Lily (Song of the River) (29 page)

“Yes, we will.” Mr. Thornton folded his newspaper and reached for his coffee.

“I could—”

“We’ll miss you, too.” Lily interrupted Camellia’s statement, kicking her under the table in warning.

Camellia sent her an injured look but subsided.

The rest of their breakfast was uneventful. David joined them, as did Jonah. When they had eaten their fill, Mr. and Mrs. Thornton called for their carriage.

David rode up front next to the driver. Lily and her sisters settled on the comfortable seats inside the carriage and waved at their hosts until they could no longer see them.

“Where is Tamar?” Jasmine asked.

“She went ahead with our trunks and some food the Thorntons sent.” Lily’s explanation eased the concern on her youngest sister’s face.

Camellia slumped back against the velvet carriage cushions. “I wish we didn’t always have to leave.”

“Would you rather stay here without me and Jasmine?”

Camellia shrugged. “You could stay, too. Mrs. Thornton said she wished we would.”

“She is a dear friend, Camellia, but she is not our mother. We cannot impose on her.”

Lily tried to keep the hurt out of her voice. She knew the desire to accept Mrs. Thornton’s unconditional love, to revel in the warmth of their home. But it wasn’t the
Hattie Belle.
It wasn’t home.

Blake’s accusation came to the forefront of her memory, and she lifted her chin. She wasn’t determined to control everything and everyone. She just wanted her sisters to be happy.

When they arrived at the boat, pleasure filled Lily’s heart at the sight of white decks, black smokestacks, and the red-edged paddle wheel. The mighty river rushed beneath their feet as they crossed the gangplank.

Lily wondered where Blake was. She dreaded seeing him, but there was no way around it. They were partners and likely to remain together for quite some time.

David, Jasmine, and Camellia went inside, but Lily lingered on the first-floor deck. She wanted to see the repairs, check for herself that everything was shipshape.

Smiling a little at the pun, she heard footsteps on the deck above her and looked up to see Tamar and Jensen strolling together. Deep in conversation, they didn’t see her. Lily was about to greet them when Jensen leaned forward and brushed a finger across Tamar’s cheek. Was a romance blooming between them? Was Tamar falling in love? How wonderful that would be. The two of them could be married on the
Hattie Belle.
They would have a pastor come aboard and perform the ceremony. She couldn’t think of a more beautiful setting.

Smiling, Lily crept away to give them privacy. She was about to search for Blake when she heard his voice coming from the boiler room. Following the sound, she discovered him talking to someone, probably a new crewman. He wore a red shirt reminiscent of the clothing captains used to wear in the wild days when flatboats and canoes were the only vessels on the Mississippi. Her father had often talked of the red shirts, the larger-than-life characters who carved out livelihoods before steam-powered engines made them obsolete.

Pushing away the memory, she bent her lips into a welcoming smile. “Good morning, gentlemen.”

Blake jerked as though he’d been shot and turned toward her. Circles darkened the skin under his blue eyes. “Hello, Lily.” He looked tired, and she got an impression of vulnerability.

A gasp from the other man drew her attention. She looked toward the stranger and noticed his face had gone pale. Was he ill? She took a step forward, ready to catch him if he fell over. “Are you all right, sir?”

His mouth opened and closed twice before he managed to make a sound. “Water Lily? Is it really you?”

She gasped and grew faint. “Father?” The two syllables spun out from her mouth for what seemed forever. To stop herself from fainting, Lily took several deep breaths. Then she balled her hands into fists and turned back to Blake. “What have you done?”

Blake looked from Lily to the man he’d recently hired. “What’s going on here?”

“I can’t believe you did this,” Lily hissed. Her brown eyes blazed.

“Calm down, Water Lily.” The captain held up both hands. “You don’t have to fly off the handle. We’ll figure everything out.”

“Don’t you call me that.” She pointed a finger at Captain Henrick. “You may be my father, but you don’t have any right to call me that.”

Realizing he needed to defuse the situation before something went terribly wrong, Blake stepped between Lily and the older man. “I don’t understand. I thought your father was dead. Didn’t you tell me you and your sisters were orphans?”

His words seemed to hit her like a bucket of cold water. The fiery sparks in her eyes dimmed. Her cheeks reddened. She seemed unable to look at him. Her gaze focused on the floor. “It doesn’t matter what you thought. I won’t allow him to remain on board for another minute.”

“Oh no, you don’t. We have an agreement. I spent a great deal of time and energy finding someone we can depend on. Captain Henrick is the best of the lot. No matter what you say, he’s taking us to Natchez.”

Lily shook her head. Her face hardened into a look of belligerence. Blake wondered if he’d ever met a more stubborn woman.

“I can leave.” The quiet voice reminded Blake that he and Lily were not alone.

“You stay put.” He didn’t bother to look at the man. The real problem was the persnickety, demanding, unforgiving woman in front of him. “I don’t care if he’s the first cousin of President Buchanan, he’s staying on this boat.”

When she looked back up at him, fire had returned to her brown eyes. “This is the man who deserted me and my sisters. We couldn’t depend on him then, and we can’t depend on him now. If you think we had a bad captain before, I can’t wait to see your reaction when he jumps ship because a better offer has come along. And then we won’t see him for another decade.”

“I don’t want to cause trouble, Wa—Lily.” The captain pushed his way past Blake’s shoulder. “I didn’t realize this was your boat when I agreed to take over. I can understand your reluctance to have me here.”

Lily crossed her arms over her chest and raised her chin.

Before she could reiterate her position, Blake needed to point out a few things to his business partner. “If he leaves now, we won’t have anyone to take us to Natchez. Our paying customers are going to demand a refund so they can purchase tickets on a boat that will leave the dock as advertised. Be reasonable, Lily. There’s not much chance he’s going to desert us between here and Natchez.”

“Camellia and Jasmine think he’s dead.” She talked past her father as if he wasn’t there.

It was the one argument he could understand—the desire to protect her siblings. But there might be a way around this problem. “We don’t have to tell them the truth.”

He could see the family resemblance in their identical stares of disbelief, even though Lily’s features were much softer than those of her father.

“Don’t you think someone will notice that we have the same last name?” The question came from Lily. “Or do you think no one will ask who the captain is?”

Blake snapped his fingers. The solution was easy. “We’ll introduce him by the name he gave me, Captain Henrick. No one will ever connect the two of you.”

A look of yearning filled the older man’s eyes as he listened to their conversation.

Lily’s chin lifted another notch as she considered Blake’s suggestion. She turned to her father. “Do you promise you’ll not tell Camellia and Jasmine who you really are?”

Captain Henrick nodded, his expression grave. “I promise.”

Uncrossing her arms, Lily sighed. “I suppose you can stay then, but only until we find a suitable replacement.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much.” Captain Henrick brushed his eye with one hand. “I promise you won’t regret it. I’ll make sure you and your sisters get to Natchez safely.”

Lily sniffed and turned on her heel. “If I find you’ve broken your promise, I’ll throw you overboard myself.”

Her threat seemed to linger in the small room. Blake started to apologize for Lily’s acerbic words, but then he saw the wide smile on her father’s face. Was the man actually proud of his daughter’s reaction? He could not imagine how his own father would have reacted in a similar situation. Given a choice, he’d take Lily’s father any day.

J
ensen surprised them all by bringing a milk cow to the boat right before they cast off. Their new captain and crew built a small corral, filling it with hay and a bucket of water for the placid animal. His idea was to offer fresh milk to their first-class passengers since one of the most common complaints about riverboat travel was the lack of fresh dairy.

Tamar thought the idea inspired, but someone had to milk the cow, and they had to use the milk and cream before it curdled. So before the sun was up the next day, she searched out two buckets, one of which she scrubbed thoroughly. Fog swirled around her feet as she headed toward the corral with a bucket in each hand—one to sit on, the clean one to hold milk.

Others were moving about the boat already, stoking the boilers and releasing the vessel from its overnight mooring. The girls would be up soon, too, and she wanted to be back in the galley making biscuits and frying sausage for the passengers in the dining room.

“Good morning.11”

The unexpected voice behind her startled Tamar. Squinting, she looked back over her shoulder. Lily stood at the foot of the staircase. “Good morning to you, too.”

“You already look busy.”

“No sense wasting time.” Years of rising early and working hard in Les Fleurs plantation had made it second nature to her. “I’m going to milk our new cow.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to do that?”

A laugh escaped Tamar. “I doubt you know how.”

“You’re right.” Lily sighed. “But I’m sure I could learn.”

“Why don’t you watch me? Then you can try after a bit.” Tamar held back the wire fence for both of them to enter the corral. “The cow will have to be milked every day, or she’ll stop giving milk.”

Lily’s nose wrinkled. “The smell out here is rather strong. I’m not sure it was a good idea to bring that animal on board.”

“She’ll be nice to have for milk.”

“That’s true. Especially now that we’ve taken on passengers. Not many of the steamboats offer fresh milk for drinking and cream to put on biscuits and desserts.”

Tamar sat on the upturned bucket. She placed the clean bucket under the cow’s udder. “You have to get a good hold up here and then you press and pull as you move your hand down.” She demonstrated the proper movements, gratified at the sound of milk hitting the bottom of the bucket.

After a few minutes, she traded places with Lily, laughing at the face her charge was making. It took several tries, but finally Lily managed to get some milk into the bucket. She turned and grinned, her pride evident.

The cow continued munching on hay, unconcerned with the efforts of the two women.

Tamar pulled a cloth from the pocket of her skirt and reached for the bucket as the liquid nearly topped its edges. “That’s enough for one day. You did very well.”

Lily stood up and reached for the second bucket. “Thanks. You’re a good teacher.”

Tamar held out one arm to balance herself as they walked toward the galley. The riverbank sliding past was green and beautiful. Who would have thought she’d like living on a boat?

Lily’s voice drew her away from her daydreaming. “Tamar, can I ask you a personal question?”

“Of course.”

“Are you falling in love with Jensen?”

The question was like one of those hidden snags in the river— appearing without warning and threatening the peace of everyone around. Her thoughts ran in circles. Why did the galley seem so far away? She picked up her pace. “Why do you ask?”

Lily kept pace with her. “I saw the two of you talking yesterday when we got to the boat. You seemed … taken.”

“Don’t go getting any silly ideas. Mr. Jensen is a good man.”

“Yes, he is. I think the two of you would make a wonderful couple.”

Tamar wished Lily would drop this subject. She didn’t want to examine her feelings for Jensen. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Lily.”