Ana Seymour (18 page)

Jennie and Nonny turned in unison to cast worried glances up the stairs. “Dear Lord,” Jennie said. “I hope you’re right.”

Kate was lying in her bed, but she was not asleep. As he had every night since she’d recovered, Sean insisted she lie down and try to rest. “You’re not strong enough yet to sit up all night,” he’d said. “Caroline’s right here with you, and I’ll be here. I promise to wake you if there’s any change at all.”

But she found sleep difficult, though she dozed off and on, as did Sean, sitting up in the rocker, unable to stay totally awake after so many days of exhaustive nursing.

Sean was right, she did still feel the effects of the illness. She was as weak as she had been at the hospital after she’d had Caroline. The weakness made tears spring easily to her eyes, and made it more difficult to keep up her normally strong spirits when she looked at the slowly wasting body of her only child.

It was Sean who’d had to be the strong one. In spite of days without sleep, he seemed to have indefatigable energy, and refused to hear one word of pessimism about Caroline’s condition.

“She’s breathing more easily than this afternoon,” he’d say. Or, “Look at how her color’s improved.”

Kate’s gratitude for his optimism was boundless, and though she hadn’t taken time from her vigil to tell him so in words, she felt he understood. It was apparent in the silent clasp of their hands, in the looks they
exchanged over her crib, in the myriad things he did all day long to keep both Kate and Caroline comfortable.

The man who tenderly tucked her into her covers each night, then went to sit by his daughter’s bedside, was quite simply a world removed from the cocksure charmer to whom she had lost her heart all those months ago. And her love for him was tenfold what it had been then.

Her eyes drifted shut. What seemed like minutes later, Sean was gently shaking her shoulder. “I think she’s doing better, suddenly. Truly better,” he said excitedly, his voice swollen with tears.

Kate sat up in her bed and blinked. Out the window she could see the first streaks of dawn in the dark blue sky. As his words began to register in her brain, she jumped out of bed and ran to the crib. Caroline was awake, her eyes clear, looking up at her mother with interest. Her complexion was pale, without the flush it had had for days.

“How’s my sweetie?” Kate asked softly.

Caroline reached her arms toward her. With a little cry, Kate picked her up and clasped her to her chest. “Oh, Sean!” she said, meeting his moist eyes with tears in her own.

“The sheet’s dry for the first time in days, Kate,” he said. “I think the fever’s gone entirely.” He put his hand out to touch the baby’s back. “She feels normal.”

“Normal.
What a wonderful word,” Kate said with a laugh.

“Kee,” Caroline said, pointing out the window.

“Oh, baby,” Kate said, crying now in earnest. “Yes, sky. Pretty, pretty sky.”

“Pity kee,” Caroline mimicked.

Sean put his arm around them both at once, his head against Kate’s. With tears streaming down both their faces, they stood together at the window, rocking their child and watching nature’s spectacular announcement of a new day.

“Well, son. You know why I’ve come,” Patrick Flaherty said brusquely.

He and Sean were having the conversation both had avoided since the two older people had arrived m Vermillion to find a house still recovering from the epidemic. It had been two days since Caroline’s fever had broken. She was now eating almost normally, though she still slept much of the day and did not have the strength to walk more than back and forth across the room.

In spite of Kate’s and Sean’s objections and fear that she would be infected, Nonny had insisted on taking her turn at Caroline’s bedside while they finally got some real sleep. Patrick had waited patiently throughout the ordeal, had not even broached the subject, but Sean had known since he’d seen his father’s hired carriage pull up in front of the house that this moment would come.

“I’ve received your wires, Father,” he said. “But this time, for once, I meant what I said. I’m no longer a part of Flaherty Enterprises, and I don’t intend to change my mind.”

The two men looked at each other from the straight
chairs they’d pulled out to sit on opposite sides of the parlor fireplace. Both had seemed to feel that the cushiony settee or the deep rocker were too soft for this particular meeting of wills.

“It’s the issue of a house, isn’t it?” Patrick asked. “I’ve done some thinking about that, and have decided that perhaps you were right. I can see how Kate would be more comfortable raising your child without being quite so close to Harriet’s hovering.”

Sean gave a slight smile. “I’m sorry to say that we’ve discovered that a four-day stagecoach ride is just about the right distance away from Mother’s hovering. Though we’ll be happy to have both of you visit us anytime.”

Patrick frowned and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “Sean, you’ve got to think of your future…and your child’s.” He looked around at the simple parlor furnishings. “Think of all the things you can give Caroline back in San Francisco.”

Sean leaned back. “Things like what?”

“Why…fine clothes, a beautiful home, servants, the best schools—”

“Now you’re sounding like Mother yourself. And perhaps I would have sounded the same way a couple years ago, but not anymore. I’ve changed. Something happened to me.”

Sean’s voice held a new degree of confidence, and for once in his life, Patrick appeared to be genuinely listening to his son.

“What happened was I met two sisters,” Sean continued. “I didn’t fully understand it at the beginning, I’ll admit, because I was too besotted by the younger
sister’s beauty to give the rest of it any thought. But now, almost two years wiser, I realize that the Sheridans had something that the Flahertys never had for all our fine furniture and clothes. They had strength of family. They had love.”

Patrick’s blue eyes, so like Sean’s, narrowed with hurt. “You’re my only child, Sean. I’ve always loved you.”

“I know. Or at least, I’m beginning to know that. Loving Caroline has helped me understand that special love between parent and child—that special and
complicated
love. I’m beginning to understand that much of what you did with your life was
because
of me, even if I resented it.”

“But, of course. Why else have I devoted my life to Flaherty Enterprises if not for you, Sean?”

Sean could have told him the story of John Sheridan. He hadn’t built a fortune for his family, but he’d given them a much more important legacy of family loyalty and mutual support, qualities lacking m the Flahertys. But Sean had lost any desire he might once have had to hurt his father.

They were products of two generations and totally different life circumstances. His father had had to claw and fight for what he had, whereas Sean had never really worked in his life up until the past few weeks. But some part of him, the child still inside, wanted to gain his father’s understanding, if not his approval

“I’m grateful for all the things you were able to give me growing up, Father, but now I need the chance to be able to provide a home for my own family.”

“I’ll help you,” Patrick interrupted, straightening
up. “They’re building down on Van Nuys—fabulous houses that’ll dwarf the Nob Hill set. Your mother will be green with envy.”

Sean listened calmly, shaking his head. “Our place is here,” he said finally. “It’s where Kate’s home is and her family, and it’s where we’d like to raise our child.”

Patrick stood up from his chair and paced across the small room in agitation. “You can’t seriously think you’re going to dig in the dirt the rest of your life.”

“You dug in the dirt a number of years, as I recall,” Sean pointed out with a smile. “It didn’t appear to hurt you any.”

“That was different. Back then there were still riches for the picking, a man could turn millionaire overnight.”

“I’ve already got my riches, Father. They’re both upstairs sleeping right now.”

Patrick went back to his chair and sat down again, heavily. He drummed his fingers on his knees with the air of a man who was not used to being contradicted. “What do you do up at that mine anyway7”

“I push ore carts. Back and forth all day long.”

His father gave a kind of shudder.

They were both silent a long moment. “You should see my arms,” Sean joked. “I could take on a whole slew of sailors down at the wharf.”

“How much is that mine worth?” Patrick asked finally, his expression changing from despair to calculation.

Sean laughed. “Are you planning to buy it and give
it to me for Christmas?” he asked. “You’d probably get it for a bargain price—the ore’s playing out.”

“Well, there you have it What’s wrong with the idea? You could manage the thing instead of scrabbling in the dust every day.”

“Father, I don’t intend to scrabble in the dust the rest of my life. You didn’t. I have several avenues I’m beginning to explore. In spite of what Mother might think, this isn’t the end of the world. New industries are starting—not just mining, but lumber, ranching. Carter has talked about investing in a shipping line. The freight service here leaves a lot to be desired. I’ve money set aside, as well. A business like that would need a manager.”

Patrick sat up and rubbed his hands together with enthusiasm. “Why, that’s a brilliant thought. A freight line to link up with Flaherty shipping. It’s perfect. Just tell me how much you need to get it started.”

Sean was shaking his head again. “Father,” he said gently. “I’m done letting you provide me with everything. You’ve given me more than I can properly thank you for. I was raised with many luxuries and a fine education. But now I need to show myself that I can do something on my own.”

“There’s nothing wrong with taking a little help,” Patrick argued.

“Maybe I will someday. But for now I’m happy with things the way they are. I intend to stay at the mine another year or so. The money’s better than I could earn anywhere else. Then I’ll make some decisions. In the meantime, I’m busy learning.”

“About shipping?” Patrick asked.

Sean shook his head. “About life,” he said with a smile.

Kate was waiting for him in his bedroom. That afternoon Nonny had bustled into Kate’s room with her carpetbag, informing Kate that she would be sleeping at Caroline’s side for the next couple of nights until she and Patrick left to return home.

“Your place is next to your husband, dear,” she told her, then added with a sly wink, “now that you’re well enough again to be of some entertainment to each other.”

Kate had blushed but had accepted her grandmotherin-law’s offer. She was feeling healthy again, and the thought of an uninterrupted night in Sean’s arms was making her feel pleasantly jumpy inside.

The feeling had lasted all through supper, but her anticipatory mood vanished after the meal when Patrick had taken Sean aside and asked to speak to him in private. Though Sean had sent her a reassuring glance as he followed his father into the parlor, Kate had worried. She’d helped Jennie with the cleaning up, then she’d climbed the stairs with a familiar feeling of foreboding.

It had lasted all the while she bathed and changed Caroline and bid good-night to Nonny, thanking her again for her help. “Run along, child,” Nonny had said with a careless wave. “Your husband’s waiting.”

But he hadn’t been waiting. He was still closeted in the parlor with his father, the father who once before had ordered him home, leaving Kate to face her pregnancy alone. In the past few weeks, Sean had been a
changed man—humble, attentive, affectionate, hardworking. He’d finally been ready to express his love for her and his daughter in words as well as deeds. But now his father had come to fetch him back to his old life, and Kate was not sure what Sean’s answer would be.

It was nearly ten o’clock by the time she heard his footsteps coming up the stairs. She was still wideawake, in spite of her lingering exhaustion from recent days. The delicate thread of her life was being twisted in that parlor downstairs, and she wasn’t about to fall asleep before she found out if it was once again going to end up in a tangled mess.

His face was unreadable when he came in the door, but it bnghtened when he caught sight of her, already lying in his bed. “I went to look for you in your room,” he said. “Nonny and Caroline are both sleeping.”

She nodded. “Nonny moved me out. I had to seek refuge elsewhere.”

He walked over to the bed and leaned down to give her a kiss. “You chose the right place,” he said, his voice vibrating close to her ear.

She smiled at him as he began unbuttoning his shirt. “Did I now?” she asked archly, mimicking the slight brogue he sometimes adopted.

“Yes, ma’am,” he confirmed. He quickly shed his clothes, leaving them scattered carelessly behind him on the floor. Then he lifted the covers to slide in next to her. His eyebrows went up in pleased surprise. “Didn’t Nonny let you take any nightclothes when she moved you out?”

“I didn’t ask to take any,” she answered, sliding her naked body a little farther down in the bed. “I thought you might prefer me like this.”

“You thought right,” he said, his voice thick.

He spent a moment admiring her before he moved over to gather her in his arms.

“But first you have to tell me what happened,” she said.

He buried his face in her neck and groaned. Kate’s spirits sank. She pulled away from him and sat up. “What is it?” she asked tensely. “Are you going back with him?”

Sean looked at her in surprise, then pushed himself to a sitting position beside her. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. My groan was because you were making me wait, not because of my conversation with my father.”

Her heart slowed its accelerated beating. “Then your conversation was…satisfactory?”

“He offered to buy us a house after all,” he replied. “Fancier than the Nob Hill house, just to make my mother envious.” But his mischievous grin told Kate that he had not looked at his father’s offer seriously.

“You turned him down.”

Sean picked her up and set her on his legs, her bare bottom rubbing against his thighs. “I turned him down, Katie Marie. I told him I’d much rather stay in the mountains pushing mine carts all day and making wild love to my wife all night.”