The Sea Owes Me a Fortune

Chapter 008

A tear-streaked face looked up at him from outside the window.

Vicky.

Her face was red and visibly swollen.

Jasper stared for a moment, then his expression hardened.

“What are you doing here?”

If anyone caught her at his window at this hour, there would be hell to pay.

She wore a thin undershirt, cut low over her full breasts. Loose strands of hair fell across her face. In the moonlight, she looked painfully vulnerable.

Memories of his first life rose unbidden.

When he'd first moved in with the Hunnams, he'd been miserable with guilt and resentment, never comfortable in their home. To escape the awkwardness, he'd left before dawn every day to look for work. But each night, he still had to come back.

For those first few years, Matthew and Tim had sat through every meal with dark, sullen faces. Vicky had watched every word and gesture. The tension in that house had been suffocating.

Only at night, after she'd settled Tim in bed and joined Jasper in their room, had they been able to breathe.

In that tiny room, they'd made love, clinging to each other. Later, when he'd bought a boat, she'd packed meals for him to take out to sea. For a while, they'd even been happy together.

But he had another chance now. He would never let his life turn out that way again.

“Go home.”

He deliberately looked away. “As far as I'm concerned, you're Sydney's sister-in-law. That's all.”

If it hadn't been for Sydney, he would have told the whole family exactly what he thought of them and cut them out of his life.

At the mention of Sydney, a bitter ache spread through Vicky's chest.

She'd once been a young girl dreaming of love too. Now life had worn her down until she barely felt alive. But she wasn't ready to give up.

“Jasper, could you… could you do something for me?”

Summoning her courage, she lifted her face to his.

He looked into her tear-filled eyes, his patience wearing thin. “What?”

She hesitated. Before she could get the words out, her cheeks had flushed.

“Please…” Her voice was barely audible. “Give me a baby.”

“What?”

Jasper was stunned.

Now that she'd said it, the rest came more easily.

“I know I shouldn't be asking. But I don't know what else to do!”

She went on pleading. “Tim's father hit me again today. He says it's my fault I couldn't make you stay. If I had a baby, he'd stop treating me like this. Please, Jasper. Help me.”

She stepped back, then sank to her knees.

In the moonlight, he could see the tears sliding down her face.

All he could think of was the gossip from his first life, the things people had said about him for moving in to take Tim's place in his wife's bed and keep the household fed.

“Get up!”

Angry now, Jasper strode out of the house and around to the backyard. He caught her arm and hauled her to her feet.

“What do you think you're doing? Drugging me didn't work, so now you're trying to guilt me into it?”

His voice rose as his anger grew.

A light came on in his parents' room.

“Jasper! What are you doing up at this hour?” Kate called. “If you can't sleep, go down to the shore and fill a bucket!”

They both jumped.

“Just got up to pee, Mom. Everything's fine.”

He caught Vicky's hand and started to pull her toward his room, then thought better of it. Instead, he led her out through the gate.

It must have been nearly three in the morning. Most of the fishermen left around two, and the people who gathered shellfish wouldn't be up yet. The village was quiet.

Afraid of running into anyone, Jasper hurried her toward the shore.

Vicky let him pull her along. Looking down at their joined hands, she felt another pang of longing.

At the water's edge, Jasper let go and faced her coldly.

“I'll say this one more time. I'm willing to forget what happened. But you need to leave me alone.”

Vicky lowered her head and said nothing.

He waited, then lost patience and turned to leave.

She caught his arm.

“Jasper, I don't want to keep bothering you. It's just… I…”

She tried several times to speak, but only the tears came.

Something in his chest tightened. He forced the feeling down and kept his voice cold.

“You can't find another sucker, so you keep coming back to me. Is that it?”

“No!” She shook her head hard, scattering tears. “I just don't know what else to do. Please, Jasper.”

She clutched the hem of his shirt and wouldn't let go.

“After that night… can't you have a little pity on me? Please. Just give me a baby.”

By the end, she could barely get the words past her sobs.

Jasper had already paid dearly for falling into this trap once. He wasn't about to do it again.

He made himself sigh, then adopted a gentler tone.

“Vicky, we can't keep making the same mistake.”

“What's a mistake? What's the right thing to do?” Her voice was full of despair. “Am I supposed to accept this? Stay with the Hunnams and let them wear me down until there's nothing left?”

She looked up at him through her tears. “I'm only twenty-three, Jasper. What did I do to deserve this?”

“And you think a baby would change anything?” he asked before he could stop himself.

“Yes.”

There was no hesitation. She held his gaze.

“Tim's paralyzed. Sydney can't find a decent man willing to marry her and support the lot of us. The Hunnams have nothing left to look forward to.”

“That's why Matthew treats me like I'm nothing. He doesn't see a future for the family. But if I were pregnant, I'd be carrying that future.”

She caught his hand again.

“With a baby on the way, he'd stop hitting me. He wouldn't get any other ideas either. And I…”

She faltered, then lowered her voice.

“I'd have something to look forward to as well.”

She was only twenty-three, with most of her life still ahead of her, yet her marriage was over in every way except name. Divorce was out of reach, and she had no hope of marrying someone else. She needed something to live for through all the years to come.

Jasper sighed again. But his answer was still the same.

“I'm not going to father your child, Vicky. I can't agree to that.”

Her face went white. Her hand fell limply from his.

“I understand…”

She took two steps back, looking utterly lost, then turned away.

“I won't bother you again. I'm sorry.”

The sea breeze tangled her hair. Jasper watched her slight figure retreat along the shore.

Then an idea struck him, and he called after her.

“Wait. I know a way to get you out of this!”