A Light For My Love Read Online Free PDF Page A

Her skin looked creamy white and
marble smooth in contrast with her black hair, and her blue eyes
glimmered like dark sapphires. Even dressed like a scrub woman, in
that old skirt and blouse, the grace of her upbringing shone
through. And she fixed him with a look that could have crumbled
stone.
    “You didn't say what brings you back to town,
Jake,” Gert went on.
    He dragged his eyes away from China. “I
decided to come home for a while. I'm doing some business here, and
I had to bring my ship into dry dock.”
    “Why, Jake,” Aunt Gert exclaimed, beaming,
“are you a captain now?”
    He looked at China again, nodding. “I own the Katherine Kirkland . Her home port is San Francisco.” His
gaze lingered on China's face. “She's beautiful.”
    China closed her collar, feeling uneasy. His
scent, an evocative combination of salt and fresh air, drifted to
her. It was a scent she remembered very well. Why was he here now,
after all this time? she fretted. Over the years she’d tried so
hard to temper the fury she felt toward him for taking Quinn away
with him. Now it was back with a vengeance.
    “It's interesting that you still think of
Astoria as home,” China sniped, regaining her voice. She made a
fussy show of adjusting her cuffs. “Let's see, how long has it been
since you left?” She knew that it had been precisely seven years
and three months.
    Barely conscious of it, Jake leaned backward
a bit. China's voice and words were as sharp as obsidian. Although
he ignored her barb, his tone acquired a slightly defensive edge.
“Mrs. Farrell told me you're renting rooms now.”
    China heard the question buried under his
remark. How had the wealthy Sullivan family been reduced to taking
in boarders? She glared at the older woman.
    “When was I ever ‘Mrs. Farrell’ to you,
Jake?” Gert scolded affectionately, obviously missing the tension
of the conversation. “I was your Aunt Gert as much as my niece’s
children’s. You might be all grown up now, but haven't I known you
since you were just a pup? Before you were Captain Chastaine?”
    China nearly scowled at her aunt.
    Jake's frown relaxed into a sheepish smile,
and tipping his blond head, he looked at the oval rug under his
feet. “Yes, Aunt Gert.”
    China barely refrained from rolling her
eyes.
    “All right, then. I'll let you two work out
the details. I need to put a couple of chickens in the oven for
dinner.”
    “ One chicken, Aunt Gert. There is
nothing to work out,” China jumped in, anxious to put an end to
this right now. “We don’t have a room available.”
    “China,” Gert murmured. “Where are your
manners?”
    “I’m sure Jake understands,” she replied,
directing a cold glare at him. “Give him back his money, Aunt
Gert.”
    In turn, Jake gave China a hard, intimidating
look that almost made her back down. He still had a sense of
reckless danger that made a person think twice about crossing him.
Finally he released her from his gaze. His frown returning, he bent
to lift his heavy bag to his shoulder. “I'd better go back to the
hotel, Aunt Gert.”
    Panic crossed the woman's face.
    “What's the matter?” China asked.
    “Jake, please—don’t go,” Gert urged. “Just
excuse us a moment.” She gave China a meaningful look.
    Jake straightened and put down the bag. He
nodded, turning to look out the window in the front door, as China
and Aunt Gert retired to the kitchen. He had navigated ships
through furious storms, confronted men who would have slashed his
throat for the gold in his back molars, and worked in gale-blown
rigging a hundred feet above a rolling deck. But he'd never been as
scared as he was just now, facing China Sullivan in the foyer after
all this time. His stomach in knots, it had taken every ounce of
courage he had to climb those front steps.
    As it turned out, his fear had been
justified.
    But he’d be damned if he was going to let her
see it.
    *~*~*
    When China and Aunt Gert reached the kitchen,
China