Sea of Christmas Miracles by Christine Dorsey Page A

With a slap of his reins, he prodded his stallion to
a faster pace. Gritting her teeth, Caroline urged her horse to keep
up with him.
    Dusk was throwing eerie shadows across the
trail when Raff led them onto an even narrower path that angled off
to the south. Too tired to ask if this was leading toward the
George Walker plantation he mentioned earlier, Caroline followed.
Here she could see wide swathes of forest cut away to form plowed
fields.
    Civilization.
    When a house came into view, Caroline sighed,
obviously louder than she intended, for again Raff MacQuaid twisted
to look her way. She kept her eyes focused on the house, refusing
to acknowledge his stare.
    Two storied, and whitewashed, age and the
surrounding canopy of trees gave the whole a shadowed appearance.
The dwelling had a wide front porch and shuttered windows. Beyond
it and down a long sloping stretch of land, Caroline caught sight
of a river. They reined in their horses, and a child of about ten
came running from one of the outbuildings. He wore cutoff breeches
and his dark bare feet were covered with sandy soil.
    “Masta’, he done just come back from de
fields.”
    “He’s in the house, then?” Wolf asked as he
reached up to lift his father’s bride off her horse. She sagged
against him when her feet hit the ground, and his arms reached out
to steady her. But she immediately righted herself and, with a
murmured “thank you,” stepped away.
    “Yessah, he’s in there. Gettin’ on close to
supper time.” The boy took hold of the reins and led the horses
toward the barn.
    “That’s what I’m counting on.” Wolf turned
and motioned Caroline forward with a wave of his hand.
    She passed him, head held high, though her
legs felt as if they would buckle beneath her at any moment. And
worse, to Caroline’s way of thinking, it wasn’t just the long,
unaccustomed ride that made her knees wobbly. Foolish as it was,
the brief instant she’d stood in the cocoon of Raff’s embrace had
affected her equilibrium. She only hoped her future stepson hadn’t
noticed.
    The door was partially open to allow the
breeze off the river to come through. Wolf stepped inside just as a
small dark-haired woman turned the landing of the stairs. She gave
an excited yelp and raced down the remaining steps, propelling
herself into Wolf’s arms. While Caroline watched, the tall, silent
man lifted the woman and twirled her around till she begged for
mercy.
    “Papa said you might come,” she said when he
put her back on the floor. “But we didn’t expect you this soon.”
The young woman flashed her dark eyes toward Caroline, before her
gaze riveted once more on Raff. “How long are you staying?”
    “Only overnight,” Wolf brushed his finger
across Rebecca Walker’s pouting bottom lip before turning to
Caroline and introducing the beauty that clung to his hand.
    This time Rebecca Walker’s attention to
Caroline lasted a little longer, but it was as if an invisible
string kept pulling her smiling face back toward Raff. “You
promised to stay with us longer next time,” she reminded him.
    “I said sometime , Rebecca. And that
sometime is not now. I need to deliver Lady Caroline to my
father.”
    “Is that company I hear?” A big booming bear
of a man with grey hair and a ruddy complexion came through a door
near the back of the hallway. In half a dozen giant strides, he had
Raff in a bear hug, repeating that the younger man wasn’t expected
this early.
    “I was able to have an audience with Governor
Lyttleton immediately and saw no reason to delay. Besides, as I
just explained to your daughter, I’m escorting Lady Caroline to
Seven Pines. She’s to be Robert’s wife.”
    Caroline didn’t imagine the slight lift of
her host’s bushy white brows when Raff introduced her. But George
Walker was extremely considerate and polite.
    “You must be tired, my dear,” he said as he
took her hand. “Rebecca will show you to your room. As soon as
you’ve freshened up,