Embrace the Day by Susan Wiggs Read Free Book Online Page A

so they invent things about others."
    Genevieve sent Amy a grin and plucked idly at a frayed spot on her skirt.
    "Bloody hell," she said, "I'll be lucky if this rag holds out for the rest of the voyage."
    "We'll fix it," Amy said brightly, kneeling beside her bunk to look for her etui. The tiny lacquered box inlaid with gold filament was her most prized possession. Amy looked up from her searching, her brow creased by a frown. "My etui is missing," she said.
    Only Genevieve saw Nell's hand creep furtively to a fold in her apron. Genevieve sighed wearily. It wasn't the first time Nell's light fingers had struck. But Genevieve wasn't in the mood for another scrap.
    "God blind me, you've found it!" she declared suddenly, yanking Nell's hand from her pocket. "Good for you, Nell; you knew Amy'd be wanting it." She pried the little box from Nell's hand and tossed it to Amy, who stifled a giggle. Ignoring Nell's mumbled curses, they set to mending Gene skirt, listening to high waves licking like giant tongues against the hull as Mrs. Dobbins read from her Bible in a quavering voice.
    When the weather settled, Genevieve escaped to the updecks, keeping a sharp eye out for Roarke Adair. She wasn't one to avoid confrontations, but this man was like none she'd ever encountered before. He seemed to see through the air of brash insouciance she'd learned to cultivate long ago in the mean London slums. Roarke's blatant friendliness reached out and grabbed some part of her that she preferred to keep locked away.
    She spent hours with Prudence, however, for during the day Roarke took himself off to other parts of the ship.
    Prudence wasn't weathering the voyage well. She was constantly ill, and Genevieve became something of a nursemaid, emptying the bucket, bringing cool cloths for her friend's brow, coaxing her to sip a bit of salty broth. But even under daily care, Prudence's condition worsened. By the fifth week of the voyage she'd grown thin and hollow-cheeked and frighteningly gray about the eyes and lips. Day by day her strength seemed to ebb away, and no amount of coaxing from Genevieve could reverse the alarming trend. Prudence had lost her initial good spirits and spoke frequently of Edmund, whispering her secrets to the North Atlantic winds as she fingered the small engraved locket he'd given her.
    Genevieve bit her tongue when Prudence declared her love for Edmund Brimsby. The man had done his worst to her; how could she still think fondly of him? Unbidden, another thought crept up. How could Prudence resist Roarke's cheery attentiveness, the tenderness with which he treated her?
    The ship had no surgeon, but one of the crewmen, called Brother Tandy, was known to have some skill in doctoring.
    With tar-stained hands, Tandy examined Prudence, lifting limp, birdlike limbs and shaking his head. He murmured a few questions and listened intently to her barely audible replies. His eyes passed over the tiny rounded rise in Prudence's midsection.
    When he looked up at Genevieve and Roarke, he was grinning broadly.
    "Good God, man," Roarke blustered. "Can't you see this is no time to be joking? My wife is seriously ill."
    But Brother Tandy continued to smile. "Not seriously ill, sir. Seriously pregnant."
    Genevieve held her breath, silently willing Brother Tandy not to speculate on how long Prudence had been in this state. But even if he had, his assessment wouldn't have been heard. Roarke's whoop of delight would have drowned it out.
    "A child!" he roared, his voice ringing through the decks. "Glory be, Prudence, we're to have a child!" There was a look of such naked joy on his face that Genevieve had to tear her eyes away from him.
    Roarke danced a little jig, bumping his head on the ceiling beams before kneeling at his wife's side. He took her hand firmly in his.
    "I never dreamed it could happen so soon, love," he said in a softer voice.
    Prudence brightened a little at his tone. "Are you truly happy about this, Roarke?" she