The Captain's Bride by Lisa Tawn Bergren

Author:Lisa Tawn Bergren [Bergren, Lisa Tawn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-45926-8
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2009-09-22T00:00:00+00:00

Karl was sitting by the fire, sleepily reading The American by Henry James, when the knock sounded at his door. It so surprised him that he was instantly awake and on his feet. He had not anticipated Tora, but there she was, weeping, soaked, and hysterical. She looked up at him through her long lashes, and her blue eyes drew him in. If he stared at those eyes long enough, he could pretend she was Elsa. As if in a dream, she rushed into his arms, and he awkwardly embraced her.

Her cold, small body saturated his own clothes, and Karl backed away from her.

“Come in, Tora,” he said grimly, gesturing toward the fire. “You’re soaked.”

“He threw me out! Out into the rain!” she sobbed, taking his chair by the fire.

It was so cold out, Karl had thought the rain might turn to snow by morning, and Tora only had a wet dress and shawl about her. She shook so fiercely that after a moment he grew concerned.

“You must get out of those wet clothes. Go into the bedroom, wrap yourself in the blanket from my bed, and come back to the fire. I’ll pour you some tea.”

“Thank you,” she said, her voice shaking from the tremors that racked her body.

In a moment she returned, her bare neck and shoulders peeking out from the blanket. Karl averted his eyes. Whatever had pushed Kristoffer to do this to her must have been fierce, and Karl refused to be taken in by her.

“Why don’t you tell me about it,” he said, as if speaking to a child.

“There’s nothing to tell! The man’s a tyrant!” Her hand trembling, she raised the tin cup to her lips and sipped the hot tea.

“I don’t believe you, Tora. Kris is one of the most levelheaded men I know. Now what did you do?”

Tora gave him a malevolent look and stared back at the fire. She raised her chin.

Here it comes, Karl thought, a bit amused by her antics. At least it provided some distraction from his long, lonely evening.

But she did not have the chance to say a word. A pounding at the door stopped her, and she looked fearfully over her shoulder.

“Kris?” Karl asked her calmly, raising one eyebrow. He sauntered over to the door and opened it. Kristoffer stood in the doorway, rain dripping off his soaked hat and onto his oilskin coat.

“Karl,” he said with a brief nod. “I’m looking for Tora. We had an argument and …”

His voice trailed as Karl stepped aside, letting him view Tora before the fire. Too late, Karl realized what Kris would see: Tora’s naked shoulders above a blanket. With a roar, Kristoffer charged him, tackling him to the ground and taking the wind out of him. Kris punched him before he could regain his equilibrium, but Karl caught Kris’s next fist.

“Wait! It’s not what you think!”

“It is! I’ve seen enough—”

“Kris! She came to me soaked and shivering. She had to get out of her wet clothes. We were only talking.

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