Paradise & More (Torres Family Saga) (54 page)
Read Paradise & More (Torres Family Saga) Online
Authors: Shirl Henke
“And keep adding to the population,” Cristobal said with the old twinkle in his pale blue eyes, as he looked from Aaron to the small bundle in Magdalena's arms.
“As soon as young Benjamin is old enough to withstand the rigors of an ocean voyage, we will visit his great uncle in France. Then we will return to our home on Española,” Magdalena said to the admiral. “Our ships may pass each other in crossing, but one day we will all be reunited here.”
“And by then, who knows how many more children my wife and I may have contributed to the population?” Aaron said with a chuckle, delighting in the pretty blush on her cheeks.
Cristobal, too, noted how motherhood and their new life on Española had caused Magdalena to bloom. If only more such settlers could be found and brought from Castile. “I wish you both, and young Benjamin here, Godspeed on your journey to France and back.” He turned to his brother and said, “As
adelantado
, you bear a heavy burden relocating the whole colony to the south. I entrust you with it, having every faith in your abilities.”
Bartolome clasped his brother in his arms, then said, “Guacanagari, Aaron, and their people will help us. By the time you return, the new colony will be a city for you to be proud of. Commend me to Beatriz and the children.”
“I, too, wish you a swift and safe journey across the waters where your family awaits you,” Guacanagari said in carefully rehearsed Castilian. Colon embraced his faithful young ally.
“Tell that young rascal Diego that I long to see him once more, when he tires of court life and would come see the wonders of the lands his father has discovered,” Aaron added.
“We all of us await your return, Cristobal,” Magdalena said as she handed young Benjamin to his father and embraced the tall old man.
His piercing blue eyes agleam with tears, the Admiral of the Ocean Sea gave them each one final farewell embrace, then stepped into the ship's boat to be rowed to the
Nina
. On the tide, he would set sail for Seville, and another chapter in history.
To learn the fate of Navarro and the future of the House of Torres, read RETURN TO PARADISE, available as an e-book now!
About the Author
SHIRL HENKE lives in St. Louis, where she enjoys gardening in her yard and greenhouse, cooking holiday dinners for her family and listening to jazz. In addition to helping brainstorm and research her books, her husband Jim is “lion tamer” for their two wild young tomcats, Pewter and Sooty, geniuses at pillage and destruction.
Shirl has been a RITA finalist twice, and has won three Career Achievement Awards, an Industry Award and three Reviewer’s Choice Awards from
Romantic Times
“I wrote my first twenty-two novels in longhand with a ballpoint pen—it’s hard to get good quills these days,” she says. Dragged into the twenty-first century by her son Matt, a telecommunication specialist, Shirl now uses two of those “devil machines.” Another troglodyte bites the dust. Please visit her at
www.shirlhenke.com
.