Chapter 14 #2
Charli grinned and ran her hand lightly over his chest. “Why would I be upset? I thought I was your girlfriend. Aren’t I?”
Jack’s eyes widened and a huge smile cut across his face, and if Charli wasn’t mistaken, there was a flash of relief in his eyes. “Yeah, you are.” He leaned down and kissed her deeply. His head popped up at a loud whistle to find his mother waving them over.
“Oh lord...come on. She’s on a roll right now.” He squeezed her hand. “You don’t mind going to their place for dinner on Sunday?”
Charli melted. This man...
“Of course not. Maybe I’ll have more to tell them about Amelia by then.”
He laced his fingers through hers and started walking toward the Artist Guild booth. “I forgot to ask you...how did it go at the library this morning?”
“Not bad at all. I found the family in the census records and discovered a few other things about her father’s business online.
But most of the genealogy and newspaper files for that time period are located at the Marathon branch.
Those are being transferred down here for me.
They should be here first thing tomorrow. ”
Jack nodded. “You know, you should talk to Miriam and the girls about the files that Dottie willed to the society. There may be something in there as well.”
“Oh my god!” Charli exclaimed, her hands coming up to her mouth. “I completely forgot about those. I don’t know why I didn’t say something to Miriam yesterday.”
Jack snorted. “I’m surprised Miriam didn’t suggest it. Guess she was too rattled pretending to be a ghost hunter.”
* * * *
The next morning, Charli combed through a rather detailed book on the history of Key West, searching for possible information on the fate of Amelia’s young lover.
She somehow knew she was close to discovering.
..whatever it was that Amelia was trying to show them.
She felt like she was on the right track, tracing back through time to uncover the mystery of Amelia’s lost love.
That information had to be in these records.
She and Jack had spent the previous night reading through the rest of the fourth diary, and it had been an absolute roller coaster. Amelia’s description of her relationship with Ian, and her falling ever more deeply in love had been beautiful.
However, the journal had ended with incredible heartbreak as the last entry retold the events surrounding Ian perishing in the shipwreck and Amelia left to deal with the consequences of a pregnancy out of wedlock.
It had been so depressing that she and Jack hadn’t made love as had been their usual evening activity since their weekend on Sunset Key.
Instead, they just held each other and drifted off to a troubled sleep.
Charli leaned back and stared at the library ceiling, releasing a long sigh. There was definitely something more to Amelia’s story than just a broken heart, an unexpected pregnancy, and a suicide. But what, Charli couldn’t fathom. And what happened to the baby after she died?
Her head snapped up and she pulled the fourth diary from her bag.
If she remembered correctly about halfway through the account, Amelia had revealed several details about her sailor.
There had to be a record of him somewhere.
From what Charli could determine, Amelia’s father had kept impeccable employment records. Maybe Ian was there.
Thumbing carefully through the pages, Charli came to the long entry and smiled. Amelia had certainly had an adventure that day.
April 20, 1870
I went down to the docks today by myself.
It was so dangerous and yet exhilarating at the same time, I feared my heart would pound out of my chest. Last night, Gordon had mentioned that one of father’s ships had recently arrived in the harbor and was currently being overhauled.
He explained that the hull had been damaged in the last voyage and needed repairs.
When I asked the name of the ship, it was the Marybeth. Ian’s ship!
I snuck several of Gordon’s clothes down to the carriage house and changed in there, then jumped over the back fence and made it to the harbor with no further problem.
It’s amazing what you can do when people think you are a man.
And the trousers were incredibly freeing!
My luck was further extended when I ran right into Ian himself.
At first, he didn’t recognize me and thought I was a boy.
He towered over me and told me to leave then knocked off my hat.
When my hair fell out around my shoulders, I thought for certain his eyes would pop out of their sockets.
He put the hat back on my head, told me to fix my hair, and took me to a nearby ale house.
He was just as handsome as I remembered, if not more so, and not too happy that I had gone to the docks by myself.
But he let me stay and even gave me a glass of beer to drink with him!
That was my first drink of beer and I cannot say that I liked it.
But I learned so many wonderful things about my sailor.
His name is Ian Kennedy and he’s from Galway, Ireland.
He is twenty years old and has been at sea since he was fourteen—can you imagine leaving home at fourteen for a life on the sea?
He has a dream to own his own fleet someday and says that he is close to buying his own ship.
We talked for what felt like hours and then he walked me home.
He helped me sneak back into the carriage house so I could change and made me promise to never do anything so reckless again.
I told him I would only promise that if I could see him again.
I do not think I’ll ever know where I got the nerve to be so bold. It must be love!
Amelia had finished the entry with a drawn heart. Kennedy...that was Ian’s last name and the ship’s name was the Marybeth. That should help. Charli pursed her lips and stared at the diary, her mind whirling on which direction to go.
Key West had lost several ships in the two hurricane’s that hit the Caribbean that October—the Marybeth had only been one. Amelia’s father had noted the loss of the ship and twenty men in his records, but no names had been mentioned. But surely there would be something in Key West’s newspaper.
Charli sighed. The newspaper files for that time period weren’t online, so it would require a search through the films. She stretched her neck side to side—this could take hours.
She sighed again, she couldn’t remember doing this much research since law school.
But there was no help for it. Determined to unravel this puzzle, she made her way to the librarian’s desk and requested the films.
Within an hour, she found what was she was looking for in an extensive article published in November 1870. Because Key West had lost over one hundred men between the two storms, each ship and person that had gone down had been named. Ian Kennedy of the Marybeth was listed only fifteen lines down.
Charli frowned. It was what she had been looking for, and from the stories of Amelia’s ghost, she already knew what had happened to Ian. But reading it in the article made it feel so final, so incredibly heartbreaking that an overwhelming feeling of melancholy swept over her.
* * * *
“I just don’t get it,” Charli complained as she stared at her wine glass. “There has to be something more here that we’re not seeing.”
Jack glanced at her over his shoulder, his brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that I’ve found Amelia’s sailor, the ship he was on and the storm that took it down.
What else is there to find? What more do we search for?
” Charli shrugged, hands in the air. “I feel like we’re missing something really important and it’s right in front of my face.
I just can’t see it and it’s driving me crazy.
It’s like an itch that I need to scratch but can’t reach, you know? ”
Jack shrugged and turned his attention back to the sea bass he was preparing. “Considering that we didn’t know about the diaries or the box a few weeks ago and that if you hadn’t gone up to the Widow’s Walk even though we told you not to...”
He threw a pointed stare at Charli. “Then you never would have found them and we wouldn’t have known who her sailor was.
So I’d say we shouldn’t worry about it for now.
Whatever it is that we need to discover will appear and we’ll piece the puzzle together.
” He stretched over and grabbed several bottles of spices, applying them liberally to the fish.
“And who knows,” he continued, “maybe we’re not supposed to figure everything out right now. Maybe it’ll take us years.”
Years...
The thought made the blood pound in her head. She felt torn between her overwhelming and soul-sucking responsibilities in Boston and what felt like freedom—and maybe even love—in the keys. Only a few months ago, the idea of living in Key West would have seemed ridiculous to her.
Now it was not just a possibility, but a comfortable reality. What really surprised her was that not only did it feel like she needed to be here, but she wanted to be here...with Jack.
Charli took a deep breath and watched, mesmerized, as he made dinner. “A man cooking dinner is so incredibly sexy,” she murmured before taking a sip of her chardonnay.
He grinned at her, his chocolate eyes sparkling. “Oh yeah?”
Charli gave him her best leer. “Oh yeah. Sexy as hell.”
“Happened to you before, huh?” he asked, clearly digging for information.
Charli smiled and shook her head slowly. “No. This is the first time a man has ever cooked for me. The closest anyone’s ever come is buying me dinner. My career has been my focal point since I left law school, and there never seemed to be time for relationships with the demands of the firm.”
That earned her another grin. He closed the parchment paper and sealed it with twine.
After he placed the baking sheet loaded with the fish into the oven, he turned and grabbed his wine glass.
Leaning on the kitchen island, he pursed his lips as he considered her, the expression on his face contemplative and slightly mischievous.
“I hope it’s just one of many ‘firsts’ I can give you.” His eyes seared her as he took a sip of his wine.
Charli giggled. “Well, if you’re looking for some reassurance, you’ve provided me with many new ‘firsts’ since I got here.”
Jack’s face brightened and he twirled his wine glass between his fingers. “Oh really? Which ones?”
Charli looked up at the ceiling as if she were counting, trying to keep a straight face.
“Hmmmm...well, I’ve never had anyone pick me up at the airport with a cardboard sign, then there’s flying in a sea plane, which was amazing by the way,” she started, holding up her fingers to count off.
“Then, there’s dinner on a balcony, a sunset cruise, spending a weekend in a cottage on a beach. ..”
His eyes squinted and his mouth open and closed several times, yet nothing came out.
“What?” she asked, her tone defensive.
His forehead crinkled. “Were you locked in a closet in Boston? Did no one ever do anything romantic for you?”
Charli smiled to herself. He was still fishing for information.
“No.” She sighed. “More like I was either in an office, a courtroom, or a library. I worked eighty hour weeks—sometimes more—and I almost never dated. I’d get home at eight o’clock at night and be back in the office at six the next morning.”
She grinned at the incredulous look on Jack’s face.
“The one time I did go on a blind date was because I lost a bet to Annette, who made me go on a date with her cousin. I haven’t been on a date since then, and we’ll just leave it at that.
Let’s just say that most men are uncomfortable around a strong woman. ”
Jack grunted. “Doesn’t sound like much of a life to me.”
“It’s the life of a lawyer trying to make partner in a firm.” She paused for a moment, her stomach suddenly sour. “But now, describing my life out loud to you, it all sounds so miserable and pathetic.”
“It may have been miserable, but not pathetic. Impressive would be a better word.”
She took a sip of wine and released a deep breath.
“Well, you know, now I really think it was all a blessing in disguise that those assholes took away all my cases and handed them to Evan. If they hadn’t, I don’t know that I would have even come down here to manage Aunt Dottie’s estate much less stayed for anything longer than a day or two. I would never have slowed down.”
The corner of Jack’s mouth lifted and he walked over to her. “The more I think about it, the more I believe that Dottie definitely had a plan...for both of us.” He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her mouth.
“How much longer until dinner is ready?” Charli asked, her hands running up and down his ribs.
“About fifteen minutes. The veggies are ready, so we’re only waiting on the fish.” Jack eased back and grinned. “How about we go upstairs and enjoy the sunset from the balcony? We could read some of Amelia’s diary if you’d like.”
Charli’s heart dropped. “I started the fifth diary this morning, Jack. It’s nothing but heartbreak now and not exactly conducive to a romantic evening.”
Jack tilted his head and pressed his lips together.
“I know. But we won’t figure out this mystery if we don’t get through those diaries.
Plus, I think you need to call the Royal Conch Society in.
I learned a long time ago not to underestimate those ladies.
If there’s a missing piece to this puzzle, they’ll help us find it. ”
Charli’s brows rose. “You think the ladies will know something we don’t?”
He shrugged. “They’ve been on this island longer than most people, and Dottie willed all the documents pertaining to Paradise West to the society. I’d be willing to bet that there’s something there that can help us.”
Charli hummed. “You know, it’s been a while since we had them all together. They probably feel neglected at this point. Maybe we should plan another society get-together soon.”
Jack flashed her a wicked grin. “Good idea. But let’s go easy on the sangria this time, okay?”