The Sea Hawk (29 page)

Julia shifted her eyes toward her mother. "How long is a while?" she asked.

"Perhaps a month. It depends on how quickly your body mends."

Julia noticed her mother appeared nervous. "What's wrong, Mom?"

"Nothing. You're alive and that's all that matters," Regina said.

"You know I can tell when you're lying," Julia said. "Now what's wrong?"

The emotions Regina had been hiding away since Julia's disappearance bubbled to the surface. "What the hell were you thinking, Julia Diane Blanchard? Going out on that damnable boat alone? How could you have been so... well, stupid?" Regina ranted.

"Mom--" Julia tried. "I just don't understand it. It isn't like you to be

so careless."

"Regina," Talbot said softly.

"What?" she retorted. "You asked the same questions. You were furious at Julia."

Talbot looked at his daughter. "Yes, I was. But I was afraid."

"Mom!" Julia said, interrupting her parents' discussion.

Regina closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Yes, dear."

Julia held her other hand out to her mother. When Regina took it, Julia said, "I wasn't thinking and it got me in trouble. What I did was incredibly stupid and I am so grateful I survived. The whole ordeal taught me more than I can ever tell you. I learned what love truly is and how deep it can be."

"You learned that from floating around on the ocean?" Talbot asked.

"The sea has many secrets, Dad. It revealed the meaning of love to me, but I don't expect anyone to believe me or understand anything that happened to me while I was out there. I just know that timeless love does exist. I never thought I would know that kind of love." Julia closed her eyes. "I'm the luckiest woman on Earth because I've known timeless, endless love."

Julia's voice began to drift as she spoke. Tal and Regina looked at one another and realized she had fallen asleep, a relaxed smile on her lips. They withdrew their hands from hers before stepping quietly away from the bed.

"How's my patient doing?" Dr. Gorman said when he saw them step into the corridor.

"She's hallucinating," Talbot said. "Is that normal?"

JULIA LEANED HER head back on the head rest of her parents' SUV and watched familiar countryside finally began to appear. It seemed as if she had been gone forever. The lush green of summer was beginning to change into vibrant fall colors. As a surprise going away present from the hospital staff and Dr. Gorman, she was given a brand new pair of Ray-Ban wrap-around sunglasses to protect her eyes which were still sensitive to bright sunlight. Although they assured her they hadn't been permanently damaged by her ordeal, they would still need protection from bright sunlight for a week or two longer.

She glanced across the front seat at her father. She knew he was glad she had finally been released from the Wilmington hospital. Her month long recovery had dragged by slowly and allowed her too much to think. Both parents would have preferred she return with them to their home, but understood her need to get back to a normal life and put the ordeal behind her. She rubbed absently at the bandage still remaining on her left arm. Until her skin healed completely, Julia didn't want to be seen by anyone from the Institute. She couldn't tolerate being stared at and needed time alone with her memories. But were they really memories? Or nothing more than the delusions of a woman facing the certainty of her own death? It couldn't have been real.

"You'll have to call Frankie when you get home," Gina said. "She's so anxious to see you and tell you about the project."

"She'll have to wait until I look a little more human and less like a medium rare steak."

"You look fine, dear," Gina chuckled.

"I can work from the house if Frankie sends the information they've gathered to me. I'll call her in the morning. I'm too tired this evening."

"It'll be almost dark before we get there," Talbot said. "I hope your friend has been keeping the house up."

"What friend?" Julia asked.

"I don't remember her name."

"You can't mean Amy. I threw her out. She's the reason I went to the
Peach
site that weekend."

"I told her to move out at your memorial service, but she hired an attorney to claim the house as her residence," Talbot grumbled.

Julia rode silently the rest of the trip, but could feel the tension and anger building inside as the car crossed the bridge onto Tybee Island. Talbot swung into the gravel drive leading to her home. "I'd appreciate it if you and Mom would stay in the car for a few minutes," she said.

"Of course we will, dear," Gina said.

Julia stepped out of the vehicle and slammed the car door shut. She leaned down and tapped on the passenger-side window. When her father lowered it she said, "This shouldn't take long. Wait five minutes, then call the local sheriff and ask him to swing by." Taking a deep breath, Julia straightened her shirt and slacks and walked up the front steps to her house. She could see lights on in the front room and tried the door knob. When she found it locked, she took a key from her pocket and slipped it in the lock, but it didn't work. "Bitch," she muttered as she pressed the doorbell and waited.

The door swung open a minute later and Julia winced as Amy hugged her. "Thank God!" Amy said. "I was so worried about you, sweetheart." Amy scrunched her nose in distaste when she saw Julia's damaged face, a reaction not missed by Julia.

As much as Julia loved having someone in her arms, Amy wasn't the one she wanted. Grasping her by the upper arms, she moved her away. "Is that why you had the damn locks changed?" she asked.

"No! I was afraid someone else might have taken your keys."

Stepping around her lover, Julia moved into the front entry and removed her sunglasses, squinting as her sensitive eyes adjusted to the lighting inside the house. Amy closed the door as she followed her inside. "I told you to be gone by the time I returned, Amy. I was gone a little longer than I anticipated, so you've had plenty of time to get out. Why are you still here?"

"We both said a lot of things in the heat of the moment, Julia. I made a mistake and I'm sorry I hurt you. It will never happen again, darling."

"You're damn right it won't because you won't be here. Pack a bag and leave. Come back tomorrow if you want to get the rest of your shit, but you're not staying here tonight. This is my home and I'm not leaving again."

"My attorney said--"

"I don't give a damn what your attorney says. This is my house! You might have made a claim on it when you thought I was dead because no one would have known the difference, but I'm alive. So get out!"

"Please, Julia. I need a few days to pack my things. I'll stay in the guestroom."

"My parents will be using the guestroom," Julia said. She took a deep breath and looked at her former partner. "I forgive you, Amy, for cheating on me. I was spending a lot of time on the project and I know it took away from the time I could have spent with you."

A smile crossed Amy's lips. "I still shouldn't have done what I did. I know how important your work is to you."

"I admit I felt something for you, but I know now it was never love. I know what real love is and we never had that." Julia blinked hard as her memory of Simone and their time together resurfaced. "Real love hurts more than you can imagine when you lose it. I was mad when I left, but the strange thing is, I just now realized I didn't miss you. I'm sorry."

A knock at the front door interrupted their conversation and Julia stepped around Amy to open it. She smiled when she saw her friend and island sheriff, Alphonse Delarosa. "Welcome home, Doc," he said. "I was told you might need some assistance."

"Thanks, Al." Looking across the room at Amy, she said, "Do I need assistance, Amy?"

"No. I'll be gone in less than an hour."

Chapter Twenty-four

SIMONE SPENT THE remainder of the journey to Martinique in her cabin, refusing company and eating and drinking little, lost in grief. She heard the ship's anchor chain rumble until it struck bottom. She stared out the windows at the back of her cabin absorbed in her thoughts. Her cabin door opened and she heard footsteps behind her.

"No one enters my cabin without my permission," she snapped without turning around, angry anyone had dared to intrude on her solitude and private grief.

"Forgive me,
Faucon
," Joaquin's small voice said. "We have arrived."

Simone turned and looked down at the boy, feeling his sorrow. She knelt and opened her arms to him. "I lost her as well," he mumbled into Simone's shoulders. She felt the wetness of his tears soaking through her shirt and cried with him even though she thought she had no more tears to shed. Holding him tightly, they sank to the floor and cried together until there were no more tears.

AT
LE REPOS
Simone continued her silence, speaking only to Joaquin, for another week. Anton watched her come and go from the house and wished there was something he could do to alleviate her grief. Two weeks passed, broken only by a simple service as Esperanza was laid to rest in a garden near the main house. The only times Simone joined Anton and Kitty was over silent evening meals. Even the usually talkative and gregarious Kitty seemed afraid to speak. In the middle of their meal, Simone placed her knife and fork on her plate and smiled at Joaquin, who returned a smile and nodded at her.

"I have an announcement," she said, her voice calm and even. "I am leaving Martinique."

"Where are we going,
Faucon
," Anton asked with a glance at Kitty.

"You misunderstand, my brother," Simone answered. "
I
, and only I, am leaving Martinique."

"But where will you go?" Kitty asked.

Looking warmly at her brother she said, "It is my wish for you and Kitty to remain at
Le Repos
and care for Joaquin. I have discussed this with him and he understands my decision. He cannot go where I am going as long as the Americans continue to allow slavery. When he reaches his majority,
Le Repos
will become his property to do with as he sees fit. I will leave you ample funds to build a house of your own for you and your family on the property."

"Of course we will care for Joaquin, but where are you going?" Anton asked again.

"I shall take
Le Faucon de Mer
and sail to the coast of Georgia."

Anton cleared his throat. "I know you have suffered a terrible loss, Simone, but you cannot bring Julia back to you."

"You do not know what I do about Julia, but you are correct. I know I will never see or hold her again in this lifetime, but I can be closer to her by living where she lived."

Looking at Joaquin she said, "I will take all but four of the Arabians with me. It will be up to you to increase the number of horses in your care here. Can you do that,
mon fils
?"

"I can," Joaquin answered confidently.

"You should remain here and at least attempt to rebuild your life, Simone," Anton said.

"I have no life here," she snapped. "My life is with Julia, no matter where she may be. She refused to believe I died in New Orleans. As long as she lives here," she said, slamming her fist forcefully against her chest, "I have not lost her."

"Even you cannot sail
Le Faucon
alone," Kitty said.

"Twelve of my crew, along with their families, have agreed to sail with me to begin a new life. Once we reach Georgia I will no longer have a need for the ship."

Anton opened his mouth to speak again, but Simone held her hand up. "My decision is made. There will be no more discussion. I leave in one week's time. Let us enjoy one another's company in the time we have left to us."

THREE AND A half months had passed since Simone boarded
Le Faucon
with Julia and set sail from New Orleans for her home in Martinique. Now she watched the coastline of the island grow smaller as the ship left its safe harbor on its final voyage. Anton and Kitty would remain on Martinique to care for Joaquin. Following the battle to defend New Orleans there were days Simone wasn't able to comprehend how the greatest army in the world suffered such a devastating loss. Perhaps Laffite had been right. The Americans fought for an ideal, a way of life, while the British fought merely to control property. Now as she watched the lush green of Martinique fade away behind her, she knew she would miss it. But her future awaited her on the far side of the horizon and all she wanted was to be closer to Julia, even in some small way.

A dozen members of
Le Faucon
's crew, together with their families, sailed with her toward a new life.
Le Repos
would be in good hands with Anton. It was a fitting reward where he and Kitty could rear their children in safety and peace. As she rested against the deck railing and heard the gentle whinnies of the Arabians below deck, she tried to comprehend what the future would hold for her. She would have preferred having her days filled with her beloved horses, her nights filled with passion in the arms of the woman she loved. Perhaps her memories would be enough.

THE VOYAGE WAS the most uneventful one Simone could remember. Without the constant threat of the British intercepting her, she felt well-rested. The journey proved difficult for the horses, however. Even though they were well-fed and watered, the lack of exercise left them weaker than she would have liked. She walked them each day in the small confines below deck. She would take
Le Faucon
as close to shore as possible, but they would have to swim the final distance to shore when the ship reached its destination. She was currying and feeding the big animals as she did every day since their departure from Martinique.

"
Faucon
!" an excited crewman called as he slid down the stairs from the main deck.

"What is it, Raul?" she asked as she continued humming softly to keep the horses calm.

"Land,
Faucon
. We have arrived!"

"How can you be sure?" she asked, dropping the brush and walking quickly to meet him.