Rachel’s heart did a little hiccup. This false engagement she’d agreed to might be more difficult to walk away from than she’d thought.
9
Chris eyed the relentless sun at its zenith in the cloudless sky and realized the day would scorch all of them as the afternoon wore on. And there was little cover on the small rocky island.
He walked behind Rachel just as she was about to throw another skipper and warned, “I’m afraid it’s past time we returned to the rest of the party.” The pout she turned on him was nearly as pitiful as those on Mingo and Eli’s faces when they heard him as well.
She gave the sky a quick glance and nodded in agreement. “My father will want to get the students back to the church for afternoon services.”
When they came over the small hill separating them from the rest of the group, the Vicar Berry, Mrs Chelly, and several other women were pouring more lemonade for everyone. Her father beckoned for them to come closer.
While Mrs Chelly poured cups for Rachel and him, her father raised his in a toast. When he started with, “Today is one of my happiest days as a father,” a sudden chill seized Chris in spite of the heat of the day. The vicar was not going to let either one of them back away from his scheme. Their fates were sealed.
The vicar continued, “I’m announcing the engagement of my daughter, Rachel Berry, to Captain Christopher Halloren.”
Chris had always assumed the loss of his arm would ensure he’d end his days as a single man. But now that he’d been drawn into the vicar’s determined plan to send Rachel back to England, and on the other side had promised her they could bluff their way through a false engagement that would ensure propriety for the length of the voyage, he was in a turmoil of emotions.
The more time he spent in Rachel’s company, the more he realized the idea of a false engagement left a sour taste in his mouth.
How in the hell could he turn his back and walk away from the sight of those hazy blue eyes at the end of the voyage?
Rachel tookthe cup of lemonade from Mrs Chelly’s hand and lifted it to her lips to toast an engagement that was a lie. She’d expected her father would announce their engagement eventually, but not this soon. She was appalled. She needed more time.
She now had less than a year to find her mother’s family, and to decide how she felt about Christopher. Even though he’d suggested a way out with a “pretend” engagement, she was afraid she wouldn’t have the courage to walk away from him in England. She didn’t want to care for him, but she was afraid her heart would betray her in the end.
Mrs Chelly came close and lifted her lemonade as well. “Many happy wishes for finally doing whatyouchoose to do with your life.” The sly look on her face belied her cheerful words. She was throwing Rachel’s vow back at her.
But she had to admit the cook was right. In reality, Rachel knew she had very few choices as a woman. She could remain a spinster and stay at the mission with her father as long as he lived, only to be displaced when the next mission vicar arrived. Or, she could go back to England with Christopher, end their engagement, and face an uncertain fate at the mission school in London.
As a last resort…she could become a Royal Navy wife and live a lonely life in a land of strangers.
Christopher came close and rested his arm loosely around her shoulders and spoke low. “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine. Once we’re back in England, we can extend the engagement charade as long as you like so that you can complete your studies and stay with one of my sisters while I return to the squadron.”
She stiffened at his words and resented his well-intentioned plans for her life. What was wrong with her? He was only trying to ease her way to travel to London for the training she’d dreamed of for so long.
When he moved away to share a toast with her father, she wished he would have stayed by her side while all the well-wishers among the mission students and her father’s congregation came forward. Her emotions were like an erratic pendulum, swinging from one extreme to another. What was wrong with her? She usually was in control of her feelings and knew what she wanted.
How had this man become so important to her, that he’d upended her ability to reason?
“Welcome to our family, Captain Halloren.”Chris winced at the lie now between him and the Vicar Berry, like an invisible boulder only he could see. He admired the man for his selfless work in helping former slaves, and he’d enjoyed his friendship over the years in Freetown. But now, temptation wearing a blue dress had come between them.
Chris gave everyone a wide smile while Mrs Chelly poured him a cup of lemonade in preparation for his own toast, but wondered what they’d say and think if they suspected his havey cavey plan to go along with a “pretend” engagement.
When he’d seen how unhappy Rachel had been at the prospect of being shepherded into a convenient marriage, the idea of a sham engagement had seemed the best solution at the time. And now here he was, supposedly an officer and a gentleman, lying to an Anglican vicar.
He slid a sideways glance at Rachel. The tense lines around her mouth said it all. She was as conflicted as he was about the deceitful thing they were doing, albeit for the right reasons. Rachel deserved to live the life she chose. He moved his hand close to hers, and she took it. She returned his quick squeeze, like a secret pact. There was no turning back.
He reached for his full cup and raised it toward Rachel’s father and friends. “To long life and happiness…,” Chris said, before taking a deep draught of the lemonade and adding, “For all of us.”
Both Rachel and her father gave him an odd look, but nodded in agreement and finished their drinks. Although many of the students from the mission school knew little English, they responded to the vicar’s enthusiasm and Chris’s excellent cask of lemonade.
After casting a weather eye toward the sky, he leaned toward the Vicar Berry. “It’s time we should start gathering everyone to get back aboard the ship.”
Rachel was already counting the heads of her flock of students to make sure they didn’t leave anyone on the island. He walked to her side and said, “Give me your hand.”
“Why?”
“Do it for me?” When she complied, he covered her hand with his own and when he lifted his away, she held a perfect small, oval stone, striated with orange and blue and polished by the sea.
