by Flynn, Mac
"But never unbearable with good friends," he added.
I slipped a mischievous grin onto my face and nodded down at the creek. "Want to go for a swim?"
"You lead, and I'll follow."
"On second thought let's just enjoy the night air."
He offered me his arm. "Perhaps on a short walk."
I took his arm and nodded. "Sounds like a plan." We strolled down to the edge of the creek and followed it behind the castle. No other revelers were in sight and we were hidden by a row of bushes that separated the forty yard distance between the rear of the home and the creek. Beneath the tall bushes was a stone bench, and Sean guided us up a flight of mossy stone steps to sit down.
"A very pretty night," he commented.
I noticed he looked at me rather than around us. "Very pretty," I agreed.
"When do you return home?" he asked me.
"You mean to the cottage?"
"No, America."
"Less than two weeks. Why?"
Sean shook his head and turned away. His lips were pursed together and there was a look deep in his eyes that told me he was thinking about something important. "I was just wondering how long we have left together."
I didn't like the tone in his voice. It struck a sad chord in me that twinged with pain. "I can always come back after a get a job."
"I thought perhaps you would look for employment here," he told me.
I shook my head. "I think Ireland's got a lot more historians than they know what to do with right now. Besides, my visa is only for a visit, not for looking for a job. Even if I wanted to find a job here I don't have much time left to be looking."
He smirked. "My offer to work in my library still stands," he reminded me. I flinched, and even in the darkness he noticed. "What is it?" he softly asked me.
"It's-it's nothing." It was something, and that something was Anna. I didn't want to stick around with her hanging around the castle, wooing him and demeaning me. Eventually I'd be charged with assault, or worse. "I just don't think that would work out."
Sean hesitated a moment before he next spoke. "What about another position?" he suggested.
I raised an eyebrow and leaned toward him. "Another position?" I repeated.
He turned his face away and shook his head. "Never mind, forget it was mentioned."
"I could if I knew what you were talking about," I told him.
He was quiet for a long moment with his lips pursed together and his eyes holding a far off look in them. I could hear the hamster wheels running in their cages and his eyes slowly widened and brightened. He stood up so quickly I nearly went toppling over, and he whirled around and offered his hand to me. "Would you like to dance?"
"Out here?" I asked him. My eyes swept the wet, uneven ground.
"There is no better time," he insisted.
I figured he meant my leaving soon, and I smiled and shrugged. "Why not?" I took his hand and he pulled me against him while his arm wrapped around my waist. We waltzed to a tune nobody but us could hear, and even the muddy ground couldn't ruin our perfect rhythm. It was only the two of us beneath that starlit sky, and we could have danced forever if it hadn't been interrupted by a bad note in the form of Anna. She rounded the far end of the hedge and her glare knocked us off our rhythm.
"There you are!" she screeched at Sean as she marched up to us. "I've been looking all over for you!" She pulled him from my grasp, but he yanked himself from her hold.
"You've found me, what's wanted?" he asked her with as much politeness as he could muster.
His annoyed tone went unnoticed by her. "You've abandoned our guests, and some of them are ready to leave. Come along, dearest, and we'll say goodbye to them." Sean could argue against Anna's selfish reasons for wanting him, but not against his duties as a host.
He turned to me with a sad smile. "Perhaps another time?" he suggested.
I shrugged. "If we get the chance."
Anna dragged him off to the guests, and I never felt so happy, depressed, and alone as I did then. I was exhilarated by our dance, but that lingering thought of little time left ruined the night. For the first time I suspected that in such a short time I'd fallen in love with a man who loved me back, and soon I'd have to give that up for a plane ride back to a life of nothing. Yay me.
I went back to the front door and met Lily coming out to look for me. She noticed my melancholy expression and grasped my shoulders gently in her hands. Her eyes bore into mine, and I looked away. "What's wrong?" she softly asked me.
I shook my head, and brushed aside her question and her hands. "It's nothing, let's just go home."
"Don't you want to say goodbye to Sean first?" she suggested.
I looked over her shoulder into the hallway and saw Anna hanging off his arm. They looked like a cute couple. "No, we'll see him later." Maybe.
Chapter 21
We returned to the cottage exhausted and, for me, depressed, but Lily had high spirits at the turnout. "Everyone we invited came, and not a single soul breathed a word of it to Sean," she gleefully squealed as she tossed her coat on the coat rack.
"Yay. . ." I murmured as I plopped myself down on the bench.
Lily frowned and put her hands on her hips. "All right, Maggie Magee, what's wrong?"
I shrugged. "I don't know, maybe I'm just tired. Long walk today," I mumbled.
Lily seated herself at my side and leaned forward to look into my face. "You be looking more love-sick than tired. Is it Sean? Did he say something to you?"
"Just the usual stuff about loving me."
"And you're sad about that?"
"Kind of. He asked me when I was going to be leaving."
Lily leaned back and solemnly nodded her head. "I see what it's about."
I turned to her and raised an eyebrow. "I wish you'd show me what you're seeing."
She gently smiled at me. "You're in love with him, but you know you're leaving in a few weeks."
I smirked and shook my head. "Am I really that easy to read?"
"You both are, but that's a good trait to have. People can trust you," she pointed out.
"But can I trust myself?" I countered. "Am I really in love with him or is it just puppy love? Can he really keep on loving this." I gestured down to my body.
Lily took my hands and gave them a gentle squeeze. "You're doubting him will lead to trouble, Maggie Magee. Everyone but you can see he loves you dearly."
"Even Anna?" I teased her.
"Especially Anna. She has tried her best to pull you apart, but your love is too strong."
I sighed and squeezed her hands back. "You always know how to ruin a bad mood, you know that?"
Lily smiled. "What are friends for?"
We went to bed soon after our conversation and slept in until ten, which was a late hour for both of us. We would have sawed more logs to make another log cabin, but there was a persistent knock on the door. I peeked out of my bed covers and heard Lily's light footsteps go to the front door.
"Good morning, Duffy. What brings you here?" I heard Lily wonder.
"Good morning, Miss Lily. Ah heard some news in the village and thought ya might want to be knowing 'em," came his distinctive drawl.
"We're always one for gossip. Won't you come in?" Lily invited him.
"Ah'll be glad ta, Miss Lily. And Miss Maggie will be wanting to hear this news, too, seeing as how it concerns her most special."
"I'll be sure to wake her, and you'll have to excuse me a moment while I dress." Lily's feet quickly pattered along the hall and she rushed into my bedroom. "Are you still in bed?" she scolded me in a whisper.
"So were you three minutes ago," I grumpily countered.
"Duffy's here and he says-"
"-he has news from the village." I sighed and pulled off the covers. "I'm up, but this better be more interesting than somebody's pig escaping and wreaking havoc through the streets."
"What would a pig have to do with you?" Lily pointed out.
I shrug
ged and slipped on my socks. "Maybe a cousin of mine?"
Lily playfully tossed at me my pile of clothes set out for the day and hurried to her own room. We met Duffy in the living room where he'd made a warm, inviting fire, and we sat down beside him. His eyes followed me with a mischievous twinkle in them. "Ah been hearing some news about ya, Miss Maggie," he told me.
"So I heard, but is it good or bad?"
"Ah would say it's very good, Miss Maggie. Ya see, the lord was in town this morning at the jewelers. He was in there for a long time looking at all the rings, and he makes a fine choice of one of the larger sizes. Mr. Turney, he's the jeweler, asks him if he don't want it shined and polished, and the lord says no, he'd take it right then as he was needing it for this afternoon. Then he buys it and walks out smiling and greeting everyone real nice." My heart skipped a beat, but I didn't dare ask any questions. Fortunately, Lily did that for me.
"What sort of a ring?" she asked him.
Duffy took off his hat and dug his hand through his unruly hair. "Mr. Turney said rings were for a lot of things, but he said that one cost a a lot and for a bachelor like the lord buying one usually meant he had a girl he was wanting to marry."
Lily's face lit up and she grasped my hands. "Did the lord mention any lady by name?" she wondered.
Duffy shook his head and put his hat back on. "Didn't say a word, but hasn't stopped tongues from wagging about a certain young lady new to the village." He cast his eyes on me, and I didn't know whether I was going to squeal for joy or throw up from nervousness. Duffy stood and tipped his hat to us. "Ah thought you might be wanting to know just in case ya wanted to visit the lord and see what was going on."
"Is the lord home now?" Lily asked him, and Duffy nodded.
"Aye, and Ah'm sure he'll be wanting to see you two lovely ladies very soon. Good day to ya."
We followed Duffy to the entrance, and hardly had the door closed behind him then Lily whirled around and caught me in a bone-crushing hug. "I just knew he loved you!" she squealed.
I pried her off me and crossed my arms over my chest. "Wait a second here, he hasn't done any proposing yet."
"You're right, we need to get you over there as soon as possible or he may change his mind and returns the ring!" Lily grabbed our coats and tossed me mine.
"If he changes his mind that quickly I don't think I want him proposing to me at all," I pointed out, though I slipped my coat on while she flung hers on.
"Don't be worrying so much, Maggie! He'll never be changing his mind with his feelings toward you," she insisted.
"Not until death do us part?" I teased.
"Exactly, now let's go!" She grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the house, down the path and to the castle. Sean's red racer sat in the driveway, and Lily was encouraged by its presence and hauled me up the front steps. The door that was usually open was closed, and she knocked. Kelly answered the door with a look that would have depressed an optimist. Lily's mood was thus dampened. "Is Sean home?" she asked him.
"I'm afraid not, Miss Lily, but we expect him back any moment," Kelly replied.
"Who is that, Kelly?" Anna's voice chirped. I looked past Kelly and noticed her standing beside the fireplace. "Ah, my dearest friends! Please do come in!" Kelly's face was the first sign something was amiss, and her calling us her friends was the second. Even Lily was cautious as she hesitantly entered the hall with me in tow. Anna swept over to us with all the confidence of mistress of the house, and Kelly closed the door with all the dourness of a funeral director. "I believe I heard you say you were looking for Sean?"
"Yes, that's right," Lily replied. Her eyes glanced over the room hoping he would pop out of a corner, but my eyes fell on something on Anna's left hand. There was a ring on her thumb that I'd never seen her wear before, and it looked suspiciously new. As the worst-case scenario entered my mind a lump formed in my throat and I had to remind myself to breath.
Anna caught me staring and held it up for a better look. "Isn't it wonderful? Sean bought it for me this morning."
"For. . .for what occasion?" Lily asked her.
Anna giggled and pressed the ring against her chest. "It's my engagement ring, silly." That was the worst-case scenario and I didn't know how to take it, so I ran.
"Maggie!" Lily called to me, but I raced through the front doors and out into the dazzling, sunny air. All the pleasure was gone, though, and all I could think of was how stupid I'd been to believe him and how much I hated both Sean and Anna.
I heard my friend coming and ran around the castle toward the creek. I wanted to be alone, to cry out my disappointment and grief. My eyes were so blotted with tears that I could barely see where I was going, much less that there was someone ahead of me. I reached the bridge of stones that I'd fallen into so many weeks before when I hated Sean like I hated him now. I'd made it halfway across when I found the next stone was occupied by a pair of familiar feet, and I looked up to see Sean standing there with a smile on his face. I wanted to slap it off, but he did the job for me when it slipped off.
"What's wrong? Has something happened?" he asked me.
I straightened and wiped away the tears, but more fell in their places. "Nothing's wrong, and something happened, and I hope you two are happy because of it."
"Who two? What happened? What are you talking about?" His dumb act tamped down my sorrow and riled my anger.
"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about! That ring you gave to Anna!" I exclaimed.
Sean blinked in bewilderment. "Ring? A moment, Maggie. I think there's a misunderstanding here," he insisted.
"Oh, I understand perfectly well, and I hope I never see you again!" I turned around to escape him forever, but on the twirl my foot slipped and I fell back into him. He caught me, but his feet slipped on his own slippery rock and we flailed against each other for a moment before we fell backwards into the cold water. I gasped at the frigid temperature and tried to stand up, but he wrapped his arms around me and pressed me up against his chest.
"We have to keep meeting like this," he teased.
"Let me go!"
"I'll hold us both down here until we freeze to death, or you can tell me what is going on," Sean demanded.
I whipped my head around and glared at him. "I saw the ring you bought on Anna's finger. She said you bought it for her as an engagement present."
"What? Maggie, I did no such thing. I did buy a ring for an engagement-"
"-and that's all I need to hear, now let me go!" I squirmed and wiggled, but he held me tight.
"Not until I've had my say, Maggie Magee. I bought the ring to propose to you. How Anna happened to get it I don't know, but it's yours, not hers." I froze, and not because most of my body was numb from the cold water. I slowly turned my head to glance over my shoulder at him.
"You. . .you mean you were going to propose to me?"
He smiled. "Who else?"
"But Anna-the ring?"
He frowned and looked toward the castle. I followed his gaze, and saw Lily and Anna walk toward us. "We'll be needing to ask her to learn that part of the story."
The pair came up to the edge of the creek, and Anna's hand flew to her mouth. "What in the world are you doing, dearest? Get out of there with that woman at once!"
"That woman, as you refer to her, is my fiance," Sean corrected her.
Anna's mouth dropped so far her hand slipped down her throat, and she gagged. "Y-you can't be serious!" she protested.
"I am, and it's done. She already said yes," Sean insisted.
I whipped my head around and scowled at him. "No I haven't."
Anna took that as her cue to butt in. "Then she is not your fiance, and you're just teasing me, right, dearest?"
Sean clenched his teeth together and his lips mouthed the numbers up to twenty. Ten wouldn't have worked in dealing with Anna. "I am not, nor have I ever been, your dearest." Sean helped me up and swooped me into his arms. He carried me across the water and set me down on dry land, the
n held out his dripping hand toward Anna. "I would like my ring returned. You had no right to take it from my room."
"A-are you calling me a thief?" Anna stuttered.
"A thief is someone for whom I would call the constable. You are an old friend, and I will forgive this lapse of morals, but just this once and only if I'm given the ring immediately," he promised. Anna's eyes widened, and she hurriedly removed the ring and placed it in his palm. Sean smiled and turned to me. He knelt down and grasped my chubby fingers in his hand. "Maggie Magee, will you be my wife?"
Tears sprang into my eyes and all I could do was nod. He placed the ring over my finger, and it was a perfect fit. Lily squealed and wrapped me up in a bone-crushing hug. "I knew it! I knew it!" she triumphantly yelled.
Anna sulked off to the castle, and in her place came Duffy from the bushes behind my new home. He was all smiles as he came up to us and glanced from one beaming face to another. "Did these old ears deceive me or did Ah hear mention of a wedding?"
"Your ears are as sharp as ever," Sean complimented him.
"And I bet your tongue will be busy passing on the good news to anyone you can find," I teased.
Duffy straightened and turned his chin up. "Ah see it as my sworn duty to notify the public of the goings-on of which Ah know."
Sean wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against him. "Then tell everyone that there couldn't be a happier couple, and as soon as a date is set they're all invited."
Duffy whipped off his hat, gave a low bow at the waist, and flipped it back on with a big grin on his face. "Ah couldn't have better news to tell 'em." He hurried on his way to spread the gossip to everyone within walking range and beyond, and Lily stepped up and grasped my hands.
"Have I mentioned that I knew he loved you?" she teased me.
"Only once or twice," I playfully replied. I returned her hug with a gentler one, and we both wiped tears from our eyes.
Sean stepped up beside us and put his hands on either of our shoulders as he glanced between us. "I couldn't be more grateful to you, Lily, for bringing your friend here."
