by Reina Torres
“But I can’t allow you to take out your anger and your hate on Rosemary. She’s a joy and I had hoped that you would see Charles in her heart if not in her face.”
“Fine! Then send her away like you promised. Get her a room somewhere if that’s what you want, if you really want to play uncle to her. But you’ll not parade her around this boat in Dollie’s fine clothes. You won’t make her into your little songbird, pampered and praised, not while I’m around.”
The moment of silence that descended was louder in her ears than the clanging in the boiler room, bouncing around in her head.
Rosemary could almost feel the door closing behind her. She was so afraid of losing the only home she had ever known that she clung to Andrew’s coat and felt him wrap his arms tightly around her.
“Don’t worry, Rosemary. I won’t let you be alone.”
Looking up, she could just see the look in his eyes and knew, deep down, that he meant what he said and the squeezing pain around her heart eased.
“Well, Cornelius? What’s it to be? When does she leave?”
Rosemary held her breath, waiting to hear what he had to say.
“You’re right, Eula. Someone has to leave the Siren, but it won’t be Rosemary. She loves it on this boat. She loves the river like the rest of us. You’ve always hated being here. You never kept it a secret.”
“Why should I? You never listen.”
“But I’m listening now, Eula. I’ll find that house, but it’s going to be yours. You’ll live there and you’ll be free to come and visit, but I won’t tolerate any hateful behavior. Rosemary is our niece. She’s the only child that Charles had and this boat has always been about family.”
Rosemary heard the final tone of his voice when he spoke of Charles. Her father.
She’d lost him before she’d even heard his name, and that should have made her despondent over the loss, but instead she tried to hold onto the idea that her father had wanted her. Had loved her mother.
And that was something to celebrate.
The captain continued. “You can leave whenever you want, Eula. I’ll not remove you forcefully, but you can’t remain here and act the way you have.”
Rosemary heard the unspoken words in the censure of his tone. She wouldn’t be forced to leave, not like Eula had done to her mother.
“Oh,” she scoffed, “you won’t have to worry about that. I don’t want to be here anymore than you want me to be. I’ll be ready to leave when we dock. I’m going home to my mother.”
Rosemary couldn’t help the curiosity that stole over her. She lifted her head and turned to look at the captain and his wife and what seemed to be a goodbye without any words of love.
“After all,” Eula lifted her chin at her husband and gave him a haughty glare, “she was right about you. You’re not a man worthy of me.”
With her final shot at him she turned on her heel and walked away, slamming the door shut behind her.
Chapter Twelve
Rosemary saw the captain turn to look at her and she stepped out of Andrew’s comforting embrace to face him. The smile that touched her lips was tentative at best. “I’m sorry, Captain, I-”
Suddenly she was in his embrace and she felt his arms hold her gently. “You have nothing to be sorry for, sweet girl. Nothing that happened was your fault. I meant what I said. You were the innocent in this. You’re family, Rosemary.” Stepping back, he stayed close as he looked down at her. “And I’m so glad you now know the truth.”
She nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Me too.”
The captain turned to look at Andrew and she took a breath into her lungs and held it, waiting to see what would happen.
Andrew saw the way Rosemary tensed, but he didn’t worry. He wanted to talk to the captain, needed him to understand.
“You knew,” the captain’s tone was soft, much softer than it had been during his conversation with his wife, and he was grateful for the reprieve. “You knew about her mother?”
Nodding, Andrew looked at Rosemary with a smile.
“And,” the captain continued, “what if tonight had been the first time? Would you think any differently about her?”
“Even if this had been the first time, it wouldn’t make a difference to me.”
The captain clasped his hands before him and bowed his head as if he was saying a prayer. When he looked up, Andrew didn’t see any reservations in the man’s eyes. “I owe you an apology it seems.” He turned to look at Rosemary and gestured toward Andrew. “I told him… I thought I was protecting you, my dear. Thought I was saving you heart ache.”
“Sir?” She looked at the captain and he thought he saw the older man melt a little inside.
“I would prefer if you would call me uncle, but I’m not sure you’ll be willing to once you realize that I warned Andrew to stay away from you.”
“From me?” Rosemary, his dear Rosemary, had suffered through so many revelations in one night. He worried that she would be hurt by all the worry and stress. “But why did… was it because of my mother?”
The captain must have seen the same shadows under her eyes that he did, because he gestured Rosemary to take a chair and walked beside her until she sat down.
“Your mother and Charles did love each other. Anyone with eyes could see it and try as they might Eula and her mother couldn’t break the hold that love had on them both.”
“Sir?” Andrew didn’t want to wait any longer. “May I ask you a question?”
“Seems like you’ve just asked me a few of them, son.” His laughter did much to lighten the feeling in the room. “And yet, I think I know what it is you plan to ask me, so I’ll just answer it so I can find a place to sleep. I doubt Eula will let me in the room.” The captain turned to Rosemary. “I believe this gentleman wants to make sure that I’ve changed my mind. That I have no objection to him spending time with you, and court you. So, I’ll ask him.” The captain looked at him again with a smile. “Is that what you want, Andrew Brooks? Has my niece caught your fancy?”
Andrew saw how Rosemary brightened when the captain called her his niece and he was grateful. Rosemary needed more happy moments in her life and he was planning to give them to her.
“She’s more than caught my fancy, sir. Rosemary has caught my heart and she’ll have it as long as she wants it.”
“Ah,” the captain’s smile only grew, “has she caught you in the web of her beautiful voice, sailor? Have you been caught by a siren?”
Nodding, Andrew answered him, but kept his gaze on Rosemary’s beautiful face. “Caught in a net that I have no desire to free myself from. I plan to court you, Miss Tillman. And when I win your heart completely, I’ll marry you and love you until the day we-”
“But,” Rosemary’s smile quivered, “we can’t, can we?”
Andrew looked at the captain and saw a shadow passing over the man’s features. “What is it, sir?”
“Rosemary’s right. You can’t marry her if people find out about her mother. The laws won’t allow for it. That was the problem, or one of the problems that her parents faced.”
Andrew saw the look of shock on Rosemary’s face and knew he couldn’t disappoint her. He’d promised to make her happy.
“I’ll hope you’ll both forgive me for suggesting this,” he held out his hand in entreaty, “but I don’t want to pull Rosemary away from her family here aboard the Siren, but there might be another way.”
The captain caught on to his suggestion. “The only people who know her true parentage are aboard the Siren.”
“But your wife,” Rosemary’s voice was thin and filled with worry, “she knows, and when she leaves, she could tell everyone.”
Andrew watched as the captain draped an arm over Rosemary’s shoulders and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head. “Eula wouldn’t say a word. She’d have to admit her family’s role in what happened. Her mother would never allow word to get out. We know the lengths that she will go to keep things quiet
. So it’s up to the two of you.”
“And we have time,” Andrew reminded her, “I still need to prove myself worthy of you, Rosemary.”
She shook her head and gave him a beatific smile. “You don’t have to prove yourself to me. I know what a good man you are.”
The next night, as Eula finished packing her belongings, Rosemary had a guest come out to perform with her.
Andrew, in his best suit, sat down beside her as she sang and accompanied her on his violin. The two smiled as they performed, knowing that soon they would be husband and wife.
“We would sing love songs together
when the birds had gone to rest
And we'd listened to the murmur of the leaves
Then I throwed my arms around you,
laid my head upon your chest
As we sat beneath the maple on the hill.”
Six years later…
Rosemary stepped out onto the deck, lifting her face into the cool, evening air, humming as she went, softly bouncing the bundle in her arms. Slowly, ever so slowly, she walked beside the railing as the Siren moved through the waters.
She heard soft footsteps treading the boards behind her and she turned around. “Captain,” she whispered, darting a glance at the yawning baby in her arms, “you should be sleeping. You have an early morning ahead.”
“And you, Rosie. You had two shows today and still I find you walking the deck with your little one.”
Rocking back and forth she hummed to the babe and watched another yawn stretch her little rosy lips.
“She doesn’t like to stay still. Isn’t that right, little Vera?”
One eye winked open and closed a moment later on a little sigh.
The captain leaned closer and brushed at Vera’s cheek. “So beautiful, just like your mother.”
Rosemary couldn’t help the gentle smile that touched her lips. “You mean my mother.”
When she looked up, the captain repeated the gesture with her. “Both of you. I’m so glad you know the whole of your story, sweetheart. I’m only sorry I couldn’t tell you when you were a little girl.”
She shook her head. “Don’t think about that anymore,” she reassured him, “I don’t. Now, the only thing to do is look forward.”
The baby in her arms cooed and blew bubbles, making both of them laugh.
The captain sighed. “Sounds like Vera agrees with you.”
“Oh, does she now?” Andrew’s sure footsteps sounded on the wooden floor as he joined them.
Rosemary couldn’t help but smile when Andrew pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Yes,” she told her husband, “she does.”
He wrapped his arm around her waist and leaned down to touch his cheek to Vera’s.
Their daughter roused from her sleep and giggled, reaching up her hands toward her father. Andrew caught her tiny hands and touched them to his face, tickling her palms with his short-cropped beard.
When he looked up, he had a bright smile on his face. “I left little Charlie asleep in bed with his Uncle Lonnie keeping watch.”
“Oh, I hope Lonnie doesn’t mind.”
Andrew smiled. “He wanted to finish that book you gave him. He’s reading it out loud as Charlie sleeps.”
“All that brawn and the boy’s got a good mind too.” The captain chuckled to himself. “Well, son, as your wife reminded me, I have an early morning ahead of me. So, I am off to get some rest. You stay here and make sure that these two ladies stay safe and warm. Hmm?”
“Yes, sir. I will.”
As the captain walked away, Andrew wrapped his arms around his wife and their little girl.
The glowing full moon shined down on the river, tracing its movements with silver ribbons. Leaning back against the wall, Andrew placed a kiss on his wife’s cheek. “You look more beautiful every day.”
“And you,” she laughed softly, “must be going blind.”
He gathered both wife and child in his arms. “Deny it all you like, my love, but seeing you holding our child, listening to you sing, only shows me how lucky I am to have you in my life.”
“How lucky we are to have you in ours, Andrew.” She tried to move closer and sighed when he held her tighter, making her happy and secure in his arms. “I think we should send another letter to the Sailor’s Rest School. Let them know about the new baby and thank them. If it wasn’t for what they taught you, you wouldn’t have come to work on the Siren.”
“Then we should send them a letter,” he agreed, “and the next time we’re in a town with a photographer we’ll take another family photograph.”
Laughing, Rosemary shook her head. “We can try, but I’m not sure we’ll be able to keep Charlie still enough for a photograph.”
“True,” he sighed, “maybe if we get him to sit down.”
“Sit down?” Rosemary laughed and then whispered an apology to Vera. “I think you might be dreaming, Mister Brooks.”
“I am living my dream, Missus Brooks.”
She shivered a little, but it wasn’t from the cold. She was living her own dream as well and there were times that she worried she just might wake up to realize that this life had been just a dream.
And yet, every morning when she woke up she would realize that her life was just that, hers.
Andrew shifted and rubbed his hands up and down her arms, careful not to disturb Vera as she was held in her mother’s arms. “Maybe we should get you both inside and warm.”
“Your little girl,” she reminded him, “has a hard time going to sleep.”
“Ah,” he chuckled, “she’s mine when she’s fighting sleep.”
Rosemary nodded. “That’s right.”
“Then come,” he moved to her side, “let me hold her.”
She set the baby gently in his arms and together they sat on a nearby bench. Andrew tucked Vera against his shoulder and smiled down at his lovely daughter and sang to her in his lightly accented voice.
“Slumber, my darling, the birds are at rest,
The wandering dews by the flow'rs caressed.”
Rosemary leaned her head on his shoulder and smoothed her thumb over the back of Vera’s hand, and sang the next part of the lullaby.
“Slumber, my darling, we'll wrap thee up warm,
And pray that the angels will shield thee from harm.”
Together, they sang to their littlest child and looked to the future with their family on the river.
“Sweet visions attend thy sleep,
Fondest, dearest, are thee,
While others their revels keep,
we will watch over thee.”
Journey on with the Next Sailor
Jo Grafford’s The Sailor and the Surgeon - Book 3
About Reina Torres
Amazon Bestselling Author Reina Torres is in love with the written word. It’s been the one constant in her life. Libraries have been her refuge and the gateway to a universe full of imagination.
She hopes that readers will enjoy the worlds and characters that she creates.
Discover More Sweet Romances by Reina Torres
Alphabet Mail Order Bride Series:
Imogene’s Ingenuity
Bower, Colorado:
Home to Roost
Three Rivers Express Series:
Always, Ransom
Always, Wyeth
Always, Ellis
Ellingsford, Montana:
Stay With Me
Her Gentle Heart
Hold Her Close
Looking for Romances with Heat in other Romance Sub-Genres? Visit her Amazon Page or Bookbub Page
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