“It’s a romance. It’s called ‘The Taming of the Shrew’. I keep reading it hoping that one of these times the story will end differently.”
“Why is that?”
“Why do I keep reading it, or why do I want it to end differently?”
“Why don’t you tell me both,” the Captain said with a smile before settling into his seat for the night.
Belle smiled back. She was beginning to like the Captain. There was no denying it. And it was then that, for the first time since her last night with Trudeau, she thought about the way that Trudeau had touched her. It had brought her so much pleasure. Could the Captain’s touch do the same, she wondered. Settling into her chair about to talk about her favorite book, she suspected that it could.
The next morning, Belle felt strong enough to leave the house. She sugge
