Beloved Counterfeit (24 page)

He wore the clothing of a man who commanded a militia. The change from wrecker to captain was startling. And quite appealing. Beneath his officer’s coat, he wore a neatly pressed shirt, and his boots shone. The only diversion was his hair, which had been captured with what appeared to be a length of leather. He held his hat in his hand.

How handsome he is
,
was her only rational thought.

“Ruby, I—”

As he moved out of the sunlight, his smile froze, and her heart lurched. “What is it? Is something wrong?”

Without looking away, he reached for the door and closed it. Still, he wore the peculiar expression.

Ruby endured the silence as long as she could manage. Finally, she turned to walk to the window. As he’d stated, a man in the uniform of the militia lounged on the back porch, a plate of whatever Mary Carter had served for lunch in his hand.

She looked past him to the ocean, where a vessel she didn’t recognize glided along the horizon. At that moment, the ship could have belonged to Tommy himself, and she wouldn’t have cared.

“I knew it,” she said. “It was all too good to be true.”

The floor creaked as his footsteps drew near. In the glass’s reflection, she could see Micah standing behind her. To turn and fall into his arms might cause him to change his mind and marry her anyway, but her pride wouldn’t let her do it.

She watched the strange ship until it disappeared behind the tall silhouettes of the mercantile and the courthouse.
Keep the watch, Claire. Always keep the watch.

“Ruby? I’ll keep the watch. Turn away now.” Almost a whisper, yet unmistakably a command.

Her spine straightened as her breath caught. How had he known?

His hand spanned the small of her back, soft, proper in its placement. “Turn away now.” A bit louder. Somewhere between a plea and a command.

Ruby swallowed hard as her feet refused to move. The hand, however, traced her spine and tangled in her hair as Micah closed the distance between them. They stood for what seemed like an eternity, not quite touching yet so close Ruby could hear Micah breathe.

“I don’t hear anything,” Viola called from the other side of the door.

“Hush, Vi,” Emilie said.

Had Micah not stood so close, Ruby might have laughed. Instead, she resolved to end the standoff. “Just tell me you’re not marrying me,” she said, “then go. I’d rather you get it over with than make me stand here and wait.”

“I agree.”

Shock caused her to turn and face him. “You do?”

“Yes, I do.” He seemed to be searching her face until his gaze rested on her eyes. “The color of the sea on a calm day,” he said softly. “I never noticed until now. I’d always thought they reminded me of the sky, but no. . .it’s the water. But then, that’s more changeable, no?”

“What is? I don’t understand.”

“Your eyes, Ruby. They’re so blue it hurts to look at them,” he said as his hand pressed against her back and moved her into his embrace.

She craned her neck to look up at the man who by equal measures irritated and interested her. “Why are you here? I’m confounded completely.”

“As am I,” he said as he leaned down. “You see, I’d planned on a marriage based on one thing, but I’ve come to think there’s more to it.”

“Again I don’t understand.” She focused on the topmost button on his shirt rather than look Micah in the eye and risk forgetting what she intended to say. “What could you possibly want to learn by calling out the militia and barging into my private chambers on our wedding day?”

“It occurred to me,” he said slowly, “that our marriage will not be legal if either of us is not free to marry.”

“What are you asking?”

“The Frenchman. Who is he to you?”

She thought a minute. “He is no one, Micah. Only someone I once feared and now only want to forget.”

Micah seemed to consider the statement for an eternity. Outside the window, a bell clanged and a horse and buggy rolled past. Still, he looked down at her without speaking.

“Why did you fear him? Was it because he hit you?”

How much to say? She decided to speak the truth judiciously. “No,” she said slowly. “I feared him because of what he could do to the girls. I would give my life for them, and he knows it.”

“Then my vow to keep you safe will stand.” Her husband-to-be looked away. “Tell me you don’t love him.”

Something akin to warmth flooded a heart that had gone icy. “Oh, Micah. No, no, no. I never loved him.” She reached up to grasp his face and turn it toward her. “You’ve made a vow to protect me. I would like to make a vow of my own.”

“Oh?”

“I vow,” she said softly, “that I will be a wife you can safely trust.”

His nod was curt, though she thought his expression appeared to soften. When he scowled, however, her hopes for an end to his questions plummeted.

“Ruby, there’s another issue that’s pressing, and I must handle it before I can possibly consider taking you as my wife.”

“I see.” She tried to wriggle from his embrace, but he tightened his grasp.

“Be still,” he commanded. “This is a problem in need of immediate remedy.”

“All right,” she said.

“You must admit that while you did attempt a passable kiss down at the beach this morning, I think it’s safe to say that one didn’t quite reach the mark. Neither did that kiss you thought I didn’t notice back on the porch.”

She felt the heat rising and stifled a smile. “You make it sound like I’m some sort of shameless hussy bent on kissing you at every opportunity.”

Her words nearly stopped her heart as she realized how close the statement of her character was to the truth—before she met the Lord.

“I’m doing the talking here, Ruby,” he said. “So try to keep quiet and follow along. Now as I said, I figure it is important that I rectify the wrong that’s been done here, what with those two pathetic attempts at a kiss being all that I’ve got to go on as far as your expertise in this department.”

Ruby’s grin took hold, but she reined it in. “Is that so?”

“It is, and while I’d still marry you even with this troublesome situation hanging over our heads, I’m a man of action. I’d rather fix the situation so we can marry up without having to wonder whether we’ll ever kiss right.”

“Kiss right?” Now her grin refused to be tamed. “Exactly what does that mean?”

“Well, that’s the question of the moment, isn’t it?” He shrugged. “Far as I can tell, there’s only one way to find out, isn’t there?”

“Mr. Tate,” she said with mock surprise. “I’m about to be a married woman. Are you suggesting I should—”

Micah’s hand cupped her cheek, and her ability to speak fled once more. With excruciating slowness, he traced a path down her jawline with his knuckles until he reached her chin. Tilting her chin with the slightest nudge, Micah succeeded in making Ruby look at him.

“The question, Miss O’Shea, still stands.”

“Question?” she managed. “Was there a question?” Her gaze collided with his. “I’ve forgotten.”

“Stop teasing and kiss her,” she thought she heard Emilie say.

“Hush, Em. He’ll do it when he’s ready, won’t you, Micah?” Viola responded.

Micah’s smile was broad, but it lasted only long enough for his lips to reach hers. As the kiss deepened, Ruby felt her feet leave the floor. The mantel clock ceased to tick, and time fell away just as the floor had. Only when Micah set her back on the ground did she come to her senses.

At least in part.

If the kiss she attempted in the waves that morning was her way of learning whether Micah was a suitable husband, this kiss surely was Micah’s way of learning whether he had a suitable wife.

“Micah,” she whispered when she could. “What happened?”

“I got my answer,” he said. “That’s what happened.”

“No, I mean, my feet left the ground. Didn’t you feel it?”

“They did?” Eyes half closed, Micah gathered her to him once more. “No, I didn’t. We’d better try that again.”

When the same thing happened three times more, Viola barged in with Emilie behind her. Even Josiah had joined them, and he now stood a few paces behind them with a broad smile.

“Enough of that,” Viola said as she reached for Micah’s arm and hauled him toward the open door. “It’s time for Ruby to finish her preparations for the ceremony.”

Micah pulled free and walked back to where Ruby stood. “I’ll see you at the church.”

“Yes, you will,” she said with an enthusiasm that was diminished only by her lack of ability to stand without leaning against the chair.

He moved close enough so that he could whisper in her ear. “My promise stands, Ruby. You’re safe with me. I’ll not fail this time.”

Chapter 29

“This time.”

Ruby walked through the rest of the preparations for her wedding day with those two words foremost in her mind. Why hadn’t she asked for an explanation?

She squared her shoulders and gave her hair one last look. “Because I don’t need one.”

Yet Micah’s cryptic statement followed her up the aisle of Fairweather Key Church. It wrapped around the promise she made before God to be a helpmeet for Micah Tate and snagged on her heart when she said, her eyes on her three girls instead of the groom, “I will.”

“Before I declare this couple man and wife,” Rev. Carter said, interrupting Ruby’s thoughts, “I would like to read a verse from Scripture that I feel is appropriate for this occasion.”

Ruby looked up at her groom, who reached to grasp her hand. Something in that gesture and the gentle, almost shy smile that accompanied it gave her pause. Had she truly found a man who would keep his promises?

Perhaps so.

“From the book of Proverbs,” the pastor continued. “ ‘Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.’ ” Rev. Carter paused to offer Micah a nod. “ ‘She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.’ ”

“Safely trust in her.”

Yes, she vowed, from this moment forward her husband would safely trust in her. She’d see to it. They might have entered the marriage in a more practical way than most, but Micah Tate would have a wife who was everything that verse said and, if she could manage it, more. It was what he deserved.

Surely the Lord would protect this man who’d sworn to protect her. Of course, she would pester God every day on that, just as she pestered Him to keep His hand on Carol, Maggie, and Tess.

“Ruby?” came the whisper.

She glanced up at Micah, who looked at her curiously. “What?” she replied.

His eyes crinkled at the corners as his grin broadened. “Did you hear what the pastor said?”

“Oh,” came out like a squeak. “Yes, absolutely, I will,” was much louder. Loud enough, in fact, to elicit laughter from those at the altar and even a few behind her.

She didn’t care.

“No, sweetheart,” he said as he turned her to face those assembled then leaned to speak into her ear. “You already said you would. Now it’s time to show them we did.”

“We did?” She shook her head. What had she missed while her mind wandered? “Did what?”

“We got married, Ruby Tate,” he said. “Rev. Carter just told everyone who was listening. Obviously that wasn’t you.”

“Ruby Tate.” She let out a long breath even as her groom led her down the aisle. How like this God she was only learning to know to bless the name she’d chosen by linking it to such a beautiful verse.

Today Claire O’Connor had officially and forever become Ruby Tate, a virtuous woman whose price was far above rubies. As she walked out of the church on the arm of her husband, she prayed that nothing would ever change that.

“You were a beautiful bride,” Mary Carter said as they reached the steps of the church.

“Yes,” Viola echoed. “Beautiful.”

Ruby excused herself to greet the Gayarre sisters. Emilie, tall and dark with lovely curls, and Isabelle, fair and fine-featured, walked toward them with little Joey Carter holding one hand of each woman. Trailing a distance behind were Josiah and his brother, William, a younger version of his older brother down to the tilt of the head and the intent look in his eyes as their voices rose in congenial conversation.

“I see you brought your escort,” Ruby said as she knelt to hug little Joey. “He just gets bigger every day.”

“And so do I,” Isabelle said as she wrapped her arm across her slightly rounded abdomen. “Though I cannot complain, as Josiah treats me like a queen. He’d have a houseful of little ones if he had his way.”

Ruby rose to receive hugs from Isabelle and Emilie. “You’re next,” Ruby said to Emilie.

“Soon perhaps,” Emilie responded as her palm pressed against her abdomen.

“There you are,” Micah said as he reached for Ruby’s hand. “We should bid these kind people good-bye and be on our way.”

Viola raised a dark brow and seemed to be having trouble taming what appeared to be the beginnings of a grin. “Of course,” she said then leaned close to Ruby. “It appears your husband’s intent on helping to build my business.”

“Business?” Ruby shrugged. “What do you mean?”

“Ruby,” she said patiently, “I am a midwife. Remember?”

“But I’m not in that way,” Ruby said. “That is, it’s a bit too soon for that.” Only when she turned to see all eyes on her did she realize she might have protested a bit too loudly.

“What’s Mommy talking about?” This from Tess, who’d somehow slipped up behind Ruby without being noticed.

“It means a baby’s in her tummy,” Maggie offered.

Carol released a long sigh and put on an expression of dire exasperation.

“My mommy’s got a baby in her tummy?” Tess began to dance and twirl, her celebration drawing the attention of anyone who might not already be staring.

“No, dear,” Emilie said softly as she wrangled the girl by lifting her into her arms. “Miss Isabelle,
she’s
going to welcome a new baby in a few months, not your mommy.”

But the damage was done, and Tess refused to be convinced that a baby would not be joining their newly blended family anytime soon. Perhaps Ruby imagined it, but more than a few sets of eyes suddenly seemed interested at what she might have hidden beneath the large bow at her waist.