Celestial Springs

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

1844

His hands were on her. Finally. At last. After all of these years of planning and discussing, of asking permission, more planning, now after sneaking away, it had happened. She was his wife; nothing could ever change that. Not now.

Spencer was right. The house on Hanover was mostly empty, save some cobwebs and dust that needed cleaning up, and a few spare pieces of furniture, such as the bed they lay intertwined in now. The first owner had been lost at sea just a few months ago. His widow had taken her three small children and moved far away to be close to family. Ginny’s heart hurt for the poor souls, but her loss had been Spencer’s gain when his father, the owner of the largest shipping company in all of Baltimore, had purchased the house as a wedding gift. He expected them to move in once Spencer returned from this one last trip, not to privately occupy it for a few hours today—on their true, secret, wedding day.

Ginny couldn’t quite see the pier from where she lay wrapped in Spencer’s arms, but she knew the ocean was out there and that, tomorrow, it would take him away from her. But only for a little while. Still, the thought of watching him sail away caused her heart to ache, and she couldn’t help but let out a loud sigh despite the overwhelming joy of being with her husband, at last, surrounding them.

“Ginny? What’s the matter?” he asked, lifting his head off of her chest to catch her eyes. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No, of course not,” she assured him, running her hand through his wavy blond hair. “I was just thinking about tomorrow.”

He propped himself up on one elbow. “I told you not to worry about that, not right now. Not when we only have a short amount of time to be together.” He brushed auburn curls away from her porcelain cheek.

“You’re right, of course,” she smiled. “I just can’t bear to think of you leaving.”

“Then don’t,” he replied. He leaned in and kissed her, and for a moment, thoughts of his trip completely left her mind. As he pulled away, the world came crashing in again, and a tear slipped from the corner of her eye. “Ginny, it won’t be that long. I promise.”

“I know. And I want to believe you,” she nodded. “I just don’t know. Something seems… different this time.”

“Nothing is different,” Spencer insisted. “Just like all the times before. I’ll be gone for a few weeks, and then, before you know it, I’ll be back. And I shall never leave you again. I promise.”

“You make a lot of promises,” she giggled, the sincerity of his expression pulling at her heart strings.

“The only promise I ever care to keep is the one where I swear to return to you,” he explained, running his hand through her hair. “Now, do you think you can keep our secret the whole time I am gone, or will you break and tell your parents what we’ve done?”

“Me? Never!” Ginny swore, sitting up a bit in her invigorated state. “You will tell all of your sailors though, won’t you?”

“Possibly,” he laughed. “After all, they won’t see anyone this side of St. Thomas until I do.”

“You’d better not!” she threatened, poking him in the arm. “A promise is a promise. If I swear to keep our secret, you must also keep it.”

“I will,” he swore, grabbing her hand so she couldn’t poke him again.

“And you have the certificate for safe keeping?” she asked.

“Yes, and the reverend promised not to file until I return, so there will be no announcements.”

“Or prying eyes.”

“Or nasty interlopers.”

“Or nosey good-for-nothings.”

“Good. Then kiss me again, my wife, and let’s spend these last few hours of borrowed time focused on the joy of our new life together, not the sadness of my departure.”

She could find no way to argue with that, and so she surrendered to his kiss, certain that tomorrow would come oh too soon, but at least she would awake in the morning as Mrs. Spencer Hayes.