The Captain's Willful Wife - Part 2: Heart's Treasure, #2

By Ann Mikal

After voyaging across the Atlantic Ocean as a stowaway on board Captain Byron Treasure's merchant ship, Marisa's life plan takes a turn when she ends up, not in America as she had expected, but on the northern shores of Canada.  In the colony, she finds herself in a new, wild world where she is faced with real dangers - outlaws and bandits included.  As the new wife of the captain and a resident of the colony, so different from genteel English society, she must quickly adapt and show her husband and the rest of her world that she is a force to be reckoned with. 

More than that, so far, she has not fulfilled her husband's dream of being a father.  What will happen if she can't?   

 

When Byron takes Marisa as his wife, he has no idea what he's gotten himself into.  Despite his advice, she is a wife who will do exactly what she desires, regardless.  When this defiant damsel saves his life and then disappears, he realizes that he has underestimated the spirit of this saucy wench, the woman he's chosen as his wife.  Talk about willful!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Judy Powell
• Release date: Nov 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393371380

Book preview

Ann Mikal

After voyaging across the Atlantic Ocean as a stowaway on board Captain Byron Treasure’s merchant ship, Marisa’s life plan takes a turn when she ends up, not in America as she had expected, but on the northern shores of Canada.  In the colony, she finds herself in a new, wild world where she is faced with real dangers - outlaws and bandits included.  As the new wife of the captain and a resident of the colony, so different from genteel English society, she must quickly adapt and show her husband and the rest of her world that she is a force to be reckoned with. 

More than that, so far, she has not fulfilled her husband’s dream of being a father.  What will happen if she can’t?   

WHEN BYRON TAKES MARISA as his wife, he has no idea what he’s gotten himself into.  Despite his advice, she is a wife who will do exactly what she desires, regardless.  When this defiant damsel saves his life and then disappears, he realizes that he has underestimated the spirit of this saucy wench, the woman he’s chosen as his wife.  Talk about willful!

CHAPTER ONE

W hat have you done now?

Byron's brows fell in a frown that was fearsome but just a little bit funny.

Marisa was fighting hard not to chuckle.  It was so easy to annoy her husband.

We haven’t even been in Canada one week and you have already gone and annoyed Cook no end.  Why can't you leave him be?

Feigning innocence, Marisa stared back at Byron with wide-eyed gaze.  I didn’t do anything.

Except prove yourself a perfect pest to the poor fellow.

Well, maybe I did, but it was his fault.

How so?

It was his fault because he was a mean man.  How could I see that young man in the backyard garden, thin and starving, and not give him food?

And what was a young man doing in the backyard garden?  I had hired no gardener."

He came, asking for work.  He told me he was so hungry, and asked if I could give him nothing to do so he could make a few pennies.  I sent him to the backyard garden to clear the brushes.

Byron nodded.  That seems reasonable enough.  But how did that get to the point where all of our meal for today disappeared?

He was hungry.  I could not have him working in the garden on a hungry stomach.

You gave him work, I see.  But that did not mean you had to empty out the entire pot to feed him.  Now Cook will have to make a fresh pot.  He will have to work twice.

That may be so, but at least the boy left with a full belly.  That's all that matters, isn't it?

No, that is not all that matters. You have doubled Cook’s work for the day.  You should have asked permission before you took our dinner and doled it out to a stranger.

Marisa bristled.  I don't have to ask permission.  Not where kindness is concerned.

Byron sighed.  You're a crusader, I know.  But you cannot save the world.  You need to stop doing things like this.  First, it was a stray dog, then a child, and now a man who you set to work in the backyard.

A young man.

Be that as it may.  You need to stop trying to save the world.  You need to stop doing things behind my back.  You are now a married woman, remember?  You need my permission.

Your permission?  To do an act of kindness? Marisa folded her arms across her chest, not believing what she was hearing.

Yes.  My permission.  I am your husband, the man in charge of you.

In charge of me?  Since when are you in charge of me?

Since the day you gave me your hand in marriage.  Do not act as if you do not know how marriage works.

I understand perfectly, she said, but that does not mean I have to obey rules that do not make sense.

Byron got up from around the table and walked to the front door.  Give serious thought to what I just said.  Do not make me regret my decision.

Annoyed no end, Marisa decided to throw a jab at him. Well, you already made the decision.  There is nothing further to be done.

Byron turned and gave her a cold glare.  Do not test me.  You may regret it.  And, with that, he turned and walked out the door.

Taken aback by his strange statement, Marisa could only stare at the door her husband had just closed.  What was he saying?  If she angered him enough, he would send her away?  After promising to be her partner till death did they part?  She was not stupid.  She needed his protection in this wild new world.

Marisa sighed and turned back to the table.  From here on, she would have to be the perfect wife but she'd never been cut out for a job like this.  She was more of a rebellious brat.  It was going to be a hard task but, if her marriage were to survive, she would have to do her best at it.  It would be a task indeed.

Good work, men.  The barn looks like it will be ready for the winter.  Byron nodded as he walked around to the back of the building to inspect the repairs.  The winter seemed to have started early and he wanted to be ready.  Winters in Canada were known to be harsh.  Very different from what he was used to, back in England.  It would be his first winter in these climes and he had been warned.  He would not take it lightly.

Byron shook his head.  How you take it, year after year, I will never know. He raised his eyebrows at the men he'd appointed caretaker of his ten acre farm.  Charles had been born and raised right here on this land.  He was no stranger to cold weather...unlike Byron.

Protected in the barn, I can see the horses and cows surviving, Byron said.  How do the wild animals survive? Winters in Canada are a bitter affair.

I don't know, Cap’n.  But they survive well enough. Squirrels, deer, raccoons, they'll all be here when spring comes back around.

Well, good for them, Byron's said, his respect for the animals moving up a notch.  They should let me in on their secret.  Surviving winters in Canada is quite a feat.

That comment got him a chuckle from Charles.  Give thanks you live in the southern regions.  How would you survive in the north of Canada?

Byron picked up a rope and walked toward a nearby horse. Let us just say, you would never find me any farther north than right here.  I leave that to the experts like you.  I know my limits.

Byron walked the horse over to the pile of hay then, while the animal munched, he tipped the hat to the back of his head and looked over to the majestic trees of the Canadian woods.

It was a beautiful place, one where Byron would love to live, except for the climate.  If only Canada had been a little farther south, it would have been perfect.

But those winters could be brutal.  He knew that.  And his British behind could bear nothing of the sort.

Still, he could admire the beauty of the autumn leaves and the birds in the trees.  He drew in a breath of the cool autumn air and was just about to turn away from the serene scenery when he heard a shout.

Captain!  Captain!

He turned to see his boatswain running toward him. Slow down.  What gives?  He frowned as he watched the young man pausing to place his hands on his knees as he bent over, panting.

"It is the same problem, Cap’n.  The same man on the farm just yonder.  He blocked me when I tried