Chesapeake Ladies (Amnesty/Harlequin)
Title: Chesapeake Ladies
Pairing: Beckett/Cadman
Rating: PG
Challenge: Amnesty/Harlequin
Word count: 2,103
Summary: It's 1890 in Annapolis and Laura Cadman is faced with a devastating decision to follow her heart or save her family...
A/N: Like usual, andromeda_25 is a terrible enabler. And so my attempt at Harlequin style summary and last scene of the "story", and as it is the last scene, it's ever so fluffy and happy. *lol*
Chesapeake Ladies
Annapolis, Maryland: 1890
Laura Cadman has two options. Either she marries the wealthy but boorish Rodney McKay, or her family will be forced to sell the struggling Chesapeake Oystering Company to the Genii family, leaving her parents and three younger sisters destitute. She’d come to terms with her choice when fate throws her a third, forbidden option.
Dr. Carson Beckett was a long way from his Scottish home. He’d made one last stop at his friend Rodney’s home in Annapolis before setting off back across the ocean. A chance encounter with a woman frantic to help her ill sister suddenly gives him a reason to stay.
This stranger ignites something in Laura that she can’t describe but is desperate to hold on to. Will she go with her family’s wishes and marry for the money, or will she follow her heart to this mysterious newcomer and forfeit everything?
Laura ran through the streets as fast as her legs would carry her. The train would be leaving in twenty minutes and with all that she had in her, she could not let Carson Beckett leave Annapolis. She knew that her family needed the money, but now that the company had been bought by the mystery third buyer, none of that seemed to matter. There was nothing for her left to lose - except Carson.
She glanced up nervously at the clock as she entered the train station. Five minutes. She had five minutes.
Laura pushed her way through well-wishers, those exiting the train and the others just milling about on the platform. She made her way to one of the benches and hopped up onto it, hoping to see through the crowd that he was still there, that he hadn’t gotten on the train yet, that he wasn’t leaving for New York and then back across the ocean. The thought that she’d never see him again started to set like a stone in her stomach. He wasn’t on the platform.
Three minutes.
Carson Beckett closed his watch with a quiet click and slipped it back into his pocket. No use delaying this any further. He signaled to his man to bring the trunk and reluctantly left his seat in the station. Emerging onto the platform first, he directed the man with his trunk to the train and rummaged through his coat, looking for the ticket.
Laura sighed, and with another glance at the clock above her, realized that it was too late. The train would leave promptly as soon as the last stragglers boarded. And with no sign of Carson, he was surely long boarded by now. She clutched the bridge of her nose tightly and took a deep breath, willing herself to be calm. There would be no tears in public - she’d sworn that to herself. If it was not meant to be, it was not meant to be. And if she had to find a way to Europe, she would. Somehow, someway.
With one more deep breath, Laura let go of her nose and took one last glance over the now dwindling crowd. Her breath caught as she saw a glimpse of the back of the last man boarding the train. “Carson!” she yelled as she leapt from her spot atop the bench.
Carson paused. He was certain he’d heard his name over the din of the train. He took a step back from the stairs and peaked around the side of the car. “Laura?” he asked himself quietly, taking another step back out onto the center of the platform. In moments, his arms were full with the woman colliding into him, wrapping her arms around him tightly and pulling him as close as possible. He gasped, half surprised at the force and half joyful at the sight.
“I didn’t think you were coming, lass,” he said quietly as he placed a hand against her cheek.
“Don’t get on that train, Carson,” Laura said firmly. “Do not get on that train.”
Carson nodded and waved to the conductor waiting for him to board. “My trunk,” he said simply, the conductor nodded and waving another man to remove it from storage. He turned his attention back to Laura and smiled gently. “I won’t get on the train,” he said gently. “Now tell me, lass. I didn’t think you were coming.”
“I didn’t think I was either,” Laura sighed, wanting nothing more than to lay her head against his shoulder and listen to him whisper that everything would be alright. That everything would work out. That everything that had happened could change. But she didn’t. She looked up at him, meeting his gaze and attempting not to get distracted in his blue eyes. “But I couldn’t marry Rodney, I just couldn’t. Neither of us are terribly fond of the other,” she chuckled mirthlessly. “But if that was the only hope to fund the company…I-I had to do it for my family. If my father didn’t have that company, we’d have nothing. I had to think of my family, my sisters. And I don’t care if they didn’t care for the thought of us,” she said with determination. “A doctor is a perfectly respectable profession, and even if it can’t pay for the business, that doesn’t matter. The business was purchased anyway and will probably be sold off for smaller ships but in all of that…”
She trailed off, finally breaking his gaze and looking off to the station. “In all that I couldn’t bear to lose you too. You can’t leave. My family doesn’t have anything to offer now, and I don’t care if they don’t approve--”
“Aye, the company was sold to the highest bidder this morning,” Carson said quietly, slipping his fingers around her chin and pulling her gaze back to him. “A man named Moray.”
“Yes,” Laura replied, confusion painted across her features. “How did you know?”
“Because,” Carson replied with a small, knowing grin, “Moray isn’t his name. It’s his title.”
“His title?”
“Aye,” Carson added with a nod. “Lord Moray of County Inverness, Scotland.”
Laura searched for words. It wasn’t possible.
No, anything was possible.
“But I thought…”
“I wish you’d told me, love, instead of having to hear it from Rodney,” Carson said gently. He threaded a hand into her hair. She had obviously been in a hurry because it was down, hanging loose against her shoulders. “I would’ve helped.”
Laura sighed, leaning her head back ever so slightly against his hand. “I didn’t know. How could I know?” She shook her head. “So let me get this straight,” she said with newfound clarity. “This Lord Moray… a friend of yours…”
Carson laughed. “No lass. Lord Moray is my title. I find it’s better to do business with that name than my own. Carries a bit more weight, even over here.”
“So you…”
“The business is now mine to do with as I please,” Carson replied. “And what I please to do is to return it to its rightful owners. A messenger should have already dropped the papers to your father.”
Words escaped her at the moment. They hadn’t lost the business. She wouldn’t have to marry Rodney McKay. And Carson…
Laura laughed as she pulled her hands from his waist and wrapped them tightly around his neck. “Oh Carson!” she squealed, fully aware of the looks as stares they were getting from those still on the platform as the train pulled away and not caring one bit. “I don’t know what to say!” Her father kept his company, she didn’t have to marry Rodney McKay, the feeling of Carson Beckett’s strong arms around her as she attempted not to stupidly jump for joy on the train platform… “I just don’t know what to say,” she repeated, her voice breathless as she attempted to calm down once again.
“Say you’ll come with me.”
She gasped, her head still pressed against his neck and her arms around him. “I… you still have to go?”
Carson nodded slowly. “Aye, lass, I still have to go. A bit of this title business I have to attend to,” he chuckled. “And Mum’s going to be a wee bit confused when she looks over the books and finds the estate now owns an oystering company in the States.”
Laura leaned back and placed a wary hand on against his chest. “Why, Doctor Beckett,” she replied in her best proper, dignified and slightly uptight lady voice. “It would be terribly improper-”
“Not if you were to marry me,” Carson cut her off before she could finish.
A devilish grin crossed Laura’s lips as she brushed her hair back from her shoulder. “Took you long enough,” she finally replied.
“Aye, but there was the wee problem of you being previously engaged.” He reached up and cupped her chin. “Well? Are you going to stand there grinning like a bloody fool or are you going to tell me yes and be done with it?”
“Why, Doctor Beckett,” Laura replied, again dipping into her ‘lady’ voice. “I… I just don’t know. This is such a hard decision… Why… I think I may very well swoon with the pressure of it all…” She placed a hand to her forehead. “Why yes, I may very well swoon.”
“You’re a bloody daft woman who’s going to make me wait as long as possible,” Carson replied, not bothering to hide his smile. He opened his arms wide. “You’re a handful, Laura Cadman.”
Laura laughed and jumped into his open arms. Her legs wrapped tightly around his waist as his hands reached down and held her up. “A delightful handful,” she said, slipping arms around his neck again and smiling at the whispers as gasps of the persons on the platform at such a public display of affection. “But you don’t seem to mind.”
“Not in the least,” he replied, bouncing her up slightly to get a better grip. “So what do you say, love? Come with me.”
She leaned forward, a small grin playing on her lips as she brushed against his ear. “The answer was yes from the first day I met you,” she answered quietly. “It was yes then, it’s yes now, but I swear Carson Beckett if you don’t go ahead and kiss me already, I may be of a mind to change my answer.”
That was all he needed to hear. Carson dropped his hold and as soon as her feet were on the ground his lips were pressed against hers. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer, his other hand threading up into her hair to cradle her head. A soft, happy moan escaped her as she rested her hands against his arms and struggled not to melt against him.
He was completely hers, and they both knew it.
After what seemed to her an eternity, Laura pulled back from the kiss and focused herself back up at his eyes. “So…” she said, grinning excitedly. “Scotland.”
“Aye,” Carson replied, meeting her grin with another kiss to her forehead. “I have a bit of business that I need to attend to back home.”
“Title business.”
“Aye. Title business.”
“What kind of title business?”
Carson chuckled. “My mum’s getting old and she’s ready to pass off a bit of the estate responsibility to me.”
Laura slipped a hand to rest against his chest and fiddled absently with the buttons of his waistcoat. “So what am I going to have to call you?”
“Carson,” he answered lightly.
She rolled her eyes and smacked his arm with the hand still resting there. “You know what I mean.”
“No lass, I don’t,” he added, aiming for innocence. “You’re gonna have to call me Carson.” He paused, tilting his head in mock consideration. “Oh, my title!” he replied. “Is that your question, love?”
“Yes,” Laura replied with a sigh. “You’re really going to make this difficult, aren’t you?”
Carson smiled broadly. “You’d get bored if it wasn’t a wee bit of a challenge. But so you know, as soon as we get home and after me mum’s done with all the ceremony, my full title will be Carson Beckett, 14th Earl of Moray and Baron Stuart of Castle Stuart. Bit of a mouthful,” he chuckled.
“I think I’ll stick with Carson,” Laura replied matter-of-factly, turning and slipping her arm in his. “Well… enough of this standing here. I have to pack so we can go home.” She looked up at him, meeting his smile with a happy one of her own. “Take me home, Carson.”
“Aye, love.” He placed another soft kiss on the top of her head. “Let’s go home.”
Pairing: Beckett/Cadman
Rating: PG
Challenge: Amnesty/Harlequin
Word count: 2,103
Summary: It's 1890 in Annapolis and Laura Cadman is faced with a devastating decision to follow her heart or save her family...
A/N: Like usual, andromeda_25 is a terrible enabler. And so my attempt at Harlequin style summary and last scene of the "story", and as it is the last scene, it's ever so fluffy and happy. *lol*
Chesapeake Ladies
Annapolis, Maryland: 1890
Laura Cadman has two options. Either she marries the wealthy but boorish Rodney McKay, or her family will be forced to sell the struggling Chesapeake Oystering Company to the Genii family, leaving her parents and three younger sisters destitute. She’d come to terms with her choice when fate throws her a third, forbidden option.
Dr. Carson Beckett was a long way from his Scottish home. He’d made one last stop at his friend Rodney’s home in Annapolis before setting off back across the ocean. A chance encounter with a woman frantic to help her ill sister suddenly gives him a reason to stay.
This stranger ignites something in Laura that she can’t describe but is desperate to hold on to. Will she go with her family’s wishes and marry for the money, or will she follow her heart to this mysterious newcomer and forfeit everything?
Laura ran through the streets as fast as her legs would carry her. The train would be leaving in twenty minutes and with all that she had in her, she could not let Carson Beckett leave Annapolis. She knew that her family needed the money, but now that the company had been bought by the mystery third buyer, none of that seemed to matter. There was nothing for her left to lose - except Carson.
She glanced up nervously at the clock as she entered the train station. Five minutes. She had five minutes.
Laura pushed her way through well-wishers, those exiting the train and the others just milling about on the platform. She made her way to one of the benches and hopped up onto it, hoping to see through the crowd that he was still there, that he hadn’t gotten on the train yet, that he wasn’t leaving for New York and then back across the ocean. The thought that she’d never see him again started to set like a stone in her stomach. He wasn’t on the platform.
Three minutes.
Carson Beckett closed his watch with a quiet click and slipped it back into his pocket. No use delaying this any further. He signaled to his man to bring the trunk and reluctantly left his seat in the station. Emerging onto the platform first, he directed the man with his trunk to the train and rummaged through his coat, looking for the ticket.
Laura sighed, and with another glance at the clock above her, realized that it was too late. The train would leave promptly as soon as the last stragglers boarded. And with no sign of Carson, he was surely long boarded by now. She clutched the bridge of her nose tightly and took a deep breath, willing herself to be calm. There would be no tears in public - she’d sworn that to herself. If it was not meant to be, it was not meant to be. And if she had to find a way to Europe, she would. Somehow, someway.
With one more deep breath, Laura let go of her nose and took one last glance over the now dwindling crowd. Her breath caught as she saw a glimpse of the back of the last man boarding the train. “Carson!” she yelled as she leapt from her spot atop the bench.
Carson paused. He was certain he’d heard his name over the din of the train. He took a step back from the stairs and peaked around the side of the car. “Laura?” he asked himself quietly, taking another step back out onto the center of the platform. In moments, his arms were full with the woman colliding into him, wrapping her arms around him tightly and pulling him as close as possible. He gasped, half surprised at the force and half joyful at the sight.
“I didn’t think you were coming, lass,” he said quietly as he placed a hand against her cheek.
“Don’t get on that train, Carson,” Laura said firmly. “Do not get on that train.”
Carson nodded and waved to the conductor waiting for him to board. “My trunk,” he said simply, the conductor nodded and waving another man to remove it from storage. He turned his attention back to Laura and smiled gently. “I won’t get on the train,” he said gently. “Now tell me, lass. I didn’t think you were coming.”
“I didn’t think I was either,” Laura sighed, wanting nothing more than to lay her head against his shoulder and listen to him whisper that everything would be alright. That everything would work out. That everything that had happened could change. But she didn’t. She looked up at him, meeting his gaze and attempting not to get distracted in his blue eyes. “But I couldn’t marry Rodney, I just couldn’t. Neither of us are terribly fond of the other,” she chuckled mirthlessly. “But if that was the only hope to fund the company…I-I had to do it for my family. If my father didn’t have that company, we’d have nothing. I had to think of my family, my sisters. And I don’t care if they didn’t care for the thought of us,” she said with determination. “A doctor is a perfectly respectable profession, and even if it can’t pay for the business, that doesn’t matter. The business was purchased anyway and will probably be sold off for smaller ships but in all of that…”
She trailed off, finally breaking his gaze and looking off to the station. “In all that I couldn’t bear to lose you too. You can’t leave. My family doesn’t have anything to offer now, and I don’t care if they don’t approve--”
“Aye, the company was sold to the highest bidder this morning,” Carson said quietly, slipping his fingers around her chin and pulling her gaze back to him. “A man named Moray.”
“Yes,” Laura replied, confusion painted across her features. “How did you know?”
“Because,” Carson replied with a small, knowing grin, “Moray isn’t his name. It’s his title.”
“His title?”
“Aye,” Carson added with a nod. “Lord Moray of County Inverness, Scotland.”
Laura searched for words. It wasn’t possible.
No, anything was possible.
“But I thought…”
“I wish you’d told me, love, instead of having to hear it from Rodney,” Carson said gently. He threaded a hand into her hair. She had obviously been in a hurry because it was down, hanging loose against her shoulders. “I would’ve helped.”
Laura sighed, leaning her head back ever so slightly against his hand. “I didn’t know. How could I know?” She shook her head. “So let me get this straight,” she said with newfound clarity. “This Lord Moray… a friend of yours…”
Carson laughed. “No lass. Lord Moray is my title. I find it’s better to do business with that name than my own. Carries a bit more weight, even over here.”
“So you…”
“The business is now mine to do with as I please,” Carson replied. “And what I please to do is to return it to its rightful owners. A messenger should have already dropped the papers to your father.”
Words escaped her at the moment. They hadn’t lost the business. She wouldn’t have to marry Rodney McKay. And Carson…
Laura laughed as she pulled her hands from his waist and wrapped them tightly around his neck. “Oh Carson!” she squealed, fully aware of the looks as stares they were getting from those still on the platform as the train pulled away and not caring one bit. “I don’t know what to say!” Her father kept his company, she didn’t have to marry Rodney McKay, the feeling of Carson Beckett’s strong arms around her as she attempted not to stupidly jump for joy on the train platform… “I just don’t know what to say,” she repeated, her voice breathless as she attempted to calm down once again.
“Say you’ll come with me.”
She gasped, her head still pressed against his neck and her arms around him. “I… you still have to go?”
Carson nodded slowly. “Aye, lass, I still have to go. A bit of this title business I have to attend to,” he chuckled. “And Mum’s going to be a wee bit confused when she looks over the books and finds the estate now owns an oystering company in the States.”
Laura leaned back and placed a wary hand on against his chest. “Why, Doctor Beckett,” she replied in her best proper, dignified and slightly uptight lady voice. “It would be terribly improper-”
“Not if you were to marry me,” Carson cut her off before she could finish.
A devilish grin crossed Laura’s lips as she brushed her hair back from her shoulder. “Took you long enough,” she finally replied.
“Aye, but there was the wee problem of you being previously engaged.” He reached up and cupped her chin. “Well? Are you going to stand there grinning like a bloody fool or are you going to tell me yes and be done with it?”
“Why, Doctor Beckett,” Laura replied, again dipping into her ‘lady’ voice. “I… I just don’t know. This is such a hard decision… Why… I think I may very well swoon with the pressure of it all…” She placed a hand to her forehead. “Why yes, I may very well swoon.”
“You’re a bloody daft woman who’s going to make me wait as long as possible,” Carson replied, not bothering to hide his smile. He opened his arms wide. “You’re a handful, Laura Cadman.”
Laura laughed and jumped into his open arms. Her legs wrapped tightly around his waist as his hands reached down and held her up. “A delightful handful,” she said, slipping arms around his neck again and smiling at the whispers as gasps of the persons on the platform at such a public display of affection. “But you don’t seem to mind.”
“Not in the least,” he replied, bouncing her up slightly to get a better grip. “So what do you say, love? Come with me.”
She leaned forward, a small grin playing on her lips as she brushed against his ear. “The answer was yes from the first day I met you,” she answered quietly. “It was yes then, it’s yes now, but I swear Carson Beckett if you don’t go ahead and kiss me already, I may be of a mind to change my answer.”
That was all he needed to hear. Carson dropped his hold and as soon as her feet were on the ground his lips were pressed against hers. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer, his other hand threading up into her hair to cradle her head. A soft, happy moan escaped her as she rested her hands against his arms and struggled not to melt against him.
He was completely hers, and they both knew it.
After what seemed to her an eternity, Laura pulled back from the kiss and focused herself back up at his eyes. “So…” she said, grinning excitedly. “Scotland.”
“Aye,” Carson replied, meeting her grin with another kiss to her forehead. “I have a bit of business that I need to attend to back home.”
“Title business.”
“Aye. Title business.”
“What kind of title business?”
Carson chuckled. “My mum’s getting old and she’s ready to pass off a bit of the estate responsibility to me.”
Laura slipped a hand to rest against his chest and fiddled absently with the buttons of his waistcoat. “So what am I going to have to call you?”
“Carson,” he answered lightly.
She rolled her eyes and smacked his arm with the hand still resting there. “You know what I mean.”
“No lass, I don’t,” he added, aiming for innocence. “You’re gonna have to call me Carson.” He paused, tilting his head in mock consideration. “Oh, my title!” he replied. “Is that your question, love?”
“Yes,” Laura replied with a sigh. “You’re really going to make this difficult, aren’t you?”
Carson smiled broadly. “You’d get bored if it wasn’t a wee bit of a challenge. But so you know, as soon as we get home and after me mum’s done with all the ceremony, my full title will be Carson Beckett, 14th Earl of Moray and Baron Stuart of Castle Stuart. Bit of a mouthful,” he chuckled.
“I think I’ll stick with Carson,” Laura replied matter-of-factly, turning and slipping her arm in his. “Well… enough of this standing here. I have to pack so we can go home.” She looked up at him, meeting his smile with a happy one of her own. “Take me home, Carson.”
“Aye, love.” He placed another soft kiss on the top of her head. “Let’s go home.”