Sea Change by Karen White

Author:Karen White
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: C429, Kat, Extratorrents, General Fiction
ISBN: 9781611734768
Publisher: NAL
Published: 2011-12-31T13:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Pamela

ST. SIMONS ISLAND

SEPTEMBER 1811

We stood on the damp sand, our shoes sinking so that we periodically had to lift our feet and place them in another spot, only to begin the process all over again. I barely noticed as I focused on the words spoken by Reverend Matthews, carefully listening to ensure that Georgina said the correct words, and that she and Nathaniel would be properly wed.

Georgina had chosen the beach for the ceremony, and we had allowed it. It was the only decision regarding her marriage in which she had been allowed to voice her opinion, and Geoffrey and I considered it a harmless one. The wind whipped up white tips on the waves past the shoreline like little flags of surrender, and I wondered whether my sister thought that, too.

I watched their faces as they vowed to love, treasure, and obey until death parted them, the words flung from their mouths to the wind making them seem like wild and reckless promises. I could not help but wonder whether this had been Georgina’s intention all along.

As soon as the reverend closed his Bible, the small gathering began its solemn retreat back toward the dunes, the guests’ movements slow and awkward because of the sucking sand, but perhaps because of something else, too.

I had planned a small supper at our house to celebrate the nuptials before Georgina and Nathaniel left for their wedding trip to Savannah. But as I glanced up at the darkening skies, I wondered whether their trip would be postponed and hoped fervently that it would not. They needed to be away from this place; I needed them to be away. Even if it was only to be a few days, I needed to breathe freely again, to no longer feel the accusatory stare on my spine.

A hand touched my shoulder and I turned, expecting to see Geoffrey. Instead, I saw Georgina, her eyes wide like a child’s and full of questions. I stopped and allowed the others to pass us by. I tried not to cringe from her touch, to meet her eyes as if I had nothing to hide.

“Speak quickly, Georgina. I must help Leda with the wedding supper, and the guests will be arriving directly.”

Her eyes were restless, her fingers plucking at the pale yellow gown that showed perspiration under the arms already. She looked up at the sky. “I think it will rain.”

“Most likely.” I picked up my skirts. “Let us walk while we talk. Nathaniel will be waiting.”

As if I had not said anything, she didn’t move. “It bodes ill for a bride if it should rain on her wedding day.” Her voice caught with the last words, and I looked closely at her, remembering the small sister who had stopped talking for a whole year when our mother died.

“We make our own good luck, Georgina. And Nathaniel loves you. That should mean something.”

A sneer marred her perfect face. “What is love, Pamela? It is a fickle thing, a feckless plant that blows and sticks itself to a place with shallow roots until the next wind comes along.

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