Lifting his giggling daughter, Michael carried her into the house perched on his muscular shoulders before sending her to wash for lunch.
“You home is lovely, Mr. Devereux,” Lynna admired the richly appointed furnishings and the wide-open, airy expanse of the house. “How long have you lived here?”
“Please, call me Michael. And yes it is lovely, but I cannot claim ownership. I only oversee the plantation during the owner’s absence.” There was a harshness in his tone that she hadn’t detected earlier.
“I see.” She realized immediately that she had hit upon a touchy subject and made a mental note not to mention it again.
“It was an understandable mistake. You see I was the overseer here for several years before the original owner passed away. He had no living kin to pass the estate to, so the plantation, distillery, acreage, and coolies were auctioned off to the highest bidder.”
“And where is the new owner?” she wondered aloud, seeing that Michael and Crystal seemed at home in the big house.
“He isn’t the new owner. Eden has been his for the past several years. In answer to your question he travels a great deal, coming here only occasionally to check on his investment.
Lynna smiled. “He must trust you implicitly.”
“I have never given him reason not to,” Michael stated simply, leading the way to the dining room and seating her at the table.
“What are we having for lunch?” Crystal asked, holding her hands up to verify that they were clean.
“A traditional Jamaican delicacy, cow’s feet soup.” Her father grinned.
Lynna shuddered, thinking the island’s inhabitants certainly considered toes and feet to be appetizing fare. Hopefully, he was only teasing her again.
After a pleasant lunch of shrimp in coconut cream sauce and molasses cake for dessert, they sought out the shade of the verandah to ward off the afternoon heat. Lynna couldn’t help but be amazed as she surveyed the vast workings of a sugar plantation. “I had no idea there was so much involved in making the spoonful of sugar that I add to my coffee every morning.”
“You are not alone. Few people realize how labor intensive the making of sugar really is.” He stood and moved to the edge of the porch to gaze across the towering cane fields. “Would you like to see the cane works? They should prove fascinating as well.”
She caught the note of pride in his voice whenever he spoke of the mill. “I really would love to see it, just not today. My aunts will be worried if I don’t return home soon. And you have work to do, which I am hindering you from getting done. Could I perhaps see it another day?”
“Certainly, whenever you wish.” He smiled. “I can’t think of a more enjoyable way to pass an afternoon.”
Lynna felt herself blush stain her cheeks as she stood to smooth the wrinkles from her skirt. “Now, if I may borrow your daughter, I’m afraid that I don’t quite know my way around yet.” She quickly discovered that to be an impossible request, as Crystal was sleeping soundly on the cushioned porch swing.
“I will be happy to take you home.” Michael chuckled as he called for the cart to be brought back around.
“No, absolutely not,” Lynna insisted. “I could not possibly take you away from your work. I have taken too much of your time already.”
“Believe me, this place will not fall apart if I take a few hours off.” He winked seductively. “And anyone who witnesses your beauty certainly will not begrudge me the time.”
“Sir, you are an outrageous flatterer.” She blushed prettily.
“You know the old adage, if the shoe fits…” thus said, he helped her into the cart.
The ride home was eventful. They stopped often, with Michael pointing out sights that she might otherwise have missed. She took this time to study him more closely. He was of average height and build, a few inches taller than her, with sandy brown hair. Handsome in a boyish way, his brown eyes sparkled when he smiled.
“How am I supposed to take you home when I don’t even know where you live? Don’t that beat all. I forgot to ask.” He laughed and thumped the heel of his hand to his forehead. “Perhaps you are an enchanted mermaid with the power to cast a spell, making a man forget all else but you.”
“Perhaps I am,” she smiled slyly and raised an eyebrow, surprised to realize that she was actually flirting with this stranger.
Michael threw back his head and laughed heartily. “My daughter and I are going to enjoy having you around. Enchanted or not, you brighten the day.” They stopped at a crossroads and he asked, “What brings you to Jamaica?”
She could never reveal Joshua’s cold and callous treatment of her, so instead she gave the most recent set of tragic events. “I was on my way to visit my aunt in Charleston when an earthquake struck.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” He placed his calloused hand on top of hers. “What a terrible tragedy. Did your aunt survive as well?”
“Yes, but she was quite distraught and insisted that we leave the city until Charleston can be rebuilt. That is why we are here.” Lynna looked out across the rows and rows of sugar cane as far as the eye could see. “And I must admit that Jamaica is doing a wonderful job of soothing our troubled souls.”
“While it goes without saying that I feel terrible about the earthquake devastating Charleston, on the other hand, I am happy that you and your aunt have chosen our island as the place to heal.”
“Actually, I am too. I could not ask for a more beautiful place, or to meet nicer people than you and your charming daughter.”
“Thank you kindly, my beautiful mermaid.” He reached to push a lock of stray hair behind her ear, surprising Lynna with his boldness. “Now let us get you out of this unforgiving sun, shall we? Which way?”
“Left…um…right, maybe…um…I’m not sure,” she replied with a perplexing look. “I am visiting my aunt and uncle at Springfield. Perhaps you know of it?”
He turned to her with a shocked expression and flashed a gleaming white smile. “Springfield? I can’t believe that Cliff and Bertie failed to mention that they had such a lovely niece. I’ll make a point to call on them more often.”
Springfield was a quaint little house. Lynna’s first impression when seeing the house had been that it reminded her of a gingerbread cottage. Her Uncle Cliff was short and bald with a perpetual smile on his face. Aunt Bertie stood a foot over him, her long grey hair braided and pinned atop her head. The two constantly joked and teased each other, but when their eyes met it was something close to worship that visitors saw.
Bertie, Cliff, and Gypsie came down the steps when the little cart rolled up to the door. “Hello Michael, I see you found our errant niece and brought her home,” Cliff teased, shaking Michael’s hand. “We were about to form a search party.”
“I was not lost, Uncle Cliff.” Lynna assured him. “But yes, Michael was kind enough to drive me home.”
“Why you must be famished, child.” Bertie hurried down the steps with a worried frown. “It’s almost supper time and you missed lunch. Come in the house and I will prepare plates for both of you.”
“Don’t bother, Aunt Bertie,” Lynna said. “I had lunch with Michael and his charming daughter, Crystal.”
“Oh, did you now?” Bertie was obviously pleased with the idea of a prospective romance, especially one that could possibly keep Lynna on the island permanently. “Then it is only fair that you stay to supper with us, Michael.”
“I wish I could, Bertie,” Michael was already climbing back into the cart. “But I still have a few hours of work to complete before the sun sets. Will the invitation hold until tomorrow evening?”
“It certainly will and bring Crystal,” Bertie reminded him. “It has been too long in between visits.”
“She has been pestering me to bring her over to see all of you.” As the cart pulled away, Michael called over his shoulder and winked at Lynna. “She will be delighted.”
“What a fine young man,” Gypsie said, as they watched Michael disappear down the d
irt road in a cloud of dust.
“That he is,” Bertie agreed, going to place her arm around Lynna’s shoulder and usher her into the house. “A more charming man is not to be found, and such a sweet little daughter, poor thing. A child without a mother is such a pity.”
“And a hard worker too,” Cliff added. “But he is a puzzle. It has been how many years since his wife passed away? Almost three, I think. And he has shown absolutely no interest in women since, that I can tell. He is indeed a puzzle.”
“Perhaps the woman of his dreams has not come along.” Gypsie said, feigning innocence. “A woman would be fortunate to find herself with Michael Devereux for a husband, wouldn’t she, Lynna?”
“Yes, a woman would be fortunate indeed, Aunt Gypsie,” Lynna answered dutifully, accepting the fact that both her aunts had matchmaking on their minds.
Lynna intended to make herself not be opposed to the idea.
Supper the following evening was a gay affair with traditional Jamaican cuisine and lively conversation. Lynna found that she enjoyed Michael’s company immensely and they were never at a loss for a topic to discuss. He had the group rolling with laughter when he recounted the mermaid story.
Crystal rarely left Lynna’s side, sitting beside her at supper and curling up on the sofa next to her when they adjourned to the parlor for coffee and rum. “Lynna is going to step on you if you don’t stay out of her shadow,” her father joked with smiling eyes.
“Oh, don’t tease her, Michael,” Lynna giggled. “If she ever gets underfoot I will simply change my legs into a mermaid’s tail so that I will not cause her any harm.”
Crystal was immediately alert. “Can you really do that?”
“Of course, I can,” Lynna teased, leaning over to tickle the child’s midsection.
When Crystal settled down, she wiped the tears from her eyes and out of the blue blurted, “Lynna, will you be my mother?”
Michael rolled his eyes toward the heavens, then quickly lifted his daughter from the sofa and started toward the door. “Thank you for inviting us to supper. It was delicious as always.” Lynna noticed the sudden look of longing in his eyes as he mouthed the words, “I’m sorry.”
“Nonsense.” She smiled using his earlier explanation. “She is but an imaginative child.”
Turning at the door, Michael’s eyes held hers. “Would you still like to see the cane works tomorrow?”
“Yes, I would,” she was quick to answer, to the absolute delight of both of her aunts. “I have been looking forward to it.”
“Then come by for lunch, and afterwards I will give you the grand tour.”
“I will see you at noon then,” she replied, just before Crystal reached over to give her a bear hug and a resounding smack on her lips.
The following afternoon after a delicious lunch, Lynna was amazed by the mill works. There was a boiling house, a curing house, and a still house. At the mill Michael explained the process of extracting sugar from the sugar cane and how it was then separated into golden sugar crystals and molasses. He went on to explain that the majority of his molasses were used in the making of Jamaica’s famed rum.
“It seems terribly complicated,” Lynna mumbled as all the facts seemed to run together in her mind.
“I suppose it would to a newcomer, but it’s all second nature to me.” Again his voice took on a sharp edge. “I would wager that the man who owns Eden doesn’t know half as much about cane as I do. But that is neither here nor there.”
So it came to be that in the weeks that followed, Lynna was a frequent visitor at Eden. During the day while Michael was busy at the distillery, she and Crystal often sought the cool waterfall. If they were not playing in the cascading water they could be found searching for small fish in the tidal pools at the ocean’s edge, building sandcastles, or laughing gaily as they frolicked through a field of wildflowers.
Lynna could not have loved the child any more if she were her very own.
In the evening, after Crystal was unhappily hauled off to bed, she and Michael took rides in the cart or relaxed on the verandah enjoying breathtaking sunsets.
Chapter 28