Undaunted Love (PART ONE): Banished Saga, Book 3 (10 page)

“Well, whatever she’s doing, she’s not treating him true, now is she?” Sebastian asked with a glare as he moved toward Ronan and Gabriel to sit on his stool again.

Ronan hissed in a breath. “She wouldn’t do that to Gabe.”

“We like to think we know those we love, but love can give us blinders. I’d hate it if she was playing you false,” Sebastian said as he turned to watch Gabriel. “What’re you going to do about her, Gabe?”

“Continue to try to talk with her. Listen when she does speak.” He closed his eyes. “Hope I have the ability to let her go, like you did, Seb.”

“I near drank the town dry, Gabe. You don’t want to be anything like me.” He clapped Gabriel on the shoulder. “Whatever happens, you’ve friends to support you. Remember that.”

CHAPTER 10

AMELIA WIPED HER HANDS on the kitchen cloth as she turned toward the soft tapping on the kitchen’s screen door. “Mr. Carlin, I hadn’t thought to see you tonight.” She pushed open the screened door and backed up a step to allow him to enter the kitchen.

Sebastian doffed his hat and scuffed his boots before entering. He looked at the small kitchen table already set for dinner and then at Amelia. “I thought we were meeting here for dinner tonight.” His brow furrowed in confusion. “This is the normal night for our weekly dinners, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is, even though it’s only six days since the anniversary dinner for Clarissa and Gabriel. However, Gabriel sent word that he and Clarissa weren’t coming. Thus, Ronan and Colin decided to cancel. I assumed that meant you weren’t coming.”

“I never heard from them. It was busy at the mill today, and I could have missed a message. I had a stack of them on my desk that I left for tomorrow.”

“It’s no bother to set another place, and Nicholas will be delighted to have you here.” She turned away toward the cupboard and extracted another plate and cup.

“Mr. Seb! Mr. Seb!” Nicholas called as he ran into the kitchen. He jumped up and down in front of Sebastian in his excitement, until Sebastian pulled him high into the air before settling him on his hip.

Sebastian closed his eyes for a moment, tilting his head back as he inhaled appreciatively. “Whatever you’re cooking smells wonderful.”

“It’s a chicken! We gotta pick it out today at the butcher’s,” Nicholas said. “It still had its neck on, but Mama didn’t want it, so he pulled out a big knife an’—”

“Nicholas,” Amelia interrupted. “We know what he did.”

“An’ he chopped it off!” Nicholas wriggled around so much that Sebastian lowered him to the floor. He happily made chopping motions with his hand. He banged into the side of the table, oversetting a glass and knocking a few pieces of silverware onto the floor. Amelia grimaced at the clattering sound of forks and spoons landing on the wood floor. She reached forward and set to rights the tablecloth.

“Nicholas,” Amelia began but was interrupted by Sebastian.

“I think you and I need to pick up that silverware, little man,” Sebastian said, as he moved to peer under the table. Soon he and Nicholas were crawling on the floor looking for a missing fork.

“I found it!” Nicholas said, thrusting up his hand from under the table.

“Good work. Now let’s wash and dry these for your mother,” Sebastian said. He grasped Nicholas’s hand and pulled a chair over to the sink for him to stand on. In a few moments Nicholas’s arms were covered in sudsy water, and he looked as though he had just taken a bath. He held out each piece of silverware for Sebastian to dry and babbled about his day, playing cowboys and Indians with the local children, before the eventful trip to the butcher’s.

“An’ I was an Indian, but I didn’t want to lose. Got in a fight with snotty Bobby Hunter ’cause I tried to scalp ’im.”

Sebastian choked back a laugh. “I hope you didn’t really try to do that.”

“No, just grabbed his hair and yanked on it.” Nicholas pulled his hands from the water, where he was now playing rather than washing anything, and demonstrated on his head what he did, soaking his hair.

Sebastian grabbed a towel from Amelia and wiped the boy’s head with it, causing Nicholas to giggle. Sebastian shared an amused glance with Amelia as Nicholas described the trip to the butcher’s in enthusiastic detail. “Do you want to be a butcher when you grow up?” Sebastian asked.

“I don’t know,” Nicholas said. “I think I want to work in a blacksmith shop like Uncle Colin.”

“A very good profession,” Sebastian said, as he wiped at Nicholas’s arms and lifted him off the chair. He placed the chair at the table again and helped settle Nicholas.

Amelia grabbed the cleaned silverware and placed it at the missing settings around the table. She moved to the living room, picking up Anne from an enclosed play area Gabriel had constructed for her. She sat Anne in her high chair. Anne clapped her hands and smiled at seeing Sebastian. He stroked a finger down her cheek and then sat at his indicated spot, between Nicholas and Anne’s high chair and across from where Amelia usually sat at the square table covered in a red-checkered cloth.

Amelia moved to the stove, pulling out the roasted chicken. She scooped up mashed potatoes from a pot on the stove and boiled carrots from another, placing each in bowls. She placed the bowls on the table and then sat.

“How are things at work?” Amelia asked as she mashed carrots and fed small amounts to Anne.

“Busy, but with no recent accidents.” Sebastian placed a small amount of mashed potatoes on Nicholas’s plate and then grabbed the butter dish to prevent Nicholas from slathering on half the bowl. He placed a small dab on top of Nicholas’s potatoes and set it aside.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“Accidents and fire are always a concern in a mill. We’ve been lucky, and I try to instill in my men that they need to be careful to prevent tragedy. So far, it’s worked.”

“I hope it continues to,” Amelia said before Nicholas entertained them with more stories from his day.

After supper Amelia rose to bring Anne to the back room the three of them shared. Amelia readied her for bed and rocked her a few minutes while singing a gentle lullaby before laying her in her crib for the night. When she reentered the kitchen, she paused in the doorway to see Sebastian doing the dishes. His shirtsleeves were rolled up; his arms were immersed in soapy water nearly to his elbows, and he whistled a soft, lilting tune as he worked. She glanced into the living room to see Nicholas asleep on the sofa.

“Seb … Mr. Carlin, you shouldn’t be doing that,” Amelia whispered. She moved toward the sink, intending to push him away. He turned toward her, his light-brown eyes flashing with amusement.

“Of course I should. You’ve enough to do with those two young ones, ’specially after making such a delicious meal.” He nudged her shoulder as she tried to force herself in front of the sink. “Why don’t we compromise, and you dry, seeing as you’re already holding the towel?” he asked with a smile.

After a few moments where he handed her objects to dry, he murmured, “I’d hope you’d see me more as a friend than a guest.”

She turned confused hazel eyes to him, nodding. “Of course. You’re very fond of the children.”

Sebastian turned toward the soapy water, muttering to himself. Amelia couldn’t make out the words but had a sense by his tense shoulders and disgruntled tone that she had said the wrong thing. He spun toward her, thrusting a platter at her.

“Did you never stop to think that it’s not just your children …” and then he broke off as a flush started rising up his neck. “I’m saying I hope we are friends too, Mrs. Egan.”

“Oh. Of course,” Amelia said as she focused on drying the platter until it shone. She heard Sebastian remove his hands from the water and saw out of the corner of her eye as he wiped them on his pants legs to dry, as she was using the only visible towel. His gentle grip of her chin startled her, and she gasped. Her gaze flew to his as he traced her jaw with a few of his fingers.

“Amelia,” he murmured. He leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips. A soft caress, a fleeting touch, and then he released her.

“Mr. Carlin,” Amelia said, trying to control her breathing and not hyperventilate. “I … I am flattered. I—”

“
Flattered
.” His deep voice lost all traces of tenderness and humor, and he turned away, running his hands through his short red hair, making it stand on end. “Of course. I beg your pardon, ma’am.”

“No, please, Mr. Carlin. I value your friendship. Nicholas—”

“Don’t worry, ma’am. I’ll continue to befriend your son. He’s a fine lad.” He turned flat, defeated eyes to her as he studied her for a moment. “It’s good for me to know where I finally stand with you.”

“No, Mr. Carlin—”

“Evening, ma’am.” He turned, picked up his hat and coat, and exited the back door.

Amelia watched him leave, confused and hurt by his actions. She collapsed into a kitchen chair, tracing her lips gently as she closed her eyes and remembered the brief kiss. Her heart leaped at the memory but then began to pound as she became uncertain about what had just happened.

CHAPTER 11

“MR. A.J., DO YOU THINK the depository will close early today?” I wiped away at dust on the tabletops, moving with restless energy from table to table. The puce curtains were pulled back, and the windows were open, letting in a gentle breeze. A week and a half had passed since the disastrous anniversary dinner, and I yearned for a distraction from my distressing thoughts about my marriage.

“Why should it, Missy?” He thunked his cane on the floor as he watched me walk around the room. “These books ain’t goin’ to get sorted with no one workin’ on ’em.”

“You know darned well why I’m asking, Mr. A.J.”

He hooted his glee. “Course I do, just happy to get my Missy so riled. You want to go see those big elephants. You probably hope to see a leper too.”

“Of course I don’t!”

“You tellin’ me you ain’t got no interest in seein’ those creatures bein’ brought in by the circus?”

“Oh, a
leopard
.”

“Course. That’s what I said. A leper. Now you ever seen one of those big elephants? Men ride ’em, you know? Get right up on their backs and steer ’em one way, then another. Tugging on their big ears. I hear they have to use a ladder to get up there.”

I laughed as I watched him act out his words. “Mr. A.J., yes, that is why I would like to leave early. I think they’ll parade them down Higgins. I’d like to go with Amelia and her children.”

“Ah, the lovely widow.”

“Don’t start, Mr. A.J.”

“Still don’t seem right to me that one such as she slaves away makin’ another man comfortable in his home, and she don’t have a real home of her own. That woman should be married. Have a proper place of her own.”

“She needs to grieve, Mr. A.J.”

“Grieve my foot. It’s been over a year. An’ no matter how good a man her husband was, she’s a young woman who needs a little consideration. Her children need a father.” He thunked his cane down again as he glared at me.

“It’s been over a year for you, Mr. A.J. I don’t see you moving on.”

“Don’t you start, Missy. If I were a young buck rather than this old wore-out bag o’ bones, I’d a found me a good woman. My Bessie would’ve wanted that for me.”

“I’m sure she would have. I think the question is whether or not you would have wanted the same for her?” I raised one eyebrow as I watched him.

He flushed red, then scratched his head. “Now yer bein’ mean, Missy. Askin’ me to imagine my Bessie off with some other man.”

“I’m just showing you that it isn’t always as easy as you seem to believe.” I groaned as I lifted a heavy pile of books and shuffled toward another table. “It can be difficult to find a good man.”

“Any fool could see she’s already found him. She’s just got to see it for herself.”

“If you listen to the gossips.”

“No, Missy. I listen to you jabberin’ on as you work. I learn plenty thataways and never have to give no mind to the likes of the Prattlin’ Prisses.” He watched me with a studied look. “You give away more ’n you think. Why’d no other young men go sniffin’ around, tryin’ to make her acquiescence?”

I gasped and looked up at him from the table where I worked. “
Acquaintance
?” At his nod, I shook my head. “You’re a menace with your big words.”

“But I sound learned.” He tilted his head with pride, beaming at me.

I took a deep breath, uncertain if I should dispel him of this notion. I was prevented from having to decide by the arrival of Amelia, Nicholas and Anne. Nicholas launched himself at me, and I tumbled backward with him in my arms.

“Hello, little man,” I said as I kissed his head.

“Can we play hide-and-seek?”

“Not today. We have to watch the parade come through town.” I smiled toward Amelia. She held a squirming Anne.

“Let that little girl down, missus.” A.J. reached out a gnarled hand toward Anne when she teetered, and she grasped his fingers. She stood in front of him, bouncing and giggling. “What a precious jewel.” A.J. swiped at her silky red curls, mussing her hair.

Amelia smiled at A.J. “She is that, Mr. Pickens. Thank you for not minding our visits. I know that Mrs. Bouchard and Mrs. Vaughan don’t like us to call.”