Grabbing her children, the woman started away.
“Nay, come back,” Emeline called, hastening her pace. “I have food.”
Hesitating, the woman glanced her way, a look of shame and desperation on her haggard face.
“It’s free,” Emeline added. “Stop, I pray.”
“Emmy!” Her mother’s shout drew her gaze over her shoulder where Juliana Hyde stood beside a wagon distributing sacks of rice and baskets of bread to the most bedraggled souls Emeline had seen in a long while. The look her mother gave her was one of “don’t go too far,” and Emeline nodded in return, a knowing exchange between them that she would be cautious.
Yet she was no more than ten yards from where her family was—her mother, father, sister Esther, and brother Caleb. And even though Nassau was fast becoming the new pirate haunt of the Caribbean, it was late afternoon and not yet dark. Most of the nefarious sorts had not emerged to their nighttime revelry.
Still, her father, Alexander Merrick Hyde, looked up from where he knelt to aid a crippled sailor, his penetrating eyes latching upon her.
Safe. She always felt safe when her father was around. The son of the infamous Captain Edmund Merrick, Alexander was next in line to be Earl of Clarendon, but he was also the fiercest ex-pirate who ever sailed the seas. ThePirate Earlthey used to call him. Though no longer a pirate, but now a missionary of sorts, he still caused men to cower in his presence. He was a man not many dared to challenge, nor would they dare to harm any of his family.
Which is why Emeline always felt safe when he was near.
She waved and smiled, and he gave his nod in return.Aye, safe.
Turning back, she crept toward the timid lady. “Some food for you and your wee ones, Miss.”
The woman swallowed, her eyes shifting between Emeline’s before they lowered. “What d’ye want in return?”
“Nothing at all.” She held out the basket. “Please, take it.”
“Ain’t nothin’ free in this world, an’ I won’t be beholden to none.”
“But you’re wrong. There are at least two things free in this world. This food and the love and salvation of God through His Son, Jesus.”
The woman frowned as her eyes moistened with tears. She inched toward Emeline, took the basket, and dipped her head. “I take the food, Miss. Not sure Jesus cares ’bout the likes o’ me.”
Emeline smiled. “Of course He cares. ’Tis because of Him I am giving you this food.”
The woman looked down, turned, and headed down the street.
“We come here every month,” Emeline called after her, lifting up a prayer for the poor lady. Something terrible had happened to her, something she was ashamed of, something that had no doubt put her in this state of poverty.
Turning, Emeline started back to her family, wondering if there was something else she could have said or done. She stepped onto the street. The grind of wheels and clomp of hooves on the cobblestones jarred her from her thoughts, and she looked up to see an out-of-control horse and wagon barreling toward her.
Fear strangled her. She stared at them, unable to move.
The horse reared.
A man dove for her, grabbed her by the waist, and hoisted her out of the way. He stumbled to keep his balance but finally settled her back on her feet as the wagon careened past.
“What were you thinking? Be careful, Miss!” he shouted, clearly angry at having to save her.
Flustered, she raised her gaze to the most striking green eyes she’d ever seen.Almond-shaped, dark and mysterious, they seemed to harbor a treasure-trove of secrets. Capped by dark eyebrows in a strong, chiseled face with a Roman nose, thin black mustache, and dark stubble on his chin, her rescuer exuded an authority that belied his common sailor attire. Hair as dark as coal hung to his shoulders while a matching black pearl pierced his right ear.
And Emeline’s breath fled her.
At the sight of her, the harshness in his tone instantly softened, and the deep, soothing voice that emerged from his lips spiraled warmth through her.
“Forgive me, Miss, but you really should look where you are going.” One side of his lips quirked in a grin that only completed the entire mesmerizing dream—for surely that was all it was. No man had ever looked at her the way this pirate was doing now, as if he could see deep within her soul.
Ludicrous.
Another pirate yanked on the man’s sleeve and nodded down the street, tearing her rescuer’s gaze to a group of men in the distance. His demeaner changed, and he grabbed her skirts and began fluttering them about this way and that as if he were wiping away some invisible dirt.
