“Better than you, I’d wager.”
He smiled, extended a hand. With a skip of her heart, she pressed her palm into his and allowed him to help her to her feet. Warmth spilled through her soul, brought home the fact that he was there and that they were both alive.
“Alicia,” he said in a soft voice. He curved his other hand around her cheek. The slight tremble was unmistakable. “You’re sure you’re not hurt?”
She couldn’t stop her chin from quivering. It took all her strength not to lean into him. God, she’d been so afraid. She swallowed the lump in her throat.
“I’m fine, truly.”
He nodded, dropped his hands, and stepped back.
“Oh, my God, Luke!” Sam screamed, drawing everyone’s attention. “Where’s Aidan? Lewis said—”
“He’s fine, luv. He was shot in the shoulder, but Joe’s taken him to the doctor.”
“Shot?” Sam said, her voice thick with tears. “I want to see him.”
“I expect they’ll be here before long.”
“What happened on the ship?” Alicia asked.
“Lewis beat us there and he wasn’t happy to learn we hadn’t brought gold.”
“Lewis did this to you?” Sam said, noting both Blake and Luke’s wounds.
“Please, luv, don’t insult me, I’m hurting enough. He had these two”—Luke pointed to the two men on the ground—“and two more.” His gaze darkened. “Aidan should never have been hurt.”
“It’s not your fault,” Sam said.
“No,” Alicia said, wrapping her arms around herself, “it’s mine.”
“Don’t,” Sam said, coming to her feet. “You had no way of knowing Lewis had followed you, or what he was planning. You came looking for me and you found me, that’s all that matters,” Sam said, taking Alicia into her arms.
While Alicia wasn’t looking, Blake snuck outside and leaned against the house. He needed the support. It had been dire on the ship, and all had looked lost when he’d woken on deck. He’d looked to Luke, thought for sure the man was unconscious, but then the former pirate had slowly opened an eye. Blake had known then that Luke was pretending to be hurt worse than he was and Blake had opted to do the same.
It had been agonizing moments before Luke had made eye contact with Joe. And somehow they had silently communicated the attack, Joe started it, screaming and cursing, saying they’d killed Aidan. Both captors had charged Joe, and that’s when Blake and Luke had jumped and taken up the fight. It had taken all three of them. Joe, too, had his fair share of wounds, but they’d succeeded in killing Lewis’s men before they could inflict further harm.
With Joe taking Aidan, Blake had been on Luke’s heels running to the house. He’d envisioned all sorts of awful things as he’d run until his lungs burned, and all had entailed Alicia ending up in a pool of blood.
Now, with the scent of fear and blood still hanging over him, Blake took a shuddering breath. He drew deep gulps of air until he felt his heart beating normally again. Through the open door, he heard Alicia’s voice and let it wrap around him. She was alive and safe.
“Where’s Blake?” he heard Luke ask.
“I’m right here,” he wanted to say. He wanted to walk into the room, take Alicia into his arms, and never let go. It killed him that he couldn’t. But if he did, then what? It would only prolong the pain of losing her. They’d said their good-byes and nothing had changed. Alicia didn’t want a life at sea and he did. The truth of that sliced through him every time he thought about it, but Alicia was right. Staying on the ship wouldn’t be fair to her, and staying on land wouldn’t make Blake happy. Best to walk away.
No matter how much it hurt.
“He’s gone,” Alicia answered, and in her voice Blake heard the same despair that was tearing him apart.
“What do we do with these men?” Samantha asked.
There was a moment of silence, then Luke’s voice. “When Joe comes back, we’ll take them out to sea. If Lewis left letters about Samantha, then the last thing we need is to have him die on the same island she lives on. Despite Nate taking over as Steele, it might raise too many questions and suspicions.”
In the darkness beside the house, Blake nodded at Luke’s logic. Then, knowing Alicia was in good hands, Blake cast a last look toward the house and walked away.
Alicia stepped on deck and the full force of the sun and its reflection off the sea shot into her eyes. She squinted, dropped her gaze, and made her way to the bow. Though she heard Sam and Luke talking behind her and caught sight of Joe and Aidan sitting in the thin shadow of the lifeboat, deep into a game of chess, she ignored them all. She wanted only to lose her troubled thoughts in the undulations of the water.
But she should have known her sister better. The minute Alicia was settled against the base of the bowsprit with her mug of ginger tea, she heard the tapping of Sam’s shoes moving toward her.
“Didn’t take you very long,” Alicia said and forced a smile.
Sam’s lips twitched and she settled against the gunwale. “I’ve been waiting for days to talk to you, but since you stayed below, I assumed you needed some time alone.”
Alicia nodded, took a long sip of her tea while she struggled to rein in her emotions. She’d wept enough since leaving St. Kitts three days ago, and though her mind knew that she needed to regain control of her life and stop moping, it was taking her heart much longer to catch up.
“I did.” She took a deep breath of moist, salty air. After days below smelling nothing but wet wood, the freshness of the open sea had never been so welcome.
“And now?” her sister asked, her eyes filled with worry.
“I’m all right, Sam.” She pressed a hand to her stomach. “I have to be, don’t I?”
Her heart squeezed painfully, and Alicia turned to the water. Losing Blake was excruciating, but how would it be to look upon the face of his child and see its father there every day, knowing he was gone to her? She swallowed the sob that caught in her throat and hoped the moisture in her eyes could be attributed to the glare of the sun.
“It won’t be easy.”
“I’ll be fine, Sam.
We’ll
be fine. I have a home and a means of earning money. I’ll hardly be destitute.”
Sam frowned. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
“I know, but it’s too late for that, isn’t it? I’m unmarried and with child. I don’t hold any illusions as to the reception I will receive once it becomes apparent I’m pregnant.”
And that was the truth. She’d thought of nothing else for days. But it wasn’t herself she feared for, it was the child. The child who would be ridiculed, would be treated as less than he was because he didn’t have a father.
“It’s going to be awful. I really think you should have stayed with us. We could have lied and told everyone you were widowed. Nobody in St. Kitts would be any wiser.”
“If I wanted to leave Port Royal, I’d have left with Blake. I’m not ashamed of this child and I will protect it with everything that’s in me.”
Sam leaned forward, took Alicia’s free hand. “I’m not saying you should be ashamed. The baby is a gift, a most precious one. I know it was conceived out of love, Alicia, and I want you to know I’ll do what I can to help. Whatever you need, you’ve only to ask.”
“Will you come back when it’s time? I know there’s nothing you can do to make it easier for me, but I don’t think I can face bringing this child into the world without you there. At least for the first little bit, knowing I have someone to support me will give me strength.”
Sam’s eyes filled, which of course made Alicia’s tear as well.
“Of course I will. We’ll get you settled in Port Royal, then I’ll come back for the birth. You don’t need me for strength—you have enough of that all your own. But you won’t be alone when it’s born.” She squeezed Alicia’s hand. “I promise you that.”
Alicia wiped a tear that was sliding its way down her cheek and clenched her teeth until she was sure she could talk. She set her cup down and held her sister’s embrace.
“Thanks, Sam. That’s all I needed to know.”
There was something to be said for coming home, Alicia thought. It was a balm to the spirit and she felt its healing the minute she caught sight of the blacksmith shop. With joy pushing through the curtain of loss she’d felt shrouded in, Alicia ran the last stretch until she reached the door. There she stopped, placed a hand to it, and swore she felt it breathe. Home.
The hammering that had been muffled through the thick door clanged around her ears when she threw it open. Familiar sounds and smells wrapped around Alicia until she felt the warmth of her tears on her cheeks. The coals of the forge glowed blood-red and the smoke from the fire curled up Alicia’s nose. With his back to her as he pounded on a sword, Charles continued working, unaware she’d returned.
With a squeal of delight, she charged toward him. He stopped, his arm frozen above his head, and turned. Seeing her, he flung the hammer down, opened his arms wide, and crushed her to him when she raced within them.
He spun her around, her feet clear off the ground. Then he set her down, stepped away so he could look at her. “Blimey, it’s good to see you,” he said through his grin, then tugged her back for another hug.
Alicia closed her eyes and squeezed him back. He smelled of smoke and steel, and Alicia knew that by the end of tomorrow she’d smell the same. She grinned at the thought.
“Oh,” Charles said, looking over Alicia’s shoulder. He stepped back. “I didn’t see you there.”
Alicia turned. Sam, Luke, Joe, and Aidan were all standing inside the door watching. Well, the adults were observing Charles, clearly wondering if they could entrust Alicia to him once they left. Aidan’s eyes were all about, jumping from the fire to the tools to the array of completed weapons that lay lined up on a table.
“Go have a look, Aidan. I’ll explain anything you want to know later.”
His smile was bright in the otherwise dim room and he made a direct line to the completed swords. He was healing quickly, and though his injured arm remained bound in a sling, the fingers of his other skimmed the intricate handles.
“Charles, this is my family.”
His eyes flashed to hers, went round as moons. “You actually found them?”
“It pains me, Charles, that you have so little faith in me,” she said, trying to look hurt but not able to wipe the grin off her face.
He scratched his head. “It seemed such a large undertaking and the chances of you actually finding them …”
“Would you like to meet them?”
His hand cupped her cheek, and his eyes danced with happiness. “I’d love to.”
Then, feeling like a little girl preening in a new dress, Alicia introduced them.
Alicia pushed the bucket aside, groaned. Using the sleeve of her nightgown, she wiped the sweat off her forehead, then curled onto the floor. The wood was cool beneath her heated cheek and she took a deep breath, then another, as her stomach began to unfist. She had no idea how long these bouts of morning sickness were going to plague her, but she prayed it wouldn’t be the whole nine months because it wasn’t fair to Charles to run the shop every morning by himself. But as it was, she was too wrung out to move.
She was beginning to doze when she heard three sharp taps on her front door.
“Not now,” Alicia muttered, throwing her arm over her eyes.
She’d recognized those knocks. Three crisp raps evenly spaced could only mean one person. Aunt Margaret. Moaning, Alicia sat up. Since they’d arrived in Port Royal toward the evening meal yesterday, she’d hoped her aunt wouldn’t have yet had time to hear of her return. Another three raps. Damn.
Alicia came to her feet and pressed a hand to her stomach when it threatened to revolt. Taking deep breaths helped ease the nausea. Alicia took her robe from the foot of the bed and slipped it on, then padded barefoot to the door.
Her aunt did not look happy to see her.
She swept past Alicia and marched into the kitchen.
“I hope you have an explanation for what you’ve done. You left without word, without a chaperone. I had to hear it from that man that works at the blacksmith shop.”
Alicia shut the door. “His name is Charles, and if he told you I’d left, then he also told you why.”
Her aunt’s mouth pinched. “Do not be obtuse, Alicia, it does not become you. You have a family here. You certainly did not need to go traipsing off by yourself to find perfect strangers. Do you know how that affected me? I had to make countless excuses for your absence.”
Alicia frowned. “Why didn’t you tell them the truth?”
“What truth?” her aunt sputtered. “That the love my sister had shown you all those years wasn’t enough? That
I
wasn’t enough for you, that you had to find better elsewhere?”
Sighing, Alicia sat at the table. She really wasn’t up to this argument. The only good thing, though she hadn’t thought so at the time, was that Sam had been adamant about sleeping on her ship. Better to wait until Aunt Margaret had some time to calm down before she introduced her to her sister.
“Aunt Margaret, this had nothing to do with either you or Jacob and Anna. You’re right, they loved me as their own and I love them to this day, but it doesn’t tell me about my past. This was about me wanting to know where I’d come from, what had happened, and if I did, in fact, have any family left.”
Her aunt’s cheeks turned fiery red. “You have me.”
“And I appreciate you,” Alicia said, trying for patience, “but I needed to know my past, and now I do. My memory returned.”
“I see,” she said, sitting primly with her hands smoothing her skirt.
“Aunt Margaret, I have a sister, and a brother-in-law, a longtime friend of my family, and a new brother. They live in St. Kitts and are actually here at the moment. Well, they’re staying on their ship, but you can meet them later if you wish.”
Her aunt rearranged her hat. “What does your brother-in-law do?”
“He builds ships. He and my sister both.”
The older woman looked as though she was going to throw up. Apparently she’d harbored the hope that perhaps Alicia’s sister could teach Alicia how to be a proper lady. If only her aunt knew that Sam had been a pirate, that she wore pants to work and cussed when angry. Alicia chuckled, then hid it behind a cough when her aunt’s eyes narrowed at her.