Chapter22
Talk About a Young Woman
Meanwhile
Watching from his barely-opened cabin doorway as Helen made her way to the parlor near the front of the ship, Tom huffed a breath of disappointment.The babe, still perched on her hip, was now saying, “Mama mama mama,” his words directed at Helen.He carefully closed the door the rest of the way and banged his forehead against the polished wood surface.
He was about to do it again when he realized he wasn’t alone.Whirling around, he discovered David regarding him with a lifted brow.
“I was set to ask you what all the excitement was about out there, but now I’m wondering who it is you’re spying on?”David said, the book he had been reading landing on his lap as he straightened on his bed.
“I wasn’t spying,” Tom replied on a sigh.“Merely...watching to be sure someone was all right.We had a bit of a fright out there near the stern.”
“Felt as if we collided with something,” David remarked.
Scoffing, Tom headed to his own bed and sat on the edge of it, his elbows resting on his knees.“Cataracts,” he said.“Uncle Will is back there with Nasir,” he added, waving in the direction of the stern.“I think the boy who handles the rudder wasn’t paying attention, or perhaps the captain didn’t warn him soon enough when he spotted the obstacles in the water.”He chuckled softly.“The rudder on his ship is certainly responsive, though.”
“I’m surprised the women weren’t screaming,” David said, swinging his legs over the edge of his bed.He mirrored Tom’s pose and regarded his older cousin with a look of expectation.
“What?”Tom asked.
“Who were you watching to be sure they were all right?”
Tom closed his eyes and sighed.“Uh, Lady Helen.She was carrying Master Bradley when the ship shifted.I thought she might...might have been injured, is all.”
“Was she?”David asked, obviously suspicious.
“No.She’s fine.”
David continued to stare at his cousin.“So...no chance she fell into your arms?”he asked with an arched brow.
Tom gave a start.“How did...?”He narrowed his eyes.
Barely able to contain his glee, David said, “Iknewit.You are in love with her.”
“I am not.”
“Did you kiss her once you had her back on her feet?”
“No!”
“Liar.”
“I couldn’t kiss her.She was holding the babe,” Tom claimed.
“But you wanted to,” David accused.
Tom was about to say, “Yes,” but clamped his mouth shut.“She’s...”Here he stopped and swallowed.
“She’s what?”
“Well, married, probably, given she has a babe.”
David made a sound of disbelief.“We wouldn’t be addressing her as ‘Lady Helen’ if that was the case,” he argued.
The grimace Tom displayed was a mix of anger and pain.“No, we wouldn’t,” he agreed.Even if she was a widow, they would be addressing her by her married name.
David furrowed his brow, about to put voice to what he knew about Master Bradley when there was a knock at the door.“Come,” he called out.
