Free Gentle Pirate by Jayne Castle Page A

the daughter of a World War II lieutenant colonel who was awarded the Navy Cross for valor in action. The Marines were the only thing Jim had ever cared about. The idea of marrying 'in the family,' so to speak, intrigued him for a while. For my part I was quite dazzled. He was witty, charming, intelligent, and my father approved completely. Also, as you, yourself, mentioned this morning, I wasn't getting any younger and it didn't look like the great love of my life would ever appear. I decided to settle for a romance that I could nourish into something stronger. I reminded myself of all those tales one hears of love growing after the wedding. But nothing grew after this marriage. Just the opposite. Things fell apart quite rapidly. Then I made the discovery that Jim was seeing another woman and I told him very calmly that I was going to file for divorce. It was then I discovered that, in addition to his other attributes, Jim Talbot could be a very brutal man."
    "What happened, Kirsten?" Simon prodded in his deep, patient voice.
    With a start, Kirsten realized she was no longer seeing the big man leaning against her refrigerator. She wasn't seeing anything in her kitchen, for that matter. Instead, she was in another town, reliving another event in a different apartment.
    "He beat me," she whispered. "So badly I thought he would kill me."
    She heard Simon draw in his breath with a small, harsh sound and refocused her gaze on him. Lifting her head proudly, she finished the story.
    "That's the whole tale. Our little confrontation occurred late one night after he had returned from a date. He'd had a few drinks and I probably should have had the sense to face him in the morning. But I wanted out! I got out, all right. In fact, I was unconscious." She smiled with bitter self-mockery.
    "When I awoke he had passed out on the bed. I grabbed my purse, the keys to my car, and made it to a hotel several miles away before I collapsed. The next morning I phoned a lawyer friend and had her start the divorce action. I never saw Jim alive again. The rest you know. He was killed a week later and I did my best to put the whole mess behind me. I only went back to the apartment on one occasion in order to collect my clothes and pay some bills." Kirsten nodded toward the shoebox. "That hadn't arrived yet and I suppose it's been following me around ever since."
    With what she privately felt to be an amazing example of self-control, Kirsten pulled herself together and glared at Simon. "Well? Now you know the entire sordid story. Aren't you appalled to discover that the woman you decided you 'wanted,' at least for this week, is trampling on the honored memory of an ex-Marine?"
    "Hush, Kirsten," he whispered, straightening and coming toward her in one large stride. "It's all over now," he added, folding her back into his giant embrace and rocking her gently as if she were a child. "You did the right things all along, you know. You acknowledged the mistake of marrying Talbot and you got out. There's no reason in the world why you should feel obliged to limit your social life out of respect for the dead. Especially when the dead doesn't deserve it. Building a new life is much more important than remembering an old one that was a disaster from the first!"
    Kirsten stood stiffly in his arms and listened as he talked softly. How much of this comfort was real, she wondered dismally, and how much was prompted by his desire for her?
    "You're not the only one to make the mistake of marrying the wrong person, honey. Hell, I did the same damn fool thing when I was twenty-nine. A full-grown man who should have known better. Someday I'll tell you all about it. Now all I can say is that I'm sorry Jim Talbot is dead. It would have been such a pleasure to have bashed in his head!" Simon concluded with great feeling.
    Kirstcn, who had been perilously close to tears, suddenly found herself unable to contain a burst of laughter.
    "What's so funny?" Simon demanded, pulling