“There would be much to disappoint you in me,” he admitted. “As an adventurer, I’m boringly cautious and practical. As a husband, I’ll be incapable of poetic declarations of love. But I will always look out for you. And”—his voice dropped—“I rather like the idea of marrying my best friend.”
As she studied his face, she realized that under his strength and confidence was loneliness. Her life had not been easy, but his had been worse.
As a girl, she’d had the usual romantic dreams of falling madly in love with a worthy man who would love her equally. Perhaps only the young and idealistic could know that kind of love. Even if it didn’t last, they would have it for a while, at least.
But if a great romantic love wasn’t going to happen, friendship wasn’t a bad substitute. “You’re making marriage seem . . . possible. But not when a battle may fall on us in the next few days.”
“We could sail away with Hawkins and wait out the Battle of Baltimore in peaceful St. Michaels, but I doubt you’d agree to that. The marriage offer is open, dependent on events. For now, let’s go out and see if Hawkins is back on theSally May.”
She stood and headed toward the front door. “Are you going to ask him to wait while my complicated affairs are sorted out and decisions are made? That will take time.”
Richard took the key to the outside door from a nail where Molly had hung it earlier, then opened the door for her. “Hawkins has more than fulfilled his part of our initial bargain. I suspect that he’ll be keen to get away before the Royal Navy knocks on Baltimore’s door. Any sane man would be.”
“So we’re not looking very sane, are we?” she said as she stepped onto the street.
He gave her an intimate smile that did strange things to her pulse. “Sanity was never a strongpoint with either of us, was it?”
He locked the door behind them, then escorted her the short distance to theSally May, a light hand at the small of her back. She felt . . . claimed, and wasn’t sure if she liked the sensation or not.
Hawkins was sitting in theSally May’s cockpit puffing absently on a pipe as he studied the activity in the harbor. He looked up when Richard hailed him from the pier. “Hello there.” Moving with the balance of a sailor, he rose and offered Callie a hand down into the sailboat. “Did you find your family safe and happy? Are you ready to leave now?”
She stepped carefully down into the cockpit and seated herself on one of the polished wooden bench seats. “Sorry, no. Naturally everything is more complicated than expected. We can’t leave now, so it’s probably time to say good-bye and Godspeed.”
Richard followed her down into the cockpit. “You’ve fulfilled your end of the bargain, Hawkins. You’re free to head for home.”
“Just how complicated has everything become?” Hawkins asked.
“My stepson joined the militia and flatly refuses to leave, his grandmother is recovering from a fever and too weak to travel, and no one in the family is sure about going to England.” She gave Richard a sidelong glance. “I’m not sure, either.”
Hawkins’s eyes showed sympathy for complicated situations. “What about you, Gordon? Seems to me you’ve done your duty also.”
Richard shrugged. “I’m not leaving Callie on the brink of a major battle. I can arrange transport home later.”
Hawkins frowned. “When I talked to the man I do business with here, he told me of a couple who desperately want to get to Norfolk, where their daughter and her family live. I said I’d take them there. It’s a good long sail down the Chesapeake in a small boat, so it will take several days to reach Norfolk, several more to return to St. Michaels.”
“By then, it might be clear what will happen here in Baltimore,” Richard said thoughtfully.
Hawkins nodded agreement. “I can’t wait indefinitely, but my ship is still undergoing repairs, so I can stay longer in St. Michaels while events unfold. After the battle, if there is one, I’ll sail back here if that’s possible to see if either of you want to return to Britain.”
“That’s more than fair,” Callie said warmly. “I’m sorry this mission has become so complicated for you.”
The captain chuckled. “It’s complications that make life interesting. I’ll be off on the early morning tide. You take care of yourselves.”
He extended a hand and Richard shook it. “The same to you. I’ll go below and collect my possessions.”
As he did that, Callie stood and brushed a kiss on Hawkins’s cheek. “Thank you. I appreciate all you’ve done.”
He said quietly, “I hope you find what you’re looking for, lass.”
Richard emerged from the cabin with his satchel of possessions, then vaulted onto the pier and offered Callie his hand.
“Do your attic quarters have space for me if I stay out of the way?”
“Of course.” She smiled. “You can rearrange the tobacco barrels to create a nice private space for yourself.”
“That’s not a bad idea, actually.” As they made their way back to the warehouse, he took her hand casually. She should have pulled away, but in a world where everything was shifting, Richard was solid. Reliable. A connection to a past that was simpler than the present.
The waterfront was busy even this late in the day. Some merchants had found wagons to carry their goods out of town. Other people were clutching their possessions and boarding small boats. Though Baltimore wasn’t emptying out as Washington had, some residents were evacuating. But most were going about their business or wearing uniforms.
