An Officer but No Gentleman(99)
“Huh. It doesn’t really change anything does it? I mean now that I know, I don’t want to sit around waiting for party invitations any more than I did yesterday.”
Charlie got up from Jaxon’s lap and pulled the quilt off the bunk and began folding it.
“My mother made this,” she said. “It’s the only thing of hers we had. Well, that and the miniature inside my father’s watch. Would you like to see what she looked like?”
“Of course.”
“Daniel, my father’s watch is in the top drawer of his desk.”
Daniel opened the drawer and located the watch. He opened it and looked at the small portrait before handing it to Jaxon.
“You favor her.”
“Do I?”
Jaxon looked at the portrait for a long moment. “Aye, I can see the resemblance, too. You have her coloring and her eyes. Do you remember her?”
“Not really. I have a few vague memories of being tucked into bed and eating at a table in a house, being in the kitchen and watching the housekeeper knead bread dough while my mother made me a little something to hold me over until dinner. That’s it—just a few unimportant moments. When I try to remember her face, I just see the portrait.”
Jaxon noticed she unconsciously rubbed the scar on her arm as she spoke of her mother and wondered if he should expect a nightmare tonight. He knew she had not told him everything about the fire and wished they were alone so he could talk to her further. Something told him, she had revealed more to him already, than she had told anyone else, but after speaking with Morty, he knew they had barely touched the tip of the iceberg.
“It’s strange the way the brain works. The things you want to remember fade, but the things you want to forget are vivid.”
“Aye.”
“It doesn’t help when you relive those moments at night.”
He saw the look of annoyance cross her expression. In an instant, she had gone from being open to guarded. Damn. Why couldn’t he just keep his mouth shut? Someday she would tell him when she was ready. He couldn’t imagine what it was like to carry a secret like that. She was responsible for the fire that killed her mother. Was it any wonder she didn’t want to talk about it?
“I’m sorry, baby. I don’t know why I said that I was just being an ass.”
35
Betsy Bloodworthy insisted Charlie and Jaxon not spend the night in the same house the night before the wedding. Sailors are superstitious by nature, so when Charlie learned it was bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding, she readily agreed. Jaxon would spend the night at the family homestead and Charlie and Jayne would stay in Jaxon’s townhouse.
Jayne wasn’t sure if Jaxon had any amusements for them to busy themselves with so she brought checkers and remembering a conversation she had had with Charlie, she brought knitting supplies to teach Charlie how to knit, but as it turned out they didn’t touch either. They spent their time trying to decide how Charlie should wear her hair.
The wedding was set to begin at 11:00 AM and Morty was supposed to arrive shortly before in a carriage to take the women to the church.
At 10:30, Charlie and Jayne came downstairs to await their ride.
“Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue,” Jayne quoted the old rhyme about what every bride was supposed to wear. “Do you have everything?”
“It’s all new,” Charlie said.
“Those are the pearls our grandmother gave Jaxon. We were all given a piece of her jewelry, so although they are new to you, they are actually old.”
Charlie put her hands on the pearls and smiled. She was touched that he would give her a family heirloom. “Well, in that case, I have old and new and Mabel sewed little blue bows on my stockings. I just need something borrowed.”
“I’ve got a hanky you can borrow. You can just tuck it into your sleeve in case you need it. Let me go get it.”
No sooner had Jayne run upstairs, than there was a knock at the door. Assuming it was Morty; Charlie flung it open without thought, only to find Millie Adams standing in front of her. When she saw her, Charlie wanted to slam the door in her face, but against her better judgment, she waited to find out what she wanted. For a moment neither woman spoke. Millie just stood there with her hands behind her back.
“Even though you didn’t invite me to the wedding, I’ve brought you a gift,” she said with a smirk.
Millie drew a dueling pistol from behind her back and pointed it at Charlie with shaky hands. Charlie could see her finger wrapped around the trigger and the hammer was cocked.
Charlie silently cursed at her wedding gown, but didn’t waste another second. She grabbed Millie’s wrists and thrust her hands upward. The gun discharged with an ear-shattering blast. Behind her on the staircase landing, Jayne screamed and fell to the floor with a thud.