[Reviews - 429]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 2109 times

- Text Size +




Author's Chapter Notes:
Many thanks to Devin, Amelia-Jane, jt, DaniD, Vette, Kimber, Hunni, SarahandJamesFanatic and Klai for your reviews.

I'm really sorry for the delay, but RL has been interfering with my desire to write. Hopefully you won't have to wait as long for the next chapter.

Thank you, Jen and MarzBar, for betaing this chapter for me.
Glossary:
Ladrón: burglar
Té de tilo: linden tea
Compadre: a very close friend, mate

Chapter 16

Buffy was shaking in anger and fear after the infuriating man left. If she was honest with herself, she had to accept that she was shaking more in anger than in fear. She still couldn’t believe what had happened. The nerve of that man! How did he dare come into her sister’s room and be so bold with her? And now that she thought about it, how did he know her name and Aimée’s? He seemed to be awfully familiar with her sister. Hmmm, that was strange. She’d have to wait for Aimée and ask her, but first she needed to know who the man was, and who better to tell her than María?

“María, María!” Buffy ran out of Aimée’s room and down the stairs as she went through the house calling her nana, until she found her in the kitchen. “I just saw a man in—” She stopped suddenly when she noticed that María wasn’t alone in the kitchen. She knew she could trust María with her life, but Teresa was another story. She loved gossiping and while Buffy wanted to find out who the man that had entered her sister’s chambers was, she didn’t want Teresa to know where she’d found him, or else by tomorrow everyone in Galveston would think her virtue had been sullied by the man she’d just met. “I-in the garden.”

“Oh, mi Dios, was he a ladrón?” her nana asked agitatedly as she persignated herself. “Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you, mi niña, did he?

“No, he didn’t hurt me, nana. And he didn’t seem to be a burglar,” Buffy said. “He’s tall, with white blond hair, do you know him?”

“Was he young and handsome?” Teresa asked.

“I guess you could say he is,” Buffy said hesitatingly, as she recalled the piercing blue eyes, his sharp cheekbones, the strong jaw line... she shook her head, no, she really didn’t find him handsome, he was the devil! He must have put a spell on her if she was thinking that he was handsome.

“Ave María, could it be?”

“Could it be what? Teresa, do you know who this man is?”

“Well if he has white blond hair and is young and handsome, it can’t be anyone else than William the Bloody,” she replied.

“William the Bloody, the pirate?” María asked and Teresa nodded.

“A pirate?” Buffy asked.

María nodded. “And a smuggler, mi niña, if one believes anything the people in Galveston say. But what could he be doing here?”

“I don’t know, nana, but he gave me quite a scare.”

“Oh, I can imagine, mi niña.” María pulled her charge into her arms. “Come, I’ll make you some té de tilo to calm your nerves.”

Teresa stayed inordinately quiet while María and Buffy talked in the kitchen, knowing very well what William the Bloody had been doing near the house. She’d have to warn niña Aimée to be more careful. It wouldn’t do that people began gossiping about her and the pirate.

* ~ * ~ *

At La Cantina del Tuerto

“Captain, over here!” Xander called out for Spike the minute he noticed he’d entered the cantina.

Spike smiled when he heard Xander calling him to his table. This was precisely what he needed, a night out with his crew at the cantina. Hopefully it’d be enough to erase the memory of the fiery nun he’d just met. He was still in awe that a few minutes in her presence had eradicated all thoughts of Aimée from his mind. And that wouldn’t do; he’d decided that he’d marry Aimée and he would. It didn’t matter that her sister made him feel more the one time they’d seen each other than all the times he’d been with Aimée. It wasn’t like he’d have any chance with Santa Elizabeth anyway, not with her being a nun, and she seemed to be quite different from her sister.

When he reached the table where Xander was, he noticed that there was a man he didn’t know sitting with his crew, and remembered that he had commissioned Xander to find someone that could help them bribe the port authorities so they could load the merchandise they were going to smuggle on The Satan.

“Captain, may I introduce you to Mr. Rhodes?” Xander said.

The man extended his hand to Spike. “How do you do, Captain? I’ve heard quite a lot about you.”

Spike shook his hand and raised an eyebrow at him. “Has Xander told you what this is about?”

“Yes, he has.”

“Mr. Rhodes is a compadre of the Port Captain and he’s sure that he’d let the merchandise go through without problems.”

“I was telling your friend here that the best time to let the shipment through is at dawn, when the vigilance is lower,” Mr. Rhodes added.

“And your compadre is satisfied with the offer we made?”

“He is, but I’m not too sure about my share. To be honest, I thought it’d be a little more; after all I’m risking quite a lot here.”

“Hmm, I can give you five percent more, but not until the shipment is safely on my ship. Do we have an agreement, Mr. Rhodes?”

“Why until then? Don’t you trust me?” the man asked.

“You’ll have your payment when the merchandise is aboard ‘The Satan’ and not a second before. If not, well, there’s no deal,” Spike said resolutely, knowing that the other man didn’t have any other choice but to agree to his terms.

“All right, deal.”

“I’m glad you see things my way, Mr. Rhodes, but don’t forget… there’s no forgiveness for those who betray me.”

“You don’t need to remind me of that; your reputation precedes you, Captain.”

Spike smirked smugly. “Well, Mr. Rhodes, now that we’ve reached an agreement, what do you say we celebrate by sharing a bottle of rum?”

* ~ * ~ *

Meanwhile, at Angel’s house

“I still cannot believe that my mother agreed to let us take a stroll in your garden unchaperoned,” Aimée said as they walked through the candlelit garden.

“Well, I can be very persuasive when I want to, and it wasn’t that difficult since it seemed she wasn’t too fond of coming out with us.”

“I really don’t blame her, even at night the heat is insufferable.”

“It’s not so bad once you get used to it, darling.” He smiled at her condescendingly. He was sure in no time at all Aimée would love this land as much as he did.

‘With any luck I will not have to get used to it,’ Aimée thought as she rolled her eyes inwardly, while smiling sweetly at him. Angel looked so happy to be in Galveston again that she knew she’d have to do some heavy persuasion of her own to convince him to live elsewhere.

Angel stopped near a bench and helped her sit before he sat by her side, gazing earnestly into her eyes.
“I have missed you so much, my sweet Aimée,” he said, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing it with fervor. “I can hardly wait until we get married.”

“W-we…I-I can not marry you, Angel,” she replied, taking her hand out of his and feigning a sadness that she was very far from feeling. “Be-because…even if I love you with all my heart,” she said, her bottom lip quivering and her green eyes filling with tears, “I know that you were engaged to my sister and I feel that I am just a replacement for her; that you will marry me because you couldn’t marry her.”

“Oh, my sweet love, that is not true, you’re the only one I love, the only one I ever wanted to marry and be mother of my children.”

“So, why did Elizabeth and my mother say that she broke off the engagement, if it wasn’t true?” Aimée asked, sniffling delicately, as she wiped a lone tear that had escaped from her eyes.

“I have never been engaged to your sister. That was just a misunderstanding and about that, well—” he began, taking a deep breath, as he decided to tell Aimée all that had happened with his mother. He hated to break his promise to his mother, but Aimée’s happiness was first for him and he thought as his future wife, she deserved to know. “Your sister didn’t want to be pitied by anyone, so we decided that we would let everyone know that it was her that broke off our non-existent engagement.”

“So, you were never engaged to her?” A tentative smile blossomed on Aimée’s face, as she schooled her features so she didn’t show her growing enthusiasm at his words. ‘Oh, God, this is even better than I ever expected. I can’t wait to see Elizabeth’s face when she realizes I know that her engagement with Angel never existed and on top of that, I’ll be the one marrying him.’

“No, never, I promise you,” he answered, taking a ring out of his pocket. “I fell in love with you when I first saw you in Boston. Will you do me the honor of marrying me?”

“Oh, Angel, it’s so beautiful,” she said with a seemingly sad smile. “And there wouldn’t be anything I loved more than to accept, but—”

“But?”

“I cannot accept. You have to understand, Angel, Elizabeth is my sister and whether or not the engagement existed, and she would be very hurt if we were to marry.” It wasn’t really that she cared for her sister, but she had to pretend she did.

“Oh, Aimée, I know and let me assure you that the situation makes me uncomfortable as well, but I won’t let you sacrifice yourself or our happiness for your sister. Not after she told me that what she wanted all along was to serve God, not to marry me.”

“She told you that?” A hopeful smile lit Aimée’s face. ‘Of course the little liar would; she has too much pride to say anything else. God! This has been easier than I expected it to be.’

“Yes, she did. So, you see, darling? There’s nothing that prevents us from getting married.”

William’s face flashed in Aimée’s mind just for a second, before she pushed it away and smiling brightly at Angel, she extended her left hand to him. “No, you are right, there is nothing preventing us from being married. So yes, Angel, of course, I will marry you.”

Angel kissed her hand as he slipped the ring on her finger. “You have made me the happiest man in the world, my love.”

“When are we marrying, Angel?”

“As soon as my mother deems it convenient,” Angel replied, he watched as Aimée’s face fell and promptly added, “but I think it can be as early as one month. What do you think?”

“One month sounds wonderful to me.”

tbc





You must login (register) to review.