Chapter
1
Trinidad
March
1857
Doc Buzzard’s
cottage was stifling hot. Everyone in the room was forced to repeatedly wipe
sweat from their brows to keep it from dripping into eyes that were already
stinging from the noxious odor in the room. Lynna wasn’t altogether certain
whether it was sweat or tears running in rivulets down her flushed cheeks, nor
did she really care. As her watery eyes met her husband’s steely gaze she was
positive of only one thing. She had never seen his eyes as cold, as hard, or as
unforgiving as in that very moment.
You could have
heard a pin drop before the silence was broken by the haunting refrain of an
owl hooting in one of the towering trees of the rainforest. Every eye in the
room was riveted on Sean Devereux as his worshiping gaze fell upon the lavender eyed baby in his arms, his daughter. Unwrapping her blanket gently, he inhaled a
sharp breath, his smile rapidly dissolving at the sight of her withered body.
Joshua watched
quietly from across the room, suddenly overcome by an almost desperate urge to
snatch the baby girl from the pirate’s possessive grasp and flee with her into
the night, as his pounding heart warned it might be his last chance. Instead,
he turned questioning eyes that shimmered with pain toward his wife and
whispered one word, “Lynna?”
Lynna couldn’t
look him in the eyes. He would see the truth, know she had lied. Instead she stared into the crackling flames of the fire, her voice trembling as she was
forced to say the words she had prayed never to have to speak. “Sean is
Makenna’s father, Joshua.”
Sean, ignoring
the others in the room, couldn't pull his eyes away from the pitiful sight of
his daughter’s emaciated little body. The urge was strong to rush Makenna to
his grandmama. Lisbeth would undoubtedly pass out from the sheer joy of having
a granddaughter and heir to Devereux Acres, but she and Chantilly would know
how to fatten the little girl up and put color back in her cheeks.
All at once Doc
Buzzard glanced nervously at Clara, seemingly in a dither about something. None
of them had ever once seen Doc move at any speed quicker than a slow shuffle,
but he actually almost scurried to
the table and grabbed a candle to thrust at Clara. “Clara, you must take this
candle to the creek behind the house and extinguish it in running water in
order to completely break the spell on the girl.” When Clara didn’t move, but
continued to gaze sadly at Joshua’s miserable countenance, he urged, “Hurry, child! It must be done
immediately.”
Willing to do
anything for Makenna, Clara turned her back on Joshua, rushing toward the door
with one hand cupped around the candle to prevent the flame from blowing out.
Still worried about what this latest heartwrenching revelation might do to Joshua, she
paused to glance over her shoulder and stumbled, almost dropping the candle at
what she saw.
The man Clara loved
as she would her own father appeared to have aged ten years in the last few
minutes, slumped back in a chair with a forlorn look of defeat and loss that
caused her heart to crumble.
Sadness was firmly etched in the troubled lines of Joshua's forehead, and his blood pounded through his veins as he watched Sean
Devereux hold his daughter close to
his heart, the pirate’s face glowing with pride, and pure joy.
With eyes gone
cold and dark, Joshua felt his body go rigid as he watched Lynna move toward him, felt her tiny hand grasp his sleeve. Forcing his eyes to meet hers, he found her peering at him with
pleading crystal blue eyes brimming with tears. Unfortunately his true feelings
for her were accurately mirrored in his own unwavering gaze, sending icy
shivers to rush down Lynna’s spine as she put both hands over her face to sob
hopelessly.
His wife.
What a mockery
of the institution of marriage. She had done nothing but lie to him since the
day he had rescued her from the pirate.
Her lover.
Her lover.
I came for an update and got a pleasant surprise.
ReplyDeleteJust from that short excerpt, you have done it again Kitty. Wow! This is powerful. Friday cannot come soon enough for me :)
Thank you! I can't wait for you to read it. Come back and let me know what you think.
ReplyDeleteYou did it again Kitty. I was hooked from the first word and could not put the book down until done. I am going to reread again just to make sure I did not miss anything the first go round lol.
ReplyDeleteI loved the twist. Did not see Lisbeth doing it. I actually thought when Doc sent Clara out it would have changed things then but it would have been way too soon. I just knew it was Josh's baby. I mean would the spell have worked if she was not Jeremiah Jordan's grand baby? Josh really showed his love when he got over the anger.
Good see Rob happy and a dad :) Loved the sneak peak at Sean's story. I hope we get glimpses into Josh and Lynna's life and all the others at Sea Grove. I would love for Lynna to have that other baby she is feeling for lol
You had a tough task and you did it