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“He’s being paid to do so – to watch all of us,” Calista countered evasively.
“You know what I mean.”
“Do I?”
“He’s a good man and has been through a lot. I never imagined that we would all come together and found this business, but he wouldn’t let go when we were slipping away,” Marie whispered, looking at her. “Each of us was suffering, dying slowly on the inside. The captain was strong enough to pick up four others out of that darkness – along with himself. If he’s let you into his world, be ready for it - or step back now. Don’t hurt him. Please?”
Calista couldn’t look away from Marie, hearing her words and realizing that not only were they loyal to him?They were his friends, practically family, and she was worrying over the man like he was a brother or a former flame.
“Are you…?”
“No,” Marie smiled. “He’s like a family member – an uncle or brother to me. He gave me a chance to escape from it all when I was falling apart, and I will be forever grateful. Bo, Jared, and Shepherd lived with him for a while, while going through rehab before their discharges… and he used his savings to put them all up in one hotel room, so they weren’t homeless.”
“I had no idea.”
“He won’t tell anyone that either. We would follow Captain William Kidd blindly, because he has never steered us wrong - even when some were nearly dying. The captain was trying to save everyone. This ship is our home, our world, after being tossed aside by the ones we once knew.”
Marie’s face darkened slightly.
“If what I think is beginning somehow, please don’t ask the captain to give up his family. It would change him once more, and that inner strength we all have, I think we both know that ‘well’ is not bottomless… now, is it? We all have a breaking point. I’m just asking you not to behis,” she said bluntly, pointing out the doorway to the deck that was gleaming in the sunlight.
Calista nodded and shoved a spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth, grateful she couldn’t taste a thing right now except the sourness of her stomach.
This wasn’t a game and Marie was right. Playing around with someone that was hurt, injured, had already suffered, would be cruel… but if she continued down this path, following this fascination she had growing inside of her, what would a future look like?
It wouldn’t be just doves, ribbon boughs, and rainbows…
She wasn’t so naïve as to believe any of that. But what happened if a scarred, bitter man found a way to reach a lonely widow? She had her world, her books, her business… and he had his.
Would one bend? Would one break?
… And what happened to these others that he’d taken under his wing?
Calista slowly looked at each of them.
Bo was leaning against the wall, his prosthetic practically glowing from his faded pants that had seen better days. Did he dress the part – or was this what he owned because he desperately needed this position?
Jared was talking to Shepherd, his eyepatch stark against his tanned face that had lines of stress marring his forehead. There were streaks of grey at his temples and a bitterness that was hard to dismiss. He’d talked about getting ‘one of those fancy eyes’ and joked about it ‘rolling across the deck’ to scare the crew… which made her wonder if he couldn’t afford the prosthetic eye? Wouldn’t that eye have been covered by the military if he lost it during combat? Was wearing the eyepatch his choice then?
… And Shepherd.
The silent man never said much.
Shepherd was always there looming in the corners, helping run the ship. He wore that hook appendage that looked like it was from another time and knew there were other prosthetics he could have used… so did he choose the hook for his role on the ship?
Even the modern ones had clips to help secure grasping something, looking almost like a carabiner clip. This looked like something Captain Hook wore, and nearly as treacherous.Was he asked to wear it? Did he choose to? Did he have another that he used to go into town with?
It was like all of them reveled in their changes and used it to their advantage… just like Will. He could avoid wearing the hat, wig, and get-up, but chose to utilize it to further their illusion. Perhaps it was their way of celebrating their choices, their freedom in being different. Each of them recognized their disabilities, their scars, and the changes that were thrust upon them… giving Fate, Karma, and whoever else was watching a mocking salute, because they were stronger than what had happened to them.
… And it was beautiful,she realized, swallowing back the lump in her throat.
When Jack had died, she had hidden. She lost herself into her work, even if she couldn’t write, and found solace in busying herself so she didn’t have to deal with the suddenness of it all. She’d retreated, yet these people had stood up, braved the onslaught of it all, and it was humbling.
Thiswas what Marie was asking for in so many ways,she realized with uncanny understanding.
Marie had been asking her that boldly, that if Calista followed this path, whatever was beginning with her and Will - that she not become the singular person to knock down their fragile wall.
She couldn’t be that person – which meant that if she followed this path, she was going to need to figure out just how this would work. Suddenly, that mental zipper that had once seemed so effortless… just hit a very big snarl.
