“What is this?” She gazed up at him, her mouth open in wonder.
“In the Halloren family, we always gift the women we pledge to love with a ring.” He closed her fingers back around the cool, shiny rock. “This little gift from the sea will have to do until we return to England.”
When she slipped it into her reticule, there was a clicking sound as if it had encountered another pebble. Chris smiled. His gift must have had found a kindred spirit in her, since she obviously harbored another beloved stone in her bag.
Rachel sat nextto Christopher while he handled the tiller for the trip back to Freetown. The wind was at their back on the homeward journey and the sail billowed out in front of them. Added to the river’s restless current, the wind fairly spanked the ship along her way back to the harbor. She imagined the fullness of the canvas represented all the thoughts flying through her head and heart.
She was filled with hope for the changes coming in her life but wondered if the butterfly-like patters in her chest and stomach were born out of excitement or fear. Her father sat on the facing bench, and when she lifted her face, his eyes were watching her closely.
When the Vicar Berry beckoned to her, she crouched and moved across the space to sit next to him. As soon as he put his arm around her, she leaned her head on his shoulder as she had as a child. Cruel words from another student at the mission school, or bad dreams, had always found her seeking his shoulder.
Her mother Miriam had always been there for her as well, but her father had been the rock she could cling to in a storm. His hair was all silver now, and he seemed more frail with each year, but he was still her refuge.
She leaned close to his ear and asked, “How do I know we’re doing the right thing?”
The look her father turned on her seemed full of knowledge of what had actually passed between her and Christopher. “You have to trust your own heart and trust Captain Halloren to take care of you.” He squeezed her gently and added, “There is no right or wrong way to love. You cannot make a mistake in the honest exchange of caring.”
She stayed that way, cuddled against her father all the way back to the quay. After Christopher and his men secured the shore boat, they helped the passengers ashore and he had two of his men assist Mrs Chelly in pulling the considerably lighter food cart back up the steep street to the mission kitchen.
When he turned to her and her father, Rachel insisted they should return to the mission on their own. “We are so grateful for the outing you’ve provided for our students and friends, but we don’t want you to go out of your way to walk my father and I back. You must be tired after a day of taking care of all of us”
Christopher quirked an eyebrow and gave her a broad grin. There was a teasing glint in his eyes. “You’re not going to get rid of me that easily, Miss Berry. Have you forgotten already? You pledged to marry me one day in front of all your students and friends this afternoon, not to mention your father, the vicar. And now you’re pushing me away already?” He made a low “Buck, buck, buck” noise and asked, “What would Abile think of your manners?”
Her father chuckled at the way he’d used her chicken sensibilities against her.
Rachel was not amused and stamped her foot. “You are mocking me, Captain Halloren.” She looked around to make sure they were alone and then said, “And you, Father. Why did you announce the engagement without warning us first?”
“Because, daughter mine, everyone in the church as well as this small community are watching the two of you. The gossip was already building, because it’s apparent when you’re together, there is affection between you. If I hadn’t announced the engagement, some of sharper biddies in the community might have begun spreading stories about the two of you.”
When Rachel took a deep breath as if forming a retort, he put a gentle finger against her lips. “The classes you work so hard to provide at the mission school might have lost students if I hadn’t moved to forestall gossip.”
Rachel sighed and nodded in acknowledgment of the truth her father spoke. She fell in with the vicar and Christopher for a slow walk back up the hill toward the church.
Chris had heldhis breath throughout most of Rachel’s raging against the unfairness of the position in which her father had placed her. And now, as they walked back up the hill from the harbor in silence, he satisfied his curiosity about her mood by sneaking sideways looks while she walked between him and her father. At first, her frown seemed rigid and permanent, but then once when she caught him staring, she bent her head and stuck out her tongue so that only he could see.
That small, secret rebellion of Rachel’s put Chris’s body on high alert. She made him want to kiss away her impudence and show her better ways to make use of her naughty tongue.
Once they reached the back gate to the vicarage, her father made his excuses and ducked through the rear entrance into his study. Chris was tired, and he was sure Rachel was exhausted, but when she suddenly tipped her head and said, “We should check on the orange trees in the orchard,” he was more than ready and took her hand.
As soon as they were behind the kitchen, he pulled her into the herb garden. Since dusk was about to fall, no one was there, and Mrs Chelly had probably left to return to her own home for the night.
“Do you know what happens to naughty girls who stick out their tongues at officers in the King’s Navy?”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“Good things like this.” He moved close, tipped up her chin, and placed a butterfly-soft kiss on her lips. She tasted like sweet, ripe melon and something else, totally Rachel. He sipped from the luscious lips he’d been craving for so long and then stopped. He laughed at the look of pique on her face. She wanted more.
“Come on, Miss Berry.” He took her hand and pulled her along behind him. “We have a long walk ahead of us if we’re going to check on those ugly oranges and get back before dark.”
Rachel half ran,half skipped behind Christopher to match his long strides toward the orchard. Although she knew whatever was between them could only be temporary, she liked what he did to her insides. What could be wrong with snatching a bit of joy before she immersed herself in her studies and dedicated her life to work with missions?
Once they reached the cover of the lines of fruit trees, she stood on her toes to reach one of the ugly, bumpy-skinned oranges and plucked it from the branch before handing the fruit over to Christopher.
Without a word, he pulled a small knife from his belt and peeled the rough, pocked skin away from the sweet pulp within. He held the dripping fruit just out of her reach and asked with a teasing tone, “What would you like, Miss Berry?”
She gave him a sly smile and pointed to the dripping fruit.
“If you don’t tell me what you want, I don’t think I can give it to you. We have rules in the Royal Navy.”
