9 Ways to Fall in Love

by Caroline Clemmons

  She arched her neck. “Akh, it fair drives me mad.”

  Wanting more of him, she sat straight and reached for the buttons of his denims. “You’re near bursting out o’ your britches.”

  “I’m near exploding in other ways, angel. Let me help this along.” He took over and dropped his denims and drawers to his ankles. Then he pushed her skirt and petticoat higher and went to work on the ties of her drawers.

  When he’d freed her underclothes, he tugged her to the edge of the desk and spread her legs before he slid his finger inside her. “Ah, you’re ready for me, angel.”

  She giggled. “Since I saw you walk in the door.”

  “I’m ready, too.” He eased his staff into her feminine folds in slow, gentle strokes.

  “Harder, husband. Me need is fierce.”

  “Like this?” He drove into her.

  She gloried in the hard length of him as he thrust into her. “Yes, yes. ‘Tis heavenly.”

  With her legs twined around his waist, she raised her hips to meet each lunge. Her breathing increased, and she lost all sense of time and space. The magic of his lovemaking sent her soaring to the heavens until she rivaled the angel he called her. Sure and no angel ever soared so high.

  The warm spill of his seed filled her at the instant she exploded. He cradled her to him as he leaned over her, letting her recline against the desktop with his hand as a pillow for her head. “I’ll never be able to concentrate on my accounts at this desk now, angel.”

  She liked the idea of him thinking of her when he closed himself in here to do his figures. It made her laugh. “Why, husband, I was only dusting in here.”

  “Of course you were.” He smothered her with a kiss.

  They parted when they heard shouting from the front of the house. Cenora hastily righted her clothes while Dallas did the same. She heard Mac’s raised voice and fear shot through her. Dear heaven, what had the boyo done now?

  Dallas recognized Mac’s raised voice, but not the louder, angrier man shouting claims of fraud and threatening to bring the sheriff. Dallas led Cenora to the front parlor. They rounded the corner from the hallway into the parlor.

  Da, Mac, and Finn faced Bert Wilson, the homeowner whose house and barn Mac had painted. The McDonalds and Ma watched the argument with horror-stricken faces.

  When Wilson spotted Dallas, he pointed a gnarled finger at Dallas’s chest. “I trusted you and hired your kin, and this is how you repay me. I’m needing to leave town, but my place is in ruins.”

  “Calm down, Wilson, and tell me what this is about.”

  Wilson gestured toward Mac. “This scallywag talked me into hiring him to paint at my farm. Paid him for top quality paint so’s I could get the place fixed up to sell.”

  Dallas nodded. “Yes, Mac told me you’d hired him to paint your house and barn. Moving to your wife’s family farm in Kentucky, aren’t you?”

  With a glare at Mac, Wilson stepped toward Dallas. “That’s right. I hired this cheat thinking that since he was your kin, he’d be a hard worker like you. But he took a long time to get the painting done. Then when those rains hit, most of the paint washed off the house and barn.”

  Mac stood with his usual surly pose, chin stuck out and defiance shining from his eyes. Under Dallas’s gaze, Mac wilted. “Mayhap the man at the mercantile sold me the wrong paint. It was an honest mistake on me part.”

  Da was angrier than Dallas had ever seen him. “Mayhap you thought you’d cheat the man with thinned down paint, and he’d be none the wiser before he moved away.”

  Mac took a backward step. “Now, Da, you don’t believe a buffer over your own son?”

  Da advanced on his wayward son. “You’ll give this man back the money he paid you.”

  Looking like a rat trapped between two cats, Mac looked from one angry face to the other. “I—I can’t give much back. All but a few coins was spent on the paint and things.”

  “What things?” Dallas asked. “You have free room and board. You’ve no expenses except the paint and the clothes on your back.”

  Wilson apparently considered Mac a lost cause and focused on Dallas. “I paid good money, McClintock, and I want a settlement here.”

  Bowing to the inevitable, Dallas motioned for him to follow. “Come into my study, Wilson. I’ve a proposition I think will solve your problem.” And one that might just improve his own plight.

  Da stepped forward. “Shouldn’t Mac come as well?”

  Dallas pointed at Mac. “Mac, you wait right there until I’ve spoken in private with Wilson. Then you’ve some explaining to do.”

  Mac opened his mouth, and Dallas figured he would debate whether or not he had to do as Dallas asked. A sharp look from the others in the room caused Mac’s mouth to snap shut as he sat down.

  ****

  Cenora wished she could listen at the study door, but she didn’t dare. Twisting her apron, she waited at the end of the hall near the kitchen. She could see the minute Dallas or Mr. Wilson opened the door.

  Ma came beside her. “What do you think they’re saying, lass?”

  Cenora shook her head. “To my way o’ thinking we may as well start packing. No man on earth would tolerate any o’ the O’Neills after all Mac’s shenanigans.”

  Ma hugged Cenora’s shoulder. “Akh, daughter, don’t you know how much Himself cares for you? Why else would he have us here?”

  “I told you it was so he could send me away without looking for you. And now we’re all about to be sent away.” Cenora wiped her eyes. “Oh, the shame o’ it all, Ma. How could Mac act so?”

  With a swipe at her own eyes, Ma shook her head. “In all me days, sure and this is the worst.”

  That surprised Cenora. “Worse than the things in Ireland, Ma?”

  “Aye, for those were none o’ my doing. But Da and I raised Mac, we did, and we thought we’d taught him better. His misdeeds fall right at our feet, lass, and I’ve never been lower.”

  The door opened, and Mr. Wilson came out smiling, followed by Dallas, who also smiled. They ambled companionably into the big family parlor so Cenora and Ma hurried to follow them. Neither man stopped to talk to any of those waiting there.

  Dallas pointed at Mac. “Wait there for me. We’re not through with this, you and I.”

  The two men walked through the room and to the front foyer, where Mr. Wilson took his hat down from a peg.

  “So, my family’s set to leave, McClintock. Like I said, old Girlington in town has the paperwork. Told them you’d make things right. Now we’ve made our deal, my bunch will be gone in an hour.” Wilson set the hat on his head.

  “Been a pleasure knowing you, Wilson. Good luck to you and yours.” Dallas stuck out his hand.

  “Same to you.” Mr. Wilson shook hands and cast a doubtful look toward the parlor. “You’ll need it.”

  When Dallas closed the front door behind Mr. Wilson, he turned and smiled at Cenora. “What’s for lunch?”

  “Dallas McClintock, don’t you keep me hanging by a thread. What did you do to turn Mr. Wilson so happy?”

  “It’s a surprise. I’ll show you after we eat.” He kissed her nose. “While you take care of setting a meal on the table, I’ll have a few words with your brother.”

  “Will you beat him?” Cenora would like to strike her younger brother for his thoughtless and troublesome ways.

  In echo of her thoughts, Dallas leaned near. “Don’t tempt me.”

  They went into the living room.

  “If you’ll excuse me now, I have an unsettled matter to attend to. After lunch, I’d like to invite all of you to come with me for a surprise outing I’m sure you’ll enjoy.” Dallas motioned to Mac. “Follow me.” Without waiting to see if Mac obeyed, Dallas went toward his study.

  When Mac hesitated, Da and Finn moved as if to help him, so he rose and slowly followed Dallas. A man going to his own hanging couldn’t have looked more worried.

  The McDonalds and the remaining O’Neills shifted in their chairs
or seats on the sofa.

  Da shook his head. “What’s to become o’ our lad?”

  Leaning forward, Mr. McDonald asked, “You don’t think McClintock might harm him?”

  “No, o’ course not, though he deserves a good thrashing.” Da leaned his head against the back of his chair and gazed at the ceiling tiles. “I meant, what will happen to a lad who makes such poor choices—stealing your lass, cheating that man, all the lax ways he’s shown?”

  Vourneen, who—in Cenora’s opinion—had no more sense than her fiancé, leapt to Mac’s defense. “He’ll settle down once we’re wed, you’ll see. He promised me a fine place to live and all the pretty dresses I want to wear.”

  With an indignant snort and before she told her future sister-in-law her thoughts, Cenora fled to the kitchen to help Rosa. The sooner they had food ready, the sooner she’d know the outcome of Himself’s decision.

  Chapter 18

  Cenora watched Dallas saddle horses for himself, her, and Finn. The rest of the O’Neills and the McDonalds climbed into the buckboard where someone had set benches along each side. Mac drove. Since the conversation with Dallas, her younger brother had worn a somber, dazed expression. He’d refused to meet anyone’s gaze, only picked at his meal, and avoided speaking.

  She saw the first buildings of town by the time Dallas turned in at a gate. A small house sat in front of a barn, shed, and chicken coop. Though she heard chickens’ racket and saw a cow in the small pasture, the house was closed up in spite of the warm weather.

  Dallas stopped at the hitching rail and dismounted, then helped her down. He took her hand and turned to the buckboard. “Ma, Da, you’ve often said you’d like to have your own wee cottage and piece of land. So”—he gestured toward the house—“this is yours.”

  She froze. Mother o’ God. Did this mean he wanted her to move here with her parents? Breath left her body, and she couldn’t get it back. She knew she must be dying of shame and hurt.

  But Dallas smiled down at her before he looked back to where Finn helped Ma down from the buckboard. “Cenora and I want you to have this house and five acres for your own as our gift to you, but if you’d rather stay with us, please know you’re welcome to do so.”

  Cenora inhaled. “Husband, are me ears hearing you right?”

  He grabbed her waist and twirled her up to the porch. “That you are, angel. This is, was, Wilson’s place. His family’s leaving on the train about now so I bought the house, barn, and contents.” He looked in a crock at the end of the porch and pulled out a set of keys.

  He handed them to Da. “Would you like to give us a tour of your home?”

  Tears streamed down Da’s face. He took out a handkerchief and blew his nose with a great honk. “You have me blubbering like a babe. Never has a man been more surprised nor as happy.”

  He inserted the key in the lock and threw open the door before he turned and extended his hand to Ma. “Come, love, let’s see our new home.”

  Ma was crying as well. “Brendan, I never thought I’d see the day we had our own place again.”

  She stopped and threw her arms around Dallas’s neck to plant a kiss on his cheek. “You’re the blessing o’ your family, son. And I mean both the O’Neills and the McClintocks. Your parents would be that proud o’ how you turned out as I know your kind aunt and uncle are.”

  “Thank you, Ma. I meant it when I said that you’re always welcome at our house. If you want to live here in your own home, Cenora and I will save your room at our place for anytime you want to use it.”

  Cenora thought she’d burst with pride and relief. She’d feared she was being cast off when her husband only wanted to gift her and her family with a blessing. She followed her parents into the house with the McDonalds

  “Ah, ‘tis a fine room this.” Ma clasped her hands and turned slowly, taking in each item in the room. “And all the furniture a body needs right from the start.”

  Dallas nodded. “Wilson wanted to sell the contents, for he and his family left by train. Mrs. Wilson’s brother died. Now there’s no one but her and Mr. Wilson to see after her parents and their farm.”

  Da tested an armchair by the small fireplace. “Sure and a body could rest easy here after a day’s work.”

  Ma moved into the dining room then the kitchen. “Even dishes are here.”

  “It’s like a dream house, Aoife.” Peggy McDonald touched the water pump at the sink. “Saints preserve us; you have water here in your house and no need to carry it.”

  Vourneen hurried over to see if the handle produced water. “Oh, ‘tis like the pump at Cenora’s kitchen.”

  Dabbing at her eyes, Ma looked torn between enjoying her kitchen and seeing the remainder of the house. She touched her husband. “Da, can you give us a blessing?”

  “Aye, but it’ll be for the good man who gave us this place. Son, may you be poor in misfortune, rich in blessings, slow to make enemies, quick to make friends, but rich or poor, quick or slow, may you know nothing but happiness from this day forward.”

  Finn hugged Ma’s shoulders. “I have one for the house, Da. ‘May the roof above us never fall in, and may we friends gathered below never fall out.’”

  Everyone laughed.

  Finn helped his mother to her feet. “Let’s see the rest o’ your home.”

  Hand in hand, Ma and Da led the way. Two bedrooms were downstairs, with a third in the tiny upstairs. The downstairs bedrooms each had sparse but pleasing furniture and looked ready to live in.”

  “Ma, you needn’t climb the stairs.” Finn sped up the steep steps, then quickly returned. “Two cots and a chest up there and a window at each end.”

  Dallas said, “Probably where the Wilsons’ small boys slept. Now, Da, let’s see where you’ll grow your vegetables.”

  Dallas led them back through the kitchen and a small screened in porch to the outside. “There’s two cows and twenty chickens. The mercantile will buy any fresh eggs you don’t need, and Wilson sold milk and butter to several families in town. So, you’ll have a steady income if you want it. You’ll need your mules to pull the plow because Wilson had already sold his.”

  Da kicked up his heels and danced a bit of a jig, then started in on all his plans for the place, with Ma and the McDonalds chiming in with suggestions. With Colin for an audience, Da talked nonstop. Dallas kept silent but walked with the others, hands stuffed into his pockets.

  Cenora noticed that all through looking at the house and grounds, Mac had been silent. Now he slipped away and walked to the buckboard and rested his head on his arms against the side. She nudged Finn, who nodded and went to speak to his brother.

  Finn was surprised to see Mac’s shoulders heaving in sobs. “Mac? What can be wrong when our family’s been given this fine place?”

  Mac didn’t raise it from his arms. “Can’t....”

  The rest was lost in muffled sobs. “Mac, talk to me so I can hear you. Why are you so upset at the outcome o’ your folly? Was it what Himself said to you alone?”

  Mac raised himself. His eyes were red-rimmed and tears streamed down his cheeks. “He did all o’ this after what I done. Made me sign a note to pay him less’n I repaint the barn and house right. Said he’d buy the paint, but I had to put it on the wood by myself with no help from you or Da.”

  “A note? You have to pay him back?” Finn thought it was only fair after his brother’s attempt to cheat the Wilsons and all the trouble he’d caused for Dallas.

  “No! Don’t you see? When I get the house and barn fixed up right, he said he’d tear up the note.” Mac sobbed into his handkerchief. “Finn, what kind o’ man acts like that after what I done to him? What kind o’ man takes the reward for saving our sister and uses it for all this?” He gestured widely at the house and outbuildings.

  Finn clapped his brother on the shoulder. “A good man, boyo. A better man by far than this family’s ever known.” He pulled his brother around to face him. “And you’ll be repaying him by doing right from n
ow on, or you’ll have all o’ the O’Neills to answer to, and me first of all.”

  ****

  The week flew by for Cenora. With her parents moving to their new home and the McDonalds as houseguests while the wedding preparations were underway, she had little time to ponder anything. In spite of that, she couldn’t help marveling at her husband’s kindness. At last she realized Himself would keep his word and never send her away.

  And whenever she wanted she could visit Ma and Da at their home. Dallas had gifted them with the deed to the house and five acres. As long as Da paid the taxes on it, sure and no one could take this land away from him.

  Peggy McDonald swept the kitchen to help out. “Your Ma is feeling much better. It does me good to see her so happy. Having her own place is sure to help.”

  “She’s still needs lots o’ rest, so Dallas’s aunt found a woman to come in and help Ma.” Cenora rushed to scoop up the sweepings, though Mrs. McDonald would know not to whisk them out the door—and all the luck of the house with them. Cenora would carry them to the refuse barrel later.

  Mrs. McDonald stood the broom against the wall. “And Mac’s busy painting the house with thick paint sparkling white as fresh snow. It’s a pretty place.”

  Cenora noted she’d been careful not to place the broom in a corner and bring bad luck. At least her guest respected the fine Irish beliefs.

  “Mac and Vourneen will be moving the wagon there after they wed.” Cenora wondered if she’d miss all her family after the wedding and she and Dallas had the house to themselves. No, not entirely alone, for Finn had asked to remain and learn to be a rancher. He’d offered to bunk with the other drovers, but Dallas had asked him to move back into his old room once the McDonalds left.

  She smiled to herself. And didn’t she have her own secret to share with her husband when they had a minute alone together?