“That it does. Always thinking of others first.”
A lump caught in her throat. Wasn’t that the way Rourke had always been? In all those years of teasing, he’d never spoken about difficulties or his family on Harbour Island. He’d let her rattle on about every silly thing. She knew he had parents and seven younger siblings, but he’d always directed the conversation to her dream of sailing the high seas. Though he pointed out the less savory aspects of the occupation, he hadn’t attempted to dissuade her. If anything, he encouraged her silly ideas. But he’d still treated her like a child until the day of the storm, when he looked into her eyes as if for the first time.
“Are you all right, miss?”
“Yes. Oh yes.” She again looked forward and spotted a white tower gleaming in the distance. “Is that the lighthouse?”
“Key West light. Would you like to see?” He handed her a spyglass.
“Is it in a different location?” The moment she asked, she realized Tom wouldn’t know that the hurricane had washed the old lighthouse away, along with everyone inside. “Forgive me. That was a silly question.” She lifted the brass instrument warmed by the sun and gazed at her future. “Home.”
Visions of the place she once knew mixed with memories of the roofless houses and streets filled with debris. The wind had stripped the leaves from the mangroves and mahogany trees. Coconuts had flown like cannonballs. Mud and seaweed caked everything. She would never forget the stench.
“What is it like now?”
“Pardon, miss?”
“The town. Do many people live there? Has the custom house been rebuilt? Are the wharves busy? Are there any flowers?”
“Aye, miss. All of that.”
Elizabeth returned the glass and closed her eyes, letting the breeze toss her salt-stiffened locks. The sun felt the same. The islands looked green again. The sea smelled as it always had, but time had passed. A town had been rebuilt. Would her beloved Key West be a stranger to her now? Surely she would recognize some things. Some buildings, like the Marine Hospital, had only needed repair. Her home had been devastated, though. They had slept on the floor of the dining room in the days after the storm. Mother spent every day at the hospital. Father assisted the other men with keeping order and returning valuables to their rightful owners. At Father’s insistence, she set sail for Charleston as planned.
She glanced toward the wheel, where an unfamiliar captain patrolled the quarterdeck. Even the wreckers were new. Except Rourke.
“At least he’s still there,” she breathed.
“Who?” Tom asked.
She’d forgotten she wasn’t alone. “No one in particular. I’m simply looking forward to seeing my family again.”
“It won’t be long now.”
The lighthouse loomed ever closer. On the fresh northerly wind, the Dinah Hale was making excellent time. They might enter the harbor before sunset. Rourke, on the other hand, wouldn’t arrive for days or even weeks, depending on the extent of the salvage.
No one would greet them at the pier. Father didn’t know she was coming. No one in Key West knew of her arrival. Yet. The minute they landed, word would race through town. Father, Charlie, her friend Caroline. Everyone would hear of the wreck, that she had been on the Victory, and that Rourke was salvaging it.
Did someone wait on the docks for him? Even if Rourke had no particular sweetheart, the girls had always flocked to him. He might even have someone back home in the Bahamas. Though the thought pained her, what did it matter? The moment she set foot in Key West, she would give her life to caring for her brother.
The crew sprang to life as the ship rounded Key West. Tom left, and her regrets faded as the island she loved came into view. The seas calmed, and Aunt Virginia joined her at the rail.
“This is it?” her aunt sniffed.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” They glided past the huge brick walls of the fort rising from the sea. A narrow strip of earth connected the fortress to the island. Piles of brick stood beside temporary barracks for the workers. Men, many of them servants hired out by their masters, swarmed over the worksite in the late afternoon sun.
To the west of the fort lay the most beautiful sight of all. Building after building, silvered gray by the weather, lined the streets. Palm trees poked up between them, as did wild tamarind, gumbo-limbo, and the beautiful Geiger tree with its orange blooms. Railings lined verandas. People dotted the wharves.
Elizabeth ought to tell her aunt that she had neglected to inform her father of their pending arrival, but six hundred miles had not made that omission easier to admit. “I doubt Father will be there.”
“Why not?”
She sought and found a ready excuse. “He could not have heard of the wreck nor have known that we would arrive on the Dinah Hale.”