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“Tell him I’ll be looking forward to seeing him too,” Eden responded sweetly, but when Raven returned from making certain her father got back to his own ship safely, she soon realized she had said the wrong thing.
“Who is Michael Devane?” Raven asked before he had gotten through the door.
“He’s a boy from home, is all.”
“A boy, or a man?”
“Well, I suppose he should be called a man. He’s about your age.”
“And what is he to you?”
“Nothing really. He’s just one of the boys, or young men rather, that I used to dance with at parties. I’ve not thought of him once since I left home so there’s no need for you to be jealous of him.”
“I am not jealous,” Raven denied through tightly clenched teeth.
Unwilling to argue with her volatile husband, Eden turned away. She was still seated in her chair, but that allowed for some freedom of motion. “I won’t fight with you. I’m sorry my father wasn’t more gracious. He’s usually a very charming man. I think he was just too surprised to see me today to be as friendly as he should have been.”
Raven noted the stubborn tilt of her chin, and knew he ought to follow her example and change the subject before her mood deteriorated to the foul level of his. “I’m sorry he wasn’t able to stay for dinner. I’ll tell the cook we’re ready to eat.”
Eden let out a sigh of relief as she heard the door close. Alex had never made her feel the way Raven did, as though she had to watch every word she spoke or constantly be on the defensive. She had always liked Michael Devane, and she truly was looking forward to seeing him again, but not if it was going to send Raven into a fit of jealous rage.
Raven returned a short while later with Kipp, the cook’s helper, who served all their meals, and Eden realized she felt hungry for the first time since the voyage had begun. Her mouth watered as she watched the young man set the table and serve thick slices of ham and boiled potatoes. As soon as Raven had finished the brief blessing he repeated every evening, she took a bite of ham.
“This is absolutely delicious. When was the last time we had a hot meal?”
“It was too long ago to remember,” Raven replied between bites. Knowing they would both feel better with full stomachs, he refrained from asking questions until they had finished eating.
“Your father took the news of our marriage more calmly than I’d expected. How did you manage that?”
Eden wiped her mouth on her napkin before admitting she had mentioned only Alex’s desire that they wed. “That is the truth, if only part of it, so please don’t accuse me of lying.”
Raven could not help but laugh at her request. “I didn’t expect you to tell him we’d slept together before the wedding, Eden. No one admits that to their parents, although I’ll bet not every bride is a virgin and, with a widow, who can say?” When his wife blushed with embarrassment at the indecency of that opinion, he tried to find something she would find easier to discuss. “Was he excited about becoming a grandfather?”
“I’m afraid I didn’t get that far. I was still talking about you when you came in, and then, well, I guess I just forgot.”
“How could you forget something so important as that?”
Pressed for an explanation, Eden gave the only one she could. “I was just so thrilled to see him, that it was difficult to remember everything.”
“You certainly forgot me quickly enough.” Raven had meant to control his temper, but that remark slipped out before he could stop it.
“I did not!”
“I was gone in the blink of an eye.”
“Raven, don’t do this. Just because I was excited to see my father doesn’t mean that I’d forgotten you! I should have introduced you earlier. I know that and I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
“Aren’t you a little old to be sitting on his lap?”
“Nothing I ever do pleases you, does it?” Eden answered with the same caustic tone he had just used. She was getting as good at doing an imitation of him as he was at mimicking Alex, but she had heard that critical tone of voice too often not to be able to duplicate it. Tears stung her eyes and she knew they were only seconds away from another of the beastly arguments that had made her second marriage far closer to hell than the paradise her first had been.
Raven took a deep breath, then finished the rest of his wine. It pained him to think his jealousy was so plain Eden could see it the minute he had asked about Michael Devane, but he was grateful she didn’t seem to realize he was jealous of her father as well. Apparently she thought him overly critical, but didn’t understand why. That he craved the attention and affection his wife had no interest in giving him was too painful a circumstance to bear in silence, but his pride wouldn’t allow him to beg for her love. He was angry with himself for wanting something he couldn’t have so badly it hurt. It was the agony of that longing that made him lash out at her and he knew all that did was give her a damn good reason to hate him.
She had agreed not to divorce him, however, and although he had not worded his request as precisely as he wished he had now, she had also promised to reward him for going to her father’s aid. He wanted her so badly his whole body ached, but he was not going to ever be as rough with her as he had been before the storm. She never took more than a sip or two of wine, and she didn’t care for brandy, so he had no hope of getting her drunk. He did want her in a far better mood than her present one, so he suggested the only thing that occurred to him.
“There’s plenty of fresh water thanks to the rain. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go and heat some so we can bathe.”
He was making another strategic retreat, but Eden wasn’t about to criticize him for it. “A bath would be wonderful,” she said instead. When Raven leaned down to kiss her, she raised her hand to caress his cheek. “That’s really very considerate of you.”
