“The major told me you’d been relieved of duty,” James said. “For what it’s worth, I don’t believe for one minute you and Marissa are Yankees, and neither does he.”
“Thank you for that.” Craig looked towards the door Marissa had left open. “And thank you for coming when we needed you.
“James,” Craig went on, wanting to get this out before Marissa returned. He didn’t want her to hear the woman’s name on his lips ever again. “I think Kirsten Jamison is the mastermind behind all of this. The spy rumors, this shooting, everything.”
James gaped slightly, then stepped back, his expression guarded. “Kirsten? Why do you think that?”
“I’ve been avoiding her sharp claws for years. All she and her family want is my family’s money. I can’t prove it, but I know they set me up, James. The morning after my bachelor party I woke up feeling as though I’d drunk an entire bottle of Laudanum.”
The color drained from James’s face. He raked a hand through his short red locks and plopped back onto the wooden chair. “If... if Kirsten was trying to trap you I should hardly think she’d have you shot!”
“No,” Craig agreed. “I don’t think that was part of the plan. I was just supposed to be roughed up. I heard... I think I heard...” His voice weakened again. What was it he’d heard? His mind fought to remember, but the pain... It was bad.
“That night of the bachelor’s party. How much did you have to drink?”
“I remember having... two.” A stabbing of pain made Craig pause. “After that I don’t remember anything… And then I woke up in—”
“Kirsten’s bed. Yes. I know. Craig, her father caught you there.” There was more than a hint of concern in Rowe’s tone. “Do you really mean to tell me you haven’t been with her? You can tell me the truth, Craig. I won’t tell your wife.”
“I never touched her.”
“But she said—”
“I know damn well what she has been saying.” Again he tried to push himself up, but his body screamed in protest. Oh God! He wanted to curse but simply lacked the strength to do so.
“Easy.” James lowered him back down to the pillows. “You’ll undo all my good work.”
With a shuddering breath Craig swallowed, feeling incredibly… tired. “Don’t you see it?” he closed his eyes. The faraway haze beginning to close back in around him. He struggled to keep his head above the surface. “Kirsten is nothing but a conniving bitch. And she is ruining my life.”
James’s voice seemed to come from far away. “I think I can shed some light on at least part of this,” he said, “but later. Rest now.”
Marissa led the way into the room followed by the Hodges carrying a tray. At the sight of her, Craig fought off the sleep threatening to take him.
“Oh good you’re still awake.” She lay gentle fingers across his brow. “Do you think you can take a few sips of water or broth?”
“Yes,” he said, though the tempting oblivion of sleep taunted him.
* * *
Marissa cradled Craig’s head in her arm and dribbled sips of broth and water into his mouth between his spells of dozing. What she wouldn’t have given for IV fluids and antibiotics. When the two cups were empty, she lay atop the covers on his good side, watching over him in the flickering light of a candle. When the first rays of dawn peeked through the curtains, his color looked better, she was sure of it.
James climbed stiffly from a chair where he, too, had been dozing, and stretched. Ambling over to the window, he parted the draperies before approaching his patient. “He looks better.”
Marissa just nodded, stifling a yawn, and lay her head on Craig’s arm.
As if on cue, his eyes opened and he turned his head to his wife, curled at his side. “Does this mean I’m forgiven.”
James rescued her from the need to make an immediate response. “I have an errand to run in town,” he interrupted. “I’m not sure how long it will take, but I’ll check in a little later.”
“What do you think, Doc, am I going to make it?” Craig managed a wan smile.
“I think you’re going to be fine. The gunshot wound itself isn’t all that bad, but you lost a lot of blood.” To Marissa, he said, “I don’t have to tell you to keep giving him fluids, do I?”
“No, doctor, you do not.”
Craig attempted to sit. He grimaced, but managed without assistance. After stuffing pillows behind his back, Marissa scooted off the other side of the bed and stood while she escorted Dr. Rowe to the door, thanked him, and watched him leave.
She returned to her husband’s side, and tentatively touched the wide white bandage contrasting with his bronzed skin. “Craig... Oh, Craig,” she said, climbing back onto the bed, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I was so afraid. I thought I was going to lose you.”
“Not to worry, love, it will take more than this to get rid of me.” He curled an arm around her middle, the scent of rosewater swirling through his senses. She always smelled so good. He would never smell a rose again without thinking of her.
“You and James were discussing Kirsten last night, weren’t you?” she asked. “When you sent me away to get broth.”
“Yes.” His jaw flexed and again he just felt… drained. So much for being forgiven. “Marissa I’m really in no shape to fight about this.”
“I don’t want to fight either. Let’s just talk.”
“Please believe me when I swear that I love you and no one else,” Craig said, keeping his gaze steady on her dark brown eyes, willing her to see the truth, to understand it, to believe it, once and for all. “Kirsten is a selfish, spoiled brat and looks out for no one but herself.”
For a long time she was quiet. Thinking.
Her silence went on too long for his liking. “Damn it, Marissa!” He tried to take a deep breath, but pain stabbed him. “I believe without a shadow of a doubt that you are not a Union spy. I believe that you traveled one hundred and forty-odd years into the past so that I could find you. I believe the impossible for you, because I love you. Why can you not extend that same trust to me?”
She still said nothing and he plunged on, “Don’t you ever consider how hard it was for me to find out my wife was not who I thought she was? You talk about amazing things from the future that I cannot even begin to comprehend. Sometimes it makes me feel totally inadequate, and all I can wonder is if I am nothing more than what you had to settle for when you found you couldn’t return to you old life.”
“Hard for you?” Her voice was incredulous. “How dare you insinuate that I am spoiled, and ungrateful, and casting you in an unfair light.”
“That isn’t what I meant Marissa.”
“Oh, I think it is. Do you realize that you have never once asked me about my family? Did you know that I have three older brothers or that my mother’s name is Anne?”
He gulped, damn it, but she was right.
“You do believe the impossible for me, and I love you all the more for it. You have nothing to feel inadequate for because people now are no different than people one-hundred years in the future or one-hundred years in the past. I’m sorry I lied to you but you’ve obviously never thought that my life changed in a way that no one could ever expect. I didn’t settle for you Craig. I stopped trying to find a way back home. For you. I chose you. And if a way should turn up tomorrow, I’d choose you again.” A glossy sheen of tears spread over her eyes. “I have accepted that I will never see my parents or brothers again, and you will just have to accept that I did lose a lot that was important to me when I was torn from my old life.”
“I’m sorry.” The harsh features of his face softened. “It’s just that I don’t want to be forever trying to rectify the wrongs some man in your past did you. I realize I look damn guilty, but I will not stand by and watch you regret our life together because you believe you could have had better in another time and
place with that other man.”
All anger drained in the face of his words.
“You can’t possibly believe it’s Brian I want?” Her heart melted. “Craig, I don’t want him! That relationship was over, dead and buried, before I came here. No lifetime could be complete without you.” The floodgates opened and she gave her heart to him all over again. “I believe you.”
No other words were necessary.
He pulled her back against him, burying his face in her sweet smelling hair. For so long he’d longed to hear those words and reclaim the happiness he’d found with her. His wife.
“Come on, let’s get you laid back down,” she said. He nodded and let her ease him back onto the pillows. “Sleep for a while, then I’ll feed you more broth.”
“Don’t leave me, Marissa.” Craig caught her wrist and turned her toward him.
“I will never leave you,” she vowed.
He smiled, and slept as she curled tenderly against his uninjured side.
Edge of Time 230
Eighteen
Standing outside of Major Bernstein’s office James Rowe gnawed at wad of tobacco stuffed in his cheek. His conversation with Craig Langston had left him deeply troubled and he now sought the counsel of his commanding officer. The major would know the best course of action, or so James sincerely hoped.
“What can I help you with, Captain Rowe?”
Closing the door behind him James turned to the major. “Sir, I think I can blow this whole situation with Craig and Marissa Langston out of the water, but I’m going to need your help doing it.”
“Really. Take a seat and tell me more.”
* * *
That evening James returned to check on Craig with Major Bernstein and the man Marissa had met the afternoon before.
“Captain Langston. It is good to see you again, though I wish it were under better circumstances.” Colonel Briggs extended a hand.
“Yes, sir,” Craig eyed the group warily.
“Some evidence has come to the attention of Major Bernstein in regard to recent accusations against you and your wife. As we discussed before, I will be overseeing this matter.”
“Are we being placed under arrest, sir?”
“Nothing of the sort, young man.” Gesturing to the bandage encircling Craig’s waist he asked, “Do you know who did this, Captain?”
Craig shook his head. The memory had yet to return.
“Do you have any idea who would have wanted you dead?”
He let his breath out in a short, ironic laugh. “I have a few ideas, sir, but among them are half of the Confederacy who would believe the ridiculous rumor that my wife is a Yankee informant.”
“Quite right,” Briggs nodded thoughtfully. “Well, you rest up and we’ll see if we can’t get this mess straightened out before the end of the week.
Major Bernstein stepped forward and lightly dropped a hand to Craig’s shoulder. “I’ve taken the liberty of posting a twenty-hour hour guards around your house so no one will think to pull another stunt like what happened yesterday.”
“I appreciate everything you’ve done.” Shifting uncomfortably Craig continued. “Colonel Briggs said some new evidence has come to your attention. What is it?” These officers were not treating him like a fugitive and a small kernel of hope was beginning to rise. He clung to it.
The reply was cryptic. “You just worry about getting well and let me take care of sorting through this nonsense. If you need anything, Craig, please let me know.”
“Of course, sir, but I think I’m in more than capable hands.” He cast a smile toward Marissa.
Even the major smiled. “Very good, but I’ll be by to check daily just the same.”
The men shook hands. “I appreciate that.”
When the men left Marissa turned to him. “Dare we hope that this new evidence will exonerate us?”
A touch of sadness skimmed the surface of her eyes and Craig reached a hand out to stroke her cheek. “Everything will work out. Just wait and see.”
* * *
When word of Dr. Langston’s injury circulated through Charleston the societal paradigm shifted and a renewed sympathy for the young couple became apparent as they were inundated with visitors calling at all hours of the afternoon and evening. Fortunately, Hodges let only a few into parlor at a time, and only those he, himself, approved.
“I don’t even know who half of these people are!” Marissa exclaimed, peering into the hall as the Hodges closed the door behind yet another group of callers.
Her husband, looking much improved, raised broad shoulders in an indifferent shrug. “Neither do I. Let’s just tell Hodges to turn them all away.” He grinned devilishly at his wife’s incredulous expression.
“We can’t do that, Craig! It would be so rude.”
“Fine then, we’ll turn them away for the rest of the day.” He stood, reaching for the bell-pull, he summoned Hodges.
The elderly but poker-spined butler quickly appeared. “How may I be of assistance, Dr. Langston?”
“Mrs. Langston and I will not be receiving any more visitors this afternoon.”
“Very well, sir,” Hodges replied with a nod, and as if on cue, a knock sounded at the front door. The couple could barely contain hysterical laughter as Hodges deep voice intoned the message that Dr. and Mrs. Langston were not receiving any more visitors that day. The doctor was still convalescent.
“You see,” Craig bent to look into her eyes, “that wasn’t so rude, was it?”
Marissa sagged against him and shook her head. The last few days and been blissfully happy for her. Pulling him to the settee Marissa let him recline against her. Lovingly she ran soft fingers through his thick blond locks and caressed his face.
“I’m sorry for ever doubting you,” she whispered running gentle fingers along his jaw line.
Fixing a bright blue gaze upon her Craig replied, “It is past us, love, no regrets.” With a playful tilt of an eyebrow, he let a hand slide into her blouse. “I don’t know about you, but I could certainly use a bath. Care to join me?”
“Is that a proposition, Captain Langston?”
“It sure as hell is.” Standing with a swiftness she’d not thought him capable of, Craig called down for Hodges to have Mrs. Potts prepare a bath in the upstairs chamber.
A short while later Marissa tightly bound a new dressing over Craig’s sutures and tried in vain to convince him not to soak in the water. “Craig I wish you wouldn’t take a bath. I wasn’t thinking earlier. It could open you up for an infection.”
Grumbling a myriad of curses under his breath Craig brushed off her concerns and sank into the steaming water. “Are you coming or not?”
“Getting in the water would only be condoning what I specifically asked you not to do.” Marissa stubbornly placed her hands on her hips and was caught totally by surprise when Craig swiftly snagged her with his right arm and pulled her into the water with a resounding splash. “Damn it, Craig!” The unladylike oath spluttered with a gasp as her head resurfaced.
Unable to keep a pleased grin from his face Craig raised a hand as though in concession. “I’ll let you thoroughly inspect and cleanse my wound when we’re finished in the bath, but until then not you or a thousand rampaging horses could pull me out of this water.” Without further ado, he put an arm behind his head and watched appreciatively as Marissa stood and stepped dripping wet from the tub. Disappointment etched his handsome face. “Aren’t you staying?”
Turning to him she wrinkled her face. “Of course I’m getting in. I would just prefer not to bathe with my clothes on.” She shed the sopping garments and twisted the thick expanse of her hair onto her head before stepping into the bath. With a contented sigh, she leaned against the broad expanse of her husband’s chest. “This feels good.”
“You know what would feel better?
” Craig asked nibbling playfully at her ear.
Relishing the rough expanse of his hands on her skin she closed her eyes and melted beneath his fingertips. “You tell me.”
“I think I’d rather show you.” His tongue dipped into her ear. “After we finish in the bath of course.”
“I thought nothing could get you out,” she said, and stood, water streaming off her.
“Well, when you put it that way...” Craig eased himself from the tub and drew her, still wet, to the bed.
“Stop,” she ordered, giving him The Look. “You cannot stay with that wet dressing on your wound.”
He allowed her to change it, then, lying on his back, pulled her astride him. “This time, you get to do all the work.”
* * *
A light knock on the door intruded upon the magic of the afternoon. “I said we weren’t to be disturbed,” Craig called over his shoulder as he tracing a hand along his wife’s flat stomach, he touchedhis lips gently to her own.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, Dr. Langston,” sounded the efficient voice of Hodges, “but a Major Bernstein is here to see you. He said that it is quite urgent, and your father is with him.”
With a sigh Craig bent his head to steal another moment of bliss before reentering the nightmare they’d blessedly avoided for the last few days. “I’m on my way Hodges. Ask the Major and my father to wait in my study.” Reluctantly Craig pulled away from his wife. “Well, I think the vacation is over. Bernstein must have some news for us.”
Nodding Marissa tried not to look apprehensive before her husband, but she had no idea what to expect. “Craig, what will happen if I’m convicted of treason?”
Instantly he took her into his arms. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, all right? You haven’t even been arrested. Besides I already have a plan for that.”
“You do?”
“Of course. You can’t believe I’d let them hurt you?”
Edge of Time (Langston Brothers Series) Page 22
