Saving The Pirate (Book Two)

55. Library Rants

Dinner came to an end, and still, Captain was nowhere in sight. He probably was still in the library. I wondered if he was hungry.

"Where is the library?" I asked Diane with a plate of food in my hands. She smiled kindly and told me to follow her. She led me down some hallways and stopped before we came to the two large doors leading inside.

"Anne, I know you only work for Christopher...but does he ever talk about me? Does he ever say anything?"

I didn't know what to say. How could I tell her that it broke her son's heart when she died, when he thought she died? I wanted to tell her, I really did, but it wasn't any of my business, and if Captain was going to tell her how he felt, then it was his duty to do it.

"No. I don't believe he had," I said, watching as the woman's eyes turned glossy, the way her pretty smile turned to a held back frown. It was almost unbearable to look at.

She nodded her head and turned to go. "Wait!" I stopped her. Oh, god, what was I doing? "Captain...Captain keeps a locket with your picture in it. He told me about it, about when you took him to see the ships."

I shouldn't have done it; I was messing with something delicate, but the little smile forming at the corner of her lips made it worth it, and in that moment, I believed I did something good.

She held her hands to her mouth, her eyes watery, and thanked me, then left. I waited for her to turn the corner before letting out the breath I didn't know I was holding. I stayed a moment, trying to catch my breath, and all the while, that guilt came—that bloody guilt stabbing at my stomach. I wondered if Captain would be furious with me. I wondered if this was what would get me fired.

I had to calm myself. No, I would be fine. It wasn't a big deal that I told his mother about the locket. It was just a thing he carried around with him; it wasn't like I was confessing his feelings. I wasn't doing anything that could harm anyone.

Taking one last breath, I stepped through the large doors and into a library. Immediately, I was dumbstruck. If I thought the Taylor library was a palace, then this library was heaven. I had found it. I found heaven.

Tall bookshelves lined the walls, with thick ancient books covering each shelf. Colorful rugs scattered across the floor and a few chairs and tables in corners. Captain was at one of them in the far back, his feet up on the table, a hand on a book in his lap while the other one was holding out a cigar. A mountain of books piled up on the table, and it became clear that he was going to be here for a while.

Good thing I brought food.

I made my way to him and carefully placed the plate down before him. He didn't even look up at me, even though I wanted him to. I wanted to look into his eyes and get the reassurance I needed, that I had made the right decision, but he did no such thing.

"I thought you might be hungry," I said calmly. Still he said nothing, and continued to read the book in his lap. I tried again. "The food here is wonderful. We had wild boar. That's what's on your plate." Still, nothing. I turned to go.

"He found this island on September 16th, 1492, almost a month before he 'found the Bahamas.'" I turned back around. He still refused to look at me, but put the cigar to his mouth. "Didn't tell a soul about this place."

I didn't know what to do, so I stood there awkwardly, trying to find some look or something from him commanding me to stay or go, but he was as blank as a sheet of paper.

At last, he looked up. His eyes were stern, and I felt nervous under them. I played with the seam of my dress. He pulled the cigar from his mouth and blew out a puff of smoke. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. He gave a curt laugh.