Plundered Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page A

her.”
    He walked us out to the front, the prow of the yacht, so we could enjoy the breeze in our faces as she made her way south. He explained the layout of the ship. “Captain Blake said it would take eight to ten hours to get there if we pushed it. That would bring us to landing on Banet Island between ten and midnight. Instead, he plans to take a gentler pace and dock us first thing in the morning.”
    That didn’t sound safe to me. “How can he pilot it while he’s sleeping?”
    Frank laughed at me. “Charlie is licensed to sail the yacht, too. They’ll take turns. No worries sister o’ mine. Even the cook and the deckhands have been trained to do the basics in case of an emergency.”
    I loved the feeling of the yacht driving through the waves and the slight crash into each trough. But his talk of worries reminded me about the conversations Dad and I had with Frank every time we met a new girlfriend. “So Aimee’s the one, and I don’t have to worry about my brother spending his life all lonesome?”
    “Maybe.” I’d never seen Frank turn so many shades of red.
    Wisely, James had wandered off on his own to avoid the sibling stuff.
    “Maybe?”
    He brought a small box out of his pocket. “I did bring this with me for Christmas Eve.”
    I didn’t even look at it or open it. I could see by the velvety, little black box what it contained. Instead, I lunged at him with a big hug. “About time!”
     
    ****
     
    The kids took to being on the water without any issues.
    I felt a little queasy, but not bad, so I put on the wristbands to combat sea sickness that Ann Selkirk had loaned me. In about an hour, the distress subsided. I wasn’t sure if I could give the bands credit, but Ann did, and I didn’t really want to take them off and experiment.
    Around nine that evening it was still warm enough for all of us to put on our swimsuits and take a turn in the hot tub.
    Because it had been such a long day, I started to nod off as soon as I hit the warm water. I didn’t even get to enjoy it.
    James got nervous about me dozing in the water, so he wrapped me in a towel and carried me back to our room for the night.
    It might have been romantic if it weren’t for the fact that I argued about wanting to stay every time I woke up enough to realize what he was doing.
    He plopped me in the chair in the room and put the spare blanket over me.
    I woke up a little while later, uncomfortable in the wet swimsuit. Somehow, I got myself dried off and into bed.
    James had not yet returned from tending our kids and the dog.
    I hoped he wouldn’t let them stay up too late. But exhausted as I was, the rocking of the ship put me right out.
    I woke to a thunk.
    Then, Jelly, whom James had lodged in our room while I slept, started barking his “intruder alert.”
    The combination made me shoot out of bed.
    The faint glint of early morning sun slanted through the small window. I looked out through it and realized what the “thunk” meant. We had docked on Banet Island.
    And the intruder alert from our pooch? The men on shore who were pulling on the cables and tying the yacht down.
    James rolled over and yawned. “It’s morning?”
    “Yep. And we appear to be onshore.” He looked terribly bleary-eyed for my rough and ready Army officer. “What time did you get to bed?”
    His mouth stretched open again, and it took him an obvious and intense effort to close his jaw and end the yawn. “Not sure.” The next yawn began with the last word. So he ran through some quick calisthenics and shook his head to clear the cobwebs. “After you went to bed, I let the kids stay up and play in and around the hot tub for about an hour.”
    I noticed he was fully dressed. Khaki shorts and a polo shirt, but still, who sleeps in that?
    “When I started to leave to get the kids settled, Frank pulled me to the side and asked me to come back. Aimee had turned in early, too, and he wanted to talk. So I got the kids quieted down, put Jelly in here