A smile split Joshua’s face. “I’m glad. You don’t seem to have any ill effects from your excursion.”
“As soon as the doctor says I can, I’ll be going home and back to work.” He laid the book on the table under the window. “The sooner the better . . . not that I don’t appreciate the hospitality.”
He wondered what his partner would think about him having feelings for his daughter. Having feelings was a weak description of the love that was surging through him right now.
“You look as if you have something important on your mind.” Joshua leaned back in the chair and laced his fingers across his stomach.
Charles cleared his throat. He’d never had a problem talking to Joshua, but now he felt as nervous as a college student in the dean’s office. “Actually, I was thinking about discussing something personal with you.”
Since it was cold, why were Charles’s hands sweating? He wiped them down the sides of his trousers, hoping Joshua wouldn’t notice.
“Would you like some coffee while we talk?”
“No. The women have plied me with plenty to drink today.” Charles decided to plunge right in. “Actually, I want to ask you . . . if I can court Mag, uh . . . your daughter.” He sounded like a bumbling idiot. Why is this so hard?
Joshua laughed. “Is that all?”
“Well, yes, sir. I’d like to court Margaret.” Maybe this wouldn’t be quite as hard as he’d feared.
“Why?”
“What did you say?” Charles glanced at the man to see if he was serious. From the look on his face, this was a serious question to him.
“I believe I asked a legitimate question. Why do you want to court my daughter?” No censure in Joshua’s tone, at least.
Once more that lump clogged Charles’s throat. He swallowed hard. “I believe we’d make a good match.”
Joshua barked out a harsh laugh. “That is a weak answer.”
“I love her, sir, with my whole heart.” Those words tasted better than any dessert he’d ever eaten, and they forced the lump out of the way so they could emerge.
Joshua smiled broadly. “That’s what I wanted to hear, my boy. A lot of people don’t think love matters in a marriage. But it does. Soon after I met Florence, I knew I had to have her for my wife. Nothing and no one would stop me from winning her.” Joshua stared at Charles. “Does Maggie know how you feel?”
Charles nodded, then shook his head. “No, sir. I didn’t want to mention it until I had your blessing. And I needed to know more, sir, about you.”
Joshua looked startled. “Me?”
“Yes, sir.” His gaze raked the older man. “When we were in Arkansas, I was present when Maggie revealed how she found out about her adoption. News I can guess she has since shared with you?”
Joshua frowned and nodded slightly but remained quiet.
“I admired Maggie’s courage in dealing with this unexpected news. Certainly she has the most concern in this matter. But I do as well.”
“You don’t like that she was adopted?”
“That is not it, sir. I dislike that she was deceived.”
Joshua looked away, but not before Charles caught the deep hurt in his eyes.
Charles continued, “In both business and personal matters, I was taught to live with utter openness and honesty and integrity. And like Maggie, I found it hard to understand why you hid this knowledge from her all these years. If I am to be your business partner—or anything more—I need to feel an openness between us, and an understanding that you will never withhold anything from me that I must know. Do you agree?”
Joshua looked up. Their gazes held for a long moment, and as respect answered respect, Charles received his answer even before Joshua began to speak.
“I have deep regret that I allowed myself to be swayed in this instance. I never wanted to hide the information from her. But my wife was adamant, and I didn’t take the time to discover why.” His head bowed and he clasped his hands between his knees. “I just agreed to keep the peace, which was a coward’s way out.”
That had to have been a hard thing for Joshua to admit to him, and the respect Charles had been regaining for his partner rose even higher.
Maggie’s father glanced up. “I’m pleased to let you know that we told our daughter the complete truth, and we’ve been wonderfully reconciled. It’s more than we deserve, but God is merciful.”
Charles respected Joshua’s answer. “That He is.”
“I suppose I should tell you the rest.” Joshua straightened his shoulders. “Maggie was a triplet born on the wagon train, and her mother died. Angus McKenna was so broken up at losing the love of his life that he didn’t think he had what it took to care for three baby girls. He gave two of them to different families.”
Whoa! Maggie a triplet? Charles could hardly believe this new revelation. “Do you know where her sisters are?”
Joshua shook his head. “We don’t. But I’m telling you right now, Maggie is going to want to find them one day, and the time could come soon. Are you prepared to face something like that?”
Charles took a long moment to ponder the question. “I believe I am.”
Joshua studied him for an extended time as well. “Since we’re being honest with each other, I have one other concern. I’ve known men to seek marriage for business reasons. I need to know if this has a bearing on your feelings for Maggie.”
Charles met his gaze without wavering. “I’d love Maggie even if we had never gone into business with each other. I’m afraid that for too long, I was blind to what was right in front of me. Maggie is a blessing from God to me.”
Joshua appeared pleased with his answer. “So tell me. Does Maggie love you?”
Charles shook his head, then nodded. “I believe she does, but we’ve been very circumspect.”
Joshua threw his head back, and his laugh rang through the room. “Circumspect. I like that.” He clapped Charles on the shoulder. “I didn’t doubt you’d treat her in an honorable way, or I wouldn’t have sent you on the journey. Now let me get this straight. Do you want to go through a long courtship, or do you want to marry her?”
“I want to marry her as soon as possible. Tomorrow, if I could.” He couldn’t believe he blurted those words to her father. But his heart felt merry, like in the Bible, the kind of merry that was a good medicine.
“Well, now, I have to tell you. With Maggie being our only child, you’ll have to wait for the women to plan a wedding, and that’ll take some time. How much, I’m not sure. So if you want to marry her fairly soon, you’d better get her asked right away. That way, you won’t have to wait a year or two.”
A year or two? He had no idea a wedding could take that long to plan. Charles knew he didn’t want to wait so long. “So does this mean I have your blessing to ask her?”
“Wholeheartedly! I know you’ll take good care of my little girl.”
The way Joshua said my little girl went straight to Charles’s heart. The man’s love for his daughter was the same kind of love he would have for his own children. He winced a little. What am I doing thinking about children when I haven’t even told Maggie I love her, much less asked her to marry me?
•••
Since Charles was getting so much stronger, Maggie only got to see him when people were around. Her mother kept her busy with other things while she and Mrs. Jorgensen took care of his needs. But he came to the dinner table without anyone helping him the last two days, and the doctor left today just before dinner.
She dressed with care knowing she would be seeing Charles. Since winter was fast approaching, the temperatures had plummeted, making it harder to keep the house heated. She chose a navy wool skirt and jacket and wore them with a creamy silk blouse. Pin tucks lined with lace decorated the front. Since the neckline of the jacket dipped in a low scoop, it set off her figure to perfection. And Ingrid tried a new hairstyle that swept her hair high on her head and laced it with navy ribbon and white lace. Maggie felt regal in the ensemb
le.
As she swept down the staircase, Mother headed toward Daddy’s study. “Would you tell Charles that dinner will be a few more minutes? Have him come by the fireplace in the parlor, and you can wait with him.”
The smile on her mother’s face held a note of triumph. Maggie couldn’t imagine why.
Before she took more than two steps down the hallway toward the guest room, Charles emerged. Although he looked a little thinner than he did on their journey, dressed in a dark suit and white shirt with stiff collar and dark tie, he was extremely handsome. She stopped and took a deep breath before she relayed her mother’s message.
A dazzling smile lit his eyes. “I’ll follow you, Maggie.”
The words sounded almost like a caress. She knew her love for Charles was making her crazy since she ascribed that thought to his words.
Charles waited for her to choose a place to sit. She settled onto a wing-back chair and sat erect with her hands clasped in her lap as any lady of good breeding would. Too bad her emotions had made her unable to relax around him. He sat on the end of the settee that was very close to the chair.
“You look lovely tonight.” He hadn’t taken his eyes off her since they arrived in the parlor, and his soft words carried added meaning to her heart.
Maggie was glad she and Ingrid took extra care with her toilette. She lowered her gaze to her lap while warmth suffused her cheeks. “Thank you.”
The silence that followed rang with potentialities while Maggie tried to control her rampant emotions.
Finally, Maggie decided to break the silence. “So how are you doing?” She glanced up at his face.
“The doctor said I’m fine. I will return home tomorrow morning.” He looked plenty relaxed. “I hate to think what would have happened if your father hadn’t stopped by my house that day.”
The idea widened her eyes, and she couldn’t hold back a shudder. “I’m glad he did. No telling how long you would have lain there at the bottom of the stairs. You might not have recovered very quickly . . . if at all.” She could barely force the last three words out on a whisper.
He rested one hand on hers. “But he did stop by and I did recover. I believe God was watching over me.”
“Of course, He was.” Maggie’s ramrod stiff body relaxed a bit.
“I’ve been missing you, Maggie.” His smile matched the tone of his words. “Your reading the Scriptures to me was also instrumental in my recovery.”
“Since you’ve been up and around in the guest room, Mother didn’t think it was a good idea for me to come back.” She took a deep breath and averted her gaze from his. “You know the unmarried maiden and the single man thing.”
“Yes, I do.” She detected a smile in his voice. Then he leaned forward, even closer to her. “I want to ask you something.”
Her eyes quickly returned to his face. “What?”
Now he removed his hand and glanced away. “Remember that drawing you did of me?”
Maggie wasn’t sure what he was going to ask. She really didn’t want to discuss that picture. The sketch had been private, just for her. She wished he had never found it.
“Why did you draw a portrait of me?”
The words hung heavy in the space between them while she tried to decide how to answer without revealing too much to him. She didn’t want to destroy their friendship just because she wanted more from him.
She sighed. “I’m not really sure myself.” She hoped he wouldn’t want any more information from her. She tried to hold the gathering tears inside her eyes, but her lower lids weren’t adequate dams.
“Maggie, please look at me.”
She turned her eyes toward his face, hoping he wouldn’t notice moisture glistening in them. “All right.”
“I saw things in that portrait that indicated . . . ” Now he hesitated, took time before he continued. “Perhaps the artist not only knows me well, but also has . . . deep affection for me.”
Maggie’s eyes widened and she averted her gaze, feeling a blush once more bleed into her cheeks, but she didn’t say a word. How could she tell him what she felt for him when she had no idea if he returned the love? “Perhaps.”
She knew the word was soft, and he might not have heard it above the crackling of the fire if he wasn’t totally attuned to her. But she couldn’t have said it any louder if she had wanted to.
He picked up one of her hands and held it in both of his. “Maggie, I asked your father if I can court you.”
His words contrasted with hers in both strength and clarity. She welcomed every word and the emotions that fueled them.
Love rose like a tidal wave within her. Could he love her as she loved him? He wouldn’t ask to court her if he didn’t love her, would he?
“I’d like that very much.” She could barely get the words out. Her heart felt as if it might take flight. “But Charles, when did you . . . ” She stopped, not wanting to say the words.
“Start loving you?” He finished her sentence for her. His gaze made a leisurely journey across her face, leaving a path of warmth in its wake. “I think I always have loved you, since that first day you stepped into the schoolroom when you were six years old. I remember the way your curls wouldn’t allow your pigtails to tame them.”
That answer shocked her, and she raised her brows. “Really?”
He started to answer, but she noticed the very moment he realized to what she was referring. The smile drained from his face. “You were right there in front of me all the time, and I didn’t realize how my love for you was growing.” He gripped her hand even harder. “And I made a really stupid mistake on the train trip to Arkansas. I asked Georgia’s forgiveness, and we made peace with each other.”
Maggie nodded. His fingers relaxed, but he didn’t let go of her hand. Instead, he wove his fingers with hers into a more intimate clasp. The kind of clasp she’d dreamed of having.
“Only after we returned to Seattle did I let God reveal to me that I should be looking at who He placed in my life so long ago.”
She stared at their intertwined hands and knew she wanted her life to be intertwined with his forever.
The sunshine of his smile bathed her in the heat of his passion. “I hadn’t planned on telling you quite this way, but I’m glad I did. I feel like jumping up and whooping and hollering, but I can’t right now.”
“I’m glad too.” This time her words carried great conviction. “But Charles, there’s something else about me you should know.” She relayed the conversation she’d had with her parents the night they returned from Arkansas. The circumstances of her adoption. The struggles of her mother. And finally, the existence of her two sisters. Then she turned to him. “It’s important to me that I know who I am. And that you know who I am too. When I first revealed my adoption, you appeared . . . ”
“ . . . shocked? I have to admit, I was.” His eyes revealed the truth of that statement. “But not because you were adopted. I didn’t like that your parents hadn’t told you. Frankly, I worried that if your father had deceived you on this personal matter for so many years, he might also choose to deceive me in matters of business.”
The words struck her heart, and she stiffened. “But he is not like . . . ”
“I know,” he interrupted. “He explained everything to me and apologized too. And I’ve already experienced firsthand not only his respect for the business, but also his concern for my personal well-being.” He smiled. “I could almost be thankful for falling and hitting my head.”
“Me too,” Maggie blurted, then put her other fingers to her mouth for a moment. “I didn’t mean that. But I am glad to have you near me again.”
“Are you?” His voice softened. “Well, that really leaves me in a pickle.” Charles gently placed her hand in her lap and got up. He went to stand with his back to the fireplace and stared at her as he spoke. “I want nothing more than to sweep you into my arms and kiss you senseless, but I don’t have that right yet.”
She returned his inten
se look. As she imagined a kiss from his sculptured lips, a longing rose deep inside her. Her stomach began to flutter, and she placed her hand over it to calm it.
Maggie loved this man. When she was young, she’d often dreamed about marrying him, but that kind of infatuation was in vain. Now she’d come to know him deeply and had learned to respect his finer qualities. A man who truly trusted God. A man of honor who was willing to admit his faults and to correct them. A protector.
His hypnotic gaze held hers, and a communication so private it couldn’t be voiced passed between them, opening her heart to him in a greater way than ever before. This wonderful man could turn her insides out, and the results were exhilarating . . . and scary at the same time.
“Maggie, there’s more.” He held out his hand toward her.
Without hesitation, she arose and went to stand in front of him. He clasped her hands and held them against his chest. Her fingertips detected his heartbeat in perfect harmony with the strong pulsing of her own.
“What?” Now her words could be quieter, and her tears had disappeared.
He leaned his face so close to her that she felt his soft breath against her forehead. “He gave me permission to ask you to marry me. We have his blessing.”
Her eyes widened again, in joy and wonder this time. Everything was happening so fast. Faster than she’d ever imagined.
“So, will you marry me, Maggie?”
She turned her face even closer to his and stared into his eyes. “Yes.”
His lips touched hers as softly as a butterfly hovering over a flower, but his didn’t flit away. Instead they settled more firmly, connecting their hearts in a way she had never imagined was possible. Everything faded away except this moment with her beloved. Their kiss sealed their promise, and all the fears, all the worries, all the struggles of the past few months melted away.
Finally, Maggie knew who she was. Margaret Lenora Caine, adopted daughter of Joshua and Florence Caine. Natural daughter of Angus and Lenora McKenna. And beloved fiancé of Charles Stanton.
Maggie's Journey (McKenna's Daughters) Page 23