Fire and Ice Page 13

  Jean’s visits sometimes upset her in other ways as well. To her dismay, Kathleen felt drawn to the dynamic privateer as a man, and her intuition told her he felt it as well. It was only because of their mutual feelings for Reed and Eleanore, an iron will on Jean’s part, and a wary reluctance on Kathleen’s side that they remained friends and did not become lovers. A bond was formed between them, and things better left unspoken were never mentioned, though at times the air vibrated with tensions that both recognized and admitted to themselves in quiet reflection upon things that could never be. If she had met Jean first—but she had not. Her heart had been stolen and was held captive by a tall black-haired pirate with sky-blue eyes, and she could not wrench it back from his grasp.

  Dominique finally finished the piece he was whittling for her. She was delighted when he presented it to her, for it was a perfect replica of a dolphin.

  “Oh, Dominique! It is beautiful!” she cried gleefully. “You have captured him perfectly!”

  “I am glad you like it,” he said quietly, dark eyes glowing. “It is good to see you smile again.”

  “I will smile even more if you like my present to you,” she said, handing him the shirt she’d made. “I hope it fits.”

  He unfolded it, admiring her handiwork. He held it up to his broad chest, checking the sleeve length. “It looks fine, Kathleen. Just fine. I’m sure it will fit. I will wear it proudly.”

  “And I will treasure my gift from you as long as I live,” she said softly, turning the dolphin slowly in her hands, studying the workmanship in detail.

  Reed found her late that night alseep in a chair in the parlor, clutching the dolphin. He picked her up gently and carried her to bed. She stirred groggily, laying her head against his shoulder. Laying her on the bed, he stripped off her slippers and stockings and drew up the covers; kissing her tenderly on the forehead, stroking her silky hair back with his rough hand.

  “Oh, kitten, why do we fight so all the time,” he whispered softly. He gently pried her fingers loose from the figure. Studying it briefly, he placed it on the nightstand next to her head. “Dominique again,” he sighed as he blew out the lamp. “Thank God this late work is almost at an end. This monk’s life is not for me.”

  One evening when Dominique stopped by, Kathleen asked him to walk with her down by the warehouses. “Please, Dominique,” she pleaded prettily.

  “Why do you wish to go there?” he asked.

  “I just want to prove something to myself, I suppose. Reed says he works late, but it is my guess he spends a lot of evenings at the tavern or with Rosita.”

  “Perhaps for a quick dinner he goes there, Kathleen, but I know he really does work late at the warehouses most evenings. I myself have helped him many nights. The work is nearly caught up. Just have patience.”

  “He wasn’t working late the evening Pierre attacked me, and he stayed out all night. He was with her!” Kathleen exclaimed adamantly.

  Dominique looked at her in surprise. “Didn’t he tell you? He drank himself into a stupor and we had to bed him down at Jean’s.”

  “By himself or with Rosita to keep him warm?” she asked snidely.

  “Alone, of course,” Dominique frowned. “I sent Rosita home myself after I said what I had on my mind.”

  “Oh, Dominique! He tried to tell me so, but I didn’t believe him. What a fool I’ve been! Still, that was one night and he has been spending all his time with Rosita and none with me, and I must see for myself. Will you go to the warehouses with me or must I go alone?” She threw up her chin stubbornly.

  “I’ll take you, but it is against my better judgement,” Dominique sighed loudly.

  When they arrived at the warehouse, it was locked and dark. No one was there, or anywhere around. Kathleen looked up at Dominique and said in a tremulous voice, “See? I told you so. There is one other place I wish to check. The tavern.” Whirling about, she marched briskly toward the docks. .

  “Kathleen, this is not a good idea! Please! Let me take you back to the house,” Dominique pleaded, taking her arm. Kathleen responded by lengthening her stride, saying nothing.

  The tavern door was open to the warm night air. Music and loud, raucous laughter, mingled with the clinking of mugs, could be heard long before they neared the place. Kathleen stood just outside the doorway, Dominique’s large form behind her. She spotted Reed and several of his men seated around a table near the center of the smoke-filled room. Atop the table before them, Rosita was twirling about, her bare feet keeping time to the music, her skirts flying high about her brown thighs as she danced above them. As the music ended, she threw herself from the table into Reed’s lap. The chair teetered for a second and then crashed to the floor as Rosita clung to Reed, her arms firmly about his neck. Laughter filled the room as she lay upon him and put her lips to his in a long, passionate kiss.

  It was at this point that Kathleen stepped through the door. A deathly silence followed her as she made her way toward the couple on the floor. She stopped a few feet away, hands on hips, glaring down at them, emerald fire flashing from her eyes. At the sudden hush, Reed looked up in astonishment to see her standing there, resembling an avenging angel.

  “I’ve heard it said that a picture is worth a thousand words, and now I think I finally know the true meaning of that statement,” she proclaimed acidly.

  She spun about and stormed out of the tavern, running blindly toward the docks, Dominique close behind. Behind her she heard Reed bellow her name. She ducked between two old tack sheds, flattening herself against the wall. Dominique followed suit. It wasn’t long until Reed ran by. Still she didn’t move, barely daring to breath. Soon she heard footsteps drawing near and knew Reed was returning, only this time he was moving more slowly, searching for her more methodically. She held her breath, every nerve aching with the strain, every muscle tense and ready to spring into action should he discover her. She heard him rattle the door of the shed next to hers. As he came to the opening between the two buildings, he stopped with his back to her.

  “Kat!” he called. “Stop this foolishness and come out!” When he got no answer, he added, “I know what you are thinking, but you are wrong. Come out here and listen to reason.” He still met only silence.

  “All right, blast it! Have it your way! I’m tired of trying to understand you. At least Rosita is not so hard to figure out.” He strode away into the night.

  When she was sure he was gone, Kathleen relaxed. She gulped in air between threatening sobs. Dominique took her into his arms, holding her tenderly against his huge chest. “Kathleen, if you really love him you will not let Rosita do this to you. You should stand up and fight for him. You have so much more to offer than she does. You must prove to that blind fool that you are the better woman—and what a woman! I did not think you were the type to give up so easily.”

  “I’m not! Not normally,” she choked out, “but I do not know how to compete with a woman like Rosita.”

  “I tell you truthfully, it is no contest. You are a very beautiful lady, Kathleen, and you could charm the birds from the trees. You are thinking Rosita is sexy, and so she is, in a very base way. But you are much more so. God created a masterpiece when he created you in such a tempting package. Can it be that you are not aware of the effect you have on a man? Just by being your natural self, you light fire in a man’s veins. Other women work for years to perfect what comes to you without really trying. If you just employ your God-given attributes and follow your womanly instincts you cannot fail to win Reed, unless the man is utterly blind and stupid, which he is not. Rosita will not stand a chance if you choose to really extend yourself.”

  “I cannot face him tonight, Dominique. Not yet. I need time to think, to straighten things out in my own mind, to solve this conflict raging inside me. I want to go aboard the Kat-Ann where I can be alone with my feelings. I’ll be safe there and undisturbed.”

  “I will row you out, but I want you to promise me something.”

  “What
is that?” she asked hesitantly.

  “There is to be a celebration, a fiesta of sorts, tomorrow evening at the auction arena. Everyone will be there, including Reed and Rosita, and possibly Pierre. Unless I miss my guess, Reed will hesitate to take you, not only because he is angry with you, but because Rosita will be there. I would like you to come as my guest. Since you would feel out of place in a fancy gown, I will bring you a skirt and blouse appropriate to the occasion. This will be a perfect opportunity for Reed to compare Rosita to you, and I can guarantee that you will emerge the victor. Will you do this for me; for yourself and for Reed? Promise me?”

  “If you want so badly for me to be there, I will go with you,” she conceded. “I only hope you are right, Dominique.”

  Once aboard the Kat-Ann, Kathleen headed straight for the captain’s cabin. She lit a lamp and stood for a moment looking around at the room she and Reed had spent so much time in; the bed they had shared where he had first introduced her to lovemaking. Unable to stay with the poignant memories, she walked on into her cabin. There she undressed, donned her slacks and a loose top, and went topside. Going straight to the mizzen mast, she climbed the rigging until she reached the topsail. She settled herself in the shrouds, leaned back, and relaxed.

  No moon shone down upon her. Only the stars held their dim light. Alone with her thoughts, Kathleen struggled to sort out her jumbled emotions. “As much as I hate myself for it, I cannot help loving him so. But do I want to fight for him or against him? Either way I know I want him to love me and only me. Dominique is right,” she decided. “I must beat Rosita at her own game. Reed is not the only one who intends to keep what is his for himself. I do not know if he will ever love me, and I will die before I admit my love to him. I would be foolish to put that weapon into his hands. Whether he cares for me or not, I will at least make him desire me above all other women. If I use all my wiles and prove myself to be the type of woman he wants, can he go completely unscathed? And if I succeed, what then? Above all else in this world I desire this man, so if I gain his heart or only a part of it, I must give up my quest for revenge and try to believe in him as he asks me to. I must forget his treachery and deceit and trust that he will be honest with me and true to me. God, what an impossible task I have set for myself! To love him is as easy as taking breath; to conquer him is not entirely unthinkable; but to place my trust in him is not only the hardest thing I could do, but the most dangerous. It would place me in a very precarious position and make me so vulnerable that I’m not sure I can do it. But I must try. If he is mine, then I must be his as completely as possible without ever letting him know my heart is in his hands; for I fear what he would do if he knew he held such power over me.”

  Her decision made, she felt relieved. She stayed perched atop the mast until she felt relaxed and at peace with herself and the night. A soft breeze tugged at the reefed sails and cooled her flushed cheeks. She sat for a long while letting the night sounds serenade her. Finally she descended.

  Upon reaching her cabin she sat down at her desk. After a while she unlocked the drawers and began to sort through the contents disinterestedly. At the back of the second drawer, her fingers closed upon a small box. Drawing it out, she set it gently on the desk and opened it slowly. In it were the few personal belongings of her father’s that she could not bear to leave behind in Ireland.

  His gold watch lay on top, the case closed to reveal the Haley family crest engraved upon it. This watch had been handed down through seven generations and would someday belong to her son if she bore one. Below it rested several sets of cuff links, which she sorted into pairs. Last of all, she brought forth two rings. One was a plain gold wedding band. The other had been a Christmas present to her father from her mother the year before her death. It was a beautiful square black onyx set in a silver mounting. From the center of it, like a star in a dark night sky, shone a single large diamond.

  Turning the ring over in her hand, she regarded it thoughtfully. She glanced at the huge emerald Reed had given her on her wedding night. “If I should have this visible proof to the world that I belong to him, then he should have some symbol that he is mine,” she thought. Replacing the other items in the box, she returned it to the drawer and locked it. The onyx ring she placed on the gold chain around her neck. She started for the captain’s quarters, and then, changing her mind, she crossed the passageway to Nanna’s old room and slept more soundly than she had in weeks.

  Reed had returned to their house, where he paced each room in turn and finally settled into a swing on the front porch to await Kathleen’s return. It was not long before he saw Dominique heading for Jean’s. Reed leapt from the swing and charged across the yard to meet him in the road. “Dominique!” he roared. “Where is she?”

  “She is safe, Reed,” Dominique stated calmly.

  “Where?”

  “I cannot tell you. Let it suffice to say she is in no harm and wants only to be alone to think. You have hurt her.”

  “Kat believes only what she wants to. It is uncanny the way she always turns up at the wrong times, but I am not to blame if she deliberately interprets things for the worst.”

  “You have not helped matters, Reed. You should have protected her from Rosita’s tongue and claws all along and set Rosita in her place. Instead, you stand back and seem to enjoy watching Kathleen suffer from Rosita’s insults. In that you are to blame.”

  “Kathleen is my wife, and it is my affair, Dominique.”

  “I do not wish to interfere, my friend, or even to advise you, except to ask that you give her this time she needs.”

  “I have already given her more time than most men would,” Reed said flatly as he stalked away.

  He sat up most of the night waiting for Kathleen. He thought of her shining hair, her winning smile, her slanted, slightly wicked green eyes. “I love the little vixen, but I have no idea how to control her or understand her quicksilver moods. She is a beautiful mystery I have yet to solve. Blast her! Why does she affect me so, and why do I always show myself at my worst around her? Dominique says she needs more time. Maybe I have been unfair at times, but a few days more is about all I can stand. This situation must be resolved somehow.”

  He fell asleep in a chair, awaking with the daylight. He checked to see if Kathleen had returned. She had not. He washed and shaved and headed for the warehouse in clean clothes and a dark mood.

  Kathleen returned to the house by way of the beach. As she entered the dining room through the rear patio doors, she heard Reed coming down the stairs. She ducked back out of sight until she heard the front door slam, and then scampered up to the bedroom. On hand and knee she dug around in the bottom of her wardrobe until she located a pair of black high-heeled shoes. They would go perfeedy with the skirt and top Dominique would soon send. Rifling through her jewel case, she found several bangled bracelets of ornamented copper, silver and gold, a pair of large gold hoop earrings, and three long chain necklaces. “The perfect touch!” she thought excitedly. As an added accent she plucked out three large rings of handcrafted metal.

  After a leisurely breakfast she called for a bath, and had Lally wash her hair with lemon-scented soap until it squeaked, and brush it dry until it cracked with life and shone like copper. Giving the girl a few coins, she sent her to the store, and she returned with four delicately carved hair combs.

  Just before lunch, Dominique arrived, a package under his arm. Opening it, Kathleen squealed with delight as she unfolded a beautiful gold satin skirt. She held it up and watched as the sunlight reflected off of the lustrous fabric. It was very full, made for dancing, and had three rows of wide ruffles ending at her ankles. The blouse he had brought was a shimmering taffeta the exact shade of green as her eyes, cut very low across the bodice in a peasant style. The sleeves were short with very large ruffles which fell down to her elbows, and cut wide to trail below her arms as she lifted them. Last of all, he presented her with a long, lacy black mantilla for her head.

  “Oh,
Dominique! These are exquisite!” she exclaimed excitedly.

  “I had the devil’s own time trying to find a blouse that color of green. I had to go all the way to New Orleans and wake a few shopkeepers early this morning.”

  “You went to all that trouble for me? Dominique, you are such a darling, but you shouldn’t have.”

  “I want you to be the most desirable woman at the fiesta tonight. Reed’s eyes will fall from their sockets when he sees you in these.”

  “The most homely woman on earth would seem beautiful dressed in these clothes, my friend. You are truly a prince!” she said with glowing eyes.

  All through lunch Kathleen had to make a supreme effort to appear normal and concentrate on Eleanore’s conversation. Afterward she had Lally press the skirt and blouse, and hung them carefully away in the recesses of her armoire. She lay down and tried to rest for the evening ahead, but found herself too tense. Unable to rest, she settled herself in a chair on the patio and worked on a black silk shirt she was sewing for Reed.

  She was sitting there in the late afternoon sun when Reed came home. He stood for a minute in the doorway looking out at her. She glanced up and immediately resumed her sewing. He slipped quietly behind her.

  “Where were you last night, Kat?” he asked quietly.

  Laying aside her fabric, she gazed down at the bay. “I was on the Kat-Ann, ” she replied evenly.

  “Alone?”

  “Yes.”

  “What is this you are sewing?” He reached down to finger the soft material. “Another shirt for Dominique?”

  “No, it is a shirt for you if it turns out well.” Rising, she smoothed her skirts and retrieved her sewing. “I’m going in to dress for dinner. Will you be eating here this evening?”

  “Yes. I have some work to do in the library, but I’ll be finished in time to dine with you.”

  “Fine. I’ll tell Tess to set a place for you then.”