Beloved Counterfeit (25 page)

Micah took Tess from Emilie and walked over near the fence to carry on what appeared to be an animated and, on Micah’s part, frustrating conversation. While Ruby and the ladies watched, Micah’s face grew suddenly red, and he stood up. Grasping Tess’s hand, he walked toward them.

“I think we should go now,” he managed to say without meeting anyone’s stare.

“Ask them,” Tess said. When Micah ignored her, Tess tugged on his sleeve. “You told me you’d ask my mommy how to get a baby with her.” Tess stared right at Emilie. “He doesn’t know how, Miss Emilie.”

“Th–thank you all for being here today,” Micah stammered as he lifted Tess onto his shoulders. “I’m just going to take my new family home before I end up having to leave town.”

“We understand, Micah,” Isabelle offered. “I cringe when I think of the things Joey has said already.”

Josiah joined them, along with William, who instantly took little Joey onto his shoulders. While Tess and Joey giggled, Josiah gave his best friend a concerned look. “What’s wrong? Change your mind about the marriage already?” His wink let Ruby know he was joking. “Nah,” he continued. “Can’t be that. You’ve certainly ended up with a woman far above your caliber.” Again he laughed.

“That much is true,” Micah said with a chuckle, “though it’s possible I might need to spend a bit of time conversing with my new daughters before we attempt another family outing in public.”

“What happened?” Josiah asked, and Micah proceeded to tell him.

“Did he just call us his daughters?” Carol protested. Ruby gave Carol a look that told her she’d allow no talk of that sort, but the sullen girl ignored her.

“Excuse us,” Ruby said as she wrapped her arm around Carol’s shoulder and stepped away from the crowd.

At nearly nine, Carol lacked but a few years’ growth from being as tall as Ruby. “He’s not my papa,” the girl said before they’d come to a stop. “I know what you’re going to say, but he’s just not.”

“No,” Ruby said, “he’s not, but he is the man whom I’ve married, and I expect you to be respectful of that.” When the girl looked away without comment, Ruby sighed. “Look, honey, I know you and your sisters have had a rough go of it. Don’t you see that by me marrying Mr. Tate, we will no longer have to worry about. . . .” She paused to shake her head. “What I mean is we won’t have to worry at all,” she amended.

Carol turned her attention to Ruby, her eyes narrowed to slits. She tried and failed to shrug away from Ruby’s grasp. “I’m not stupid,” she said when she quit resisting.

“No, of course you’re not.” Ruby pushed away fair hair from a face that wore an angry pout. “I know how very much you loved both your mother and your papa.”

More than loved. Until the day her mother died, Carol rarely left her side. The irony was that while the girl tried to become like her mother, the resemblance was stronger in Maggie, who found only amusement in what others would call the cares of this world. Carol, however, not only held her sisters close to her heart, but also claimed the responsibility of keeping them safe.

Sadly, upon her mother’s death, the girl had shifted her protective instincts to her father. Somehow the girl figured to play guardian angel to a man who made his living smuggling whatever cargo he could hide in his holds to whoever offered up the most money.

Not a man who needed a child’s assistance.

Ruby glanced back at Micah, who seemed to be trying not to be obvious in watching her. He gestured a question as to whether she needed him to join her, and she shook her head.

“I saw Papa’s friend.”

“What?” Ruby swung her gaze back to Carol. “What friend?”

“That man who talks funny.” She gave Ruby an accusing look. “I saw him.”

Only a moment passed until Ruby had collected her composure and put on a casual face. “I’m sure you were mistaken,” she said.

“You fought with him. In the parlor.” Carol dared Ruby to deny it. “Until he made him go.” She pointed to Micah. “I tried to follow him, but he was too fast for me.”

Ruby’s heart sank. “Follow him? Why?”

“Because I knew he would lead me to my papa.” Fair brows gathered. “I know you said he was dead, but I don’t believe you.”

Maggie ran over to join them. “Mr. Tate says it’s time to go.”

Ruby looked past her to nod at Micah then turned her attention to Carol. “Sweetheart, I know you loved your father very much, but your life is here now with me. Even if your papa were alive, he’d not be able to care for you like I have, now, would he?”

The girl looked as if she were remembering those last months at sea. Slowly she shook her head as she bit her lip.

“Then we must believe God had a purpose in allowing us to end up here on Fairweather Key. Don’t you have nice friends?” When Carol nodded, Ruby continued. “And we have a lovely home that neither leaks nor runs aground.”

“And we’re no longer shot at,” Maggie added.

“Yes,” Ruby said. “See, we’re safe here.”

“And wherever Papa is,” Carol said, “he’s safe now, too, right?”

Ruby gathered Carol to her then reached to include Maggie in the embrace. “I pray he is,” Ruby said. “Was,” she corrected, though the familiar guilt pierced her heart.

Someday she might have to tell the girls the truth about their father. Today, however, it was still best they believe their lives no longer had any possibility of being included in his.

Mrs. Campbell’s Bible told her that the Lord was her protector now, and He had sent her Micah. Between the two of them, there was no reason to give thought to her concern that someday she might awaken to find that Thomas Hawkins had snatched the girls from their beds while she slept unaware.

Chapter 30

The fear of Tommy somehow spiriting away Carol, Maggie, and Tess was a worry Ruby had nearly forgotten by the time she returned to the boardinghouse to pack her things for what was to be her first night as Micah’s wife. Only when she knelt at the parsonage gate to kiss her girls good-bye did it return.

“They’ll be plenty safe,” he said as if he’d anticipated her concern. “I’ve posted several men to keep watch. Good men.”

Ruby looked up at the man she’d married, the wrecker she’d staked her girls’ safety on. “Thank you,” she said. “Mind your manners, girls, and don’t be a bother to the Carters.”

Maggie ran into her embrace while Carol hung back. Meanwhile, Tess had launched herself into Micah’s arms. “See to your sisters,” Ruby whispered against Maggie’s ear. “And remember, it’s just one night away. Think of it as an adventure.”

“Why can’t you stay at the boardinghouse?” Maggie looked up at Micah. “Don’t you like our house?”

“Yes, of course I do,” he said, “but your mother and I are going away to get to know one another.”

“They’re courting,” Tess said.

“I think the courting’s over,” Carol muttered. “Now we’ll never get rid of him.”

Ruby released the younger twin to offer a smile at the elder of the pair. “Carol, aren’t you going to come and say good-bye?”

“It’s just one night,” she said, not budging an inch. “And he’s not my papa.”

“No,” Micah said, “I reckon I’m not.” He set Tess back on the ground then adjusted his hat. “Don’t intend to try to be, though I do plan to be here in his stead if you need me.” He directed a look at Carol. “I bet you miss him, don’t you?”

Her lower lip quivered, but only Ruby would have noticed. “Sometimes,” was all Carol would admit.

Micah nodded. “I miss mine, too. It’s an awful lonely feeling to wish for a papa and feel like God isn’t listening.”

Carol turned away.

“Sweetheart,” Ruby called, “won’t you come and tell me good-bye?”

“It’s only one night,” she said. “Come on, Tess. I promised to braid your hair, and now’s as good a time as any.”

Tess trotted away with Carol in the lead, ever the dutiful sister. She’d nearly reached the parsonage door when she turned and came tearing back. “I almost didn’t get to kiss you,” she said. “I can’t forget, not ever.”

Ruby grinned and pressed fair curls away from the girl’s face. How lovely this child, and how much she made her heart proud. “That’s right, not ever.”

Tess tangled her fingers in Ruby’s hair and lifted the strands to her nose. “Smells sweet, Mama. Like you.” She looked over at Micah. “Does this mean I get a baby now?”

“Come on,” Carol called, and Tess hurried away, sparing Ruby from giving an answer. Maggie lingered a moment longer, time enough to give Micah a guarded look.

“Is she going to be all right?” he asked. “Your sister, I mean.”

Maggie’s eyes narrowed. One thing the girls had learned early on was how to spot someone who couldn’t tell them apart. “Which sister?”

Micah looked to Ruby for help, but she decided to give him no assistance. He’d need to learn sooner or later.

“Carol,” he said, though the name lacked a certain enthusiasm.

Maggie nodded. “Yes,” she said after a moment. “She’ll be fine.”

Mrs. Carter waved from the door then waited until Maggie pressed past her to disappear inside. Though the door had shut, Ruby remained at the gate.

A hand rested lightly on her shoulder, and then, gently, her husband reached for her elbow and helped her to her feet. Though the street remained busy with the normal foot traffic and rolling carts of any workday, Ruby suddenly felt alone.

Even with Micah standing there.

“They’ll be fine,” he said. “Let’s go.”

Ruby took a few steps alongside him then turned to look over her shoulder. “I wonder if Tess remembered to bring her dolly. It’s her favorite, and she can’t sleep without it.”

Micah guided her forward. “If she’s forgotten it, Mrs. Carter or the reverend can go and fetch it.”

“True.” Their walk took them along the same stretch of beach where they’d stood that morning. The same stretch where she’d showed Micah who she really was.

She thought of the gift, of the sand dollar he’d almost magically produced from the ocean floor. It certainly hadn’t been there a moment before when she’d been stomping about like a woman gone mad.

Out of habit, she glanced at the horizon. No new vessels dotted the waters, nor did there seem to be anything out of the ordinary.

She’d keep watch anyway.

Micah turned her from the beach and pointed to a path carved from the brush and rocks. Above it all stood a house on the bluff. “Just a little farther,” he said. “If you’re tired, I can carry you.”

“Don’t be silly, Micah,” she said. “We’ve barely left the main road.”

She looked into his eyes and saw disappointment. Evidently the protection he promised extended to climbing hills as well as fighting off smugglers.

“Yes,” she said slowly as she warmed to the topic. “It has been an exhausting day. I’d actually be—”

Before she could finish, Micah scooped her into his arms and raced up the hill. At the door, he placed his boot in the center and it flew open. Ruby stifled a scream then slowly began to giggle.

“Something funny?” he asked as he leaned against the door with his shoulder and slammed it shut.

“No,” she said, and then, “Yes, actually.”

Micah stopped midway across the sparsely furnished room to stare down at her. “If it’s me you’re laughing at, I’d prefer you not tell me about it.”

“No,” she said, “I’m not sure at all why I’m laughing, but it’s definitely not because of you.”

He lifted a dark brow as he continued to stare at her. “You’re sure?”

“Micah Tate, I haven’t been sure about anything related to you since I met you.” She shrugged. “No, that’s not true. There was a time I was sure you were completely, certifiably crazy.”

Her husband chuckled. “When was that?”

Ruby leaned her ear against his chest and traced her finger across his lapel. “When you asked me to marry you.”

“Which time?” he asked as his footsteps echoed in the broad expanse of space.

She braved a look and saw him staring. “Every time.”

“And what’s crazy about asking you to marry me, Ruby? You’re a good cook and fair company.” He paused to turn sideways and step into the bedchamber. “A man could do worse, Mrs. Tate.”

“
Fair
company, Mr. Tate?”

Micah carried her across the almost empty main room and through a doorway that led to a bedchamber. The first thing Ruby saw was the elegantly carved bed, its four posts draped in beautiful white linens that stood in stark contrast to the rough boards of the walls.

Beyond the bed, long windows had been opened to welcome the sea breeze and offer up a view of the sun as it dipped beneath the horizon.

“Oh my,” she whispered. “I didn’t expect this.”

“Wrecking has its privileges,” he whispered against her ear, “as does marriage. Now perhaps we can discuss how you might change my opinion of your company from fair to outstanding.”

“Mr. Tate,” she said, “ours was to be a marriage of convenience. Your protection for my—oh!” She paused as her protector parted the bed curtains and dropped her in the center of what turned out to be quite a soft mattress.

“Your what, Mrs. Tate?” he asked as he doused the lantern and plunged the room into soft twilight.

“My cooking,” she managed to say.

Gradually the room brightened from deep purple shadows to a softer hue that allowed her a full view of her new husband. He seemed unwilling to do anything other than stand there and stare at her.

“So perhaps I should go and make dinner, then.” Ruby made to climb off the bed, but Micah blocked her way.

“Are you hungry, Ruby?” he breathed against the skin of her neck.

“No,” she said as she watched his shirt land on the floor. “Are you?”

“I will be,” he said as he closed the bed curtains. “Tomorrow.”

Her laughter matched his as their lips met.

* * *

Later, with the stars shining, Ruby lay in Micah’s arms, her eyes open wide. “Micah?” she whispered. “Are you awake?”

When he didn’t immediately respond, Ruby rose to follow the silver path of the moon to the window. The sea breeze tossed her hair, which hung loose about her shoulders, and sent a chill down her spine as it blew across her skin.

She was a married woman. A woman married to a man who not only commanded a militia but would soon take over the duties of Judge Spencer as well.