“I understand,” Alex whispered. “We have our entire lives to make love.”
He cupped her face again, this time with one palm, his eyes as soft and dark as black velvet. “I love you. I will take care of you—always.”
“I know.” Alex smiled, kissing his palm.
“I will be faithful to you.”
Alex started.
“I have never touched Sarah. I have always felt like a brother toward her, not like a husband.”
Alex was thrilled—and then she was confused. The history books she had just read had said that they’d had children … No, history had said thathe’dhad children. Alex thought of the new life growing inside of her and realized that it had been her destiny to return in time to Xavier Blackwell after all.
She flung herself at him.
He hugged her tightly again. “I will make you happy,” he murmured in her ear.
“I know,” Alex said, and this time she kissed him.
Xavier wanted her to meet his father. “He already knows all about you,” he said as they walked downstairs, hand in hand, hips bumping.
Alex pulled back. “Everything?” But she was smiling.
“He knows you are brave and strong and clever and far too resourceful. He knows you are stubborn—and beautiful. He knows that you were in captivity in Barbary. He also knows that I am in love with you,” Xavier said, tugging on her hand, for she had paused.
Alex’s heart pumped hard. There was less pain now—she could deal with his being married—and there was so much love and so much overwhelming joy. “Do I have to meet him dressed in my 501s?”
“You still speak strangely, Alexandra,” he said as he pulled her into the foyer. His gaze was piercing, thoughtful. Alex knew he was considering the possibility that she had actually traveled through time. “But you make an adorable farmer.”
Alex smiled, but then she saw through the two open mahogany doors into the opulent salon and her smile vanished. William Blackwell stood beside the marble mantel with Sarah, and they were both staring directly at them.
Xavier released Alex’s hand. Alex felt the tension then, cresting inside of her—and the anguish. Perhaps it would never cease, only fading at times to where it was not so hurtful. But Xavier cupped her elbow firmly, possessively, reassuringly—and did not release it as they entered the room.
Instantly William came forward, smiling. “This is a pleasure,” he said, and Alex saw that he was sincere as he looked into her eyes and bowed over her hand.
But she could not smile back. Her gaze darted past him to the stiff-shouldered, unsmiling Sarah, who had not moved. “Thank you,” she whispered finally. “I am so sorry to appear in your home like this,” she began.
“Alexandra has suffered a memory loss these past three years,” Xavier said, interrupting.
Alex jerked, turning to stare up at him.
“She did fall overboard, but in the process she must have hit her head. The Sicilians picked her up, but she did not remember who she was. She has had quite an Odyssey these past three years, and it is a miracle that she has actually returned.”
Alex’s heart was slamming. Did Xavier’s words contain a double meaning? And she had only been in 1996 for three days, but apparently three years had passed since she had left Xavier on board the USSConstituion,making it 1807. She swallowed dryly, her mind racing. A few years from now she knew there would be a final assault on Tripoli, led by Stephen Decatur. In the meantime, Napolean was still aggressively trying to take over the Continent, and in just five years, the United States would be at war with Great Britain. Alex decided that it was a good thing she didn’t know too much about this period of history.
Xavier continued to cup her elbow. “She has just regained her memory. She found herself working on a farm just outside of town, and immediately she thought of me. She has come to me for aid, which she shall, of course, receive. I shall take her to a hotel in a few moments.”
“You poor girl,” William said softly, his eyes warm with sympathy. Clearly he believed Xavier’s every word.
“And then what?” Sarah said sharply.
Everyone stared at Sarah, including Alex.
She came forward. “Let us cease all pretense. This entire household knows you love this woman.”
Xavier’s jaw flexed. His gaze was level, his tone firm, but soft. “Just as this entire household knows that you love Robert?”
“Yes,” she cried, anguished. “I will always love him; I have no regrets, except, of course, that he died! Xavier, we both know that it was a terrible mistake for us to wed. I have made you unhappy, while you have been nothing but kind, a true gentleman!” Tears filled her eyes. “A brother and a friend.”
