He was about to leave, but Keldon spoke again. “Can I have yer word that I willnae have to lay eyes on ye again?”

“You bloody well can count on it.” Nicholas Sherborn saluted Keldon before he hastened away.

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

Six weeks after the battle at New Orleans, Keldon sailed the
Hope
to
Willow Bend
. Half of the men, including Vincent and Samuel chose to stay with him and see what they could do with the land. Leighton decided to return to the plantation with the others.

Keldon still had the hard currency to help with the renovations of
Willow Bend
and he would make sure his part of the money would be used to expand the mercantile. The store would be his main source of income. The thrill of sea had lost its appeal.

Thaddeus set sail for
Blue Run
to bring back Sophia and Elijah. Keldon entrusted him with his heartfelt letter to Arianna. While he waited for Thaddeus’ return, he threw himself into his work, relentless in proving himself worthy to ask Arianna to be his wife once more.

Vincent and Bernadette wanted to be married as soon as their house was finished. Vincent worked on it day and night. He had confided in Keldon that waiting to be with Bernadette as man and wife was pure torture, but he was determined not to touch her—except for a few stolen kisses—until they were married. Vincent hadn’t told him everything about Bernadette’s sordid past, but Keldon had a hunch the woman had been through a lot in her young life. Vincent was a good man and he held fast to courting Bernadette properly.

After a long and agonizing month, Thaddeus finally returned with Sophie and the baby. Oni, Maeve and Sally Mae made the voyage, too. Keldon’s heart fell when didn’t see Arianna among them.

"Thaddeus, it is good to see yer face.” Keldon greeted him.

"And yours.” They clasped hands.

"How is Arianna?” He couldn’t wait a second longer to know, holding his breath for the answer.

Sophie and Thaddeus exchange worried glances. "She weren’t dere."

"Mista Keldon, she never comes home," Maeve told him. “We thought she wuz with you.”

He didn't know what to say. Where was she then? How would he ever find her? He looked toward the endless stretch of sea. She could be anywhere.

CHAPTER FIFTY

Arianna couldn’t see her feet over her rounded belly and she waddled like a duck. She put her hand over her stomach. “Soon baby. I’ll see you soon.”

Vincent's family had been wonderful to her. Chantal and her husband Gerard had made her feel right at home. Gerard’s mother had just arrived from France and had doted on her all week.

She was comfortable with her life, but she wasn’t happy. She mourned for what she could have had with Keldon. She found herself reaching for him while she slept, only to awake and find his side of the bed empty.

Feeling restless, she stepped outside for some fresh air. The breeze billowed through her hair. She closed her eyes and hummed the song that was forever on her lips, the sweet melody of Keldon’s. In an odd way, it comforted her.

"There you are.”

Arianna stopped humming and turned to greet Chantal. Vincent’s sister was a petite woman with lustrous long chestnut-brown hair and like her brother, she had amber colored eyes that twinkled with warmth.

"I have been looking all over for you,” Chantal said. “I should have known you would be out here in the gardens. You were humming that melody of yours again.”

“It soothes me. It makes me feel closer… to someone.” She looked away, not wanting to meet Chantal’s gaze.

“I suspect it is the baby’s father. No? Perhaps one day you’ll be reunited with him.”

"I don’t think so.”

Chantal took her hand and gave it an affectionate squeeze. “You must have hope. Now give me a small smile.”

Arianna tried, but she knew she fell short. “I thought I would take a stroll. Do you want to join me?” She rubbed her side feeling the baby kick her beneath the ribs.

“Oui, let’s walk. How are you feeling? If you don’t mind me saying, you look a bit peaked.”

“I’ve been a little uncomfortable. I don’t think the baby liked what I ate for breakfast. I have had an upset stomach ever since.” Arianna cringed as a sharp pain sliced through her. "That was a wallop of a kick little one.” She took a deep breath.

"Dear Arianna, how long have you had these little pains?” Chantal’s brows knitted together.

"All afternoon and they seem to be getting stronger."

Chantal chuckled. "You don't have a sour stomach. You're going to have the baby. Come, we must get you back inside."

Chantal had been right. Arianna's water broke a few hours later, the labor hitting her hard. After fourteen hours, Arianna feared she wouldn’t be strong enough to endure the final stages.

“She’s feverish.” She heard Chantal say as she dabbed her forehead with a cool rag.

Arianna drifted in and out of consciousness, caught between this world and a world she once lived in. She saw flashes of her life. They were like memories from a dream long forgotten. She went back to when she was a child with her mother and father teaching her to play the piano. Then she was with friends, Megan and Gregory… Then the fortuneteller at
Blue Run
, only the house looked ravished by a disaster. The fortuneteller told her she would go back in time. Her words came clearly to her,
"Trust the Scotsman. Trust him, for he will protect you. He may feel mistrust for you because of the other woman's black heart, but in time he will see you for whom you really are. He will love you. It will be his child you will bear.”
The cryptic message had confused her before, but now she understood.

She heard the song she played so many times in her life. The sweet melody pacified her for a moment. Now she understood why she had always loved it. Why she had always known the song. It was a part of Keldon’s life and hers, a bridge to bring them together and reunite their souls.

Then she remembered how she came to be here, in this
time
. She relived the rafter hurdling toward her. “I’m going to die.” She heard someone scream or was it her own screams she heard? The terror she felt wouldn’t leave and as Arianna saw the bright luminous threshold of death, the new life inside her made an entrance to the living.

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

Vincent and Bernadette celebrated their wedding on a beautiful day in May. Keldon couldn’t be happier for his friends. In honor of their union, Keldon had the reception at
Willow Bend
, but he didn’t have it in him to stay and enjoy the festivities. He smiled and chatted as he made his way to the front door. He needed to take a walk, clear his mind.

Bernadette leaned near Vincent to whisper in his ear. “Keldon needs you. Go talk to him.”

“Are you sure?”

“Oui. You go to him,” she said as she planted a kiss on his cheek.

“You are a treasure, my little bear.” He returned her caress. “I will not be long.”

Vincent found Keldon sitting at the foot of the willow just staring out toward the horizon. It reminded Vincent of the times he would find Arianna in the same spot. They were so well suited for one another. It was a shame they didn’t see it themselves.

Keldon had heard Vincent’s approach and looked up at him with a whisper of a smile before turning away. "Ye know how each part of the ship works together to make her sail? The wheel keeps her direction true. The ropes are there to secure her riggin’, and the anchor to bring her to rest. Simple things really, but she would float adrift goin’ nowhere without these things.”

They stood there silently beside each other as the sun set below the horizon. The rich colors of orange and yellow were both bright and beautiful against the blue of the sky.

The next time Keldon spoke, it was so soft that Vincent struggled to hear him.

"I miss her. I'm like a ship without the wind to carry me.” Keldon met his gaze.

His friend’s eyes were vacant and spent by grief, making Vincent feel guilty. He had the decency to look away.

"I doonae know why I hadnae seen it sooner,” Keldon said to him. “Arianna would never have left without tellin’ someone where she was bound. I thought it would have been Maeve, but it wasnae. But who? It had to be someone close to her. Someone she would trust. I ask ye now as a friend, do ye know where she is?"

Before Vincent would divulge that information, he had to know if he was doing the right thing. "Will you accept the child she carries?"

"If she will take me back, I will claim the bairn as mine, as I should have done in the beginnin’."

Vincent sighed. He was breaking his promise to Arianna, but in his heart he knew it was for the best. "She's staying with Chantal and Gerard."

****

Vincent and Bernadette left their wedding reception long before the guests were ready to call it a night. Miraculously, they were able to sneak out without anyone noticing them and headed back to the house they had created together.

Vincent couldn’t explain why, but he actually felt a little nervous. Except for the few innocent caresses they had shared together, he hadn’t been intimate with Bernadette. He wanted everything to be perfect. Through the long months, he had wooed her with flowers, courted her diligently and now they were finally married.

He opened the door to their home and he carried her over the threshold. He slowly put her down, letting her body cling to his. She put her hands around his neck and innocently looked up at him.

He could feel the power of her gaze, filling him with desire. To him, she was the moon, the stars and all things that made the universe whole. She was his very essence that would sustain him through life.

“This day is the happiest day of my life. I am married to a daring, handsome man.”

Vincent smiled and leaned down touching his lips to hers. Then he deepened the kiss, tasting, savoring every moment. He lifted her into his arms once more and brought her to their room. He gently put her down, so that he could light the lamp on the table. He turned to look at her and saw her wring her hands then smooth her dress. She was nervous too.

“Do you want me to leave while you undress or I could…?”

“Stay,” she finished for him. “I want you to stay.”

He approached her. “May I help you with the your gown?” She nodded and turned to give him her back. Vincent’s hands trembled and he closed and opened them again to loosen them up. He fumbled with the first button, but as each button revealed what lay beneath, he gained confidence. With the twelfth and final stay, he removed the beautiful satin gown, letting it fall to the floor. Bernadette then removed the corset and the other garments before she turned to face her husband, but she didn’t look at him.

He tilted her chin so her gaze met his. “Don’t be scared.”

“I don’t want to disappoint you.”

“You doubt my love?”

She took a ragged breath, not realizing she held it. “You know I have been with others.”

Vincent placed his finger on her lips. “Shush, it does not matter to me.” He didn’t want her to feel guilty, for all that was behind her now.

She removed his hand and shook her head. “It does matter.”

She was trembling and he wanted to put her at ease. He had meant what he said. She was with him now and that was all that was important. He tried to pull her toward him, but she placed her hand firmly on his chest.

“I must say this.” He stopped and waited for her to continue. “I let men use me before because I felt I had no other choice. I never gave myself to someone I loved. I’m not sure I know how.”

“Ah, my Little Bear, come here.” He opened his arms to her and this time she didn’t hesitate. He held her close. “I love you, Bernadette.” He kissed the top of her head. He would take everything slow with her, for he wanted her to know that not all men used women. She was like a newly found rose bud after the winter frost and he wanted to nurture her. He wanted her to blossom on her own accord.

His mouth found hers again, tasting her. His hand roamed freely over the span of her back. She moved her hands to undo his shirt, but she was shaking so badly she was unable to manage one button. He placed a restraining hand on hers. “If you are not ready, I will wait.” He affectionately squeezed her hand. “I do not want you to fear me.”

She placed her hands on either side of his face. “You are a kind man and I love you with all my heart. I trust you and I do not want to wait. I want to know how it feels to lie down with a man who loves me so much he’s willing to deny himself.”