Rebecca's Heart (5 page)

“And you discovered all of this over lunch?”

Rebecca pursed her lips. “He walked me to the shop.”

“Now the story’s getting interesting.”

Rebecca rose from the table and began gathering the supplies she would need in the morning. She had to return to the Hutton home and take the measurements for the slipcovers. Then most of the work would be completed right here in the shop—a place where she wouldn’t run into Luke again.

“Rebecca …”

“The story ends there.” Rebecca shrugged her shoulder. “I don’t know what happened, but we were standing at the waterfront, looking at the ships, and all of a sudden his whole demeanor changed. I must have said something wrong.”

“Surely you’re imagining things.”

“I don’t know about that. But even if I didn’t, what if I make another wrong decision again?”

Caroline leaned forward and covered Rebecca’s hand with her own. “Just because Jake turned out to be someone other than the man you thought he was doesn’t mean the next beau who comes along will be the same.”

Rebecca shook her head. “Maybe, but I do know one thing. I don’t think I’m ready to risk another broken heart.”

Luke slathered the thick slice of bread with butter then rummaged in the icebox for a slab of leftover ham. Moonlight filtered through the kitchen window, leaving shadows dancing along the walls. The clock chimed one, reminding him of what he already knew. He should be in bed sound asleep. Instead he hadn’t been able to tame his roaming thoughts, leaving him tense and restless.

His sandwich made, Luke slumped into one of the wooden kitchen chairs and took a bite.

“Luke?”

Dropping his sandwich onto the plate, Luke’s gaze shifted to the kitchen doorway. “Mother, I’m sorry if I woke you.”

“Couldn’t sleep?”

He shook his head. “Not a wink.”

“Mind if I join you?” His mother pulled the tie of her silk robe tighter around her waist. “The smell of fresh yeast bread aroused my appetite.”

“There’s plenty left. You know, your cook is spoiling me.”

“Just trying to make up for the bland fare you’ll be eating at sea.” Luke’s mother bustled to the counter and made herself a sandwich before joining him back at the table. “Care to let me take a guess at your problem?”

Picking up a crumb with his forefinger, Luke smiled at his mother. “Take a shot. You always were better at figuring me out than I was.”

“Let’s see. The first clue would be the way you looked at a certain young woman today over lunch. And if that wasn’t enough, the sparkle in your eyes as you left to walk her home is more than enough evidence of a man smitten by the aforementioned woman.”

“You sound more like a prosecutor than my mother.”

Luke let out a long groan. “It’s that obvious?”

“To your mother? Yes. To her? I’m not so sure. Though I did notice how flustered she became at your arrival.”

Pushing his plate away, Luke rested his elbows on the table. “You know I can’t think about courting her—or anyone for that matter.”

“Why not? Look at your father and me. We married six weeks from the day we met. A bit shocking to many people, I agree, but sometimes you meet someone and know they’re the one. A month later your father left on a three-year voyage.”

Luke raked his fingers through his hair. “We stood and watched the boats in the harbor on the way to the shop. She mentioned how she couldn’t imagine waiting for someone she loved to return from sea.”

“So you never told her you’re a whaler?”

“I was going to. Then she started talking about how dangerous the profession is. Instead of telling her the truth, I told her I needed to get her back to the shop.”

“I like her, Luke. A lot. But that doesn’t mean she’s the one for you. The sea is in your blood, and you’re going to have to find someone who feels the same way. Someone who will allow you to be who you are.”

But is that who I am, Lord?

Luke shook his head. “You’re right, Mother. It is in my blood, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to spend the rest of my life at sea. I want a family someday. And not one I have to leave behind for years at a time.”

“The right girl will wait for you. I waited for your father during each of his voyages, never regretting my decision to marry him.”

Luke sighed. He’d heard the stories many times of how his mother had kept busy, counting the months that went by at his grandmother’s bakery, while his father sailed the world. That wasn’t the life he wanted. He was committed to the next voyage and aimed to keep his word to Captain Taft, but after that he was going to retire from sea life. Whether Rebecca would still be around when he returned … that was a whole other question.

four

Only two weeks left
.

Luke took in a deep breath of humid air and sighed at the somber thought. The ocean, with its green and blue hues, spread out beside him like a well-polished gem. Gulls glided above the sparkling waters in search of their morning prey. Boats bobbed along ripples that moved across the surface of the sea, some of their occupants likely seeking a day’s wage in a good catch, others seeking pleasure beneath the warm sun.

Captain Taft would set sail out of this very harbor in a mere fourteen days, yet for Luke the call to stay ashore grew stronger by the hour. And it was all because of the woman who had unexpectedly entered his life—and perhaps a corner of his heart. Rebecca Johnson happened to be everything he’d imagined he could want in a wife. But the timing couldn’t be worse.

He’d managed to see her often these past couple of weeks. While she worked on slipcovers and draperies, he’d found excuses to stop by the furniture shop with various messages from his mother regarding the decorating project or found ways to be at home while Rebecca worked. And he’d never been disappointed with a moment of their time together. He felt himself drawn to so many things about her. Not only was she pretty and intelligent; she was hardworking, conscientious … and he was leaving.

Something he still hadn’t told her.

Unlike his father, he could never rush into a relationship, marry, then leave on another voyage. He would never be able to leave behind a family while he went away for years at a time merely to bring home a ship full of cargo that would add to the country’s supply of lamp oil, candles, medicines, and perfumes. The call of the sea might be in his blood, but he saw no reason to be a whaler simply because his father was a whaler. Whatever the realities of the situation he knew to be true in his head, his heart couldn’t shake the draw he felt to get to know Rebecca better despite the short time he had left.

The piercing cries of street vendors broke into his thoughts. The rancid smell of fish from a fishmonger’s cart filled his nostrils. Carriages, wagons, and traps congested the street beside him. Pedestrians hurried along the storefronts. Escaping this hubbub of activity was one reason he loved the ocean’s solitude. The peace and quiet he found there made up for the backbreaking work and long hours—but even the lure of the sea never completely took away the deeper loneliness he felt. The endless expanse of water could never give him the cherished relationship between a man and a woman.

“Please, mister, ‘ere’s a beauty.”

Luke stopped in front of a street vendor, a little girl selling small bouquets of colorful flowers. She was clothed in filthy rags, her hair oily and matted; it seemed the beautiful, sweet-smelling arrangement had fared better than she. Normally he never noticed the street vendors who spent their days hawking. Selling everything from newspapers to cheese, oysters to peanuts, pies to bottled water, these vendors were simply a part of the city’s bustling backdrop with their shrill cries, blowing of tin horns, or tinkling of bells.

For some reason the pinched, haunted look on the girl’s face made him take a closer look. He’d spent the noon hour sampling delicious fish chowder with vegetables and sweet bread pudding for dessert, served by his mother’s cook. This girl had more than likely eaten nothing but a slice of bread all day, if that.

Luke reached into his pocket and pulled out a few coins. “What’s your name?”

The tousled-haired little girl’s eyes widened at the question. Instead of answering, she held up one of the bouquets. “Only twenty cents, mister.”

He counted out the money then repeated the question.

The girl’s head lowered as she handed him the bouquet. “Mandie.”

Luke counted out another twenty cents and handed it to the girl. “Mandie, I want you to find yourself something good to eat tonight.”

Before she could object, Luke stuffed the money in her sweaty palm and hurried away. Something should be done about the conditions of children like Mandie, who had to work long hours on the streets for mere pennies. Within five minutes the brick-faced building housing Macintosh Furniture and Upholstery stood before him, and he’d all but forgotten the little street vendor.

Humming quietly to herself, Rebecca finished stitching the hem of the drapery panel that would soon grace the window of Patience Hutton’s parlor. Slipcovers adorned the two sofas and matching chairs, and the effect was stunning. Tomorrow Rebecca would hang the curtains, and the room’s new décor would be complete. Mrs. Hutton had told Rebecca she was pleased with her work. So pleased, in fact, she’d mentioned the possibility of Rebecca’s redecorating the sitting room and Mrs. Hutton’s bedroom as well.

Placing the scraps of extra fabric in the already full bin, Rebecca ran her hand through the pile of material whose various patterns now enhanced parlors all over Boston and contemplated the idea that had been forming in her mind throughout the morning. She held up one of the fabric scraps she’d used from Mrs. Hutton’s green, blue, and yellow slipcovers and smiled, imagining the vivid colors brightening the beds inside the Mills Street Orphanage. Yes. Her idea would work. It might take a bit of coordinating with some of the women at church, but she had no doubt Caroline and maybe even Mrs. Hutton would be eager to get involved with the worthwhile venture.

To finish the project before the cold Boston winter set in, she’d have to work longer hours to complete not only Mrs. Hutton’s work but also the work for the half dozen other clients for whom she was currently commissioned to make slipcovers. But her time would be well spent.

Rebecca glanced up as the bell over the front door of the shop rang, announcing a customer. She drew in a quick breath as Luke, wearing a crisp shirt and coffee-colored trousers, made his way through the row of furniture toward the tailor’s bench where she sat surrounded by bolts of colorful fabric.

“Good morning, Rebecca.”

“Luke. What a pleasant surprise.”

Rebecca smiled, noting the sparkle in his eyes, and hoped this unannounced visit truly was a pleasant occasion for him, as well. This wasn’t the first time in the past couple of weeks Luke had dropped by the store unexpectedly with a message for her from his mother. His last visit came with an invitation to his mother’s sixtieth birthday party, which would be held at the Hutton home the following evening. Still, if she were to guess, she was quite sure most of the reasons behind his visits were purely concocted as excuses to see her. It was a thought that left her smiling inwardly despite the fact that she had no intentions of letting her feelings for Luke go any further than the friendship they now shared. Jake had done more than enough to cause her to think twice about falling in love again.

Luke’s tall, muscular figure towered over her, and she noticed the sharp contrast between the white shirt he wore and his skin, perfectly tanned from hours spent in the shipyard. As much as she wanted to fight it, she couldn’t help the flutter of butterflies his presence evoked.

She let out a soft sigh and frowned for an instant. Hadn’t Jake’s presence once set her heart to trembling, as well? She wasn’t one of those empty-headed girls who simply fell for every boy who paid attention to her. No, as much as she liked Luke, she had no guarantees he wasn’t as capable of breaking her heart as Jake had been. Jake had been so caught up in himself that he’d never noticed what she needed, and she had no intentions of repeating that same mistake. Besides, once she finished working for Mrs. Hutton, more than likely she’d never see Luke again.