The Sea Owes Me a Fortune

Chapter 002

Jasper hadn’t expected Matthew Hunnam to have the nerve to come looking for him. He was about to confront him about the night before, but caught himself just in time.

“I woke up thirsty and went to get some water,” he said with a smile. “Couldn’t get back to sleep, so I went home for a couple of buckets and tried my luck down on the shore. You were all sound asleep. I didn’t want to wake anyone.”

He still intended to marry Sydney. Picking a fight with her father now wouldn’t help.

Matthew’s expression shifted as he tried to decide whether Jasper was telling the truth. Jasper had no intention of giving him time to ask more questions. He lifted the buckets slightly.

“I’d better get these to the docks. We’ll talk later.”

Matthew watched him walk away, then stamped his foot in frustration and hurried home.

Just inside the door, he met Vicky Beatty heading out with a bucket of laundry. She shrank a little at the sight of him.

“Dad, Sydney’s down on the shore, and Tim’s soiled himself again. I’m just going to wash—”

“Stop right there.” Matthew’s face darkened. “Let me ask you again. You really didn’t see him when you went back to your room last night?”

Vicky avoided his eyes.

“I told you, he was already gone when I got there.” Her voice was barely audible. “Maybe we should leave it alone. The Holts are decent people. If Sydney marries Jasper, he’s hardly going to let us starve…”

“Keep your mouth shut!” he snapped. “If he won’t move in here, he’s not marrying Sydney. This time didn’t work, so you’ll find another opportunity.”

He lowered his voice. “We need something to hold over him. Something that’ll keep him here for good.”

Vicky’s eyes filled with tears.

“Your family took fifty dollars to get rid of you,” Matthew went on. “If you’d managed to give Tim a child, do you think I’d have to resort to this? And don’t you dare start thinking you can walk out on us. I could beat you to death, and nobody would lift a finger!”

“I won’t…”

She shook her head and hurried away with the laundry.

Only after she was out of sight did the cruelty leave Matthew’s face. He sagged, looking suddenly older and helpless. If he’d had another choice, he wouldn’t have stooped to something so shameful.

But Tim was paralyzed and had no children. Few men were willing to marry Sydney and take on the whole household, and the ones who were willing weren’t worth having. If things went on like this, there would be no future for the Hunnam family.

With a heavy sigh, Matthew went back inside.

At the docks, the fishing boats were coming in one after another. Buyers crowded around each vessel as soon as it tied up, all eager to get the best catch and sell it in the city at a profit.

Jasper had meant to look for his father and older brother’s boat first, but the crowd was too thick. He gave up and took his buckets to Ritchie Nicholas, a fish buyer he knew well.

The moment he lifted the lids, people around him drew closer with exclamations of surprise.

“Now that’s a fine grouper, Jasper!” Ritchie’s eyes lit up. The more he examined the catch, the more excited he became. “All these whelks, too—and an abalone? You’ve done well for yourself!”

“Where did you find all that?” someone asked.

“I was out on the shore this morning. All I got were a few clams and razor clams. How come you had all the luck?”

“Come on, let us in on your secret!”

Jasper only smiled. Turning to Ritchie, he said, “What’ll you give me?”

Ritchie was still considering his answer when Jasper added, “My family sells all our fish to you. I know what everything’s worth, so don’t try to lowball me.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it!” Ritchie gave an awkward chuckle. After a quick calculation, he named his price. “Fifteen dollars for the lot.”

Another murmur ran through the onlookers. Fifteen dollars could mean ten days’ earnings at sea, perhaps even two weeks.

“Deal,” Jasper said. “No slip, though. I want cash now.”

The fishermen and buyers all knew one another. Normally, a buyer would write out a slip for a catch rather than pay on the spot. That evening, once the rush was over, the fisherman would take it to the buyer’s house and collect his money.

Ritchie understood. As he reached for the cash, he grinned.

“Putting a little aside for a wife, are you?”

“That’s right,” Jasper said without hesitation.

“Still got your heart set on the Hunnam girl?” Ritchie sighed. “Take my advice. Since that accident, their eldest son has had no way to earn the money for another boat. The whole family’s living off whatever his father can gather along the shore. They want a son-in-law who’ll move in and support them all, and they’re not going to budge. You’d be better off forgetting about her.”

Then his grin turned mischievous. “Now, I’ve got a cousin…”

“Oh, give it a rest! Your cousin’s built like a barrel. No thanks.”

Jasper pocketed the money and left. He still needed to go home and work out what to do next.

Adeline Pelphrey hurried after him. She and her husband, Austin Holt, lived at the edge of the village.

“Wait, Jasper! You never told me where you found all that!”

He stopped and gave her a sideways look.

“Austin brought in a boatload of good fish last month. Everyone asked where he’d caught them. Why didn’t you tell us?”

Adeline had no answer.

Jasper had no patience for the woman. In his first life, after he’d been forced to move in with the Hunnams, she had spread so many stories about him that more than half the village gossip could be traced back to her.

He turned and walked away.

Adeline spat on the ground. “He just got lucky! What’s he so pleased with himself for? That whole family’s broke, and they always will be!”

Jasper had barely left when Rebecca Abrams arrived at Ritchie’s stall.

“Ritchie, how much did Jasper get for that catch?” she asked eagerly.

Ritchie took one look at her and guessed what she was after.

“Fifteen dollars,” he said with a smile. “Paid him cash. No slip.”

Rebecca’s expression soured.

Fifteen dollars! When prices were bad, her own husband could work himself to exhaustion at sea for a whole month and earn only twenty or thirty. Half of that had to go toward the household expenses. Jasper had made this much in a single night?

Burning with envy, she turned and hurried off. Ritchie gave her no further thought and went back to buying fish.

A short distance away, Matthew Hunnam had overheard everything. His hands tightened into fists.

With fifteen dollars in his pocket, Jasper hummed as he headed home. On the way, he stopped at the village shop and bought half a pound of fruit-flavored candy.

He unwrapped a piece and popped it into his mouth. It was sweet, yet all he could taste was bitterness.

In his first life, he had worked without rest or complaint for the Hunnams, unable to go back to his own family. Even his son had only been allowed to call him “Little Dad.”

It had been forty years since he’d tasted anything sweet.

“God, this is good.”

Jasper let out a long breath and left the shop with his candy. He had barely gone a few steps when he ran into Vicky, returning with the laundry.

Their eyes met. Hers immediately filled with tears, and she took a few steps toward him. Jasper simply walked around her.

They had shared some happy moments in his first life. They’d even been good together in bed. He knew she had been trapped in circumstances she couldn’t easily escape, but none of that excused helping Matthew ruin his life.

Vicky stood watching him go, tears spilling down her cheeks. After a moment, she bit her lip and hurried after him.

“Jasper, wait!”

He stopped and looked at her coldly. “What is it?”

“About last night…”

“Nothing happened last night. I sobered up and went home.” He looked away from her tearstained face. “Vicky, you should get back and make breakfast.”

Humiliated and miserable, she finally forced out what she needed to say.

“He made me do it. Last night—I’m sorry.”

Jasper paused, then walked on without looking back.

At home, he washed quickly and went back to bed. It was afternoon when a pounding on his door woke him.

“Jasper! Get up!”

The shrill voice belonged to his youngest sister, Anne Holt. This time, hearing it made his throat tighten.

In his first life, Anne had married a violent drunk. She hadn’t even reached forty when he beat her to death. Jasper hadn’t so much as had the chance to make the man answer for it.

He sprang out of bed and opened the door. There stood his little sister, seventeen years old again. Beside her was Sydney Hunnam in a floral dress, her eyes red from crying.

“Jasper, Dad and Tim say they won’t let you marry into the family.” Sydney’s voice broke. “I… I…”

Anne lost patience and blurted out, “Jasper, you and Sydney should just elope!”