“He’s coming?” Nate asked.
Blake shrugged. “You need a first mate.”
“Don’t you?”
“I’ll pick one from the crew. Besides, I have Alicia.”
Nate arched a brow. “I don’t plan on kissing Vincent.”
“You know what I mean. If you’re captain, you need someone who can help you man the ship. Someone you trust. Who better than Vincent?”
From below came Vincent’s off-key singing. It was bad enough to peel the paint from the hull.
“You’re sending me with that?” Nate asked, pointing his thumb over his shoulder.
The weight eased off Blake’s chest. “Can’t think of anyone who deserves it more, my friend.”
Nate shook his head, chuckled. “Thanks, I think.” He took a deep breath. “I appreciate everything you’ve done.”
“You’re sure about this?” he asked, peering into Nate’s green eyes. He saw the answer there before Nate confirmed it with words.
“I’ve never owned anything of my own, Blake. I can’t pass this up.”
It was more of Nate’s past than Blake had ever known.
“He’ll give you a fine ship.”
“I know.” His smile was wide. “I hope it’s that green sloop he’s got sitting there. I’ve had my eye on her.”
“You found a woman already?” Vincent asked, setting his bag next to Nate’s. “I’ve only been gone five minutes.”
“You sure you don’t want to keep him?”
Blake rocked back onto his heels. “Nope.”
“Damn,” Nate muttered and shoved Vincent. “If you give me too much grief, I’ll feed you to the sharks.”
He’d miss this, Blake knew. Their banter and arguing. They’d been a close group these last years, and Blake knew it would take a long time until he stopped missing them, if he ever did.
“Don’t you have some rum we can drink before we go?”
“I do. It’s in my cabin.”
“Let’s drink it down there, it’s too bloody hot up here,” Vincent said and began making his way to the hatch.
“That’s because of all your hot air,” Nate laughed, following the dwarf.
Blake held back a moment, watched them go. He placed a hand to his head and another over his heart.
He wasn’t sure which one hurt more.
It had taken some doing, but Alicia managed to get herself out of the house without anyone noticing. She’d tiptoed past Aidan’s room, where she could hear Sam trying to reason with him. Judging by the lack of response on Aidan’s part, he wasn’t in a reasoning mood. In the parlor she found Joe slumped in a chair, hands resting on his belly. His snoring was loud enough to mask the sound of her slipping out the back door.
The sun was hot and hit her face with nearly as much heat as the forge in the blacksmith shop. She closed her eyes, pictured the shop and its assortment of tools, the smell of smoke and heated steel. Knowing she was going back to something she loved helped. She wasn’t only leaving Sam; she was going home. With Blake.
Still, knowing she had Blake didn’t make the thought of leaving Sam any less heart wrenching. Who knew when they’d be able to see each other next? It wasn’t as though she’d simply be on the other side of the island.
The blasted tears snuck up on her again and she swiped at them impatiently. Forcing aside those kinds of thoughts because they weren’t accomplishing anything but making her weepy, Alicia looked around at Sam’s flowers, dropped to her knees, and began yanking out weeds. Moving along the row as she worked, Alicia tore weeds away, glad for something that kept her hands busy. Sitting around for so long was becoming tedious, and knowing she had more of it on the voyage back to Port Royal made her relish the simple task even more.
Working absently while her thoughts spun from Sam to Blake to the memorial she’d have for her parents once she returned, it surprised her when she looked up and realized she’d nearly completed one side of the path. Though her knees were getting sore and sweat was running down the back of her neck, Alicia felt useful for the first time in days.
She wasn’t meant to sit all day. Proper or not, Alicia needed to work, needed to be productive in a way that entertaining and socializing could never be.
“Alicia?” she heard Sam call through the open windows of the house. She smiled when she heard a smack and an interrupted snore. “Joe! Where’s Alicia? She’s not upstairs.”
“I’m outside, Sam,” Alicia called. She came to her feet, wiping her hands on her skirt. She raised her head, was hit with a fierce wave of dizziness, and stumbled. Little white spots blurred her vision. Holding a hand in front of her, she groped for something to grab on to.
“Alicia!” Sam yelled and caught her just as she lost her balance. “Joe!” she screamed and heavy footsteps soon raced outside.
“I’m all right,” Alicia said, her vision already clearing. “I simply got up too fast.”
“Take her inside, Joe. I’ll get her something to drink.”
Before Alicia could argue that she could walk under her own command, Joe had her in his arms and she was being carried into the parlor. He set her down as if she were made of china, and when he stepped back, it was he who looked ready to swoon. His eyes were large in his face and his normally ruddy cheeks were stark.
“Joe, I’m fine. It was only the heat.”
“And you should know better,” Sam said, carrying in a tray with three tall glasses of sweet tea on them. She gave one to both Alicia and Joe and took the third for herself. Then she sat next to Alicia. “Drink,” she commanded and didn’t take any herself until Alicia did as she was told.
Sam had added a thick wedge of lemon to the tea. Alicia consumed half the glass at once. She sighed, closed her eyes, and felt her body cool.
“Alicia, you need to be more careful.”
“I was only outside, Sam. I didn’t venture so far away that I was in danger.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about, although you shouldn’t have even done that without Joe going with you. I meant the baby, Alicia.”
Joe choked on his tea. He coughed and sputtered, pounded a thick hand to his chest, while he wheezed in a handful of breaths. Sam grabbed his glass before he spilled it. He wiped his watery eyes and looked at Sam.
“What baby?”
Sam patted Joe’s cheek. “Alicia’s having a baby.”
Alicia didn’t think Joe could lose any more color but she was wrong. “Sweet mother of God,” he muttered.
“Don’t tell Blake, Joe. I haven’t had a chance myself with all the excitement this morning.”
Joe swallowed hard, dropped his gaze to his boots. When he lifted it again, Alicia was surprised to see he’d not only gotten his color back, he’d gained some. His face looked red as the flowers she’d had been weeding.
“Blake didn’t … did he …” He rubbed his hands over his face.
Sam took pity on him. “No, Joe. Blake wouldn’t do that.”
Alicia realized what he’d been asking and reached over, taking Joe’s hand in hers. “Blake didn’t force me. And we are getting married.”
His head reared. “As ye bloody should, too, or I’d have ’is ’ide.”
“Have whose hide?” Aidan asked from the doorway.
“It’s nothing,” Sam said, dismissing it with a wave of her hand.
Because Sam was looking at Joe, she didn’t see the anger that crossed Aidan’s face, but Alicia did. And because she knew the boy was still stinging from being forbidden onto Nate’s ship, Alicia couldn’t bring herself to lie to him. He already felt as though he were being treated like a child—not that Alicia disagreed with Sam’s decision not to let him aboard Nate’s ship—and she didn’t want to add to his hurt. She knew from Sam that he’d been whipped and beaten as a boy on the plantation they’d escaped from. He’d been Sam and Luke’s family ever since and now he was hers, too. If Joe knew, she didn’t see any reason not to include Aidan.
“Aidan,” she called as he turned to leave.
He stopped, turned, crossed his arms over his chest.
Because she could remember doing the same thing when Anna didn’t want her to go to the blacksmith shop, Alicia smiled.
“Aidan, you can’t tell anyone, even Luke.” Alicia turned to Sam. “Did you tell Luke?”
Sam flushed and Alicia sighed. Good Lord, everybody was going to know before Blake.
“All right,” Alicia started again. “Don’t tell Nate or Vincent or Blake, not until I have a chance to say something to him.” She inhaled deeply. “Since you’re now my brother, I guess it means you’re going to be an uncle.”
His forehead furrowed, then he dropped his arms. “You’re having a baby?” he asked.
“I am, yes.”
It surprised Alicia when Aidan’s first reaction was to go to Sam. His expression lost all anger. If she wasn’t mistaken, what she saw there was sympathy. He put an arm around Sam, who leaned her head on his shoulder. Alicia saw then that no matter what else was between Sam and Aidan, love was first.
“Come, me boy, let’s go see if Luke’s back to the harbor yet. Maybe he needs our help.”
“Uh, congratulations,” he said, then he sped off after Joe.
“You didn’t have to tell him,” Sam said.
“Sam, I know he’s like a son to you, but he’s growing into a man and all he wants is to be treated as one.”
Sam sighed. “I know. And I know the time is coming to let him go, but I’m not ready. I love him so much.”
“And he loves you. I didn’t realize how much until just now. He was sad for you.”
“He’s a wonderful boy. I know I didn’t raise him. I’ve only had him since he was eight, but I’m so proud of him.” Her eyes misted. “As much as he calls me Sam, part of me wishes he’d call me mother.”
Alicia’s heart tugged, but she had no words for her sister. She couldn’t promise it would happen one day; she could only hope and pray that it did. Sam went to get the pitcher of tea to refill their glasses. Judging by the length of time it took her to come back and the moisture that clung to her eyelashes, Alicia knew she’d needed a few moments to herself.
“Sam, you’ll come back when it’s time for the baby, won’t you?”
Sam passed her the glass, sat slowly. “You’ll go back to Port Royal for the birth?”
“That’s where I live, Sam, where else would I be?”
“You’ve talked to Blake, then. He’s changed his mind?”
Alicia’s stomach knotted, and it had nothing to do with the baby.
“About what?”
Sam bit her lip, looked at the floor.
“Sam?”
“I went to the
Blue Rose
and talked to Blake before the race. I asked him if there was any chance you’d live here.”
Alicia leaned forward.
“And?”
Sam took a heavy breath, raised her gaze. “And he said he couldn’t be a privateer on land, that he’d come back when he could, but his life was at sea.”
A ringing began in Alicia’s ears. He couldn’t mean to resume privateering. What about the blacksmith shop?
“He knows how much the shop means to me, I’ve told him. Besides, how can he think I’d live at sea knowing I not only almost died there once but the motion makes me ill?”
“Alicia, you need to tell him about the baby, about what you want and expect. You have to do that before you leave St. Kitts.”
Her heart pounding, her hands still trembling too much to dare hold the glass, Alicia nodded. She agreed with Sam, the problem wasn’t that. The problem was she was deathly afraid she already knew what it was that Blake wanted.
And it wasn’t what she wanted.
In the end she simply didn’t have a chance to tell him. Alicia and Sam made it to the beach—armed with small pistols underneath their gowns—just as the boat carrying Blake, Nate, and Vincent was coming ashore.
The men jumped into the calf-deep water. Blake passed the rope to Nate and trudged onto the sand.
“What are you doing here? Where’s Joe or Luke?” he asked, his gaze hunting the length of the beach.
“Luke and Joe are getting Nate’s ship ready. We’re fine, Blake. Sam and I are armed.”
Blake’s eyes roamed her body, made her belly quiver. When his gaze met hers, she saw the spark of desire in his dark eyes and smiled. He stepped closer, brushed his thumb over her bottom lip.
“I’m curious to know where you’ve hidden your weapon.”
“I’ll show you later,” she promised, earning her a low growl before he dipped his head and stole her breath with a kiss.
“Can I have one of those as well?” Nate asked.
“No,” Blake answered.
Nate winked at Alicia. “He’s scared if you kiss me, you’ll realize what you’re missing.”
“Maybe he’s more afraid of you passing along some disease,” Vincent countered.
Blake threw his head back and laughed. Sam and Alicia giggled.
“I wasn’t the one to have a disease. Wasn’t that you?” Nate asked Vincent.
Vincent gaped. “That was Henry!” Vincent turned a flushed face to the women. “Henry was on our ship a few years ago. He had these sores—”
“Samantha,” Nate interrupted, shaking his head at Vincent. “Has Luke picked a ship?”
“Yes.” Using her hand to shade her eyes, she looked toward the harbor. “And it looks as though he’s back. He must have found you a crew.”
“Then I’d better get over there,” Nate said.
Vincent turned to the women. “It wasn’t me; it was Henry. I don’t have any—”
“Go!” Blake ordered.
The dwarf looked torn between wanting to follow Nate, whose long strides had already taken him a fair distance down the white sand, and wanting to stay to defend his honor.
“I’ll go with you,” Sam volunteered, giving Alicia a pointed look. “I’m anxious to see who Luke’s found to go with you.”
Vincent nodded. Alicia grabbed Blake’s hand before he could follow them.
“Blake.”
He turned to her, gave her his full attention. He had the most beautiful eyes. She hoped their child had his dark eyes.
“What is it?”
She swallowed. “We need to talk.”
“All right,” he said slowly, watching her more closely now.
“When are you planning on leaving?” she asked.
“I thought we’d leave tomorrow night. That way it lets Nate leave tonight, and when we sail out tomorrow, it won’t seem as strange as if both ships left at the same time. Besides, I want to stay until sundown tomorrow, just to make sure we settle this extortion issue. I don’t want any other surprises following us.”
“And where will we be going?” she asked. Before she said what she wanted, she needed to know what his plans were.