Free Blind Promises by Diana Palmer Page B

away from his set features. “Good night.”
    She barely heard his own “Good night” as the door closed behind her.
     
    Diana Palmer
     
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Chapter Six
    Dana had never seen a city like Savannah, having spent most of her life around Ashton. She was overwhelmed by the history of the sprawling city, and when she and Dirk and Gannon had lunch at an eighteenth-century pirate inn, she almost swooned.
    “Pirates really stopped here?” she asked in a whisper, staring around at the homey interior, which was crowded with lunch guests.
    “According to legend, they did,” Gannon murmured. “If I remember correctly, you can see the ocean from the window, can you not?”
    She glanced out toward the horizon. “Oh, yes, you certainly can. What kinds of boats are those way out there?”
    “Take your pick-shrimp boats, fishing boats, trawlers, tugboats…. It’s a busy harbor,” Dirk commented. “The seafood here is super.”
    “Something else we need to show her,” Gannon said between sips of his hot, creamy coffee, “is one of the hidden gardens.”
     
    A flower-lover, her ears perked up. “Hidden gardens?”
    “Little courtyards. Most of them are in private homes, but we have cousins here who love visitors. We’ll drive by before we leave the city,” Gannon told her. “I think you’ll be impressed.”
    “I’m glad we didn’t bring Lorraine.” Dirk chuckled. “Every time she visits Maude and Katy, she wants to renovate the beach house.”
    “Maude and Katy are spinsters,” Gannon continued. “Maude married, but her husband is dead, so she lives with Katy, who never married. They’re sisters.”
    “You’ll like the furniture especially, I think,” Dirk added. “Most of it is mahogany. It came from the West Indies, where one of our ancestors made a fortune in shipping.”
    “Indeed he did,” Gannon chuckled. “Raiding British ships. He was a pirate.”
    “Now I know why Gannon’s so hard to get along with,” Dana told Dirk with a wicked grin. “It’s in his blood. I wonder how many people that pirate ancestor tossed overboard to feed hungry sharks?”
    “Only one, as legends go,” Gannon said, his eyes twinkling as they stared straight ahead. “His wife,” he added on a low chuckle. “Well, the old blackguard!” Dana exclaimed. “He found her in his cabin with his first mate,” he whispered, “and tied them together and pushed them from the starboard deck into the ocean.” She shivered. “What happened to him?” “Nobody’s sure,” Gannon continued. “But at least one legend says that he went on to become a provincial governor in the West Indies.” “Injustice,” Dana grumbled.
     
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    Blind Promises
     
    Diana Palmer
     
    83
     
    “That depends on your definition,” Gannon reminded her. “Those were different times; there were different codes of honor. In those days it was suicide for a woman to be adulterous.”
    “And these days it’s more the ‘in’ thing than not,” Dirk nodded. “How times change.”
    “Not always for the better,” Dana added. Her eyes widened as she saw the platters of seafood being brought by their waitress. “Food!” she exclaimed.
    “I hope your appetite is up to it,” Dirk teased.
    “If it isn’t, I’ll go home with my pockets full,” she returned, and was pleased to hear Gannon’s laughter mingling with his brother’s.
    The happy mood lasted and seemed to increase when they reached the Victorian home of the sisters Van Bloom. Maude was tall and thin and Katy was short and dumpy, but they shared a love of people that went beyond their physical attributes.
    Dana was amazed at the garden she saw when she walked through the black wrought-iron gate. The courtyard was floored with brick, and its size was about that of a medium-size living room. It was filled with flowers and potted shrubs and trees, and there was black wrought-iron furniture set near a small fountain positioned in front of a vine-covered wall. Dana could