Pain, raw and naked, flitted across her face as she stepped nearer.“Surely, you know.”
“Nay.Nor do I have time for your trifling dalliances.”
Her lips parted in wounded surprise.“Trifling?”The word cracked from her tongue as though it were an insult too grievous to bear.Her bottom lip quivered.“Je t’aimais,mon amour.I have always loved you.After our kiss…I thought—” Her hand rose, fingers feather-light upon his cheek, her voice sultry as velvet.
“Geneviève,” he said, firmly taking her hand and letting it fall.“Whatever once blossomed between us has withered.”
Her eyes shimmered, disbelieving.“I was a fool back then.I begged your forgiveness.What more can I do?”
“And I forgive you,” Caleb said with all sincerity.“But some things cannot be forgotten.”
“Perhaps, with time?”she whispered, clutching the lapels of his doublet.“Forget that woman, Miss Starr.She’s but a rustic creature, unlettered, graceless.Her speech is coarse, her manners strange.What joy can she offer you?”
At every word meant to wound, Caleb’s heart only swelled.He thought of Desi’s laughter, her curious speech, the way she bent to gather shells as though each were a treasure from God’s hand.Her stories, her kindness, her humility.These were riches no station could bestow.He loved her…utterly.He knew it then.
Mistaking his silence for compliance, Geneviève pressed against him, curves molded in desperate entreaty.“Take me with you, Caleb.Leave my father and this cursed place behind.I swear I shall bring you happiness.”
Pity alone stirred within him.“Cease this folly, Geneviève.’Tis finished between us.”
Her eyes flared.With sudden violence, her palm cracked againsthis cheek, the sting searing his jaw.
She spat a torrent of French oaths, sharp as daggers, before spitting out in English, “Pigeon-livered hound, dastard, insolent cullion, mewling poltroon!I shall make you pay.You shall rue this day.Mark me, Caleb Hyde, you shall regret scorning Geneviève de Montverre, fille de Monsieur le Marquis de Montverre!”Clutching her skirts, she fled into the darkness, swallowed by the night.
Alden emerged from the shadows, lips curved in wry amusement.“You’ve ever had a gift for turning ladies fair to furies.”
“Let’s return to the ship.”Caleb marched past his friend.
“But we haven’t seen the auction yard.”
“I’ve seen enough.”Caleb glanced over his shoulder as they turned a corner and the moonlit yard shifted out of his view.He shouldn’t allow Geneviève to distress him, but the violent fury of her anger only added to the angst of this night.
Alden marched beside him.“She’s a silly woman.Put aside her tirade.”
“I agree.But ’tis not just her.We never caught the thieves who sabotaged the ship.Desi is being held hostage, many of the crew have fallen ill with some strange disease, and…”
“And?”
“I’m about to foist a deception upon a man who with a single word could have theSentinelburned and us fed to the sharks.”
Back on the ship, Caleb stormed into his cabin.He still had two hours to go before his meeting.
“Might I suggest we use this time to pray for God’s aid and protection?”Alden plopped onto the chair as Caleb struck flint to steel and lit a lantern.No doubt ’twas a good plan, for the presence of the Almighty would surely calm his agitated nerves.
“Cap’n!Cap’n,” Shorty barged in.“Ye’s got to come quick!”
What mischief could be afoot now?“What is it?”
“They’s stringin’ ’im up.”
“Who?
“Liam.A group of sailors are set to hang him from that big ceiba tree just outside of town.”
♥
Caleb barged into the clearing, shoving aside the press of shouting townsfolk, his jaw set, hand hovering over his cutlass.Ahead, rising like some towering giant from the grave, loomed a monstrous silk-cotton tree, its gnarled trunk steeped in whispers of old superstitions.At its base, buttress roots jutted from the earth like bones, while above, limbs sprawled outward against the dark sky.A noose dangled from one crooked bough, swaying idly in the salty breeze, mocking the doomed soul it awaited.Liam.
His friend and bosun stood, hands tied behind him, head lowered as two men shoved him toward a large crate placed beneath the rope.
