Appearing to be thrilled, Mother dramatically wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Neither of my parents had ever spoken of my grandmother, so I never thought to ask about her, but I was suddenly quite intrigued as to why my mother acted the way she had.
It crossed my mind to ask about my grandmother, but my curiosity was redirected when Father handed Mother the bag he was carrying. “Here, Captain Kirkland just brought these into port. They’d all been shipped to our house in London.”
Running up the stairs, he rambled on about the things Captain Kirkland had said about London, but without paying him any mind, Mother sifted through the pile of letters. Her focus was driven. None of them mattered. Her mind was set on one thing alone, and when she found it I heard her breath stutter. She hugged the envelope like it was a precious child.
To the sound of Father’s footsteps stomping down the stairs, she stuffed the treasured piece in her top and put on an innocent face as Father kissed her goodbye. “I love you, my darling, and I’ll see you in a few hours.”
She told him she loved him, too, but she was lying. She was in love with that stupid man who had been writing her these home-wrecking love letters. I had half a mind to rip the cursed thing from her clutches and burn it over the flame of one of her fragrant candles.
“I promise we’ll spend some time together on Sunday.” Father hugged me before he left.
The moment the door shut behind him Mother ran up the stairs. Into her study she flew. I heard her whisper to her bird, “November third. Ah, damnation seize my soul, Sky, I’ll never live this down.”
She grumbled something else that I couldn’t understand, and when the bird chirped, “Midnight,” a cold chill ran down my spine.
“Midnight.” The bird said the name again. Candles were lit, catnip was burned, door was shut, and shut it would stay for days to come.
X
With Mother locked away in her room, Franklin was more in tune with my existence and a week passed without me being able to sneak out. It had been raining nonstop, and though I usually loved staring out of the window, that had even grown old. The roaring weather only intensified Mother’s crazy ramblings, and her haze had become so thick that she wasn’t even taking care of Sky—who had been flying around the entire house. The only thing she said to me or Franklin over the duration of her hideaway was in regard to us keeping our hands off her damned bird. “He is free. You will not cage him,” she snipped from her doldrums, and as he flew from perch to perch, Sky would shriek, “Will not cage us.”
My father had always been the lighthouse on the dark and foggy seas of my mother’s insanity, but with him gone at work from dawn to dusk every day, I began to feel like I was losing my mind, as well. I needed some fresh air and some time with someone sound of mind to remind me that life didn’t have to be this way. Just as I began debating the possibilities of busting out and letting Franklin chase me through the rain and the bustling crowds of the main streets, he knocked on my door.
“What do you want?” I barked through the closed door, annoyed that he was bothering me.
“Sorry to disturb you, miss. Your mother’s sending me to the market and told me to ask if you need anything.”
My mind lit up with excitement. Opening the door, I gave him a list of obscure items that would keep his illiterate arse long gone on this hunt. Looking at the words he couldn’t read, he scratched his head.
“You’ll figure it out.” I smiled and shut my door.
Hearing him walk outside, I watched from my window until he disappeared around the corner.
As fast as the wind that was whipping through the air, I hurried out of the window and headed down through the alley. Along my way, the heavy clouds darkened, and soon enough the wild wind was throwing raindrops at my face. The damp air was refreshing, the moist breeze was invigorating, and the scent of wet earth soothed me to the soul. I was free, finally free, and with a joyful giggle rising in my throat, I imitated Mother’s bird. “Will not cage us.”
Even in the pouring rain, Jackson kept the windows open in his workshop, and on this stormy day, I entered his area to see him sweating over the fire in a grey lit room. Thunder roared outside as I removed my wet cloak, and as he looked up from his work, he smiled so warmly it almost dried my damp pink dress.
“Ah, Remi. My knife wielding pixie. Where have you been?”
“Dealing with my crazy mother,” I huffed as I plopped down on the stool.
“Did she take on the King’s Navy today?” He chuckled as he finished up the piece he was working on.
“I wish.” I rolled my eyes. “At least there would be some pride in that.”
“And what about her little puppy boy? Is he still driving you mad, too?”
“Yes! Ugh. The whole scene over there is quite infuriating.” I ranted for a moment about all the things that bothered me.
Jackson laughed and teased me, insisting my life was not that bad. As I snickered and giggled with him, I agreed that it wasn’t, but in my heart I knew that it was the time I spent with him that made it all right. He was the best part of my life these days and I was so happy to be with him again.
“How about we throw some blades?” I rubbed my hands together.
“I was just getting ready to retire for the day. I’m all caught up on my work and was thinking it’d be nice to lock the doors and listen to the rain fall. But that’d be even better while tossing knives with you.”
While he closed up shop, I followed him around, chattering on about whatever came to mind. Once all the doors were closed and locked, and the only windows open were the ones facing the field behind his shop, we gathered some knives and got to throwing.
Landing a dagger directly in the bull’s-eye of the target, I jumped in excitement. “Huzzah! Mother said to go for the neck, and if that bull’s-eye was my antagonist’s jugular I’d be safe and clear.”
“That you would. You’re getting good at this, sweetheart. And seeing how much you like it, I made this blade just for you.” He handed me a knife.
Eyeing the beautiful piece, my heart swelled with joy. The handle, shaped to be thrown with either hand—which I had been practicing the art of regularly—was engraved with whimsical swirls that matched the pattern burned into the leather sheath it was stored in. Drawing it out, I noticed that the ten inch blade was not only shaped differently from his other pieces, but his hawk wing was done with much greater detail.
Throwing my arms around his neck, I sighed with appreciation. “Oh, my! This is the best gift I have ever been given. Thank you so much.”
Holding me close, he kissed my cheek. “You’re welcome, Remi Rain. Your throwing style has inspired me to try this new shape, so let’s see how it tosses.”
Ever so thrilled to give it a try, I turned around to face the target. Helping me position myself for the toss, he whispered in my ear, so close that I felt the heat of his breath on my skin. “Shoulders back, arm strong, eyes focused…”
With a quick flick of the wrist, I chucked the knife straight into the target then turned around to face him. “It’s perfect. Best one yet. Being able to hit the target while being so distracted says a great deal about my aim and your blade.” I poked his nose.
He wrapped his dirty arms around my waist. “Distracted?”
I put my hands on his shoulders. “Not that I’m complaining.”
With a manly grunt, he pulled me closer. As I wondered how I was going to wash his soot marks off my dress before Father came home, Jackson said, “I missed you while you were gone, Remi Rain. My days are better with you in them.”
My heart was beating so wildly in my chest I worried that he would hear it. “Oh, uh, I missed you, too, Jackson. I truly enjoy being here with you and, well, I, I like you.”
“You like me, aye?” He flashed a half smile. “So it seems we have more than our love for knives in common, then.”
My cheeks were burning as warmly as the fire he melted his metals with. I had no idea
how to express the feelings blazing in my heart, but before I could even attempt to, he kissed me!
The scruff on his face brushed roughly on my cheeks, but his moist lips were soft and wonderful like his tongue that was now rubbing on mine. My God, he was so close I could feel his heart beating. As I wrapped my arms tighter around his neck I felt feather light in his grip. This was the best feeling I’d ever experienced and I wanted more of it.
Letting my hands wander across his shoulders, I tickled down his arms, feeling the shape of his muscles. They hardened as he pulled me closer. He was big and strong, and his hands were as hard as the metal he forged. He smelled like sweat and steel and soot, and the dust on his clothes and his face only deepened my desire for him.
His hands moved slowly down my back, but his pace quickened as he grabbed onto my arse. When he lifted me against him, I wrapped my legs around his waist and tangled my hands in his sweat-wet hair as he sat me down on the work bench.
Kissing and grabbing, and rubbing each other without a word between us, our movements said it all. This wildly handsome man was growling over me like a hungry animal, and I wanted to be his tasty morsel. I wanted more of him. Apparently, he wanted more of me, too, for next thing I knew, his rough hand was wandering beneath my skirts. My body came unglued as he rubbed between my legs. Squeezing his arms, I sighed and squirmed and begged for more, so he gave me more…
With his mouth all over mine, he undid his breeches. Right there on the workbench at Black Hawk Forge—with a thunderstorm roaring outside his open windows—I became a woman. Jackson Hawke’s woman.
Chapter 8
Backstabbed
Another month flew by, and my visits to Black Hawke Forge continued. Wrapped in Jackson’s arms, I experienced the passionate joys of being a woman all over that dirty work shop, only to rush home and wash my soot-stained dresses like a child hiding a dirty secret.
Hoping my work around the house would make Dinah obsolete, Mother was all for the notion of me doing my own laundry, and she even started giving me hers. I didn’t mind. For no matter what I was doing, my mind was set on Jackson, and anything I could do to shield my secret was all right by me.
Coming home one cloudy afternoon—my mind adrift with lustful fantasies—I snuck in my window and washed up only moments before Father came home. Excited to see him under our roof so early, I ran towards the door like a happy puppy and gave him a hug. “I feel like I never see you anymore, I miss you so much.”
“Ah, I miss you, too, my pretty little flower.” Guilt struck me like a dagger. I was no longer his little flower. I was a woman now and he didn’t even know it.
Rubbing my back, he sighed with love. “I’ve come home just to see you.”
Sitting together for dinner—as we rarely did anymore—Father and I chattered on like best friends as Mother sat silently, picking at her plate without taking a bite. Anytime Father looked at her, she would turn her head with an agitated scowl on her face.
Damn it. I was tormented by the sight of them falling apart every day. But being older, and wiser, it was now plain to see that she was the one causing the problems. And I was truly beginning to spite her for it.
Shaking his head in defeat, Father returned his attention to me. “You know, I truly miss having you at work, Remington. I’d like to bring you in for a visit tomorrow. What do you say?”
My mind lit up with excitement. “Yes, oh yes, I would love that!”
“It’s dangerous down there, Thomas,” Mother snipped.
He looked at her like she’d lost her mind. I laughed because she had.
“How nice of you to finally join us, Mother,” I chuckled sarcastically.
Father pointed at me. “You will not speak to your mother that way.”
I shut my mouth and listened as he said all the things I was thinking.
“It is just as dangerous for her to be trapped in this house with your craziness. She’s coming with me, and if you’d like to complain about the matter, you can go tell your damned bird all about it.”
Just then, Dinah dropped a dish in the kitchen. To the sound of shattering glass, Father ran in after her. “Are you all right?”
“Oh, yes, I’m fine. Excuse my mistake.”
“Sell her at the auction," Mother jeered.
“Nonsense, Hannah,” Father barked. “It's all right, Dinah. Let me help you.” Father grabbed the dust pan.
Mother eyed him with disgust. “Oh please, Thomas, she doesn’t need any help. Come in here with your family and leave the maid to do her maidly duties.”
Leaving Dinah to do her maidly duties, Father joined us with a bottle of wine in hand. “Why are you so rude to Dinah?” He poured himself a glass.
“Because I know you like her better than me and I am jealous,” Mother plainly admitted
“That simply isn't true, Hannah.” He took a gulp so big I winced.
Mother rolled her eyes then quit talking.
With her nattering interjections out of the way, Father carried on telling me what was new at WG Shipping. There were new captains, more ships, bigger loads, and great success all around. I had figured as much with as busy as he had been, but it made me so happy to see his face beam with pride as he shared the details of his work well done. He was truly living his dream.
Nearly finishing his bottle of wine as we ate, his mood brightened into a humorous state. Soon enough he sat back and belched. “So, that treasonous Mason Bentley just came into port hauling more gold than I’ve seen in all my life. Looks like his streak of desperation is behind him.” He shook his head and laughed.
“Is his boy with him?” I asked before realizing I shouldn’t have.
Father squinted at me. “He is. They’re staying at The Captain’s Wife and just this afternoon I saw him outside the place. He was as drunk as an alley rat running his mouth like a buffoon and howling with the thunder like a wolf.”
Imagining the sight, I giggled, but my laughter was interrupted by the sound of Mother’s face landing on the table.
Out cold, she flopped over in her chair. Father leapt to her assistance. Picking her up in his arms, he lightly slapped her cheek until she groaned. Glad to see that she was alive, I ran upstairs ahead of them and pulled back the sheets so he could get her into bed. Waking enough to fuss against our assistance, but not enough to fight us off, she lay in bed and mumbled, “He is afraid of the thunder.” Then she passed out again.
X
Awaking before sunrise, I rushed to get ready. Father insisted that I look my best so he could show me off at the office. Choosing my favorite lime green dress—which brought out the hint of green in my eyes—I accessorized with an ivory bodice and shawl, and then wrapped ivory and green ribbons around my braids. Though Father said I looked stunning, he insisted that I style my hair like the other girls in town did. With a huff, I pinned it up with the braids coiled into a bun. He accepted the compromise and we went to say farewell to Mother.
She awoke just fine, but staring at the wall, mindlessly brushing the feathers of her quill, she refused to get out of bed. Father kissed her on the cheek and told her he loved her, but she didn’t respond. After telling Franklin and Dinah both to watch her closely, Father led me out the door. With the rising sun lighting the damp alley way, we went on our way to the harbor. My happiness was impossible to contain.
Nearly skipping in excitement as we walked along, I rambled to him about everything we saw. Enjoying the town with him was much more fun than it was with Mother and Franklin, and I even liked it better than going alone. Especially because we got to wander the docks for a while. I had not done that since we had arrived. Being allowed to be out and feeling safe by his side, I felt freer than ever. Also, now that I was a woman—desired by a strong and handsome man—I felt confident, and began noticing the way sailors were looking at me as we moseyed along the wooden planks.
Apparently, Father noticed, too. “Good heavens, my dear. Now that you’ve grown up before my eyes, I suppose I’l
l have to get used to the young men gawking at you, though it does not make me happy.” He shook his head and stared down a dirty dock boy who was eyeing me as we passed. The boy looked away quickly, and I giggled. My father would forever be my favorite man in the world.
Putting his arm over my shoulder, he walked me between two massive ships, and informed me that the large, bulky baroque named Iris was Captain Kirkland’s. But I was far more interested to hear that the cleaner, sleeker, brigantine named Phantom belonged to Captain Bentley. I couldn’t stop staring at the Phantom. Beyond the foreboding name, she was the finest looking ship I had ever seen. Though Sterling and Mason were nowhere in sight, the other men aboard her were draping new sails and carefully painting her gunnels a shade of deep, dark red. Singing and cheering as they worked, the pride in their booming voices assured me that to the men who sailed her, Phantom was a great prize to behold.
Planting his hand on my head, Father turned me away from the beautiful buccaneer ship. “I believe you have seen enough out here. Let me show you my new office before I catch you stowing away with a pirate crew.”
As always, I was sad to leave the ships and the sailors behind, but I was eager to see his new place.
On our walk to his office, he nervously said, “I have mentioned this a few times before, but it is time we find you an honorable suitor.” He looked around at the men who had been eyeing me. “It’s dangerously apparent that you’ll have your choice among them, and though Mother and I agreed that it would be best for you to marry for love, I want you to be wise with your choice. Many of these sailors are good men, but not a one of them could offer you the type of life you deserve, Remington. I have taken care of you as best as I can and I want to see you in good hands.”
His hopeful thoughts over my future led me to feel terribly guilty about the unmarried love affair I was having.
Every Time It Rains (Uncharted Secrets, Book 3): Endless Horizon Pirate Stories Page 6
