Read Online A Light For My Love by Alexis Harrington - Free Book Online
Authors: Alexis Harrington
Tags: Historical, seafaring
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considered that he might ask about Ryan. Her
younger brother's absence was such a painful subject, it was never
discussed in the house.
Gert and Susan also stood, and Captain
Meredith started as China lifted his nearly finished breakfast away
from him. "Say, missy, I'm not done with that," he complained.
"It's time for your medicine, Cap," China
replied distractedly, leaving with the plate. She reached for the
tureen with the mush in it. "Come out to the kitchen and get
it."
"Fussing females," Captain Meredith groused,
yanking off his napkin and flinging it on the table. "Never let a
man have a moment's peace—"
China stepped into the hall, the other two
women close behind her.
"China, wait a minute," she heard Jake call.
"I'd like to talk to you."
She turned reluctantly and let him catch up
with her. A slight frown formed between his gold-laced brows, and
China detected his salt-air scent again. Its effect alarmed her;
how strongly it drew her, how it made her notice the curve of his
mouth. She retreated a pace.
Jake began, "The room in the attic—"
China braced herself, waiting for him to ask
for his money back.
At the end of the hall, Susan Price stared at
Jake one last time before sliding into the kitchen.
He waited until she was gone, then observed
in a lowered voice, "That Mrs. Price, I get the feeling her hatch
isn't battened."
"She's a good example of what happens to a
woman who spends her life waiting for a man who'll never return
from a voyage," China responded tartly, then turned and strode away
before he could say anything more.
Captain Meredith hobbled past him, grumbling
under his breath about bossy women, and Jake was left standing
there, dispensed with, having never gotten the chance to talk about
moving out of the attic.
Jake looked up and down the empty hall as he
pushed up his sleeves. After a moment he muttered a curse himself
and went to get his coat.
There was a far less complicated lady waiting
for him at the repair yard. A lady with better manners and a very
kind heart.
CHAPTER THREE
She looks sound enough, Jake, but for that
bottom," Monroe Tewey observed. He shifted the toothpick in the
corner of his mouth while his experienced eyes ran the length of
the Katherine Kirkland 's starboard hull.
Jake stood on the busy dock, bareheaded under
a soaking rain. The river was slate gray, mirroring the color of
the sky. It had always bothered him to see a ship out of the water
once it had been launched. He knew it was necessary, but a vessel
on groundways, exposed and somehow vulnerable, felt unnatural to
him, like a dog with wings or a sunrise in the west. Still, he was
glad to have Monroe doing the work—he ran one of the best repair
yards on the West Coast.
Monroe gestured at the tenacious forest of
goose barnacles clinging to the ship's hull. Tangled in them were
snarls of seaweed and other ocean flotsam. "When was she scraped
last?"
Jake hated to admit it, but the evidence of
her neglect was there for all to see. "It's been way too long. I
was the mate, but her last captain wouldn't spend the money to take
her in." He stressed the point. The mate was responsible for seeing
to a ship's maintenance, along with countless other duties, and he
didn't want anyone to think that he had personally allowed the Katherine to deteriorate. "He didn't care that it slowed her
down."
Monroe's toothpick darted back and forth with
a sucking noise as he shook his head disapprovingly. "You should
think about coppering her hull. It would help keep the worms off
her. It'd cut down on leaks, too. A wooden ship begins sinking the
day she's launched, you know."
Yes, he knew. But copper was expensive and
Jake wasn't ready to make that investment without committed cargo.
"Not this time, but if I make a decent run during the next year,
I'll bring her back to have it done," he said, swiping at a
raindrop on his forehead. "For now, we'll just tar and caulk her.
And I need to replace a few blocks, check her
younger brother's absence was such a painful subject, it was never
discussed in the house.
Gert and Susan also stood, and Captain
Meredith started as China lifted his nearly finished breakfast away
from him. "Say, missy, I'm not done with that," he complained.
"It's time for your medicine, Cap," China
replied distractedly, leaving with the plate. She reached for the
tureen with the mush in it. "Come out to the kitchen and get
it."
"Fussing females," Captain Meredith groused,
yanking off his napkin and flinging it on the table. "Never let a
man have a moment's peace—"
China stepped into the hall, the other two
women close behind her.
"China, wait a minute," she heard Jake call.
"I'd like to talk to you."
She turned reluctantly and let him catch up
with her. A slight frown formed between his gold-laced brows, and
China detected his salt-air scent again. Its effect alarmed her;
how strongly it drew her, how it made her notice the curve of his
mouth. She retreated a pace.
Jake began, "The room in the attic—"
China braced herself, waiting for him to ask
for his money back.
At the end of the hall, Susan Price stared at
Jake one last time before sliding into the kitchen.
He waited until she was gone, then observed
in a lowered voice, "That Mrs. Price, I get the feeling her hatch
isn't battened."
"She's a good example of what happens to a
woman who spends her life waiting for a man who'll never return
from a voyage," China responded tartly, then turned and strode away
before he could say anything more.
Captain Meredith hobbled past him, grumbling
under his breath about bossy women, and Jake was left standing
there, dispensed with, having never gotten the chance to talk about
moving out of the attic.
Jake looked up and down the empty hall as he
pushed up his sleeves. After a moment he muttered a curse himself
and went to get his coat.
There was a far less complicated lady waiting
for him at the repair yard. A lady with better manners and a very
kind heart.
CHAPTER THREE
She looks sound enough, Jake, but for that
bottom," Monroe Tewey observed. He shifted the toothpick in the
corner of his mouth while his experienced eyes ran the length of
the Katherine Kirkland 's starboard hull.
Jake stood on the busy dock, bareheaded under
a soaking rain. The river was slate gray, mirroring the color of
the sky. It had always bothered him to see a ship out of the water
once it had been launched. He knew it was necessary, but a vessel
on groundways, exposed and somehow vulnerable, felt unnatural to
him, like a dog with wings or a sunrise in the west. Still, he was
glad to have Monroe doing the work—he ran one of the best repair
yards on the West Coast.
Monroe gestured at the tenacious forest of
goose barnacles clinging to the ship's hull. Tangled in them were
snarls of seaweed and other ocean flotsam. "When was she scraped
last?"
Jake hated to admit it, but the evidence of
her neglect was there for all to see. "It's been way too long. I
was the mate, but her last captain wouldn't spend the money to take
her in." He stressed the point. The mate was responsible for seeing
to a ship's maintenance, along with countless other duties, and he
didn't want anyone to think that he had personally allowed the Katherine to deteriorate. "He didn't care that it slowed her
down."
Monroe's toothpick darted back and forth with
a sucking noise as he shook his head disapprovingly. "You should
think about coppering her hull. It would help keep the worms off
her. It'd cut down on leaks, too. A wooden ship begins sinking the
day she's launched, you know."
Yes, he knew. But copper was expensive and
Jake wasn't ready to make that investment without committed cargo.
"Not this time, but if I make a decent run during the next year,
I'll bring her back to have it done," he said, swiping at a
raindrop on his forehead. "For now, we'll just tar and caulk her.
And I need to replace a few blocks, check her
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