Home from the war, Joe Armstrong doesn't wait to marry his sweetheart. From the moment he touched her lips he knew he had set the lie into motion. But Joe and his brother conceded it was the only way for eitherof them to have what they really wanted in life. Sam hadn't come home yet, he was sick with the yellow fever in San Antonio. So Joe was left to carry out their bold plan.Melanie was enraptured with Joe's changed ways. Both her and his father blamed it on the war and the dreadful pirates that had shanghaied both Joe and Sam after the war. But the bad times were behind him, so he thought.His honeymoon was the fantasy he'd dreamed of. Everything was going as they planned. All accept the lie between Joe and Melanie.Lying to his father wasn't hard, but Melanie.. Sooner or later, the truth had to come out, and what would be left of his dream world then? Would Melanie still love him when she learned the truth or would he lose everything. The deception he and his brother had cooked up, could have explosive consequences.