Rapture's Tempest Read Free Page B

mattress. “Take this. It’s not much, but it’ll help some.”
    “I can’t take your money, Rose.”
    “You most certainly can, Delight de Vries. You’ll need it.” She put the gift in her hand. “Now, go with God, and
please
be careful.”
    Delight hugged her again quickly and then squared her shoulders bravely. Leaving the warmth of Rose’s protection, she faced the cold night unflinchingly. There could be no turning back. Not now…

Chapter Two
    “Are you sure you’re doing the right thing?” Ollie Fitzgerald asked his captain and friend, Jim Westlake.
    Jim looked up quickly from his seat at the desk in his cabin, and, noting his first mate’s anxiety, he replied reassuringly, “Of course. Don’t tell me you’re going to change your mind now?”
    “It’s not
my
mind I’m worried about!” Ollie snapped, irritated at Jim’s lighthearted approach to so serious a decision.
    Jim grinned easily. “It’s time. You know how everybody’s been after me to do this.”
    “But shouldn’t you think about it a little longer?” his friend argued.
    “What for?” Jim countered. “I know everything I need to know about her. She’s beautiful and she says she’s in love with me. Isn’t that enough?”
    Ollie snorted derisively and commented cuttingly, “Sometimes, Jimmy, beauty is only skin deep.”
    For a moment, Jim Westlake seemed angry, his expression hardening, but then he masked it behind his usual easygoing facade. “Enough said, Ollie. I have proposed and Anna-belle Morgan has accepted. We’re going to announce our engagement at a ball the Saturday after we get back from this trip.”
    Ollie slowly shook his head. “You know I just want what’s best for you. Do you love her?”
    Jim was put off by his astute question. His mind raced. Love—Annabelle? He cared for her…found her attractive and enjoyed her company…but love? Jim knew the truth. No, he did not love her.
    Jim had been in love with only one woman in all of his thirty-odd years, Renee Fontaine, and she had married his brother. There was no bitterness in having lost her to Marshall, simply resigned acceptance, but he was determined never to allow himself to fall in love again. He would marry now because he felt that it was time.
    Forcing himself to lie, he answered, “Yes, I do.”
    Ollie sensed Jim’s hesitation, but let it go, “Have you told your family?”
    “This afternoon,” Jim affirmed.
    “Good. I take it they were happy about it.”
    “All except Renee.” Jim chuckled. “She had another friend lined up for me to meet. The girl had a unusual name, too….” Frowning, he tried to recall the name of the young woman whose praises his sister-in-law had been singing before he had told her the news of his engagement. “I know—Delight…that was it.”
    “Delight?” Ollie smiled.
    “Yes, Delight de Vries. Renee said she was very attractive, but I told her she was too late. I’d already made my choice.”
    “I bet they were in shock.”
    “Only for a little while,” Jim laughed. “Mother seemed most pleased, and I think Father was just glad that my ‘wayward’ days are coming to an end.”
    “What about you? Are you glad to give up your freedom?”
    Jim was thoughtful for a long moment. “I really don’t see that there will be that much change in my life. You know how busy we are.”
    “Does your fiancée understand about your work? She knows you’re going to have to travel with the boat, doesn’t she?”
    “We’ve already discussed it, and Annabelle is very understanding.”
    “Good.” Ollie was relieved. Jim was one of the best steamboat captains on the Mississippi and he didn’t want to lose him. His business expertise was needed on the long trips between St. Louis and points south. “Well, I think a celebration is in order. What do you say we go to Harry’s and raise a few?”
    “Excellent idea,” Jim agreed.
    The noise level in the seclusion of the smoke-filled back room was deafening as the