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abruptly let her go as both heard the slam of the outer door and knew Stormy had returned. Like two kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar, they put as much distance between them as the parlor allowed.

    Annemarie frowned at her daughter. “You still smell of horse manure. I think you had better go upstairs, wash up and change your clothes.”

    The moment Stormy was out of hearing, Trevor glowered playfully at his wife, the wicked glint still sparkling in his eyes. “Just be prepared to face the consequences tonight after we retire.”

    Annemarie blushed, and the heat from her face skittered all the way down into her belly in anticipation of Trevor’s delicious promise.

    When Stormy finally came back down dressed in a yellow muslin gown that accentuated her sun-kissed skin and riot of dark curls, her parents were seated in wing chairs facing each other in front of the unlit fireplace.

    “Is something the matter?” Stormy looked from one parent to the other, alarm evident in her sea-green eyes. “You both look as if the world were coming to an end.” She plopped onto the couch next to her mother with inherent grace, but in no way like a lady of good breeding should.

    Annemarie sighed. “Darling, your father and I were discussing the need to show you more of the world than this little corner of it.” She held up a staying hand when she saw the protest forming on Stormy’s lips. She had anticipated it and had a little speech prepared. “Your father pointed out that the Mystic will be sailing to England in a couple of weeks and he thought it would be fun if all three of us were to sail on her. We could visit Emerald Hills, where your grandfather still resides and you would get to meet a bunch of cousins to boot.” She cocked her head to the side, watching her daughter closely to gauge her reaction.

    Stormy’s lower lip jutted forward. “How long would we stay in England?”

    “It all depends on how we’d like it over there. We would also like to visit the Cormacs, who were instrumental in us getting ownership of Dreamscape.” Annemarie left her other thoughts unspoken. She had wanted to ask Trevor many times about the Cormacs, but for some reason the time had never been right. But in the back of her mind, she wondered if there was any relationship between them and her late mother. Dreamscape was, after all, not a common name and it had shocked her when Trevor had first mentioned it in passing. Her mother had named STORMY HEIDE KATROS
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    their gazebo, the place where the two of them played games, Dreamscape. And Annemarie had wondered ever since.

    Stormy worried her lower lip with her teeth. “I don’t know. It sounds exciting, but what would we do there? I would miss Belle, and I know she would miss me terribly, too.”

    “Johnny Wilks will look after her. He is as fond of that mare as you are. Besides, Emerald Hills has a stable full of thoroughbreds and plenty of land to ride them.”

    Stormy wasn’t entirely happy with the proposition, but she knew in the end she would have little choice.

    The next couple of weeks were spent in a flurry of sewing new clothes and packing and getting ready for the long voyage across the Atlantic.

    STORMY HEIDE KATROS
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CHAPTER TWO

    Stormy stood wrapped in her father’s embrace, the helm of the Mystic gripped tightly with both hands. Exhilaration showed in the bright spots of color high on her cheekbones and the glitter of her eyes.

    She half turned to plant a tiny kiss on her father’s cheek. “This alone makes it worth coming on this voyage. I never knew there would be such a sense of freedom and power, when you steer such a large ship as the Mystic in an ocean that seems to have no end.”

    Trevor grinned. “You come by your love for ships and the sea naturally, child.” He almost let it slip that her grandmother had been a notorious pirate, but he knew the news would have to come from Annemarie, if ever. Even after almost forty years there