Free A Pirate's Possession by Michelle Beattie

is not a man prone to displays of emotion. On deck, he’s constant. Whether we’re engaged in battle or floating still, his demeanor is always the same. But tonight was different. I’d never seen him so riled,” he added with excitement.
    Claire had been wondering what Nate needed a ship for. Now, she knew. If Nate engaged in battles, he was likely a privateer. Most merchant sailors didn’t engage in battles often and most didn’t have new sloops.
    â€œThat was his anger you saw.”
    â€œAnd that’s foolishness talking, but,” he said, holding up a hand to ward off her reply, “I won’t argue. At least not tonight.”
    His grin was catching and Claire felt her mouth curve.
    â€œYou are persistent.”
    â€œComes from being raised with five sisters.”
    â€œNo brothers?”
    Vincent’s smile turned to a frown.
    â€œOne. He left when I was a young boy. He wanted nothing to do with me. I didn’t measure up, so to speak.”
    Claire remembered Vincent’s comment of only ever being seen as half a man. That his own brother had felt the same must have been devastating to Vincent.
    â€œI’m sorry,” she said. “But he was wrong. From what I’ve seen so far, I’d say your brother missed out on knowing a very honorable man.”
    To her horror, Vincent’s eyes gleamed with tears. “My dear, I’ve never heard nicer words. Thank you.”
    Warmth spread through Claire. She hadn’t expected it, certainly hadn’t gone looking for it, but she felt in that moment she’d made a friend.
    â€œMy mother died when I nine. She took a bad cold, which led to fever and a cough that wouldn’t go away. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew when she got to coughing, coughing so badly it wouldn’t stop, that she was very sick.” Claire took a trembling breath. It wasn’t easy to talk about, even this many years later. “She died the day before my tenth birthday.”
    â€œI’m sorry.”
    Claire sniffed. “We buried her on my birthday, near the garden she loved so much. Later that night my father did his very best to try to give me a birthday. He cut a piece of cake from one that had been brought by a neighbor and he sang to me, though he cried through most of it.
    â€œThe days were awful after that. We were both so sad and lost without her. We went about our life as best we could but we soon fell into a pattern of picking at our food and staring at nothing. At day’s end we’d sit in the parlor, but there were no words said, and hours later we’d go off to bed, again in silence, only to repeat everything the following day.
    â€œThe whole first year after her death was like that. But then, the day after the anniversary of her death, he brought home the map. Vincent, it all changed after that. He had a purpose in his eyes again, and seeing the life come back to him was all I needed. At first I didn’t care about the map or the treasure because that wasn’t what was important. All I’d wanted was my father back and the map had given me that.
    â€œOnly his excitement extended to me. Soon we were weaving stories about that treasure and the adventures we’d have looking for it. Vincent, that map gave us life, and when we talked about it, I believed we’d find the treasure.”
    â€œBut Nate had a piece of that map tonight. How much of it did you have then?”
    â€œMore than half. The problem was the right side—the part I now have,” she added, tapping her chest, “was missing. Without that piece ...”
    â€œYou couldn’t be sure where to look.”
    â€œWe were guessing. Good guesses, we weren’t silly enough to go off completely blind, but yes, without the rest we couldn’t be sure.”
    â€œBut it was enough to get you both excited?”
    Claire laughed. “I think my father would have looked with even less