Chapter 14
“Do you have the money?” the gruff voice demanded.
“I will,” Jackson answered.
“That was your response last month, and yet, no money.”
“I will have it.”
“When?”
Jackson wondered why he wanted to go into business with the crotchety old dotard. “When I have it.”
A twitch of a smile cracked his companion’s stern appearance. “Just like your dogged father. Why do I put up with you?”
“Because you’d be lost without me.”
“La, I wish I could shake you. I should have known you’d be a pest when you were a wee squirt running the docks.”
This time Jackson did laugh, recalling the exact reason he wanted to create a partnership with the grumpy captain. He was close to being family. And far from being as stern as he put on. “Willie, you encouraged every rascal deed I did.”
“Only to tweak your father’s nerves,” he teased. “And I’ve told you before, don’t call me Willie. I’m captain of this ship, it does me no good to have my men hear a young buck like you refer to me as Willie.”
“Once I give you the rest of the funds, we will be partners and I can call you whatever I wish,” Jackson retorted. “Be prepared, Willie.”
A low growl might have been the captain’s response but Jackson knew it was false blustering. The twinkle in the old man’s eye gave him away.
Captain William Spiller had served with Jackson’s father and unlike the viscount, had devoted his life to the sea. Instead of fighting wars, he now dealt in trade. He sailed the world, discovered new wares, and shared them far and wide. Jackson had spent his life listening to Willie’s tales of distant lands filled with adventure and discoveries. It was Jackson’s turn to see every worldly fascination for himself.
He needed to make one final payment to become an equal partner with Willie, hence his need to stay in his father’s good graces until he received his next allowance.
A devoted friend of his father, Jackson knew Willie would take him aboard his ship without question, and without money. But Jackson didn’t want his charity. He wanted more. Becoming partners with Willie would make them equal.
Willie interrupted Jackson’s thoughts. “Have you broken the news to your father?”
“Since I’m here and not locked in my room, I think the answer is rather obvious.”
Willie’s boisterous, belly-rolling laugh filled the small cabin that served as the captain’s office. “Still being treated as a youngster who needs his momma, eh?”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Jackson grumbled.
“Come on boy, tell ‘ol Willie your troubles.”
Jackson eyed him. “It is Willie now?”
“As if you’d ever refer to me as William. Or heaven forbid, Captain. I’ve long given up hope on you.” Willie settled back in his chair, giving Jackson his full attention, which amounted to a keen stare under bushy eyebrows. A look Jackson was familiar with, and one he knew meant he wouldn’t be leaving the ship without giving Willie what he wanted.
“He wishes for me to marry,” he griped.
“That is hardly something new. Your father has wished for you and your brother to marry well since the King granted him that blasted title.”
The two older men had remained friends over the years but Willie’s thoughts on the viscount’s new rank were clear as crystal, none of them based in jealousy. Willie had little patience for envy. Or titles, for that matter. He considered them a waste of time. A sentiment Jackson fully agreed upon.
“This time he threatened to cut me off if I didn’t comply.”
“Nothing like a monetary incentive to get you to fall in line.”
Jackson’s brows drew together in a frown. “I will not be falling in line.”
As the last word left his lips, a vision of Kate sprang to mind. No. She hadn’t a place in this. And she certainly had no place aboard this ship. Aboard Jackson’s future.
“Who is she?”
Jackson feigned ignorance. “What?”
Instead of answering, Willie raised a brow.
Jackson bristled. “She is no one.”
“If you believe that, you are dumber than I thought.”
“Have I ever told you how supportive you are?” Jackson grumbled.
“You don’t need support. You need a knock alongside your head.”
“I need nothing of—”
“Your face lit up a moment ago and I know it wasn’t my pretty mug you were dreaming of.”
“It means nothing.”
Willie sat forward abruptly. His emphatic, “It means everything,” had Jackson fighting the urge to sink into his chair like a green lad.
Weary of feeling intimidated, he leaned in, crowding Willie. “She is nothing but another beautiful, interesting woman. The world is filled with them. Something I’m eager to discover for myself. Something I will discover in a few short days.”
They held glares for a heated moment before Willie relaxed into his wooden chair. “Maybe.”
Jackson eyed him in confusion. “What does that mean?”
“We aren’t partners yet. You haven’t the funds.”
“I will soon,” Jackson vowed as he tried to stem the panic rising in him.
“You probably will but that doesn’t mean you will be sailing with me.”
“Whyever not? We had a deal. We become partners and I sail with you.”
Willie didn’t even flinch. “That was before.”
Unable to contain his fury, Jackson pushed to his feet. “What in the blazes are you talking about? Why are you being so cryptic?”
Calmly, Willie retorted, “Because you are not ready to hear the truth.”
“You have lost your mind, old man.” As insults went, it wasn’t much, but it was all Jackson had left. “You are as batty as Nan. Are you sure you aren’t related?”
“You wish, my boy. Your bloodlines could use a little shaking up. And don’t insult your grandmother. She is far from batty. Not her fault no one wants to hear the truth for what it is.”
Jackson flopped back into his chair as the night of the Mosley’s ball rose in his mind. Thoughts of the tree, the feelings it had stirred, his unusual draw to Kate, strengthened. Until Jackson doubted his sanity.
He knew the tale. Nan had shared it enough over the years. He couldn’t put it out of his mind, even if he wanted to.
And Lord, do I want to.
He might not believe in nonsense such as soul mates and destiny, but he had no desire to push his luck. He had a future he’d planned. One he wouldn’t leave to the fates.
Which was why he’d come to a very important decision. He would not hold Kate to their last meeting. Seeing her safely to her residence yesterday was the end of their acquaintance. These encounters only led to foolishness—and he refused to be a fool.
Yet the memory of Kate, her smile, her laugh, her wit . . . her kiss—flashed before him and he struggled to fight the wave of emotion threatening to engulf him.
Something of Jackson’s dilemma must have shown on his face, because Willie slammed a hand on the desk, yanking Jackson from his musings. “Don’t do something absurd just to spite your father.”
“First you claim I’m dumb and now I’m absurd.” Jackson threw up his hands. “Why did I decide to go into business with you?”
“I ask myself the same thing every day. I thought you were wiser than that.”
Jackson couldn’t tell if the man was jesting or not. Maybe a touch of both.
“Either way, you have a choice to make,” Willie stressed.
“What decision is that? To pack you off to the nearest insane asylum?” A jest might distract Willie from what Jackson dreaded the old curmudgeon would spout next.
“Her or this.” Willie swung his arm wide, encompassing all.
Jackson understood what he meant. Having Kate, or embracing his dream of sailing the world. Of discovering new treasures. Of leaving behind England and all the ties it represented.
Why pretend there was still a decision to be made? Jackson feared the outcome had already been decided.