Stitches in Time (5 page)

And a master he was. Liam had the facts, the figures, the information all stored in his head. He knew when to push, and he knew when to sit back and let the client lead. After a while, Maggie even found herself enjoying his repartee and the stories he told about the company’s success. She was not surprised when the client agreed and Andrew’s Unlimited became an international player.

No, the trouble did not start until the two of them returned to the hotel room. Flush with success, Maggie’s eyes shone brightly; she would have wonderful news to tell her father when she called him tomorrow. Still conservative, she would not tell him anything until there was a signed piece of paper.

So when she came out of the little bathroom to discover Liam on the phone with her father, already telling him the news, she was furious. Her eyes blazed,
then
watered with disappointment. It was his right to tell—he made the deal. She turned away to hide the emptiness inside.

But Liam caught a glimpse of her face just as she turned away. What was her problem? He finished his conversation quickly and hung up just as Maggie reached to pull down the covers of the bed.

As she did so, Maggie’s foot hit something solid under the bed. She bent down to look as she removed her jacket, but the dust ruffle was in the way and she couldn’t see what it was.

“Maggie, no.
What are you doing?” He had to stop her. That blasted tapestry was still under the bed, its cover off so the leprechaun could have light. Even to him it sounded absurd.

“There’s something under the bed. My foot kicked it.” She knelt and pulled up the
bedskirt
.

“Well, leave it. It’s probably something the housekeeper keeps under there. I wouldn’t worry about it…” His voice trailed off as she pulled out the box.

For a moment Maggie stared at the tapestry piece, her face a study of confusion. How did this get here? She looked up and saw defeat and guilt plastered all over Liam’s face. He had bought it. He had known she really liked it and had bought it just to spite her. She should have known.

He saw the distant coldness spread through her entire being. “Now, Maggie, it isn’t what you think…”

“And just what do I think, Mr.
Finnerty
?” Resolute, she kept her eyes from straying back to the box. It hurt her heart too much.

Liam realized he was trapped. Nothing he could say right now would be right. He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. He knew she simmered under that icy exterior, but his hopes of thawing the ever-thickening veneer were dimming quickly. Resigned, he shrugged, his shoulders drooping with defeat. “I bought it because you liked it. I was planning to give it to you as a present.”

“A thousand-dollar present?”
Her eyes darkened. “And just what did you expect me to do for you to deserve a thousand-dollar present, Mr.
Finnerty
?”

“I expect you to marry me, Maggie Andrews.”

Her mouth opened and closed several times. “What?” She shook her head. Surely she had not heard him properly.

Liam couldn’t believe what had come out of his mouth. That damn leprechaun.
Putting ideas in his head when he wasn’t looking.
But even as he reconsidered and thought about pulling the words back, Liam realized he didn’t want to. Okay, maybe marriage was going a bit too far…but he would no longer deny that he wanted this woman. He let the statement stand.

Maggie shook her head as anger, newly enflamed, built up its heat. “You have a funny way of courting a woman, Mr.
Finnerty
. Save your money for a woman you can buy.”

She flung the box onto the bed where the little leprechaun’s jaunty figure gleamed in the light.

“Ah, boy-o,
ye’ve
messed this up
fer
sure.”

Liam glared at the leprechaun who stood in the box egging him on. A glance at Maggie made him realize she had not heard the little man’s booming voice, nor did she see him standing. Turning his back on her and the box, he strode across the tiny room.

“
Yer
goin
’ to have to make it up to her, ye know.”

“I know, I know!” Liam forgot himself.

“Well, if you know that, then why did you buy the tapestry?” Maggie’s voice was tart.

Now it was Liam’s turn to stare blankly. Then he realized he’d spoken out loud the words he meant for the leprechaun. Frustrated, he sketched an exaggerated bow. “Ms. Andrews, I’m sorry. I was presumptuous. I bought the scrap of cloth because I saw that you liked it and for some unknown reason, I decided to do something nice for you.” Liam was in no mood to be pleasant. His earlier euphoria at making a deal had evaporated as soon as she kicked the stupid box. And what had made him say he wanted to marry the shrew? He glared again at the leprechaun who merely sighed at him.

“Oh, no, boy-o.
Yer
not going to win this battle that way.”

Maggie’s chin shook as Liam’s words stung, but she refused to break down and cry in front of him. Pursing her lips, she raised her head and lashed back. “I do not accept it. Take it back in the morning. I cannot be bought, Mr.
Finnerty
.”

“No. I will not take it back. You might reject my present and you might reject me, but you cannot deny your own heart.” He held up his hand to stave off her rebuttal. He already had a leprechaun trying to give him orders, he was not about to let this woman tell him what to do. Liam threw down his challenge. “Something about this tapestry spoke to you. I saw it in your eyes.
In the shop.”

Maggie’s shell softened slightly as he spoke of the little tapestry scrap; it
had
spoken to her heart and only she knew the reason why. That tiny little leprechaun, torn from the master tapestry, represented all the years of work and dreams she had invested in life before her brother Tom died. With a Master’s in textile art and almost finished with her doctorate in art restoration, Maggie had been well on her way to making a name for herself in a world that did not include her father’s business. To find the other piece of this scrap and reunite the two would be the work she had always dreamed of.

He saw her internal struggle. Opening his mouth to urge her to tell him what it was that hurt her so
much,
he shut it again when Seamus shook his head and held up his hand. There was decidedly less frost in her voice when she spoke again.

“I cannot accept such a present from you, Mr.
Finnerty
. If you wish to keep it, that is your business. My answer is final.” The steady look she gave him convinced him she meant it.

“Get ‘er to find the rest of me tapestry, lad. Now, while she’s still softened up a bit.”

Liam made a face at Seamus and shook his head no. The leprechaun stamped his foot.

“Yes, man! Now! Tell ‘er
ye’ve
a fancy for
wantin
’ to put the two pieces back together. Tell ‘er, or I won’t be
helpin
’ ye out of
yer
troubles no more.” The little man crossed his arms and leaned against the bole of the tree once more, a defiant look on his face.

“Fine.”
Liam’s answer was accepted by both of them. Seamus nodded in satisfaction and Maggie simply looked relieved. “I do intend to keep it, Ms. Andrews.” Liam ignored the triumphant look on the leprechaun’s face. “I intend to find the rest of the tapestry and then have it restored. I will frame the entire piece and hang it in my house as a testament to my folly.” He scooped up the box and glared at Seamus as the little man grinned and sat down on his rock.

“You’re going…but…” Maggie was torn. She would give her eyeteeth to be a part of this, but how could she tell him that? Assuming an air of indifference, she crossed her arms. “And where are you going to look? Heaven only knows how long ago that scrap was torn off.”

Liam looked at the scrap and the leprechaun shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry, boy-o. Ye have got to find it on your own. It’s a part of the curse.”

“Curse?
What curse?” Liam hadn’t intended to speak out loud. Maggie’s shocked look had him scrambling to cover his mistake. The last thing he wanted was for her to know he was talking to the damn thing. “I mean, what should I do about the curse on it? That’s a problem, you know. It can’t be reunited with the other piece of cloth until…until…” Liam shook the box to prompt the leprechaun.

“Until me owner finds his one true love.”

“Until his owner finds his one true love.” The words registered with a vengeance. “What?”

Maggie crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately. If she didn’t stop, she was going to end up with crow’s feet long before her time. While impressed with Liam’s smooth-talking abilities at dinner, the fact that now he seemed bent on giving her a load of baloney did not sit well.

“You’re daft, to use a word of the land.” Ignoring him, she gathered up her nightclothes and pushed him out of her way so she could change in the bath. “Please try to have your story straight by the time I return.” Throwing her hair over her shoulder, she tossed her head and closed the door behind her.

Liam heard the bolt slide home on the bathroom door and threw the box onto the bed. “All right, Seamus O’Brien.
Out with it.
I want the whole story and I want it fast.”

“All right, man, all right. Calm down, it’s not that long a story. Sit down and I’ll tell ye the whole bloody mess.”

Liam sat heavily and propped the tapestry up against one of the hotel pillows. The little man paced two steps one way and two steps the other—all the space he had.

“Well, ye see, it was like this. A long time ago, there were two young lovers. Young William, ‘e was a handsome lad, strong and tall.
A warrior and leader of his clan.
Pretty Margaret was the daughter of the English lord. Yea, ye can see the trouble
brewin
’ already, I see.”

Liam nodded his head. The Troubles still raged in parts of Ireland. His family had emigrated over a hundred years ago and still the stories of atrocities—both English and Irish—had been handed down through the generations.

“Well, William and Margaret, they were so much in love…it just broke me heart. So, using a bit
o’me
magic, I managed to give them a life together. The two eloped.”

“Something tells me they didn’t live happily ever after.”

“Well, they did for quite some time. But then William, he was exiled by Margaret’s father for what he done, stealing his daughter an’ all. The two lived in
hidin
’ for over five years.
Durin
’ that time, young Margaret worked on a tapestry to immortalize their love. Ah,
t’was
a beautiful work
of art, too.
The two of them standing under the trees, looking so lovingly at each other…”
Seamus’ voice trailed off and Liam scowled.

“Well, come on, tell me what happened. She’ll be out of the bathroom in a minute.”

The little man shook himself. “Ah, yes. Well, eventually they got caught. The two were brought before her father, who cursed them both.”

“By tearing the tapestry?”

“Ach, no, man—that came later. No, his curse was powerless. The man had no power except over the two of them. He sentenced William to the gallows and made Margaret watch as he hanged her true love.”

Liam sat unable to speak for several heartbeats. “And did it happen? Did her father really have him hanged?”

“Aye, he did. And she watched her love die a most horrible death. That’s when she cursed me, for
havin
’ brought them their heart’s desire in the first place.”

“And that’s when she ripped the tapestry.”

“Well, no. Ye see
,
I wasn’t a part of the tapestry, then. I was a free-
roamin
’ leprechaun. But she caught me when I went to console the poor lass and sewed me into the corner in her need for revenge.”

“So when did she rip the two pieces apart?”

“She didn’t. Her mother did that after they found the girl hanging in the bedroom they’d locked her into after William was dead. It was her mother who found the tapestry and when I spoke to her and tried to get her to let me go, she ripped the piece in two and threw me out the window. I never saw the rest of me cloth again.”

“Why do I think there’s a lot of this story you aren’t telling?”

“Because ye wanted the short version, lad.
Here
comes yon lass
. What are ye
goin
’ to tell her?”

Liam didn’t answer, since Maggie opened the door at that precise moment. His reaction was immediate. Dressed in lacy, navy blue baby doll lingerie, Maggie’s shapely body was revealed in all her glory. Liam’s eye
traveled
from the graceful curve of her neck over her alabaster shoulders to two beautifully shaped breasts just hidden by the dark, silky material. In the coolness of the room, little buds blossomed at the tips and Liam’s cock stirred. His eyes continued downward toward her narrow waist and well-formed thighs—and that
was
as far as he got.

Blushing to the roots of her hair, Maggie rushed across the room and scrambled into the bed, pulling the blankets up to cover herself. She had paced for several minutes in the bathroom, trying to gather the nerve to make the dash. Now she glared at him from the safety of the bed. “Believe me, Mr.
Finnerty
, had I known I would be sharing a room with you, I would have packed differently.”