Hope Springs (48 page)

“I know. I just really like the way you say it.”

She gave him a sidelong look. “Are you talking sweet to me, Joseph?”

He leaned in close to her. He’d never known anyone whose eyes were as purely brown as hers. Not even a flake of any other color touched their depths. Beautiful. Simply beautiful.

He touched his fingertips to her bottom lip, tracing its upward turn. “I have missed that smile, Katie.” He cupped her face with his hand, memorizing the look and feel of her there, less burdened, less pained than she’d been since the fire. “I worried so many times during the last ten days that I’d never see you smile again.”

Her face fell. What had he said wrong?

“I know I’ve been difficult. I’m sorry about that.”

“No, no. That is not at all what I was saying.” He lifted her good hand to his lips. A single kiss on the back of her hand proved insufficient. He pressed another to the base of her fingers, then another to the tips. “I thought I lost you, Katie.” He held their clasped hands to his face. “I thought it far too many times.”

He would never entirely free his mind of the terror he’d felt while digging through the rubble of his barn, trying to convince himself she was still alive beneath it.

Katie leaned toward him, close enough to talk in whispers. “I think you rather like me, Joseph Archer.”

“I rather do.” He bent closer, the tiny gap of air between them all but disappearing.

“Katie! Katie!”

Why was it children had such a terrible sense of timing? He’d been not even a half-second away from kissing Katie. He couldn’t do so now with Ivy already climbing up the side of the bed.

“Katie, you’re awake. I’ve been waiting for days and days and days for you to be awake again. Can I sit with you?”

“Of course, dear,” Katie said.

Joseph helped Ivy up. “Be very careful. Katie is still hurt.”

Katie pulled her hand free of his to guide Ivy to the head of the bed and help her sit comfortably.

“Pompah didn’t come in to read to us, so I said to Emma, ‘I’ll find him and just you watch me.’ And Emma said, ‘I can’t watch you if you’ve left the room.’ Then I stuck my tongue out at her, and she stomped her foot.” Ivy grinned up at Katie, admiration filling every inch of her face. “I haven’t seen you in forever and ever, Katie. Are you still sad?”

Katie chucked her under the chin. “Less sad all the time, sweetheart.”

Ivy’s brow pulled in almost theatrically. “Mary said her grandfather told her papa that you don’t have any fingers left.” She glanced at Katie’s unbandaged hand. “But you have fingers; I can see them.”

Joseph set his hand on Katie’s shoulder. He would turn Ivy’s line of questioning if Katie needed him to.

But she proved resilient. “I have fingers on
this
hand, but not on the other. The fingers on that hand were too broken.”

“Ah.” Ivy nodded as though the entire thing made sense. “Did you know Finbarr’s eye is broken, too? He can’t see anything out of it. Not at all.”

“I had heard that.”

“Ooh, ooh.” Ivy popped up onto her knees, facing Katie, her eyes wide with excitement. “He could have an eye patch, and you could have a hook on your broken-up hand. Then you could be pirates. You would be the very best pirates. Oh, Katie, you could be just like Grace O’Malley,
Irish Pirate Queen.
”

“Where in heaven’s name did you learn about Grace O’Malley?” Katie’s eyes darted between Joseph and Ivy.

Emma answered instead. “Papa read us this book.”

All eyes turned to the doorway. Emma stood there, clutching a volume of
Irish Legends and Histories
against her chest, her arms wrapped around it.

The look Katie gave Emma nearly took Joseph’s breath away. She loved his daughter like her own, that was clear. His sweet, hurting Emma had found the caring, loving mother she’d needed the past years.

“My sweet Emma.” Katie held her hand out, an invitation Emma didn’t hesitate to accept. She too climbed up on the bed, snuggling next to Katie, just as Ivy was. Katie held her in a tight and loving embrace, saying again and again, “My Emma.”

His girls were happy and loved and safe. Joseph’s family was complete and together. He placed a kiss on the top of each of his girl’s heads.

“Do I get a kiss, as well, Joseph Archer?” If Katie’s flushed cheeks were any indication, she didn’t mean a quick peck on the top of her head.

Of course, with both of the girls as an audience, he couldn’t possibly kiss her as deeply or as thoroughly as he wanted to. Still, he had no intention of turning her down.

Joseph slipped a hand under her chin, tilting her face toward him. He lightly kissed the very corner of her mouth, then the other. Two tiny giggles stopped him before he could kiss her again.

He pulled back enough to see Katie’s smile. Though she’d winced more than once as the girls had settled in and though worry and pain still sat heavy in her eyes, she was returning bit by bit to the strong and hopeful woman he loved.

“Perhaps I should read the girls their story.” He made quite a show of rolling his eyes at their interruption.

Katie took his hand. He held it fast, cherishing the feel of her reaching out for him. “Read to all of us,” she said.

He didn’t have to be asked twice. Joseph adjusted Emma enough so he could sit next to Katie, with Emma nestled more or less between them. He held the book in one hand and Katie’s hand in the other.

Ivy put her arms around Katie, being noticeably careful of her injuries. “I love you, Katie,” she said earnestly. “Please don’t ever, ever, ever leave us.”

That brought Emma’s eyes to Katie’s face again. Joseph could all but hear Emma making the same plea.

Katie’s expression gentled. “Not ever again, my sweet girls.” She squeezed Joseph’s hand, her eyes moving to look at him. She smiled slightly. “Not ever again.”

Chapter Forty-Two

Katie had fallen asleep to the sound of Joseph’s voice, her two angels pulled up close beside her. Though the pain remained, both in her body and in her heart, she felt a growing sense of peace.

Morning brought setbacks. She tried to use her left arm and the remnants of her hand to change her stockings and, rather than finding success, she discovered her wounds were too raw and new. She’d been reduced to tears of agony and frustration. Walking from the bed to the chair at Joseph’s fireside hadn’t been easy since waking from her injuries, but she was particularly achy and stiff that day, making such a simple thing nearly impossible.

You need to be cheerful, Katie Macauley. This is no time for selfish wallowing.

But she hadn’t the strength in her for cheerfulness.

In the quiet of her solitary room she could hear voices below—quite a few if she didn’t miss her mark. Did Joseph have company?

She tucked the blanket more firmly around herself. Today was not a day for visitors. Not even the mouthwatering mixture of smells floating up from below tempted her to leave the quiet protection of her hideaway. She wouldn’t add to Joseph’s burdens by forcing her weariness on him, but she wasn’t equal to the task of hiding her pain that day.

Joseph came in the room about lunchtime. “How are you today?” Something in his tone told her he already knew.

She tried to force a smile, tried to think of some light and airy response. But the words died. “I’m having a hard day.”

He came and knelt in front of her chair, resting his arms on her knees. “What can I do, Katie?”

“I’m frustrated is all.”

“Well”—Joseph took her good hand in his, smiling gently—“I do have something I think will help lift your spirits a little.”

His encouragement touched her, but her doubts remained. Joseph kissed her knuckles. He’d done that again and again the night before. The simple, loving gesture both calmed her and set her heart fluttering in her chest. She needed this man more than any person she’d ever known.

“I have come to invite you downstairs.”

“Downstairs?” She shook her head. “I want to stay up here. I’m not ready to see people, Joseph.”

He pressed her hand to his heart and looked deep in her eyes. “I know this is hard, darling, but being with people who care about you and love you will help.”

“I can’t.” Her words shook. Though she knew herself ill-prepared to face the world, she hadn’t anticipated the immediate emotional toll of the mere suggestion.

“You have strength enough for this.” He squeezed her fingers and set her hand on her lap. He stood. “I see you’ve pulled your stockings on already.”

“’Twas a pathetic struggle, that,” she confessed with a sigh.

He pulled a box off the bureau and brought it over to her. Indicating the box, he said, “You’ve needed these for a long time. Yours were destroyed in the fire.”

He lifted the lid and tipped it enough for her to see a pair of fine, new boots inside. She recognized them immediately. They were the very boots she had admired nearly every day she’d worked for Mr. Johnson.

Joseph didn’t wait for a comment or reply. He pulled one out and loosened the laces. “I realize you can’t tie them yet,” he said as he slipped the boot on her right foot. “We’ll think on that, though, and find a way for you to manage it. Something will occur to us, I’m certain of it.”

He tied the laces in a loopy bow, then repeated his efforts with the other boot.

Katie could do little but stare. She had never in all her life owned such a fine pair of shoes. They were new and lovely. Her grotesque and misshapen feet looked almost elegant housed in such fine, deep-brown leather.

“I haven’t the money for these,” she whispered. “And I cannot ask you to—”

“Katie.” ’Twas a scold if she’d ever heard one. “Let me first say, they aren’t from me. The Johnsons sent them with very strict instructions that I was not to let you refuse.”

“The Johnsons?” Why would they send her such a gift? She’d failed to save their daughter’s life. They ought to despise her.

She wagered Joseph knew precisely why the offering confused her, but he didn’t explain. He returned to the bureau and pulled open one of the smaller drawers at the very top. He took something out, though Katie couldn’t make it out.

“This”—he set a neatly folded bundle of flowered fabric on her lap—“is from me.”

She unfolded it. “Oh, heavens.” Katie had never seen such a beautiful shawl in all her life. Deep blue flowers sat on a background of cream, with a blue crocheted edging so intricate and delicate she couldn’t keep herself from touching it.

She looked up at him, utterly speechless.

“Put it about your shoulders, darling. You have a few people downstairs who are anxious to see you.”

“Is this a bribe, then?” She had to confess that, if it was one, it was working brilliantly.

He smiled at her. “No. I have actually had it for three months, trying to find the right moment to give it to you.”

“And this was that moment?” She slid the shawl around her shoulders.

Joseph helped her adjust it. “I know going down there will be hard. I only hoped this would buoy you up a bit.”

She took a fortifying breath. “Promise to stay with me, Joseph, and I can face anything.”

Joseph closed the distance between them, pressing a sweet and tender kiss directly on her lips. The warmth of him so close, the feel of his breath on her face, brought the familiar combination of contentment and heart flutters.

She’d first learned to recognize the smell of his shaving soap while working in his house. The scent had long since become one of her favorites. She took a deep breath of it while he was so close, fully expecting him to pull back after their very brief kiss.

He didn’t.

His fingers wove through her hair, holding her close while his lips explored hers. Katie let her hand travel the length of his neck and settle on his chest. His heart pounded beneath her fingers. She pushed away all thoughts of injuries and regrets and uncertainty, and simply lost herself in that moment. All her life she’d been alone. Now here was this man, so kind and loving, who had stayed with her through the most terrible moments she’d passed. And he loved her as much as she loved him.

He broke the seal of their lips, leaning his forehead lightly against hers. They sat that way for what felt like minutes on end, though likely not more than a few seconds.

“I really do need to take you downstairs.” He clearly regretted the necessity.

Katie could sincerely smile at the sentiment. She’d have liked to remain there just as they were, as well.

“Shall we?” She kept her tone encouraging, despite a lingering wish to avoid the crowd below. Joseph had done so much. She wouldn’t make trouble for him over something so simple.

He nodded and, with obvious reluctance, pulled back once more.

“I should warn you I’m still not very sure on my feet.”

He gave her a look of amused scolding. “I hadn’t meant to make you walk, darling.”

That was all the warning she received before he slipped his arm under her legs and the other behind her back. The thoughtful man had even chosen the side that allowed her to link her good arm around his neck.

He lifted her with little trouble and carried her from the room. The voices grew louder as they reached the staircase.