Free Through Waters Deep by Sarah Sundin

off and not be punished. It didn’t seem fair.
    Gloria eyed Mary head to toe. “You have a cute figure. Maybe if we get the boys to the beach, Jim will finally notice you.”
    Thank goodness Jim was too far away to hear and too immersed in discussing the gun’s mechanics. “I’m not trying to be noticed. We’re just friends.”
    â€œBut I so enjoy watching people fall in love.”
    â€œThen watch yourself with Arch.”
    She patted her upswept hair under a matching green hat. “We’re a boring old couple now. He’d better ask me to marry him soon. All these tests are so tiring.”
    â€œTests?”
    Gloria leaned closer, bringing a whiff of perfume with her. “He’s so skittish, thinks girls only love him for his money. He wants a girl to be unimpressed by his wealth, even to disdain it.”
    Mary studied the handsome blond officer, who peered down the barrel of a gun. “That makes sense. I’m sure he wants someone to love him for who he is.”
    â€œExcept wealth is part of who he is, part of what makes him attractive. And it’s so hard to pretend.”
    â€œPretend?” The word tasted like dust.
    â€œJust between us girls, okay?” Gloria winked. “The Vandenberg estate is spectacular. Who wouldn’t want that? And the money? Heavens, you could buy anything you wanted, never have to count pennies. I’d be a fool not to want that. But with Arch, I have to wrinkle my nose and pretend the whole thing is quite distasteful. The sooner we get married, the better.”
    Mary swallowed the dusty mouthful. Gloria might not be a gold digger, but she was standing in the stream with a pan, ready to sift out a nugget.
    â€œCome on, ladies. Come see.” Jim beckoned them over.
    For the next ten minutes, the men showed them how the gun worked, how the sailors hauled it back and forth on its wheels, loaded the shot, rammed it in place, lit it, and protected their hearing with the tips of their neckerchiefs jammed inside their ears.
    Gloria made appreciative noises—another act? How could she pretend to like and dislike in opposition to her own tastes, in order to trick Arch into marriage?
    â€œLook at that, Mary. Twenty-four-pound shot.” Jim patted a cannonball.
    â€œThat’s incredible.” She didn’t have to pretend, nor would she ever do such a thing.
    Mary could watch him all day, the way his smile tilted slightly higher on the right, the boyish glint in his hazel eyes, the smooth cut of his hair, the perfect fit of his double-breasted jacket, his long fingers and the way he moved them.
    She ripped her gaze away. Who was she kidding? She was as guilty of pretending as Gloria. Every day she pretended not to be attracted to Jim, pretended the sound of his voice didn’t scramble up her insides, pretended the thought of him shipping out and not returning to Boston didn’t leave her aching.
    The men led the ladies down another hatch to the berth deck, filled with dozens of hammocks.
    Arch fingered the canvas. “Our enlisted men should be required to come aboard the Constitution , see how sailors lived in the nineteenth century. They’d be more appreciative.”
    â€œThat works for us too.” Jim leaned through a door. “Officers’ quarters. They have hammocks too. Although I sure wouldn’t mind that desk.”
    Mary poked her head inside. A gorgeous oak desk topped with green felt, adorned with antique telescopes and sextants and things. “I assume your accommodations are less colorful.”
    â€œPlain old steel.” His grin flashed, far too close to her face, then he strode away, back to the hatch.
    Mary followed the group up the ladders, not easy in a skirt and heels. Perhaps it would be best if the Atwood didn’t return to Boston. Sure, she’d miss Jim and his friendship, but then she could recover from her crush.
    On the main deck, Mary drew in a breath