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Yet her body tingled from the memory of his touch, and she felt heat sting her cheeks.
What was she going to do?
Avoid him!
Yes, that was all she could do. Lock herself in this cabin and make sure that she never went near him again. Then at least she wouldn’t have to face him and have him remember her wild abandon, her shameless murmurs.
Under no circumstances would she open the door. Not even if the ship caught on fire and sank!
Days passed slowly as Morgan tried his best to see Serenity again, but each time he ventured near his cabin, he was met by solid resistance.
And a locked door.
Alocked door he was beginning to despise with a vengeance.
If not seeing her wasn’t bad enough, he’d been forced to borrow clean clothes from his men, since she refused to even allow him entry long enough for that.
Only Kit and Court were allowed to see her.
“Court!” he called, spying the boy making his way across the deck with a tray of food.
The boy stopped and turned to face him. “Aye, Cap’n?”
“Are you taking that to Miss James?”
“Aye, sir.”
“Then please see to it that she receives this note.” Morgan pulled the sealed letter out of his pocket and handed it over to him.
What the hell, it was worth a try. Heaven knew, it’d worked for Jake on more than one occasion.
Besides, she couldn’t stay locked up forever.
Just what was she doing in there anyway? Making more curtains? He shuddered at the thought.
Serenity recognized the timid knock. “Is that you, Court?” she called just to verify what she already knew.
“Aye, mum.”
She opened the door and met Court’s beaming smile. She’d learned much about him these last few days, including the fact that his father was much like her own—loud, but semi-indulgent.
Cookie wasn’t the beast Morgan portrayed him to be. He was a good man who just got tired of being stuck below deck all day while everyone else got to see the daylight. It was his envy that drove him to be gruff with the others. That and the fact that he was a shy man who liked to be left alone.
But not Court. He loved people and he loved to talk as much as Serenity. She looked forward to his visits.
“How have you been?” she asked as Court came into the cabin and set her platter on the table. “Is your burn still bothering you?”
“Just fine, mum, thank you for asking. Your idea about onion juice worked just fine, it did. Why, the blister be almost gone.” He held his hand out to show her where he had accidentally touched a hot pan.
Serenity took his hand in her own and traced the spot where only a red place marked what had been a bad burn just days before. “I’m so glad Dr. Williams was right. He’s said such strange things in his column that I was never certain if they were right or wrong. I guess now we know.”
Court smiled. “Pa said it was a foolish thing you suggested, until he saw the results. He wants to know if you have any cures for his toothache. It’s been givin’ ’im a hard time to be sure. Why, he even yelled at the captain yestereve.”
Her eyes widened. That was the one person Cookie never confronted. “He did not!”
“Aye, mum, ’e did. Thought the captain would have his head, I did.”
She smiled at the image. She almost wished she’d been there to see Morgan get his pride nipped. But she had given up on that quest. At least it was nice to know someone was taking her place.
