Blurred Horizons

Scarlett wasn’t sure how to feel. On one end, she should have been ecstatic. She was marrying a man she loved to death, and they were going to have a little family together. But she wasn’t ecstatic. Happy, but not ecstatic.

As she and Ben had decided, the Silver Spirit had changed its course and was now sailing to Port Aris, much to the crew’s annoyance. They didn’t understand why they needed to island-hop in the Caribbean, and they certainly didn’t understand why they so urgently needed to go to Port Aris. However, they seemed to trust Ben, and he had a way of making people agree to doing things they didn’t want to do. His new responsibilities often kept him away from Scarlett, and she found herself lounging around the room, staring at the walls and ceiling and braiding her hair over and over to pass the time and keep her mind off her worries. Her favorite time of day was nighttime, where she had Ben to completely to herself until the morning. She was an only child who hated sharing, especially when it came to her man.

She often watched him while he worked on the intricate details of the crib and mobile he’d been working on. He carved the daintiest little roses into the side of the crib that Scarlett loved to look at. He’d always been an artistic person, in every aspect of his life. She recalled him being like this as a boy, too, though she didn’t know him nearly as well back then. She watched him more than she watched his hands working.

“When did you become so rugged?” she asked him, ruffling his hair as she walked past where he was sitting on the floor.

“Rugged?” he asked, brow furrowed in concentration as he worked.

“You were a clean-cut naval officer,” she said, sitting in a chair near him. “And you were scared of indecency. You’re not like that anymore. You take off my clothes more than I take off my clothes, and you smell like ocean.”

“First of all, you like it when I take off your clothes, so don’t pretend like you’re any more ‘decent’ than I am,” Ben pointed out, setting down his knife and holding up a hand to count his points on his fingers. “I don’t think I knew what indecency really meant until I met you. Second of all, I smell like a rose compared to the other men on this ship, so you best be grateful that I wash often. Because if you’re not, I’m happy to adopt the hygienic habit of my fellow seamen.”

“Please don’t,” Scarlett laughed. “When was the last time you shaved?”

“I thought you liked the scruff,” Ben frowned, rubbing his cheek.

“I love the scruff,” Scarlet told him, moving down to sit beside him and kiss him on the cheek. “But not if you don’t.”

“I love whatever you love,” Ben said, though he seemed to confuse himself for a moment. He leaned in to give Scarlett a quick kiss before rephrasing what he said altogether. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

She was about to kiss him again when somebody on deck called him, making them both sigh softly. Scarlett tightened her grip on Ben when he tried to get up, and he had to pry her off him.

“I’ll be back, love,” he assured her. “I’m not throwing myself off the ship, I’m just going to go see what the fuss is about. When we get to Port Aris, I promise you that we will be spending a lot of time together. Alone.”

Scarlett sighed and nodded, letting him go and watching as he gave her one last half smile before pushing out the door, leaving her alone once again. For a few minutes, she just sat there and looked around, getting up off the floor. She placed her hands on her stomach, under the small bump that had formed. She noticed the small disk made of glass from the island that Emily had given her and Ben, remembering that she had one connected to her father in one of her drawers. She’d completely forgotten about him. Here she was, pregnant and engaged, and her father had no idea. She thought she’d been nervous to tell Ben, but that was nothing compared to how she felt about telling her father. She wasn’t even sure if she was going to tell her father.

She dug through her dresser until she found her own glass disc, holding it up so she saw her own reflection in it. She tapped it lightly with her fingernail, until her reflection blurred and the glass became foggy. She tapped it again, and noticed movement on the other side, like someone was fumbling with the glass. She could hear it in her head, too. It was remarkable, what Emily had discovered. She had no idea where the sound was coming from, but there it was, like Edmund Triggs was right there with Scarlett. Well, his nostrils were there. He tilted the glass around like he was inspecting it, unaware of the unflattering angles of him Scarlett was seeing on her side.

“MADELINE? MADI, CAN YOU HEAR ME?” Edmund yelled on the other side, making Scarlett cringe.

“Yes, Daddy, don’t yell,” Scarlett sighed. “Just speak normally, I can hear you just fine.”

“Oh, good,” he said, lowering his voice, though Scarlett could only see the gray hair on the top of his head now.

“Daddy, hold it lower, I can’t see you,” Scarlett instructed. “Like you’re looking into a mirror. Is this how you look into a mirror?”

After a few minutes of trial and error, Scarlett managed to finally teach Edmund how to use the glass, seeing her father on the other side. He beamed when he saw her, and she couldn’t help but feel her worries fly away as she smiled back to him.

“Madi, I’ve been waiting to hear from you,” he said. “Ben has been speaking to his mother. Why haven’t you been speaking to your father?”

“Don’t compare me to Ben,” Scarlett said, rolling his eyes. “I’m speaking to you now, aren’t I?”

“You’re right, you are,” Edmund agreed.

“You’ve been speaking to Mary, then?” Scarlett asked.

“Yes, often,” he nodded. “She’s a lovely woman, as long as you don’t upset her. How have you been, my dear? Any news?”

Scarlett thought for a moment, biting her lip. She couldn’t tell him. Not until after they were married. He would never let it go if he knew that Scarlett intended on walking down an aisle without him. She couldn’t tell him about the baby, either. Not out of wedlock. She smiled and shook her head, shrugging lightly.

“No news here,” she lied.

Edmund didn’t question her. They spoke a little longer before saying their goodbyes, and once more Scarlett thought about stopping him and telling him everything, though she held back once more. When she set the glass down after he’d departed, she took a deep breath, holding back tears that were fighting to stream down her face. She didn’t notice Ben until he lightly put a hand on her shoulder, making her jump. This time, he didn’t ask her what was wrong, or ask her to explain herself. He just let her cry into his chest until she exhausted herself to sleep.