She stared blankly out to sea, lost in her thoughts, and Hayden found her nearly tolerable in her silence.
“Miss Magnolia.”
She leaped. “You frightened me.”
He gave a mock bow. “My apologies.”
The smell of alcohol—brandy, if he wasn’t mistaken—filtered to his nose and caused his lips to curve.
“What do you want?” She rubbed a hand beneath her nose.
“A sip of whatever you’re having.”
Eyes as hard as silver met his. “Whatever are you referring to, sir?” Her voice lifted in a sweet Southern drawl.
Hayden chuckled and leaned on the railing beside her. “You can cease the coquettish theatrics, princess. I’m not one of your fawning beaus back home.”
She flattened her lips. “That is an understatement, Mr. Gale.”
“Call me Hayden.” He extended his open palm. “Since we’ll be drinking mates now.”
“Drinking—ahhhh,” she ground out through clenched teeth, then reached within the folds of her skirt and handed him a flask.
He took a sip. The spicy liquor with a hint of orange slid down his throat with ease. Yes, brandy, indeed. “And just where does a lady find alcohol on board a ship?”
“Hard as it may be for you to believe, some people like me and wish to give me gifts.”
Hayden snorted. “By that you mean you’ve been flirting with lonely sailors again.”
Her eyes narrowed before she swept her gaze out to sea. “You won’t tell my parents?”
“Not as long as you’re sharing.” He grinned.
“Petulant cur.”
Hayden took another drink and handed it back to her. “I’ve been called worse.”
“No doubt.”
Sails flapped above as the brig hefted over a wave. Peering into the darkness, Hayden longed to see her expression. “Pray tell, princess, why is such a cultured and lovely lady as yourself drinking spirits on deck in the middle of the night?”
She wiped the lip of the flask with her handkerchief, tipped it to her mouth, and gulped down the pungent liquor like a hardened sailor. Then shoving the hardwood stopper into the spout, she set the flask aside. “After all the commotion caused by that woman, Angeline, I couldn’t sleep.”
“That woman nearly drowned.” Hayden’s anger flared.
“I’m not”—she hiccupped—“without sympathy, Mr. Gale.” Magnolia pressed fingers to her temple. “But word among the sailors is she jumped.”
Jumped? He flinched. “Perhaps she loathes being on this ship even more than you,” he said.
“If you are suggesting I throw myself overboard”—poison laced her tone—“prepare to be disappointed.”
“Too late.”
The brig tilted. She shifted on the barrel, and Hayden reached for her, but she slapped him away. “If you find my company so distasteful, then leave.”
“Not until you tell me why you need to saturate your senses with alcohol.”
“I don’t want to be on thissss horrid, ill-fated ship. I want to go back home where I belong.” Though her words slurred, her despondency rang clear, eliciting a speck of sympathy for the lady. But only a speck.
“Hmm.” Hayden fingered his chin, studying the way the moonlight sprinkled silver dust over her hair. Lovely. Too bad she was such a priggy shrew. Priggy, yes, but belittled by her father. “And what is waiting for you back home that you cannot live without?”
Wind tore a flaxen curl from her pins. She stuffed it back with a huff. “My fiancé, if you must know. He’s a wealthy lawyer from Atlanta, Samuel Wimberly.”
“Indeed?”
“Yes indeed. Do you doubt me?”
“I only wonder why he isn’t here with you, that’s all.”
“Because he is a very impotent man. He worked side by side with Jefferson Smith through the entire war.”
With difficulty, Hayden restrained a chuckle at her slip of tongue. “That still doesn’t answer my question.”
Magnolia blew out an exasperated huff. “Audacious brute!” She stood, stumbled, batted him way, and staggered to the railing. “You shouldn’t even be on this voyage. I don’t believe your story, by the way.”
Hayden slid beside her, hovering his hand over her back to prevent her from toppling with the next wave. “So you have informed me.”
She turned to him, her eyes swirling over his face as if looking for a place to land. “Why didn’t you leave us in Dominica, Hayden? Just what do you hope to accompliss in the middle of an uncivilized jingle? I mean, jungle.”
He cocked his head, quite enjoying her inebriation and noting the way the moonlight made her skin look like porcelain. “I’m looking for someone.”
“In Brazil?” She giggled then hiccuped and covered her mouth.
He wouldn’t tell her of course. Wouldn’t let anyone know his true purpose. Stepping closer, he leaned toward her. “Perhaps I am looking for you.”
She backed away, brow furrowing. “Leave me be. I shouldn’t even be talking to you. You are nothing but a—”
“Handsome rogue, if I remember.” He grinned.
Was that pink blossoming on her cheeks? “You prove my point, sir.” She jutted her chin. “A gentleman would not remind a lady of such a thing.”
He eased closer, his gaze unavoidably dropping to her moist lips. “I have never been accused of being a gentleman.”
She gave an unladylike snort. “No doubt you have been acoosed of much worse.”
He ran a finger down her arm. “Aren’t you afraid to be alone with such a scoundrel?” He gave her his most mischievous grin, enjoying the opportunity to put this pompous brat in her place.
Instead of shrinking back from him or dashing away in fear, she studied him with … interest? Moonlight glossed her eyes in sapphire as her brandy-drenched breath filled the air between them.
She shoved her lips onto his.
Hayden was so shocked, it took him a second to react. Well, less than a second if he was truthful. Reaching his arms around her waist, he pressed her curves against him and caressed her lips with his own. Her passionate moan encouraged him to trail further kisses up her jaw to her earlobe then down her neck. She quivered in his arms. He brought his lips back to hers, hovering, tempting, as their heavy breaths mingled in the air around them. Heat soared through him. Unexpected. Mounting. Fiery. Passion crackled in the air. She swallowed his lips with hers. He tasted brandy on her tongue. She moaned again.
Then stiffened.
Jerking from his embrace, she gaped at him in horror before gathering her skirts and dashing across the deck like a cream puff sliding over a wooden plate.
After one last peek at Angeline sound asleep in sick bay, Eliza eased the door shut and started toward her cabin, deep in thought over the events of the night. Intermittent lanterns created wavering spheres of light on the bulkhead, making the hallway seem even narrower and more compressed than it was. It didn’t help, of course, that her crinolette bounced off the sides with each jerk of the ship. She felt like a fat mouse squeezing through a tiny maze, and the sensation did nothing for her already taut nerves. The ship canted to larboard. She braced a hand on the rough wood as thoughts of Angeline filled her mind, resurging the terror of nearly losing her friend, of the horrible death she would have suffered. And most of all, the question of how she could have possibly fallen overboard.
Lost in her musings, Eliza barreled into something solid. Rock solid. And warm.
Leaping back, she turned to run, thoughts of the lecherous Max spinning her mind into a frenzy, when a familiar voice stopped her.
“Forgive me. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
Blake. She spun around to see his head bent beneath the low deckhead, his body filling the hallway, his presence sucking the air from every corner—from her lungs. The memory of their near kiss in sick bay sent her heart into wild thumping. Or had the affection she’d seen in his eyes been her own wishful thinking?
“If you’ll ex
cuse me,” she said, trying to control the quiver in her voice, “I was heading to my cabin.”
“I came to inquire about Angeline.”
“She is sleeping. James is with her.”
“James? Is that proper?”
She huffed. “He’s a doctor, Colonel. And he insisted.”
He grew serious. “What did she tell you about … about what happened?”
Lantern light angled over his firm jaw, shadowed by morning stubble. But his eyes remained in darkness.
Eliza stared at the bulkhead, the staggering light, anywhere but at him. “She said she slipped.”
“Hmm.” He shifted his stance, still not moving to let her pass.
“You don’t believe her?”
He scratched his jaw, suddenly bunched in tension. “She would have had to have been sitting on the railing to have accidentally fallen overboard, no?”
Eliza hugged herself and leaned on the bulkhead, giving up hope that he would allow her to pass and not sure she wanted to go anymore. Mainly because his tone no longer harbored hatred, just as it hadn’t in those precious moments they’d shared in the sick bay earlier. “Perhaps. I don’t know.”
“Her shoes were on the deck.”
“They were?” Eliza’s heart twisted in her chest. “Then that must mean … Oh, I cannot consider what that means.”
The lantern shifted, and she saw the deep lines on his forehead and the way his eyebrows nearly melted together when he was frustrated. “I’m concerned for her,” he said. “If she attempted it once, she may try again.”
“I agree. I’ll talk with her tomorrow. Perhaps Sarah can help. She has a comforting way about her that makes people want to confide in her.”
He seemed pleased with her answer, yet still he did not move. His scent saturated the air around her, shoving aside the stench below deck.
“Did the captain have an explanation for those odd birds?” She regretted bringing up a topic that might cause him stress, but she longed to extend their time together.
“No.” His tone indicated neither offense nor burden. “He’s never seen anything like it. At least not so many birds at once.”
She felt his eyes search her in the darkness. She would give a fortune for a peek into their gray depths, if only to assess what he might be thinking.
“Was there something else, Colonel?”
Something else? Blake stifled a chuckle. Yes, there was something else—he didn’t want her to leave. He couldn’t get her out of his mind. He thought she was the most astounding, amazing woman he’d ever met. He cleared his throat. “No,” he said and turned crossways to allow her to pass when Magnolia’s voice stormed down the companionway.
“Stay away from me, you … you … wanton reprobate!”
Hayden sauntered behind her. “I’m not following you, princess. I’m heading below to get some sleep.”
Blake faced the intruders. Magnolia halted when she saw him. Her eyes shifted to Eliza and filled with tears before she tore down the hallway, stumbled, and toppled to the deck, petticoats and lace bobbing in the air. “Now look what you’ve done,” she sobbed.
“Me?” Hayden knelt to assist her, but she swatted him away, instead allowing Eliza to help her to her feet. Then after flinging a spiteful glance his way, Magnolia fell into Eliza’s arms and unleashed a torrent of tears. “That man assaulted me. Again.” She pointed at Hayden, who huffed in frustration and rolled his eyes as if she’d said he had two heads.
Brushing past the ladies, Blake stepped toward him. “What happened?”
Hayden folded his arms over his chest. “She kissed me.”
“I did no such thing!” Magnolia stomped her foot, took the handkerchief Eliza handed her, and drew it to her nose. “I have no need to steal kisses from disgusting men.”
“Apparently you do,” Hayden quipped.
Blake rubbed his jaw and speared Hayden with a look that had sent lesser men cowering. “This is the second time the lady has accused you of assault, Hayden. I’m starting to wonder if there isn’t some merit to her claims.”
“Blake, a word, if you please,” Eliza said from behind him.
Hayden’s eyes narrowed. “I may be many things, but I’ve never harmed a lady.”
The man’s honest, indignant tone lent truth to his statement. Besides, why would he do such a thing on a ship where there was no place to run? “Until we sort this out, perhaps I should lock you below,” Blake said.
“Yes. Yesss … Lock him up! No woman is safe with him raining loose,” Magnolia wailed.
“Blake,” Eliza called again. Blake clenched his jaw. Couldn’t the woman see he was dealing with a potentially volatile man? He faced her. She tipped an invisible glass to her lips and gestured toward Magnolia, who seemed to have fallen asleep on her shoulder.
“Now, let’s get you to bed, dear,” Eliza said as she led the young lady away.
Blake scratched his head and faced Hayden. “Did you give her the spirits?”
“Quite the contrary,” Hayden said. “I found her above like that. We spoke. She kissed me. That’s that.”
Blake rubbed his temples where a slow, dull ache began. “Do me a favor and just stay away from her.” He didn’t give Hayden time to answer before he brushed past him with a growl. Two more weeks until they reached Rio. He couldn’t wait to get off this mad ship!
CHAPTER 28
I’ve brought you some breakfast.” Eliza squished through the narrow space between the operating table and bulkhead while trying to balance a tray laden with coffee, some sort of odd-smelling porridge, and a biscuit.
Angeline offered her a languid smile, tossed her legs over the cot, and rubbed her eyes. “Thank you, Eliza. I’m not hungry.” Salt-encrusted curls hung limp around her face.
“After your swim in the sea, I should think you would be.” Eliza set the tray down, hoping her jovial tone would lighten the lady’s mood.
It didn’t.
“At least have some coffee. Cook brewed some up just for you.” Eliza handed her the cup and slid onto a chair beside her. The chair James had occupied until just an hour ago. The poor man must be exhausted after keeping vigil over Angeline all night.
Though the heat in the sick bay had significantly risen since dawn three hours ago, Angeline warmed her hands on the cup as if it were winter. She took a sip.
“What happened?” Eliza asked. “We were so worried.”
Angeline stared at the black coffee in her cup oscillating with the movement of the ship. “I guess I slipped.”
Eliza gave a sigh that held more doubt than frustration. Leaning forward, she took one of Angeline’s hands in hers. “I wish you’d tell me. Maybe I can help.”
Angeline set the cup down. “No one can help.”
“Is it Dodd? Is he threatening you? One of the sailors? You must know you are not alone.”
Her eyes grew misty, and she squeezed Eliza’s hand. “Oh Eliza. You’ve been so nice to me. Thank you for being my friend.”
“I’ll always be your friend. No matter what.”
“I’m sorry I worried you all so much. And James, risking his life to save me.”
“Hayden was about to jump in as well. And Blake. That’s three men willing to die for you, Angeline.”
“I’m truly humbled by everyone’s concern.” She released a heavy sigh and picked up the coffee again. “I’m much better now, Eliza.” Violet eyes swung to hers, brimming with sincerity. “I truly am.”
Eliza had never had so much trouble getting anyone to open up to her before. Oh the stories she would hear in the battlefield hospitals—the secrets soldiers would share with her during the long hours of the night. They’d said she was a good listener. Someone who cared. She’d prided herself on not only being able to tend the wounds on their bodies, but the wounds on their hearts as well.
But Angeline was an iron chest. With a thick iron lock. And there was no key in sight. “I only hope that you will come to me if you need to talk or if you ha
ve a problem. Will you promise me that?”
She nodded. “Honestly, I don’t know what came over me.” She shook her head and swallowed. “I didn’t mean to put anyone else at risk.”
So, she had jumped. The truth bore a hole in Eliza’s heart. She brushed hair from Angeline’s face. “Nothing can be so bad that you forfeit your life. Whatever it is, you can count on me to always stick by your side.”
Angeline gave a halfhearted smile. “Thank you.”
“Very well.” Eliza rose. “Eat your breakfast, and I’ll go fetch some water to rinse that hair of yours.” Yet, as Eliza made her way down the hall, she couldn’t shake the feeling the poor lady’s troubles were only just beginning. And the worst of it was, once they got off in Brazil, Eliza wouldn’t be around to help her.
Twelve days later, Eliza peered into the darkness, trying to make out the features of the continent just a half mile off their starboard side. Nothing but murky shadows met her gaze. Shadows that had snaked around her hammock, strangling her and jarring her awake. In fact, the closer they sailed toward their destination, the more agitated her sleep had become, as if Brazil toyed with her emotions, taunting her with the fact that she’d never set foot on its shores. Or perhaps she was merely depressed because in a few days, everyone she’d grown to know and care for would abandon her for their new home, leaving her all alone once again.
Forsaken. For one mistake.
Myriad stars reflected off a sea as slick as polished onyx, creating a mirror image of sky on water, while a half-moon smiled down on her as if trying to reassure her all would be well. But she knew it was a lie. With most sails furled, the ship barely whisked through the liquid pitch that seemed as thick as the coating around her heart. Eerily peaceful. She guessed it to be around midnight, though she couldn’t be sure. The helmsman paid her no mind, and the only night watchman snored from the foredeck.
Not that she minded the company of other passengers. They no longer shunned her or insulted her or even cast disparaging looks her way. In fact, most of them were quite courteous. She supposed it had much to do with her willingness to treat their complaints without hesitation. Everything from the ague, to corns, earaches, sore gums, and diarrhea to heartburn.
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