Tides of Love

by Tracy Sumner

  Sinking beside him, she hugged her knees to her chest. Waves lapped at her feet. “I’m sorry I said that about letting Noah go.”

  “Oh, Elle.” He shook his head. “Have you told him?”

  She laid her cheek on her knee and stared into the fog. “What?”

  “That you love him.”

  She tightened her arms about her legs.

  “Tell him before he returns to Chicago. Tell him when his skiff lands on shore. Give him a chance to—”

  “To cringe and back away as if I had the plague?”

  “He’s not that frightened of you.”

  “Close.”

  “What about Christa’s—”

  “She told you.” Elle’s hand shot out; a shower of water drenched his trouser leg.

  “A little.” He plucked at the damp cloth.

  “Wonderful. Everyone in town knows I kissed Noah in the alley behind the Nook. Of course, they imagine I hauled him there. Poor beleaguered man.”

  “No, you’re wrong. She only told me because....”

  “Told you because of what?”

  He stood and dusted the seat of his trousers. “I’ve got to get back. Make sure Jeb is keeping the boats anchored.”

  She yanked him off balance. “Tell me.”

  “All right! I had to get him at Christa’s.” He tugged his arm loose. “He was a mess. Almost as bad as Caleb at his worst.”

  “The parlor? Was he in the parlor?”

  Displeasure hardened his jaw. “How do you know about the parlor, Elle?”

  “Was he?”

  Grunting once, he strode away.

  Elle raced after him. “Zach, please.”

  “I don’t think he would appreciate me telling you this.” He flicked a nervous glance at her. “I mean, he didn’t say, not in so many words. Not to give you some idea he said anything. Blast, I just don’t want to betray his confidence. He’s always been, you know.” He waved his hand in a circle at his side, rummaging.

  “Private.”

  “Yes. Private.”

  She averted her eyes, refusing to beg. She’d done enough to last three lifetimes. A few feet up the beach, Seaman Bennett slouched against an ale barrel, the glow from a campfire revealing a face aged by tragedy. “I’ll go to him.” She headed the boy’s way.

  “Ellie?”

  She glanced over her shoulder.

  “Since the first day Noah brought you home, I’ve loved you like a sister. Caleb and I have never made a secret of it. But this”—his gaze shifted—”I’m torn in two about it. I don’t know whether to push you two together, shove you apart, or stick my blasted head in the sand and mind my own business. I’ve never understood what Noah was thinking, and I guess this time, I don’t have a good clue about you, either.”

  As his words battled past her bewilderment, a burst of love flooded her heart. “Zach?”

  He abandoned his study of the sea, his eyes bright with fear.

  “Noah’s safe.” She placed her hand on her chest. “I would know if he weren’t.”

  “The other night, Ellie, I saw a flicker of something when he—when he talked about you. I think you should tell him how you feel, give him a chance to make good on it this time.” He returned his regard to the sea. “I believe he wants to.”

  For the next hour, she comforted Seaman Bennett and watched the waves for a sign of Noah’s skiff. The seed of hope Zach’s words had planted in her foolish, forgiving heart flourished with each breath she drew.

  * * *

  “Starboard, Caleb,” Noah yelled, hand cupped around his mouth to elevate his words above the deafening roar of the clipper’s hull splitting apart, seam by seam. He swabbed his spectacle lenses, practically useless from the spray kicking into his face.

  He glanced at the two seamen huddled in the stern. They looked all of sixteen, tear-streaked faces and pink noses. He and Caleb had come upon them clinging to a section of the hull.

  “Where?” Caleb threw his hands up.

  Noah squinted, a dull ache beginning to pound behind his eyes. If only the moon shone brighter, and the blessed fog rolled out to sea. Still, something... a flash of color, fifty yards ahead. He pointed.

  With a deft torque, Caleb circled the skiff and rowed like the devil, muscles bunching beneath the dark material plastered to his chest. He dabbed at the blood on his cheek, the result of a slap from the flat side of an oar. “Dammit, Noah.” He maneuvered through the debris surrounding them.

  “One more pass, Cale!”

  Caleb slapped the oar to the water, his voice rising above the shrieking wind. “The fog... thicker... sucked under.”

  Noah stared at what remained of the clipper, knowing his brother spoke the truth. The ship lay port side to shore, a doomed position. Coupled with the fog and the hunks of debris keeping them from moving closer, the chances of finding anyone alive were slim. He and Caleb had already had a fierce argument in front of the wild-eyed young seamen. Afraid to terrify them further, Noah had relinquished the oars and agreed to leave. Only, some thread of recognition or... ah, he didn’t know, but he had to try again. Holding up his finger, he mouthed, “Once more.”

  Caleb scowled and dug in, sending the boat in an angry skip.

  Jagged fragments of wood cracked the hull as they cleaved the water in two. Pages from a book and a leather boot floated past. A pair of men’s trousers. Noah gripped the sides and swallowed down a parched throat. Christ, why did he insist upon searching? Death surrounded them. He could sense it, imagined he could smell it, sour, like the scent of rotting meat. If only he was able to erase the image of Seaman Bennett watching Deck O’Malley float away on part of a skiff.

  The boat slowed, and Noah looked back to find Caleb dragging the oars.

  “No more. Too dangerous.”

  He shifted on the hard bench, the wind pressing his shirt against his chest. Searching the hazy distance, his urgency puzzled even him. That blessed speck of color would not leave him be. He tucked his spectacles inside the canvas shoe sitting by his bare feet. Catching Caleb’s gaze, he dipped his hand down, then up—I’m going in.

  Caleb wrenched the oar and cursed loudly enough for him to hear.

  With a balanced movement, Noah slipped over the side. He lengthened his stroke, shoving debris from his path, the water a cool glide against his skin. Caleb had offered to swim out each time, but Noah excelled in the sport, an advantage that had given him hours of adolescent glee. Besides, he wasn’t midway to intoxicated.

  Just ahead, part of a skiff bobbed free. And atop it lay a body. Noah paddled forward, lungs near to bursting. Too late, he’d arrived too late. Closing in, he slapped his hand against the stern, brought his lips above the surface, and gasped for air.

  “I thought your brother... had this skilled group of... sea rescuers. All I get is you.”

  Noah reared and swallowed water. He hauled himself atop the skiff, coughing.

  “Please don’t drown... on me, Garrett. I’m afraid I left my... medical bag at the office.”

  “Leland?”

  “Who does it... sound like?” Ruining the show of bravado, the doctor’s teeth began to chatter.

  Noah dropped his cheek to the notched wood, gulping for breath. “I risked my life for you?”

  “I’m sorry, Garrett. What does one do... when they helplessly watch men drown, screaming... as their ship is sucked into the sea? As it sucks them into the sea? You may think I’m a... bastard, and I suppose I can be,” he said, his voice cracking. “Yet I am also a doctor. I prefer to save lives, not see them... being extinguished in front of me.” He groaned, and Noah felt the skiff rock with the force of his shudder.

  “Can you swim? Because I don’t think I can carry you.” Noah blinked, his eyes stinging as if he had shoved a fistful of lye soap in them.

  “Of course... I can swim. I wasn’t sitting here... waiting to c-catch my breath. Look around you. I didn’t have... anywhere to swim. Because of the fog, I have no idea how... f-far we are
from shore.”

  Noah hitched to his elbows. Magnus’s bewildered gaze slid his way, and he felt the first real stab of fear. “Who else sailed with you?”

  “We came upon the ship so suddenly, I couldn’t... t-turn. A slow sail. Not much wind.”

  Not able to grasp Magnus’s shoulders, he put the strength in his tone. “Who, Leland?”

  “The clipper’s mast, the main one, I think... crashed and caught”—he choked on a sob—”caught us right in the middle of the skiff. A-a clean break.”

  “Leland!”

  The doctor’s head lolled to the side as he stared into the distance. “She’ll never love me now. Not when her father d-died in my skiff.”

  “Oh, Jesus.” Noah pressed his stomach into the curve of the stern to keep from heaving. “Tell me Henri Beaumont isn’t out here somewhere.”

  “On the other side of the skiff,” Magnus whispered, his lips tinged blue. “I’ve been holding... his arm so he doesn’t drift away. He’s not heavy. Floating, he’s floating.”

  “Holding his arm.” Noah wrenched back, plunging into the water. “Cale!” he screamed at the top of his lungs.

  Caleb returned a hoarse shout.

  He screamed his brother’s name again, his thread of control snapping.

  A rumble and a shudder. The clipper going under. Noah felt the answering quiver along the surface of the water and the strong tug near his feet. “Hang on, Leland,” he said, his teeth beginning to chatter. It sickened him to admit he meant, hang on to Henri. He watched the wave swell and braced against the edge of the stern. It roared over them, washing him into a large fragment of the clipper and washing Leland into him.

  “We’re going to die,” Magnus cried and circled Noah’s wrist.

  Noah shoved Magnus toward the skiff. He nearly retched at the solid bump of another body. “Climb up, Leland. Do it. Caleb’s coming.” If Caleb’s boat hadn’t overturned. Please, God, no. Starting to shiver, he kicked his feet and grasped the underside of the skiff between numb fingers. “Leland, don’t let go—don’t let go of Henri.”

  “Still got him,” Leland returned in a singsong voice.

  Hurry, Cale, he prayed. The frigid water and the biting wind consorted to drive every bit of heat from his body. He never wanted to swim again, yet he dreaded having to step on shore and face Elle.

  “I can see you. Just hang on.”

  He opened his eyes, unaware he had closed them. Kicking his feet, the surface of the water rippled, smooth and gentle this time. The knotted end of a rope thumped the skiff, emitting a startled cry from Magnus. “Leland take the rope.”

  “Leland?” Caleb leaned out. “What is he doing... Holy Mother Mary!”

  Noah groaned. Water lapped against his chin and into his mouth. He coughed and spit it out.

  “This is going to kill Ellie.” Caleb’s voice was rough.

  “I’ll be there,” he said, wondering if that would be enough.

  * * *

  Along the shore, the occasional chip of quartz glittered in the dim moonlight. At the water’s edge, a crowd of people gathered. Near the dunes, flickering bursts from a campfire danced across the sand. Long ago, Noah had stopped noticing the rancid smell and Leland’s corresponding whimper at each crest and dive of the boat. Long ago, he had stopped feeling his teeth banging together or the searing pain in his side.

  Now, Elle’s pain consumed him.

  When they reached the shore, the men greeted them, voices raised in jubilation and relief. Caleb released the oars as they dragged the boat to the sand. Someone slapped Noah between his shoulder blades and he pitched forward, scraping his palms on the bilge.

  The joyful laughter ceased when the men got a look inside the skiff. No one proved quick enough to keep her from meeting them.

  “Get her away.” The crashing waves smothered Noah’s hoarse plea.

  He watched her drop to her knees in the edge of the surf, waves striking her beautiful body. He struggled to hold her back.

  Her scream, Zach’s curse, the boat shifting crazily as she threw herself against it. His lids lowered, obscuring the sight of her face, the horror and revulsion, the devotion. Brave and honest, Elle possessed a fullness of heart that gave her the faith to love when it would likely never be returned measure for measure.

  He and Henri Beaumont shared this betrayal, Noah realized.

  Swaying forward, he flailed, meaning to protect her. A barbed pain, violent and sudden, cut down the right side of his body.

  With a gush of liquid heat, he felt nothing at all.

  Chapter 10

  “The enormous pressure at these great depths seemed at first sight alone sufficient to put any idea of life out of the question.”

  C. Wyville Thomson

  The Depths of the Sea

  “Cale, get off... my chest.”

  Noah’s whisper had Caleb lurching against the bedside table, nearly dropping the pitcher of water. He hadn’t sat on Noah’s chest, threatening to let the long string of drool drop from his lips, in fifteen years or more.

  He hesitated, then took a step closer, gazing at his brother. Noah’s hair lay against his brow in a tangle of gold. His gaunt cheeks were beaded with sweat, his usually clean-shaven jaw lined with stubble. He had kicked the sheet off his feet, and the frayed edge of Caleb’s work trousers caught him mid-calf. He probably wouldn’t be pleased knowing he looked... sloppy. He’d never liked looking sloppy, Caleb recalled.

  Perching on the chair, he reviewed the list of things Leland had told them to do. Change bandages daily. His gaze flicked to the strip of white wrapped around Noah’s chest. He tugged the sheet to Noah’s neck and tucked it in for good measure. Thank goodness, Christa had promised to change the bandage when she returned.

  Apply cold compresses. He snatched a rag from the basin at his side and wrung it with a twist. As carefully as if he placed flowers on a grave, he laid it on Noah’s brow. His shoulders slumped in relief. Not a flicker of pain crossed his brother’s face.

  Chair wobbling beneath him, Caleb dug in his pocket. The least he could do was straighten Noah’s hair. His hand shook as he began to comb. Not much experience with nursing. He and Zach were fit as fiddles, no need for doctors and sickbeds. Course, they’d never been slammed upside a splintered hull, either.

  Leaning back in his chair, he studied the combing job, deciding it would do. This wasn’t as frightening as he’d believed. Gave him a warm feeling actually. With a renewed burst of confidence, he plucked the damp rag from Noah’s brow, dumped the cloth in the basin, and grabbed another. Turning, he slammed into a wide-eyed stare.

  He yelped and dropped the rag on Noah’s chest.

  Noah blinked. “Cold,” he said. His throat worked in a slow swallow.

  “You’re cold?” Caleb raced to the closet. Stretching, he tugged a blanket from the shelf above his head. It smacked his face, and he hurried back to the bed.

  Noah grimaced and lifted the rag to his brow.

  “Oh, you meant... I see.” Caleb slumped into the chair, the blanket still wadded in his arms. “Yeah, we’ve got ice in there to keep them cold. Doc’s orders.”

  “What time... how long have I been?” He coughed, trying to strengthen a voice frail from disuse.

  “In and out for two days.” Caleb hurled the blanket to the floor. “Have been too much to let me know you’d split your side open getting washed into something?”

  Slowly, Noah lifted the sheet.

  Caleb rested his hands on his knees and leaned in. “You got slammed into a jagged piece of wood, looks like. Cut into you like a knife.”

  Noah let the linen drop. “I just figured... the pain”—he flicked his fingers—”a bruise.”

  “A bruise?”

  His eyes closed, and Caleb thought he had slipped into sleep.

  “How is Elle?” Noah finally asked.

  “Not so good.”

  “Funeral?”

  “Today.”

  Noah’s lids lifted. He strug
gled to rise to his elbows.

  Caleb subdued him with one finger on his shoulder. “No, way, little bro’.”

  “Someone needs to... be with her, Cale.”

  “I realize you think that someone should be you, but Zach and Christa will have to do.”

  His throat clicked off a dry swallow. “Why aren’t you there?”

  Caleb poured a glass of water—then belatedly remembering another of Leland’s orders—quickly stirred in a pain powder. He slid his arm beneath Noah’s shoulders. “Because I never liked him. He treated Ellie as poor as a fistful of dirt, and she loved him too much to return the favor. Zach was scared I wouldn’t be able to hide my distaste for the man. I think that’s how he phrased it. A pretty way of saying I hated the bastard. So, here I am playing nursemaid to you.”

  With a pained grimace, Noah wrenched from Caleb’s hold, sending the rag from his brow to the wall. Clumsy as a baby, he grabbed the glass and emptied the contents in three long gulps.

  “Easy, partner.” Caleb frowned and snatched the glass out of his hand. “If you vomit all over yourself, Zach will hang my butt in a sling.”

  “Typically vulgar,” Noah said and slumped to the mattress, his skin pallid beneath a fevered flush. “Whatever you put... in the water tastes like—”

  “Hush and lie there, grouchy little man.” Caleb slapped a new rag in place.

  Noah edged the cloth from in front of his eyes. “What kind of... nursemaid are you?”

  “You scared us to death, Professor.” He drew a breath that stunk of camphor and rubbing alcohol.

  Noah waved away the concern, his lids drooping. The white scar on his eyelid held Caleb’s attention, a beacon signaling their rocky past.

  “Do you think this is a joke, what we feel for you? Watching you topple over in that boat, a river of blood gushing down your side?” Caleb’s chair skidded back, and he stomped to the window. He flicked the curtain aside—ones they’d always detested but kept to spare Hannah’s feelings—and glared into a blustery charcoal day that completely suited his mood. “Ellie was raving mad. You bleeding on one side of her, her father all mangled on the other. Stymie sailing in with three bloated bodies piled in the stern. It was a holy mess, the likes of which I never want to witness again.”