For Love Alone (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 8)

‘Then take a few days to get to know her. You don’t have to do everything in a few days, you know. You have the rest of your life. What I would recommend is that if you are truly not sure if it is her you want, let her stay here so you know where to find her when you do make your mind up. She can call this house a home while we sort out returning her money to her. At least with her finances restored she will be able to make a few choices about where she wants to live. You can then go your separate ways and decide what to do about this house. You are not duty bound to offer for her, provide for her for the rest of your natural lives, or take her to wife. We have all done everything we can to help her with the difficult situation the people she thought she could rely on had put her in. The rest is up to her.’ Callum grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. ‘After all, there is nothing to say that she would be daft enough to take you for a husband.’

‘I thought you had gone to the gaol,’ Phillip smiled.

‘Angus and Justin have taken them,’ Callum replied. ‘I am off to the village with Oliver.’

Phillip grinned and turned to study the house again. ‘This connection I have to Carlotta feels right. I have never met anybody like her. She has been through so much and is stronger than most but seems so vulnerable at times it makes me wonder how she has survived. When we were being chased, Carlotta didn’t scream or get angry, she just did as I asked her to do and went with me. She placed her faith and trust in me.’

‘Maybe you should put your faith and trust in her then, and trust that she won’t hurt you either. Nobody has any guarantees in a marriage; that no matter how much you work at it you will both find the happiness you are after. There is nothing to say that there won’t be days when you wish you weren’t married. There may be days when you want to just have a few peaceful moments to yourself, especially if you have children bouncing on your knee, clamouring for your attention. However, just think of the wonderful, fun times you might have. You will always have someone waiting for you when you do come home. You will always have someone you can confide in and talk to, someone who will know who you are behind closed doors when you are truly yourself. There will always be someone by your side helping you through the harder times in life.’

‘Do you regret marrying Mallory?’ Phillip asked.

Callum sighed. ‘In all honesty, no. It isn’t regret. There are times when I have wondered if it is the right decision. We spend so much of our time facing danger that I have wondered if a family is possible, but each day I spend with her the more I know that I made the right decision. Walking away would just about kill me. I have had to make sacrifices and go home knowing that I still have a lot to learn about the woman I share my home with, but there are many positives that take away any doubts or difficulties we face. We are learning but together. We are finding out what is right for us. We both willingly entered marriage. Nobody forced us to wed. We could have both walked away and decided to go our separate ways. But we decided to wed and at least try to spend our lives together. I have honestly never had a day when I have regretted saying my vows. In fact, I wonder why in the Hell I never married earlier in life. I can only assume it is because I hadn’t met Mallory. She has been through so much it makes me wonder how she stayed sane, but she has. In fact, all the women God has chosen for us have been through so many of their own troubles they are more likely than anybody to understand why we work for the Star Elite. They understand the dangers we face. What I have learnt about Mallory is that she seems to be able to sense what I need when I go home. Sometimes I am so tired all I can do is slump into the chair before the fire and stare blindly at the floor, but she allows me that peace, until she eventually bullies me off to bed. That kind of understanding has to be a part of our marriages because what we do with the Star Elite is such a large part of who we all are.’

Phillip nodded.

‘What I do know is that the team were exceptionally sombre when they thought you had been killed. We all had time to reflect on our home lives and all need to spend a bit of time with our wives and children, just enjoying life a little. The next investigation needs to go to the newer team already establishing themselves in London. I don’t know about you, but I am more than happy to take a few weeks off so I can catch my breath and enjoy a bit of time at home. When we are required to help with a new investigation, I will return to work knowing that I can have that home life waiting for me when I return. I hope you have the wisdom to do the same because to live life just for the Star Elite will mean certain death.’

‘We are all prepared to die doing what we do, wives or not,’ Phillip warned.

‘Are we? Or do we have more of a reason to fight to stay alive now? More of a reason to keep the criminals off the streets. I don’t want anybody thinking they can snatch my wife off the street or attack my children. Crime happens everywhere, even in rural England and yes, people carry guns when they shouldn’t, or else gaols wouldn’t have been in existence in this land for hundreds of years. It’s foolish to claim that this country has never had a problem with crime.’

‘Gaols like Bodmin, or the Tower of London, or Newgate, wouldn’t have been necessary,’ Phillip whispered.

‘Exactly.’ Callum sighed. ‘I will see you later. I am going to the harbour to see if our captain of The Swallow has appeared yet.’

When he was alone, Phillip made his way inside. Tapping on the bed chamber door, he waited but when he received no answer, nudged the door open. At first, he thought she was crying. Carlotta was curled up in the middle of the bed in a tiny bundle of misery. When he crept closer, and perched on the edge of the bed, he saw that she wasn’t at all upset. She was instead sound asleep. However, the evidence of her recent upset was visible on her pale cheeks. Rather than disturb her, Phillip knelt beside the bed and looked at her. Teasing a small curl of hair away from her delicate features, he stoked the softness of her cheek with the back of a finger. She looked so fragile that he had to wonder how she had withstood the trauma of the last few days.

The mental image of children suddenly began to blossom. It burgeoned into life and began to create a certainty deep within him that left Phillip wondering whether their children would have dark hair like him or lighter hair like hers. It made him wonder just how wayward they would be because, after all, Carlotta had taken it upon herself to travel across country alone and had lived by herself without any help from anybody.

‘God help us if they take after us both,’ he whispered.

Strangely, no matter how much he tried to look for it, he couldn’t find one ounce of regret or denial within him if he had children. In fact, he knew already that should a wife and family ever become a reality in his life he would embrace the whole new adventure they would bring them with the same strength and determination he used when working with the Star Elite.

‘A delightful challenge indeed,’ he mused.

With a smile, he gently draped a blanket over her and left her to sleep. Once outside in the corridor, he stared into the empty silence of the house and wondered just how fast the investigation could be concluded so he could get on with his life.

‘Because I really do now need to get on with my life. Our lives,’ he whispered. With one last longing look at the door, Phillip quietly made his way out of the house and tried to catch up with Callum.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

They found The Starling in the harbour, bobbing gently in the lapping water. There was no sign of the skipper on board, but the men suspected he wasn’t too far away.

‘Ahoy there,’ Phillip called to a fisherman who was hauling his catch ashore.

Phillip stepped around several people milling on the dockside waiting for the catch to be brought ashore so they could purchase the freshest fish directly from the boat. When the fisherman looked up, Phillip stepped closer. The fisherman tipped his cap. When he realised that they wanted to talk to him, he jumped onto the dockside and ambled over to them.

&n

bsp; ‘We don’t want no trouble around here,’ he began, eyeing their guns.

‘We aren’t trouble. We want to ask you about the skipper of the boat over there,’ Oliver replied.

The Captain threw a wary look at The Starling. ‘What about him?’

‘Where can we find him?’ Oliver asked.

The man wrinkled his nose up. ‘He isn’t from around here. He is a nasty one, that one. Just turned up one day and took over a mooring that wasn’t his. It was old Albert’s. When old Albert objected, he got threatened.’