The Wedding Ransom by Geralyn Dawson

appropriated little Tess from his arms.
    Gus nudged Snake in the side. “She reminds me of our Maggie.”
    “That she does,” the burly pirate replied. His amusement transformed to pain, however, when Miss Kimberly Prescott took a shine to his earrings. Quick as lightning, she leaned away from Rafe and made a grab for the gold hoops, snagging two of them. “Yeow!” Snake roared.
    The baby laughed. Luke Prescott cursed. Honor winced in embarrassment, and Rafe thanked his lucky stars little Kimmy took the heat off him by courting her mother’s displeasure. Once he’d managed to untangle Kimmy’s fingers and Snake’s ear, he said, “Now that your daughter has said hello, I reckon I should introduce you to my companions. Captain and Mrs. Luke Prescott, allow me to introduce Mr. Gus Thomas and Mr. Snake MacKenzie.”
    Honor shoved little Tess at her husband, then led Snake to a nearby bench where she dabbed her handkerchief against his bleeding ear, her apologies coming fast and furious. Gus took a look at the twins squirming in Luke’s and Rafe’s arms and followed Honor and Lucky.
    “What the hell are you doing here, Luke?” Rafe asked, keeping his voice low.
    “That’s my question, Malone. I was just shaking hands on a deal to sell two geldings to a ranger captain fresh from the Indian wars when Micah came running into the stables yelling that Uncle Rafe had been accosted by pirates.”
    “Micah was there? I never saw him.”
    “He wanted to see Dapple Annie’s foal. He wasn’t armed—he didn’t think to bring his corsair’s cutlass with him—so he figured the best way to help was to get me. Captain Ross and I galloped hell-bent for leather to your place, and all I find is a note saying you’d met some new friends and gone off adventuring for a couple of months.”
    “Now wait a minute,” Rafe said, affronted. “I also said in that note that I put Rusty in charge of the Lone Star and that if you needed to contact me you could send word by way of Miss Alice’s Gentleman’s Club in Galveston.” He paused, then snapped his fingers. “Shoot. I forgot all about going by the whorehouse.”
    Tess started squirming in earnest, and Luke bent over and set her on her feet. Luke did the same with Kimberly, and as the toddlers took off down the pier, the two men each grabbed a hand to keep the girls safely at their sides. Luke continued, “I decided right off you needed checking on, but Honor wouldn’t hear of my going alone.” For the first time, a note of accusation crept into his voice. “You worried her, Rafe.”
    “I apologize, Luke, and I’ll apologize to Honor, too. I never intended for her to fret.”
    Luke sighed. “She wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for Micah seeing a sword at your throat. What’s the story, Rafe? Who are those people?”
    In brief, succinct sentences Rafe repeated the tale of the events that had brought him to the Galveston pier. When he finished, Luke slowly shook his head. “Hell, Rafe. Why doesn’t this surprise me? I knew you’d find horse ranching a little tame eventually, but I didn’t think it would be this soon. You must have been thinking of moving on anyway for you to have gone along with this.”
    “I admit the West has been calling out to me some. Texas is getting downright civilized these days. But I didn’t go looking for this escapade, you know. They came to me.”
    “You didn’t have to go with them. There’s a lot of work on a horse ranch this time of year.”
    “Rusty’s a good man. He’ll see the work gets done. Besides, it’s to be a short trip, so I’ll be back soon. Look, Luke, I’ve never been to the Caribbean before. I thought this would be a good chance to see that part of the world.” He glanced back toward the
Buccaneer’s Bliss
and added wryly, “At least, that’s what I thought before I got a load of the
Leaky Teaky
. Now I’m not so sure.”
    Luke’s laugh rumbled up from deep inside his chest. “Treasure to steal, a