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Chapter 13
Morgan had never answered her question.Not that night, nor the next night. Serenity had waited and waited, but he’d never spoken.
The silence had dragged on until she couldn’t take it, and when she’d prodded him for an answer, his words had been clipped. “Goodnight, Serenity.”
Even now, his rejection stung her. Either he was the type of man who did like a challenge and he didn’t want to encourage her, or he didn’t like her at all and was trying to be tactful.
Either way, she lost.
Either way meant he had no use for her and that hurt her so much more than she’d ever thought possible. It hurt way down deep in her chest and soul.
Serenity promised herself to think no more of it. Soon they would part and that would be that. She would go on with her life, regardless. And she would be strong. Never would she let anyone see her pain, most especially not Morgan.
Her will reaffirmed, she stood alone on the deck, staring at the exotic island of Santa Maria as they drew near it. In truth, she’d never seen anything like it. The land rose up out of the ocean and a fine mist enshrouded it with an enticing veil that added mystery and softness to it.
“Are we in the Azores?” she asked Kit as he approached her.
“No, Miss James,” he said, laying down the rope he held in his hands. “This is a relatively unknown island that’s inhabited by…” He rubbed the back of his neck and avoided her gaze. “Well, the types of folks I’m sure you wouldn’t want to be alone with.”
His words gave her pause. “But Mr. Rodale told me that I could buy passage from a trade ship here.”
“And he’s quite right. Trade ships stop by often, looking for information and other, less respectable, things.”
Kit left her and went to join a group of men who were lowering sails.
Serenity watched the shoreline drift closer. She was almost homeward bound back to Savannah.
The thought should have thrilled her, and yet…
What was the use in wishing for what could have been?
Sure, she’d had a couple of nights of quiet conversation with Morgan. She’d learned much about his parents, about his sister. He had even told her some of his adventures as a pirate, and though she knew she should hate that particular part of his past, she couldn’t quite muster up that emotion.
Maybe she was just too curious after all.
But one thing he never spoke of were his years in the British navy. No matter how she phrased her question, he would deftly turn their discussion to something else.
Looking to where he stood by the helm, she felt a flutter in her heart. He was such a handsome man.
A thoughtful man, she realized. Even though his views didn’t always mesh with her own, he had at least thought them out and was able to defend his ideals under fire.
And deep down inside, she admitted that she loved to verbally spar with him on those ideas. Even when hers weren’t contradictory to his, she couldn’t suppress the urge to rankle him and make him fight to convert her to his views.
But that was soon to end.
A few more hours and…
She sighed.
The ship came around a huge mountain, and there on the other side was the most beautiful sight Serenity had ever beheld. Sunlight danced on the waves that pounded against sand as white as snow. Three ships had weighed anchor just offshore and she could see a small settlement of homes not too far from the shoreline.
A large pier jutted out into the ocean and several children scurried along its edge, playing some sort of dodge game with two chickens. A myriad of flowers and plants bloomed all around. It looked like paradise.
“It’s breathtaking, isn’t it?” Morgan said in her ear.
He must have moved up behind her while she studied the area.
How could the mere sound of his voice give her chills? Banishing the thought, Serenity nodded. “Why do they call it Santa Maria?” she asked.
