Chapter 15
Key West, Florida
Mother just informed me that I am to be shipped up to Jacksonville to stay with her sister until after the child is born, which the midwife believes will be in March.
I dread the journey as my stomach still has not recovered, and seasickness can only make it worse.
I am told that the trip should take less than a week.
Mother and Father are both still unable to look at me and the shame is overwhelming.
If not for Gordon, I don’t know what I would do.
Even Elizabeth is quite cross with me, but I believe that is because she has been unable to conceive thus far in her marriage.
I miss Ian so much every day that my heart constantly aches.
I do not know how I can continue on without him.
Charli closed the diary and set it on the bedside table. She closed her eyes for a moment and released a long deep breath, then looked to her side where Jack slumbered so easily.
She smiled at his peaceful expression, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
He was the easiest-going and most thoughtful man she had ever met, yet at the same time he could switch to alpha protector mode at the drop of a hat—a real dichotomy.
His normal relaxed attitude had such a calming effect on her, and his dominant side made her hot in ways she hadn’t realized were possible.
She suddenly wondered if that was the difference.
She looked to her other side and her eyes landed on the last diary.
She had nearly finished it and the heartbreak and fallout from Ian’s death continued to snowball.
It was unfathomable what Amelia went through, not only losing her true love but also being ostracized by her own family. Her face scrunched.
God...sent hundreds of miles away to have a baby in secret because your entire family would be disgraced in society by your actions...and for simply getting pregnant!
The thought was horrifying, but Charli knew it was an acceptable practice back then.
Sometimes it was even worse with the young women being turned out onto the streets.
But according to one entry in Amelia’s diary, her father had still considered her a valuable commodity and planned to marry her off as soon as she returned to the island.
Just what they planned to do with the child, Charli had no idea, and she was almost afraid to find out what happened to Amelia and Ian’s baby.
Had her parents been heartless enough to give away their only grandchild?
Orphanages were not warm and happy places in the late nineteenth century.
She thought of the photo hanging in Aunt Dottie’s bedroom of Amelia in a wedding dress.
It was all starting to make sense now, and if Charli wasn’t mistaken, Jack was wrong about the timeline.
That photo wasn’t taken just after Amelia had learned about Ian—it would have been after she had returned from Jacksonville, possibly without her child.
Amelia’s father must have moved quickly to marry her off.
Charli cringed at the thought. It must have been horrible.
Unable to sleep, Charli got out of bed and walked through the open doors onto the balcony.
She turned her face to the sky and took a deep breath of the cool night air.
The moon was nearly full and the wind whistled through the palm leaves and rustled her hair.
There was an energy—a restlessness—in the air tonight, as if she weren’t the only one with a churning gut.
She sat in her favorite chair in the corner and rocked slowly, closing her eyes, and letting the fresh air and quiet wash over her.
When she opened her eyes moments later, they were drawn to a faint light in the Widow’s Walk across the street.
Chills shot through her body as she sat up abruptly and squeezed her eyes shut.
She had to be seeing things. When she looked again, the light still shone but even brighter as if someone had brought it outside.
Charli’s breath froze in her chest. This had to be Amelia’s light—it was real! It couldn’t be...could it? She squinted her eyes.
Either that or I’m having a nervous breakdown and hallucinating...
But there was no denying it. The light was still there, shining bright at two o’clock in the morning in an empty house, and Charli knew for a fact that the staircase and entrance to the Widow’s Walk had been barricaded.
Gus had personally escorted her up to the third floor staircase to proudly show her his handiwork—he’d made absolutely certain she wouldn’t be getting into the Widow’s Walk until he removed the barrier.
So it couldn’t be one of the workers or some neighborhood kids playing a prank.
Goosebumps popped out all over her body at the realization that this was Amelia shining her light for Ian, still waiting for his return.
She turned and ran back into her room, closing the balcony doors and throwing the bolt, her heart pounding.
As if that would keep a ghost out...
But that simple act made her feel better. She quickly crawled back in bed with Jack and curled up next to him. He grunted and rolled toward her, running his hand up her back.
“Mmmmmm...you’re cold,” he mumbled, burying his face in her neck.
Charli shivered, and he pulled her across his body.
“Come here, baby. Let me warm you up,” he murmured, still half asleep.
As she finally began to drift off, draped across his chest, a thought came to her—she had to find out what had happened to Amelia’s baby.
Her instincts told her that was a major piece to the puzzle.
* * * *
“Oh, Charli. This is just a lovely place,” quipped Faye, who turned in a circle. “I knew Dottie had moved in here several years ago, but I’d never had a chance to see it in person.” She set a small shoebox on the kitchen island. “I hope you don’t mind me just dropping by.”
“Of course not!” Charli assured her. “I was just working in the office.”
Faye’s brows rose. “You’re still working? Are they okay with you doing that down here rather than in Boston?”
“Oh, no.” Charli waved her hands dismissively in the air. “I’ve taken a sabbatical so-to-speak from my legal career for the time being. I was actually compiling my notes on Amelia.”
Faye’s eyes twinkled. “Oh, that sounds interesting!”
Charli nodded. “It is and there’s so much detailed information in her diaries that I’m taking notes so I can access them easily. I’m adding that to all the info I found at the library, that way I won’t research the same thing twice.” She shrugged. “It’s the lawyer in me. Research is in my blood.”
“That’s so exciting! Can I see what you’ve put together so far?”
“Of course,” Charli answered. She turned and began walking through the living room. She waved a hand over her shoulder. “The office is this way.”
Faye ooohed and aaahed over the records Charli had compiled splayed out over the large desk which included census records, notes from the diaries, a tentative timeline, and several plat maps. A large family tree was drawn on the whiteboard that took up most of the west wall.
Charli ran her finger over the family tree.
“This should help make things a bit more clear.” She pointed to Amelia’s entry.
“We know her sailor’s name now. It’s Ian Kennedy.
And I’m nearly done with the last diary, so I can’t be certain that she had the baby.
However, she was definitely pregnant and her family shipped her up to Jacksonville to stay with her Aunt Celia until she had the baby. ”
Charli paused when Faye gasped.
“Yes, it must have been horrible,” Charli responded. “Amelia also mentioned in her diary that her father still planned to marry her off once she had the baby. It was their intent to give the child away.”
Faye’s eyes watered. “Oh, that’s so awful and sad. I can’t even imagine giving away a grandchild to strangers.” She sniffed and put a finger beneath her nose. “We’ve always known about the legend of Amelia’s ghost, but to know that it’s so real and so tragic is almost too much to handle.”
“It really is,” Charli answered. “And now I’m invested in this investigation, so I can’t stop.
” She pressed her lips together as the memory from the other night came back to her.
“In one entry, Amelia said that she promised Ian she’d leave a lantern lit in the Widow’s Walk every night for him.
” Charli shivered. “A couple of nights ago, I saw that light from my balcony.”
Faye’s eyes bulged, and she put a hand on Charli’s arm. “I’ve seen it, too. But honestly, we all thought it was Dottie having a little fun.” She drew back a bit. “Do you mean that true as well?”
Charli sighed. “Yeah, it’s true. I’m starting to believe that there’s more to this ghost story than just Amelia losing Ian to a shipwreck and killing herself.”
Faye’s head tilted. “What do you mean?”
“Well, there’s the child. I want to know what happened to it.
Most likely it was placed in an orphanage, but I feel like I need to track it down.
Then there’s her family.” Charli pointed at the family tree.
“Amelia’s father had married Elizabeth off in 1868, to a wealthy wrecker who was nearly two decades older than her. He planned to do the same to Amelia.”
“In fact,” Charli continued, “there’s an entry she made that said her parents had chosen a widowed merchant with two children for her, but that was before they knew she was pregnant.
I think they had planned to marry her off to someone else once she returned to Key West, which we know happened because she died here. ” She paused for a moment.