He’d never done anything like this before. He’d never loved anyone enough to take a chance like this for somebody other than himself. Blocking all his anxious thoughts, he tapped on the classroom door.
“Come in,” called a man’s voice.
He opened the door and walked in. The man sitting at the desk had Peggy’s deep brown eyes, and Rory had seen that same guarded, anticipatory expression on Peggy’s face.
“Do you have a minute?” Rory asked.
“Certainly. Have we met?” Bill Cassidy said.
“No, we haven’t. I’m Rory MacPherson.”
A small frown formed on his rugged features. “Ah... Peggy’s boyfriend.”
So Peggy had told her dad about him, which was a good thing. It made what he had to say so much easier. “May I sit down?”
“By all means. I’m glad to meet you, young man. My daughter speaks very highly of you.” He motioned to the chair across the desk. “I’ve asked around a little, and everyone praises your carpentry skills.”
Rory suddenly had a good feeling about this. If the man knew who he was and respected his abilities, it was a positive sign. “Did she tell you that I... That we are... That we care for each other?”
“Yes. My daughter and I are just starting to get to know each other. I’m looking forward to every minute of it.” Bill said, his pride showing.
Did this mean that he wouldn’t help him because he wanted Peggy to stay in Eden Harbor? He sighed. He wouldn’t know until he asked him. “I’ve come to see you because I need your help.”
Bill leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. “Is there a problem? Peggy seems happy...very happy.”
“She is. I am, too.” He rubbed the callouses on his hands. “I love Peggy. I want to marry her.”
Bill’s eyebrows shot up. “That fast? Are you sure?”
Rory faced the man’s careful scrutiny head-on. “I’m sure.”
“Are you here to ask my permission?” he asked, a smile beginning at the corners of his lips, a smile reminiscent of Peggy’s.
“No. Well, not right yet. You see, I haven’t proposed, not really. I plan to, but there’s a bit of a complication.”
“Meaning?”
“Before I came to live in Eden Harbor, I worked in Haiti. I came home because I needed a little time off.” He rubbed his sweating palms together. “I was pretty stressed when I got home.”
“Working in Haiti wouldn’t be easy, I imagine.”
“No. It wasn’t. But I loved it. I want to go back there.”
“When?”
“In a couple of weeks.”
“What? You’re in love with my daughter, but you’re preparing to leave her?”
“Not exactly. I want her to come with me.”
Bill Cassidy clasped his hands together, his lips tight. “What did she say?”
“She’s going to decide. I’m waiting for her answer.”
“And you want me to talk to her.”
He felt his chest tighten. “Yes.”
“What would I say? Peggy’s an adult with a mind of her own. Besides, I can’t interfere in her life.”
“I realize that. She’s very excited about getting to know you. You’re one of the reasons she says she can’t go.”
It was Bill Cassidy’s turn to sigh. “I want to get to know my daughter, as well. Peggy and I have a whole lifetime to catch up on. Finding her was a gift, the best gift I could ever have imagined.”
Bill Cassidy had plans where his daughter was concerned. Rory couldn’t blame him. If he was in the man’s shoes, he wouldn’t let his daughter out of his sight. Coming here had been a mistake. Bill would probably tell Peggy about their conversation, and it would be all over. “I shouldn’t have come here.” He swallowed against the sudden pain in his throat. “It’s just that I love your daughter. I’ve never loved anyone the way I love her. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her, but I’m trapped. I made a commitment to go back to Haiti, and I want her with me.” He glanced at the older man. “I understand. I shouldn’t have asked you to help me. It’s not fair to you or to her. I’m sorry.”
“Wait a minute. No, you don’t understand.” Bill leaned forward, the look in his eyes one of compassion. “I know what it feels like to love someone, having them leave you when you needed them most. Just when you thought your life was perfect, so much to look forward to, they disappear from your life. I don’t want that to happen to Peggy. There’s only one thing that matters in my daughter’s life. She deserves to be happy.”
Did that mean he’d talk to her? Rory didn’t dare ask. This man had lost his daughter once, he wasn’t likely to support losing her again. Whatever the outcome he had to face facts. He had to find a way to convince Peggy that they would be happy together. “It’s been nice meeting you. I won’t take up any more of your time.”
* * *
ANOTHER SLEEPLESS NIGHT. Peggy didn’t know how many more of these she could handle. When she got in to work the next morning, Sherri stopped by the phlebotomy clinic wanting to know about her evening with Rory. She told her all about what had gone on, and that she had a decision to make.
“Are you going to Haiti?” Sherri asked.
“How can I?” Peggy replied. “My home is here, my friends, my horses, my life. How can I simply pack up and leave?”
“I couldn’t do it,” Sherri said. “You’re brave to even consider it. Except for my time in college and a few years working in Bangor, I’ve always lived in Eden Harbor. It’s home to me. Besides, what do we know about Haiti?”
Peggy saw Sherri’s anxious glance, deepening her determination not to leave Eden Harbor. “Not much. But Rory says there is so much to do, that my skills are really needed.”
“With both of you working all the time, the long hours, how would you find time for each other?” Sherri asked.
“It would be tough,” Peggy admitted.
Sherri smoothed her hair from her face. “Where would you live?”
“I forgot to ask that,” Peggy said.
“What if you get there to discover that you don’t feel the same way about him?” Sherri asked.
Sherri suddenly looked as if she’d faint. “I... I’ll be right back.” She got up and ran from the room.
Quite certain she knew what was wrong, Peggy followed Sherri to the restroom down the corridor. Once inside she leaned against the sink trying not to listen to the quiet retching going on in the stall across from her. “Sherri, are you okay?”
A few minutes later, Sherri appeared, her face shiny with perspiration, a huge smile on her face as she went to the sink, washed her hands and wiped her face, her gaze meeting Peggy’s in the mirror. She turned to face her. “I planned to tell you at lunch today. We got the results back. It’s official. Neill and I are expecting a baby.”
Peggy could feel the tears of happiness welling up in her eyes. “This is great news. I’m so happy for you. When are you due?” Peggy asked.
“The first week of March.”
“Is Neill excited?” Peggy asked.
“He has been so cute. He’s constantly asking if I’m feeling okay. He is always fretting about my morning sickness. Found him standing outside the bathroom door the other morning.”
“He’s worried about your diabetes and how it will affect your pregnancy.”
“For sure.”
“And what about Morgan?”
“She is unbelievable. I love her more every day. At first being a stepmother was difficult, but since the wedding Morgan has been so supportive. When we told her she cried, then she laughed and cried some more. We didn’t realize how much she wants a brother or sister.” Sherri smoothed her damp hair away from her face. “Neill and I are so lucky in so many ways.”
Peggy had to agree with her. Even though she couldn’t help worrying about Sherri’s diabetes. Almost a year ago, Sherri had nearly died. The thought chilled her. Sherri had been so much a part of her life since she’d moved here to Eden Harbor. “Have you told
Gayle?”
“Not yet, but I suspect she knows something. She’s been behaving like a mother hen.”
“This is so exciting. Gayle and I will get busy and plan a baby shower.”
“I would rather wait for a few months just to be certain.”
Peggy understood Sherri’s caution. Being diabetic and expecting a baby was a lot to adjust to. “Do you have any names picked out?”
“Not yet. If it’s a boy, I’d like to have Neill somewhere in the name. He’d like to have his father’s name—William. He agreed that if it’s a girl I can choose the name.”
“Do you have one in mind?” Peggy asked.
“I’m working on that. I want it to be an old name—Elizabeth, or possibly Charlotte.” She shrugged. “First we have to wait and see if it’s a boy or a girl.” She chuckled as she patted her tummy.
Caught up in the excitement of her friend’s news, Peggy knew she couldn’t leave Eden Harbor. She wanted to be here for the birth of her friend’s baby. After they went back to work, Peggy knew her decision was clear. Yet if she insisted that Rory stay here with her, would he regret it? Would he come to feel that he’d given up what he wanted for her sake? Would he come to resent her for her insistence that he stay here and give up his plans?
If he left and went to Haiti, would their relationship have a chance? She’d waited a long time for someone like Rory. Was she willing to wait longer? What if he went away, and she really didn’t miss him that much? No. She’d certainly miss him. When her dad had to go away for a few weeks, her mom missed him terribly and was so glad to see him come back home.
But her parents were married, committed to each other and their relationship. She and Rory didn’t know enough about each other, and getting married wouldn’t change that. They’d still need time to adjust to each other, to learn about one another. It was all too soon, too sudden.
Somehow she managed to finish her shift. She hadn’t called Rory because she didn’t know what to say. Being Rory he’d expect an answer, and she didn’t have one. When she got home, changed her clothes and started out to the barn to see to Zeus and Suzie, she suddenly heard a vehicle coming down the road toward her house.
She didn’t recognize the car. At the same time, she couldn’t help but wish that it was Rory. Silly thought, given that she was well aware what she would say to him. She waited as the car came up the drive and was surprised to see Bill Cassidy behind the wheel.
What was he doing here?
He got out of the car and walked toward her. Suddenly, she wondered what her mother and her father had been like together—at fifty he was a handsome man. She tried to imagine them in a town her mother wanted to escape from. How had they been together in high school and for three years while he was in college, yet her father had no idea of her mother’s feelings around living in Eden Harbor?
If her parents couldn’t communicate well, and they had love and years together to make it easier, how were she and Rory going to find a way to settle their differences? “Hi... Dad. I didn’t know you were coming here this afternoon.” She looked at him quizzically.
“I apologize. I should have called. I told you I would, but I needed to see you, to talk to you.”
“If it’s about Mom, I don’t want to hear it.”
“No. It’s not about your mother. I had a visitor in my office this morning.”
What did he mean? “Why don’t we go inside where we can talk?”
“Sounds good.”
“Would you like coffee?” she asked, leading the way into the kitchen.
“That would be great.” He glanced around. “This is a nice house. The Henderson family owned it when I was growing up.”
Peggy spooned coffee into the coffeemaker, filled the carafe with water and pressed the button. “Yes, I bought this house from the widow. It needs a little work, and I was hoping that Rory would be around to do it for me.”
“And he’s not going to be,” her father said.
“How do you know?” she asked, placing the sugar bowl on the table and getting the milk out of the fridge.
“He came to see me this morning.”
Peggy nearly dropped the milk carton. “What did he want?”
“He told me he’s going to Haiti, well, actually, returning to Haiti. He told me he loves you.”
Peggy felt her cheeks warm, her heart pound in her chest. “I know that, Dad.”
“He wants you to go to Haiti with him.”
“That’s right.”
“Are you planning to go?”
She slumped into the chair across from her father. “I don’t know what to do. It’s such short notice. We’ve hardly spent any time together.” It felt good to be talking to her father this way. She hadn’t had a family member to share her problems with for a long time.
“Do you love him?” he asked, reaching across the table and taking her hand in his.
“Yes. I do. I’ve been waiting for someone just like Rory. But his determination to go back to Haiti before we have a chance to spend more time together, get to know each other a little better, has me worried. He’s impulsive. I’m not prepared to give up my life here based on a rash decision he made without talking to me first. I’m happy right here in Eden Harbor.”
“Have you told him you love him?”
“Not in so many words, but I’m sure he knows.”
“When it comes to love, don’t assume anything.”
“I’m so confused by all this,” she confessed. “If I go with him, give up what I have here and our relationship doesn’t work out, I will have done all of it for a whole lot of heartache.”
“And if you go, and the two of you fall deeper in love, what about that?”
“I have to be reasonable. I can’t simply move away. I’m afraid it won’t work. I’m afraid that Rory’s decision to return to Haiti could end everything. I don’t want that. I want a chance to see if we can make it. Haiti is not the place to do that.”
He patted her hand. “Let me tell you a little bit about your mother and me. We were in love in high school. I went away to college while she waited here for me. I came home from college as often as I could afford, and we started talking about what we’d do after I graduated. There has never been anyone I loved more than your mother, not before her and not after her. But I made a stupid mistake.”
“What was that?”
“I assumed your mother wanted what I wanted. That living here in Eden Harbor was best for both of us. To be honest, we really hadn’t talked it out. I saw your mother’s life being one where I worked at the high school while she owned a craft shop, or an art gallery. That was it—my wishes, not hers. I couldn’t get it through my thick head that your mother needed more. Even now I find it hard to believe that I could have been so blind. I loved her. I failed her.”
“So why didn’t she make it clear to you that she wanted that? Could she not have traveled to Portland to take courses in interior design, like she wanted?”
“Yes, but I encouraged her to take a job while she waited for me. The courses she wanted to take were during the daytime, and she wasn’t off work until five o’clock. I only got the details of this from her recently.” He smiled and shook his head as if in disbelief. “So, what she wanted took a backseat to what I wanted. I should have talked to her more about what we would do together. I assumed we’d live in Eden Harbor. She couldn’t face staying here.”
“So her answer to the problem was to run off without an explanation to you? Hardly the right way to solve a problem,” Peggy said, unwilling to accept that her mother was blameless in what happened between her parents.
“No. She should have talked to me, given me a chance to see if we could find a different solution.” He leaned back and scrubbed his face, returning his gaze to her. “But here’s the thing. I should have gone after her. I should have insisted that she tell me where she was, what she was doing. I shouldn’t have accepted her explanation that she’d gone to Boston. I should have followed her
there.” He slouched in the chair. “I let my pride make my decision for me. I blamed her for running away, but I wouldn’t let myself go after her. It was stupid of me. I loved her. I wanted her. I couldn’t imagine my life without her, and yet I let her go.”
Peggy saw the agony in her father’s eyes and squeezed his hand in sympathy. “It must have been awful for you.”
“Not just for me. I don’t want you blaming your mother for what happened. It takes two to make the kind of mistake we made. I was as responsible for what happened as your mother was. The truth is, had I been willing to follow your mother and work out a solution, I wouldn’t have missed being part of your life. Your mother and I have had a couple of really intense conversations about all this. We’ve started working on what happened back then and whether or not we have a chance at a relationship.”
“You and Mom?” Peggy asked, surprised.
“Yeah. I’m slowly getting over my anger, and she’s beginning to understand why leaving Eden Harbor was out of the question for me.”
“That’s nice, I guess...”
“It’s more than nice, but that’s not why I’m here. I don’t want you to make the same kind of mistake I made. If you love Rory, tell him. Say the words. He needs to hear them. The two of you need to talk this out, find a way to reach out to each other. Love is too precious to pass up over something as simple as where you live. Look at your mother and Marcus. It didn’t matter where they lived. They loved each other, and that love carried them through every move they made.”
Peggy nodded. “That’s true.” She smiled at the memory of her parents having a late-night dinner talking excitedly about their plans, kissing and laughing while she hid from sight, feeling just a little bit anxious about the next move, the next school she’d have to attend. The friends she’d have to make all over again.
“I don’t have any idea what is best for you and Rory and your relationship. I’ll understand whatever decision you make. But if you do decide to go and need me to look after your place, I will. You don’t have to worry about that. After everything I’ve missed, I want to be around to support you now.”
Sweet on Peggy Page 23