Sea Of Treason, Pirate's Bluff #1

High Society

I swallowed. "Father got in some trouble, I guess, and he took us away to some coast town in the Carolinas. But this trouble followed us and..."

"What kind of trouble was that terrible that he had to flee? We could have helped."

Jeb's father appeared in the parlor doorway, approaching with slow quiet steps, his face flat. "No, we couldn't have," he said in a low voice.

Jeb whipped around to face his father. "What do you mean? You knew?"

"It wasn't the kind of trouble that could be fixed with a good reputation and we didn't have the money..."

"What do you mean? We have plenty of money."

"We have plenty for what we need, but you have no idea how much it would have taken to free that man from the hole he'd dug for himself. Not nearly enough to be worth..."

"It's okay Mr. Petre." I cut him off, knowing the rest of his sentence was not going to be kind for me, and that would only cause Jeb to defend me which would help no one. I take in a long shaky breath. "It shouldn't have been your responsibility to fix his problems."

He looks down at his feet. "Yes."

"But did you know they were leaving? Or where they went?" Jeb asked with a raised voice.

"No. He'd been planning his contingency plan for a very long while, that much was clear. But he left too suddenly to know much of anything. And by then, I didn't much care."

I swallowed, not liking the look on his face. Is he no longer interested in allowing me to marry his son?

Is that even what I wanted? -- No. That was actually an easy answer. But even so, I wasn't sure what my other choices were. Bluff and Rosemera were gone. I had no more allies.

If only I'd refused to leave so easily. If only I'd jumped into the sea with the sirens. I shivered at that thought. Okay, maybe nothing that extreme.

"What does that mean? You didn't care about Whitley?"

"If her father was that much trouble...she wasn't worth crossing the mob."

Jeb clenches his fist but I place a gentle hand on his forearm. "It's okay."

He turns to me. "How can it be?"

"Because he's right. My father made his bed, and getting involved would have only dragged you down too."

He shook his head. "We could have come with you, then."

I shrugged. "Maybe. But it doesn't matter now. My father is gone, I don't know nor care where he is. I am here."

Jeb pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I knew there was a reason I liked you." I looked up to see a kind smile on Mr. Petre's face. He was much softer than Mrs. Petre, and I still worried about what her reaction would be.

"How?" Jeb asked, ignoring his father, looking me in the eye. "How did you get back? I heard something about a pirate ship?"

I smirked. "It's a long story."

"And you'll have a very long time to tell it." His father says, placing his hand firmly on Jeb's shoulder. "Let the girl rest and get cleaned up. She clearly needs it." He wrinkles his nose and I almost laugh. "We have a party planned for tomorrow night. You should both appear, pretend nothing is amiss. If you're going to continue your courtship we'll need a good story about your absence and unconventional return. If indeed The Spectator decides to print the story, as I've already heard rumors of their interest already, it will need to be well planned."