The Lightkeeper's Woman

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Epilogue

Prologue

1882

T here was never enough time.

Alanna Patterson stood before the small open portal of the captain’s cabin. The night wind was warm and the dark sky aglow with an endless blanket of stars. The gentle waters of James River lapped against the side of the schooner Intrepid.

She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. Mossy scents of the docks mingled with the aroma of tobacco bundles and freshly milled lumber. The ship had been loaded this afternoon and was ready for departure tomorrow.

If only this night could last forever.

Strong arms banded around Alanna and wrapped her in warmth. Her hand came up to his powerful arms. “Caleb.”

He nuzzled his cheek next to hers. Thick stubble teased her soft skin. “Come back to bed.”

She tipped her head back against his bare chest. “It’s getting late. I must leave soon so that I can be home before anyone realizes I am gone.”

Caleb inhaled a deep breath. “I don’t want it to end.”

Heat spread through her body as she remembered their lovemaking. “Nor I.”

“I love our nights together but I hate it when you leave.”

“Soon we will be wed and I won’t have to sneak back home at dawn.”

His arms tightened around her. “Stay with me. Come with me on this next voyage.”

The idea tempted but reason overcame it quickly. “I can’t leave Richmond now. And you will be back in six weeks. It’s not such a long time.”

“Six weeks is a lifetime.” He laid his large hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. She stared up into his warm blue eyes so filled with love and tenderness. “Marry me.”

She flattened her hands against his bare muscular chest. His heart beat wildly under her fingertips.

“We are getting married after you return,” she said.

He captured a strand of her silken blond hair between his fingers. “The ceremony is not for three more months. I want to marry you now.”

She smiled. “It’s the middle of the night.”

“There’s a church not four blocks from here. I’ll wake the minister.”

The idea made her giddy. She traced the cleft in his chin with her fingertip. “We can’t wake the minister, Caleb. It wouldn’t be right.”

His gaze darkened. “Why not? I’ll make a large donation to the church to make it worth his while.”

She sensed an edge of desperation in him that she’d never felt before. “My father wants to give us a grand wedding as a peace gesture. It’s his way of giving us his blessing. And my mother would have wanted the best for me if she were alive. I don’t want to disappoint him.”

“We’ll marry again before everyone if that’s what you want, but tonight I want to marry you.”

She took his hands in hers. His calluses rubbed against her smooth palms. “Why the sudden change?”

He shoved out a sigh. “Call it a bad feeling.”

She traced his firm jaw with her fingertip. Seamen put a good deal of stock in omens and gut feelings. Even Caleb, as logical as he could be, wasn’t immune to superstition. “There’s nothing to worry about. Father has given his blessing. There’s nothing to keep us apart anymore.”

“I want the world to know you are mine. I love you more than anything. If I were to lose you, I’d go mad.”

She squeezed his hand. He wielded great strength in his body, yet he allowed her to see the vulnerability in his heart. “I don’t need a minister’s vows to seal my love for you. I will be waiting for you when you sail back into the harbor six weeks from now. I am yours. I will love and honor you, Caleb Pitt. Forever and always.”

“Forever and always.” He dropped his gaze to their hands clasped together. He kissed her fingers. “Say it again.”

“I will love you forever and always, Caleb. I am yours to the end of time.”

“And I love you, Alanna. For richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health. Until death us do part.”

Tears filled her eyes as she stared up into the face of the man she loved. “Nothing will ever tear us apart.”

Chapter One

Two years later

T he coachman set the brake and shouted, “Easton, North Carolina.”

Alanna Patterson pushed back the stained coach curtain and stared at the meager collection of gray-black buildings made of sunbaked wood. The town’s main thoroughfare was little more than a path etched into the sandy mud by wagon wheels. The few fishermen and women standing alongside the street looked as tired and broken as the buildings. As if they too had weathered too many winter storms and too many hot, humid summers.

Why in God’s name would Caleb have chosen such a place to call home now?

Alanna had last seen Caleb on the deck of the Intrepid, his ship, as it headed out to sea. She’d been so proud of him. His blue sea captain’s jacket had been tailored perfectly to fit his tall frame and broad shoulders. His pants molded his muscular legs braced against the sway of the ship. He’d been smiling, waving toward her as he’d tried to shout her a few final words. The wind had drowned out his baritone voice, but she’d not worried. She’d gifted him with a vibrant smile and waved. She’d been so confident that their charmed future would be filled with many loving words that a few lost ones wouldn’t matter.

What a fool she’d been.

Unsettled, Alanna gathered her velvet skirts as the coachman opened the door. The tall, gaunt man took her elbow as she climbed down. Her soft gray leather boots sank into the mud up to the laces.

“My shoe!” Alanna said. “Couldn’t you have at least put down a plank?”