Wings Of The Morning Part 31

Smokey and Dallas sat wrapped in each other's arms and talked about their dreams. Not until Dallas mentioned a possible wedding date just a few weeks down the road did some of the sparkle die in Smokey's eyes. Dallas would have questioned her had he noticed, but someone knocked on the door just then and he rose to answer it.

It was Tate, looking for Smokey to come to supper. Smokey 261.

was so amazed at the lateness of the hour that she laughed, the joyful sparkle back on her face.

"I'm sorry, Tate, but I had other things on my mind."

Tate looked between the two and grinned a slow grin.

"May I be the first to offer my congratulations?"

The two men shook hands, and Tate grabbed Smokey in a fierce hug. "I've got to bring you home right now with this announcement, or Jen will have my head"

Dallas, whose appet.i.te suddenly seemed to increase, was more than ready to comply. The three of them walked together, but only Tate and Smokey talked Dallas felt as if he were stepping on a cloud--Smokey was going to be his wife!

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missed something important and was driving Smokey away from him. He simply had to see her to find out.

less than a week later, Dallas rode a borrowed horse toward the port where Smokey usually docked the Aramis. His animal was already lathered and flagging with exertion, but still he drove him on.

In Dallas' front pocket was a note, delivered earlier and from Smokey. It was brief, and in Dallas' estimation, said nothing.

Dallas-- I need time to think, so I'm headed out on the Aramis. I'll come see you when I return.

Yours, Smokey Desperate to talk to the woman he loved, Dallas rode like a man possessed. He hadn't stopped to pack a bag or say goodbye to anyone. Smokey was on her way out to sea, and he had to have some answers.

They'd parted just two days earlier, when Smokey had decided she needed to get back to Willa's. All had seemed fine when she left. Smokey had grown rather quiet at different intervals, but considering her life in the last weeks, Dallas felt this understandable. Right now he was terrified that he had Da.r.s.ey moved like an old man as he prepared the Aramis to cast off. Never had he made it take so long. He knew that if he carried on too long, Smokey would come up and ask questions, but if he moved any faster, Dallas would miss them.

Da.r.s.ey was as certain as any man could be that he was riding to find Smokey right now.

To most people, Smokey seemed to be a very controlled woman. But she also struggled with fears, fears that plagued her because she would not stop thinking. Just yesterday morning, Da.r.s.ey had stared at Smokey in dumbfounded amazement when she asked him a question.

"Do you really think I should marry Dallas?"

Da.r.s.ey blinked. "Don't you?"

Smokey shrugged. "I've been thinking that he doesn't really know who I am."

"So tell him. It's not as if he won't want to listen." Da.r.s.ey stopped because she was clearly not convinced "He's not going to change his mind," Da.r.s.ey added flatly.

"You never saw his girlfriend, did you Da.r.s.ey? Kathleen is beautiful."

"I see," Da.r.s.ey said when he didn't see at all. "I don't think you're giving him a bit of credit."

"I don't know what you mean."

"I mean, you a.s.sume he's not sincere or has some hidden motive. It's not as if he were marrying you for your money."

Smokey's face showed surprise, and Da.r.s.ey instantly regretted his words.

"You know he's not, Smokey," the mate reasoned "He doesn't even know how much you have."

"That's just it," Smokey spoke with sad logic. "That's just one more thing he doesn't know about me."

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Da.r.s.ey looked at her in despair. He honestly didn't know what to say, but then he wasn't really given time. Before the day was out, Smokey had gathered her crew, sent Dallas a note that said she would be away, and gone to the Aramis.

Now Da.r.s.ey had begun to give up and put them underway when he caught sight of a rider. He squinted up the docks and noticed a tall man leaping from a horse. He watched as Dallas pressed a coin and the horse's reins into a young man's hands and ran for the s.h.i.+p.

Da.r.s.ey continued to put them off while Dallas came aboard and labored to catch his breath. He then handed the ropes over to Robby and moved toward Dallas, who was still breathing hard "I didn't think you were going to make it, lad I couldn't have stalled much longer."

Dallas nodded "What's going on?"

"I'll let her tell you."

"Is she in her cabin?"

"Yes, but I'd wait until you're sure she can't swim for sh.o.r.e."

"That bad, is it?"

"Well, it's not good. I only pray that you'll be able to convince her."

"Convince her of what?" Dallas was completely in the dark.

"That you'll love her no matter what. You best go below and clean up so she doesn't see you."

Da.r.s.ey didn't wait for an answer, and a rather bewildered Dallas made his way to the crew's quarters. After was.h.i.+ng up and using Scully's brush on his hair, he sat on a bunk to wait, praying all the while that Smokey would believe and accept his love.

"You're being ridiculous." Smokey threw herself on her 265.

bed and spoke to her empty cabin, but felt no better. No matter what she said, she could not convince herself that all was going to be well with her and Dallas.

She knew the best way to clear the matter was to talk with him, but what if her worst fears proved to be true? She had wanted to get away to prepare her heart for what might be. Yet she hadn't done a bit of preparing, only fretting and stewing.

She felt the Lord calling her to trust Him, but at the moment she was too worked up, and choosing not to listen.

Smokey hated the jumble her thoughts were in and dozed for a time. When her thoughts began moving to Dallas and the last time he'd kissed her and held her close, she jumped up and reached for her brush.

Wanting to dispel any and all thoughts of Dallas Knight, she gave her hair a ruthless brus.h.i.+ng and then tied it in a small ponytail at the back of her neck. She didn't bother to fuss with anything else because she was going topside into the wind They had been at sea for over an hour, but Da.r.s.ey had taken forever to cast off and Smokey wanted to check on everything. She didn't have the foggiest idea where they were headed, something for which her father would have given her a tongue-las.h.i.+ng, but she planned to go up now and act as if she were in control.

Her short legs climbed the stairs quickly, and she stormed onto the deck like a woman with a mission. She saw a tangle of rope that needed attention and was about to yell for Pete, but something stopped her. Leaning against the mainmast, legs stretched out seemingly for miles, was Dallas. His face was expressionless, but his eyes were intent as they studied her.

"How did you get here?" Smokey asked after a moment.

"It wasn't easy," Dallas answered cryptically.

Smokey couldn't take his intense stare, and she turned her gaze to sea. "I had to get away and think."

"About?"

"You and me. I can't think straight when I'm with you."

Smokey had given Dallas her profile as she said all of this, but he asked her a question that brought her eyes back to his.

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"Do you love me, Smokey?"

"Yes," she answered without a drop of uncertainty.

"Do you know that I love you?"

"I know you love the person you think me to be," Smokey told him. Dallas was more confused than ever. "Dallas," she now went on, frustration rising within her. "There is so much you don't know about me. Take my family, for instance."

"I didn't think you had any family." Dallas' voice was calm even as he attempted to piece together what was going on.

"I don't, not now, but I did You've never even asked me about my father or mother."

"You've never asked me about my mother or father either,"

Dallas replied, trying to reason with her.

"I didn't need to," Smokey retorted. "Jenny told me all about them."

They fell silent for just an instant, and Dallas' mind raced.

"Your mother died having you?" he finally tried and watched Smokey nod "Yes," she said, glad that he knew that much.

"And this was your father's s.h.i.+p at one time?"

"Yes."

"But you want me to know more before you'll believe that I love you?"

Smokey nodded, calming somewhat. "Do you remember the first time we met?"

"I think so; at Jenny's wasn't it?"

"Yes. You had just come into port and stopped for a few minutes to see your family. You told a story that night about seeing another young sailor. He'd raced through the coral reefs, and you thought he was trying to rival Clancy for daring acts. The way you spoke that night made me think you saw Clancy as a fool."

"Are you trying to tell me that because I ridiculed a legend that you admire, I don't love you?" The question sounded absolutely absurd even to his own ears, and Dallas saw in an instant that he should have kept it to himself. He watched 267.

rather helplessly as Smokey turned and walked toward the bow.

Dallas followed slowly, but for her sake kept his distance There was something far wrong here, and he had to keep his head if he was going to find out what it was. If he followed his first impulse, he would grab Smokey and hold her until there was no doubt in her mind that he was a man in love.

"I was a little girl when I learned who my father was."

Smokey spoke softly as she looked out over the sea, her small-booted feet planted perfectly to balance her body against the waves. Dallas watched her profile and listened intently.

"He told me he never wanted to be a hero to me, just a loving father." This said, Smokey turned to look at Dallas, her heart in her eyes. "It seems silly to be bothered about your opinion of Clancy, but I am. He was my father."

Smokey could see that she had thoroughly stunned him, but she went on.

"I started thinking about the fact that you didn't even know that. Here we are planning to spend the rest of our lives together and you didn't even know Clancy was my papa. How much does it cost to build one s.h.i.+p, Dallas?" Smokey's change in topics so floored Dallas that he stuttered when he spoke.

He named an approximate figure, and Smokey went on.

"I could build you ten s.h.i.+ps on just what I have in the Kennebunk bank alone"

Again Dallas felt as if he'd received a hard blow to the gut.

He was surprised over these things, but he still couldn't believe they made Smokey doubt his love. He spoke carefully, hoping he had the right words.

"I am surprised that Clancy is your father, but I also think it's wonderful. And I wouldn't care if you had one dollar or one million, I would love you just the same. I believe with all my heart that we love each other, Smokey, and knowing that, I also believe we can talk all of this out."

"I also want a white dress and a fancy wedding," Smokey told him as if this would be the final straw. Tears began to puddle in her eyes.

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"Well, you can have both," Dallas told her with a smile.

"Not if we get married in two weeks," she said, and Dallas watched a single tear roll down her cheek. She looked so forlorn that Dallas wanted to cry himself. All this was very important to her, and she hadn't known how to tell him. As he gazed at her, she turned back to the railing and stood still. She didn't move or speak even when she felt Dallas come to stand behind her.

He reached with long arms and grasped the railing on either side of her, effectively locking Smokey between his arms. He bent and placed a kiss on the top of her head and then one below her right ear.

"I never meant to rush you," he began softly, his chin resting on her hair. "In the future all you have to do is come to me, and we'll talk the problem out."

"Will there really be a future?" Smokey wanted to know.

"Definitely. In fact, it's starting right now."

Smokey turned in the circle of his arms, and looked up into his beloved face.

"From this point forward," Dallas told her, "I'm not going to rush you. Whatever is important to you is important to me.

You're going to have the wedding you want; I will see to it myself. We're going to talk every day and not let any upset or anger go undiscussed "I don't know of any other woman who could survive what you have this past year, and your self-sufficiency sometimes makes me forget how much tender care you need I'm telling you now that I'm here to give you that, and I'm going to be more sensitive in the very near future."

Smokey's heart melted at his words, and Dallas could wait no longer to kiss her. He held her tenderly for long moments and kissed her with all the love and desire he had kept stored inside When Smokey could finally breathe, she nearly laughed at the sight behind Dallas.

"My men are watching." It was literally the whole crew.

"What do they see?" Dallas asked without turning around "A man and woman in love," Smokey told him contentedly.