OnlyYou (17 page)

She thought she spotted him near a group of horses in the
distance but she couldn’t be certain.

And then it hit her.

She could be certain about only one thing—she was definitely
in love.

Chapter Eleven

What she wouldn’t give for a good facial and a hot stone
massage.

Kaitlyn groaned with relief as Eileen began pointing out
Gabriel’s fields and his herd of cattle as they rode along the afternoon of the
fifth day on their journey. Kaitlyn felt as though she had picked up a pound of
dirt along the way and was carrying it in a nice thick layer on her skin.

The trip had been grueling—more so than the march she had
taken with Gabriel’s regiment. Though Eileen had a concealed pistol in a
holster on her leg, Kaitlyn couldn’t help but feel like the target for any
would-be criminal or straggling soldier who happened to come their way. Nothing
happened, of course. Eileen had guided them home expertly, carefully avoiding
known danger spots and staying in safe houses along the way.

Kaitlyn leaned forward over the neck of her horse, which she
had named “George” halfway through the journey. It wasn’t an illustrious name,
she supposed but after days of coming up with overused names like “Chestnut”
and the like, she settled on a good, old-fashioned name. “George” was stable,
responsible and down-to-earth, just like the horse.

He was definitely a beautiful animal worthy of a grand name
but he seemed to have had a nice, long chat with Gabriel before they left. Not
a minute had gone by during their trip that George didn’t keep her within his
sight, even going so far as to follow her into the woods when she needed to
take care of some urgent bodily needs. At first, Kaitlyn felt strange with this
animal watching her so intently but soon it became a matter of course and she
would call to him whenever she walked away from where they had stopped for a
small break.

He comforted her, filling a small space in the emptiness she
felt in her gut every day now that she was even further away from Gabriel.

She wrapped her arms around George’s neck and rubbed her
cheek against his mane. He snorted and she smiled at his bluster.

Finally, they turned down a long path, sheltered on either
side by oak trees towering over them. Kaitlyn sat up, her curiosity piqued. Not
too far in the distance, she could see what looked like a typical Colonial home
with a red brick exterior and a flat façade, devoid of a porch or other
exterior structures. As they approached, she became impressed with the size of
the home. It wasn’t palatial by any means but it was certainly the home of
someone who had seen a modicum of success in life. Apparently, Gabriel had done
rather well for himself.

And how like him to not have mentioned it.

She smiled to herself and absentmindedly petted George’s
neck. What she guessed to be a stable and a barn came into view. A young man
walked out of the stable at that moment and waved at them.

Eileen waved back and he started running toward them. Once
they reached the front yard of the house, Eileen eased her horse to a stop and
dismounted. She enthusiastically threw her arms around the young man who bore a
striking resemblance to Gabriel in everything but height.

Kaitlyn reined George in and dismounted as well, feeling
unsettled by the thought of seeing someone who looked so much like the man she
had only recently admitted to herself that she was in love with. Giving her
horse an affectionate pat and a nuzzle with her nose, she walked over to Eileen
and the stranger, smiling despite her discomfort and exhaustion.

Eileen pulled away from him and grabbed Kaitlyn’s hand to
draw her closer. “Paul, this is Kaitlyn McCann, a friend of mine. Katie, this
is Paul, Phillip’s younger brother.”

Another of Gabriel’s cousins, she noted to herself as she
extended her hand to the young man who appeared to be little more than fourteen
years old. The idea that she was meeting a member of Gabriel’s family brought
to mind the woman who was probably sitting in the house only a few yards from
where they stood—Gabriel’s mother. She had met the mothers of two of her
previous boyfriends but her boyfriends had been present at the time.

Her stomach began to churn nervously at the thought of
meeting the woman Gabriel had spoken of in only the saintliest of terms. What
would Mary O’Connor think of Kaitlyn? Better yet, what would she think of
Gabriel’s mother? The only thing Kaitlyn wanted to do at that moment was to
crawl into a nice cozy bed somewhere and fall asleep to avoid this whole
situation.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, madam,” Paul said, his voice
cracking. His cheeks colored slightly but he continued talking. “We have heard
much about you already.”

Kaitlyn raised her eyebrows in disbelief. “Really?”

He nodded. “Phillip has written of you in his letters.
Eileen has as well.”

Wide-eyed, Kaitlyn turned to her friend with a questioning
stare, wondering what exactly had been said about her.

Eileen and Paul exchanged a secretive glance. Before Kaitlyn
could ask what was going on, however, Eileen asked Paul to take care of the
horses and grabbed Kaitlyn’s hand to lead her up to the house.

Kaitlyn nearly had to run to keep up with Eileen. She smiled
at the young woman’s joy at being home. A small stab of homesickness tore
through her heart as she realized that she would probably never see her
apartment or her things ever again.

It was strange really but as Eileen led her into the house,
Kaitlyn became aware of the fact that she had not dwelt much upon the idea that
she would probably never go home. She had been so caught up in her attraction
to Gabriel and her fascination with being able to watch everyday Colonial life
first hand that she never really took the time to think about finding a way
home.

And now she wasn’t even certain that she wanted to.

Kaitlyn’s eyes drank in her surroundings as Eileen led her
through the wide, central hall with a large staircase winding gently up to the
second floor. Several rooms could be seen off the corridor, their doors sitting
slightly ajar. She could only catch glimpses of their interiors as she was
ushered past them and toward the back of the house.

Eileen burst through a swinging door at the end of the
hallway and nearly shrieked, “Mama!”

Eileen yanked Kaitlyn into the room and released her hand,
racing toward a woman who appeared to be in her early fifties.

The woman, who had been sitting on a bench at a table and
peeling carrots, looked up and gasped. “Bless my soul!” she whispered as she
made a quick sign of the cross.

She stood and turned just in time for Eileen to propel
herself into her arms. The woman clasped Eileen tightly to her chest, planting
multiple, quick kisses against the side of the younger woman’s head.

“Oh, my darling baby!” the older woman crooned over and over
again as she stroked Eileen’s hair.

Kaitlyn cast her eyes around the room, almost feeling like
an intruder in this emotional family reunion. They appeared to be in the
kitchen, from the looks of the wash sink across from her and the large, open
fireplace with a black kettle sitting inside of it to her right. The room felt
quite comfortable, much like what she glimpsed in the rest of the house. Warm,
pecan-colored wood surrounded her, both on the floors and the trim. It was
understated and yet elegant at the same time.

“And this, Mama, is Kaitlyn McCann,” Eileen stated,
interrupting Kaitlyn’s thoughts. “She will be staying with us.”

Kaitlyn turned and smiled, walking over to the women. She
extended her hand toward Gabriel’s mother, “It is a pleasure to meet you,
madam.”

Mrs. O’Connor took Kaitlyn’s hand and clasped it between her
own. “Please, my dear, call me Mary. Eileen has written so much about you, I
feel almost as though we have known each other for some time now.”

The older woman’s smile was warm and her presence
comforting. Kaitlyn felt immediately at ease with her. The woman was tall with
a nice, straight posture. Her dark brown hair, which was the same color as
Gabriel’s, was pulled straight back and tucked neatly beneath a white, cotton
cap. Streaks of gray could be seen along her temples and the corners of her
brown eyes were crinkled as though she had spent a lifetime trying to find the
humor in life, despite the tragedy Kaitlyn knew she had been through.

Kaitlyn smiled again and gave the older woman’s hand a small
squeeze. “Thank you for allowing me to stay with you. I really do appreciate
it.”

Mary released Kaitlyn’s hand and waved away the younger
woman’s words. “Think nothing of it, my dear.”

“Oh,” Eileen began, as she reached into her bodice and
pulled out the letter Gabriel had given to her the day they left. “Gabriel sent
this for you.”

Mary’s eyes sparkled with pleasure as she eagerly accepted
the envelope and opened it. She was silent for several moments as her eyes
scanned the letter. Her expression turned serious as she looked up first at
Kaitlyn and then Eileen.

“Your brother instructs you that you should stay put this
time,” Mary stated in a grave tone. “I do hope you plan to obey his wishes.”

Eileen dutifully nodded. “Of course, Mama. That was my last
time, I swear it.”

Mary pursed her lips together in apparent satisfaction at
her daughter’s answer. She then called to Elizabeth, who Kaitlyn learned was
the family’s housekeeper. A young woman with red hair and sparkling green eyes
entered the kitchen from the back door, carrying a basket of herbs in the crook
of her arm. After an enthusiastic greeting for Eileen and a friendly one for
Kaitlyn, Mary explained that Elizabeth was the daughter of a cousin of hers.

Elizabeth and Eileen quickly began chatting away as Mary
turned her attention back to Gabriel’s letter. Kaitlyn smiled to herself over
how Eileen seemed to turn into a typical teenager right before her very eyes.
Well, typical for most girls. Kaitlyn had been very serious and reserved when
she was an adolescent.

She could suddenly sense someone’s eyes on her and she
turned her attention to Mary who was now staring at her with curiosity. As Mary
caught Kaitlyn’s glance, a warm smile spread across her features and she sighed
before lowering her eyes to the letter once again.

Kaitlyn’s cheeks burned. Mary’s eyes had taken on a knowing
look as she smiled. Had Gabriel mentioned her in the letter too?

What exactly did he tell his mother about her?

Chapter Twelve

Kaitlyn slowly slid her fingertips along the numbers written
on the ledger on the desk in front of her. It was something she seemed to do
almost daily for the past three months. She would often admonish herself,
thinking the action a bit crazy but she couldn’t seem to help it. When she had
first arrived and saw it lying on the desk in the library, she looked at it
with a bit of reverence, realizing for the first time that she had never seen
Gabriel’s handwriting before. The strokes of his pen were bold and strong, much
like the man himself.

She gazed at the last entry he made, written nearly four
years before. Mary hadn’t missed a beat and immediately took over the accounts,
her light, elegant writing sitting in stark contrast to her son’s heavy-handed
strokes.

Kaitlyn closed the book with a sigh and shoved it back
across the desk, her eyes gazing at the wall-to-wall, built-in shelves filled
with books. It seemed strange to her at first to wander around Gabriel’s house
without him by her side. It was as though she was getting to know him all over
again. She knew he was intelligent but she had come to realize just how well
read he was as she took a mental inventory of the impressive collection of
classics and law books in his personal library.

The whole house felt peculiar, however, almost as though it
knew its master was gone and was simply patiently lying in wait for his return.
Kaitlyn felt a bit voyeuristic, like she was somehow intruding on a part of
Gabriel’s life she knew very little about.

Eventually, however, she grew accustomed to the slow-paced
life of the farm. She learned to ride George quite well for a novice and spent
at least an hour each day with the horse. Knowing that Kaitlyn was better
educated than most women at that time, Eileen requested that Kaitlyn become her
tutor. Mary hadn’t been so certain at first, obviously worried that her
daughter might get out of hand and begin dressing up as a boy again and go
traipsing back to the militia. But as soon as Kaitlyn promised that she would
take all the blame if Gabriel disapproved, the older woman seemed to get a kick
out of her daughter excelling in some of the same subjects that Gabriel had
when he was a younger man.

Kaitlyn and Mary had developed a gentle friendship that
almost bordered on a mother-daughter relationship. Mary had even taken to
calling her “Katie,” which, in turn caused everyone Kaitlyn met to refer to her
by that name.

Kaitlyn learned a lot by Mary’s side. Though Kaitlyn hadn’t
touched a plant in her entire life, she had found a certain affinity for helping
Mary with the harvest and tending of the garden and, subsequently, the canning
and preserving of food for the winter.

Kaitlyn stared at the blank piece of paper in front of her,
her eyes darting to the quill standing upright in the bottle of black ink.
Eileen had been on her case for the past two months to write Gabriel a letter.
Kaitlyn wanted to but she was having difficulty composing it, especially since
Gabriel hadn’t bothered to write to her either. Two letters had arrived from
Gabriel over the past three months, each one asking about Kaitlyn but nothing
had been sent to her personally.

Her face flushed and a wave of nausea swept through her. She
closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, fighting against the one thought
that had been haunting her for nearly two months.