Josephine squeezed her back with a breathless laugh. “I didn’t think I’d find it at all.”
Samantha slipped in beside them, her smile warm. “Now that was an entrance. Hopefully our exit is a little more uneventful. My ship is prepped and ready—you’ll have the captain’s cabin on the way back to Savannah.”
“Thank you. This…” Josephine’s voice thickened. “This means more than you’ll ever know.”
The streets of Tortuga shimmered under the bright press of late morning sun as they made their way down toward the docks after gathering her belongings. Islanders paused to stare, a few offering cheers or well-wishes, as if news of the chaos at the church had already spread like wildfire.
At the gangplank, Isaac stopped and offered his hand with a crooked grin. “No stowaways this time.”
Josephine slipped her fingers into his. “I make no promises.”
With a chuckle, he led her onto the ship. Movement caught her eye the moment they stepped onto the deck. The cabin door creaked open, and Samantha stepped out with a warm smile. With a burst of color and the rustle of wings, Lola swooped from her extended hands and landed neatly on Josephine’s shoulder.
“Lola!” she cried, turning to nuzzle soft green feathers.
Isaac grinned. “I thought you might like to see her again.”
Josephine pressed a kiss to the bird’s head, then reached for him. “Thank you.”
His hands slid behind her back, pulling her close. “You’re welcome, Wife.”
She let out a quiet breath. “Husband.” The word felt new and strange on her tongue, yet full of promise and possibility.
The shout to cast off the lines rang through the air and the crew jumped into motion. She glanced over her shoulder at the island—at the life she had known, and the one she was leaving behind. A thrill stirred deep within her, a mix of excitement and uncertainty as the future stretched out before her.
Isaac’s arms tightened around her and he leaned in, the soft brush of his breath caressing her ear. “Will you miss it?”
She turned to him. “No.”
He gazed at her, the oceans in his eyes calm and sure. “Looks like we’ve come full circle. Who knew all those nights ago when I showed up shipwrecked and desperate that fate would find us together?”
Her lips curved. “Maybe it wasn’t fate. Maybe it was destiny.”
Epilogue
Isaac
Savannah, GA
Two weeks later
The sun hunglow, yet fierce, in the late afternoon sky, casting golden shafts across the deck and gilding the river’s surface with light. Beneath Isaac’s boots, the deck creaked with the quiet stretch of timber soaked in heat. Brine and tar mingled with the sweeter wafts of molasses and drying tobacco drifting up from the warehouses. Canvas snapped gently in the breeze, a familiar conversation between the wind and the rigging.
A commotion came from the main deck and he strode to the rail. Warmth bloomed in his chest as a broad smile curved across his face. Josephine stood next to Samantha, dressed in a sea-blue gown that caught the sunlight and shimmered like the tide. The color played against her dark hair, which spilled over her shoulders in loose waves. She scanned the deck, her gaze quick to find him—and when it did, her expression softened, eyes shining with something that pulled the air from his lungs.
His wife. His compass. And for the first time since their hasty wedding, he was leaving her behind.
A fresh gust lifted the edge of the flag behind him, snapping it with sudden force. He exhaled, slow and steady, willing the uncomfortable pressure in his chest to settle. This was duty. This was the life they both knew he’d return to. Still—knowing he’d set sail without hersettled a lonely weight behind his ribs.
With a fluid grace, she moved toward the base of the stairs leading up to him. His eyes traced the sway of her hips, searing the picture into memory. She climbed the steps and came to stand beside him, her gaze flickering out over the water before meeting his eyes. “You seem so far away already, gazing out over the water like that.”
Isaac gave a tight smile, trying to hide the unease in his gut. “Just thinking.”
Josephine didn’t press further. She simply stood beside him, her presence a balm for his frayed nerves, even if it made the ache of leaving that much harder to bear.
Her hand brushed lightly against his, a subtle touch that somehow seemed to convey more than words ever could. The noise of the ship, the murmurs of the crew, faded into the distance as the world narrowed to the space between them. For a long moment, they stood in silence, the steady breeze sweeping between them.
She stole a glance up at him. “Are you worried?”
