Rebel by Heather Graham

Author:Heather Graham [Graham, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General, Fiction, Romance, Historical
ISBN: 9781568954646
Google: bYzJ4z8l1iYC
Amazon: 0736643508
Publisher: Wheeler Pub.
Published: 1997-02-14T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

The air was definitely taking on a cooler measure, especially in the early morning. And still the sun beat down through the cool, damp air, striking Ian’s bare back as he worked splitting the slender pines he’d hauled from the mainland to the islet, preparing to leave the place in the care of his family.

Teddy had been buried four days. Jerome and Julian had yet to return from the base at Key West; Ian hoped they’d return soon, because he had only two weeks left before reporting back to duty. And if he was bringing Alaina with him, he’d need time to make proper travel arrangements.

The time he had spent here now seemed like a very strange waiting period. For Alaina, it was a time of deep mourning. He had offered what comfort he could, and she seemed to be coming to an acceptance of her father’s death. Sometimes she was very quiet, staring into space. Occasionally she gave way to a single dry ragged sob. Then sometimes she just wanted to be left alone, and so he had decided to give her what distance he could.

The last two nights, he had found himself staying very late with his uncle and Lawrence on the porch. It was easier to come in later, when she slept already. They didn’t argue, and neither did he suffer quite so keenly with the desire to remind her that he was alive, very much alive, that he had been gone a very long time, and very much wanted his wife.

He raised his arms, bringing his ax down so hard that the pine shattered rather than splitting. Swearing, he moved the wood chips to begin again.

Ian wasn’t quite sure why they should be trying to hang on to Teddy’s islet—except that it was Teddy’s islet and Alaina’s inheritance. The real estate was not worth a great deal; had they decided to sell, it was quite unlikely that they’d find a long list of buyers. The far south remained mostly a haven for wreckers, salvagers, downright pirates, Seminoles, runaways of all makes, colors, and creeds—and eccentrics like Teddy. Perhaps his McKenzie kin could be classified as eccentrics, too, despite the fact that his uncle James assured him constantly that the time would come when the south Florida beaches would be worth the gold they resembled. Perhaps, but not in his lifetime. Still, his own father had held onto his property here, clearing a few acres, leaving a great deal of heavily wooded swamp and foliage as well. Ian knew that he would never sell McKenzie property himself, and he wondered if, at heart, he wouldn’t rather be a runaway himself. He’d spent so much time growing up prowling through the hammocks, mangroves, pine isles, and pure swampland. He loved the sunsets, maybe that was it. And the sunrises as well; mornings like this, when the air was cool and still, such a radiant warmth could work its way into his bare back …

He paused, his foot upon a log, leaning on his ax as he saw Alaina come to the porch.

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