A Passion Most Pure

by Julie Lessman

  What would happen if the U.S. entered the war? The army was minimal at best, its population no larger than it had been in the year 1800. Without question, they would need an influx of men willing to fight. The mere thought caused his blood to run cold. No, he would not talk of his fears to Marcy, not yet. The time was all too quickly coming when she would learn of them soon enough.

  “I don’t know why I let you talk me into this.” Faith was tense as she studied herself in the mirror. “We’re just friends. We have no business going out alone together on Valentine’s Day.” She spun around to face Maisie, who sat cross-legged on her bed. “Hey, why don’t you come along? Please, Maisie, it’ll be fun!”

  Maisie doled out one of her infamous looks of sarcasm. “By whose definition? Fun for you, maybe. Fun for Danny and me? Nope, don’t think so. Come on, Faith, he’s crazy about you. You do like him, don’t you?”

  Faith turned back to the mirror, fussing with her hair. “Of course I like him—as a friend. He’s funny, charming—”

  “Handsome.”

  “Mmm, that too. I’m just not sure …”

  “Not sure? What’s there to be sure about? You go out, eat some dinner, laugh a little, and come home. Why is this so hard for you?”

  “What if he kisses me?”

  Maisie’s jaw gaped. “So what! Enjoy it. Besides, you may find you like it. Won’t know till you try. Faith O’Connor, you are such a chicken.”

  Faith took a deep breath and flopped on the bed. “Okay, okay.” Suddenly, her eyes lit up. “Hey, wait a minute. Why don’t I see what Sean is doing, and the two of you can—”

  “Oh no, you don’t!”

  “Now who’s chicken? Come on, I know you like him. And he thinks you’re pretty cute.”

  “He does? Mmm, well, I guess I won’t argue if you start inviting me for dinner on a more regular basis. That seems to be the only time that brother of yours is home.”

  “Oh, you’ve noticed?”

  “Maybe.”

  Faith laughed. “Okay, he’s home on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays—take your pick.”

  “How ’bout all three? He’s real cute, you know.”

  “Yes, you’re right. You’ll need all three,” Faith teased.

  Maisie lunged at her just as Charity wandered into the room. “Honestly, whenever you two get together, you act like overgrown puppies,” she muttered, interrupting their horseplay with a look of disdain. Her eyes suddenly narrowed. “What are you all dressed up for? You don’t actually have a date, do you?”

  Maisie settled back on Faith’s bed, her jaw clamping tight.

  Faith stood to smooth her dress. “As a matter of fact, I do.”

  “Well, fancy that—big sister is finally dating. I thought it was another ‘group event.’ Wonders never cease. Who is it, the copywriter?”

  “If you ever paid attention to anything I said at dinner, you’d know his name is Danny O’Leary.”

  “Mmm, very nice.” Charity’s tone was borderline civil. “So, is this your ‘official’ first date, not in a group?”

  “Yes, our first time out … alone.”

  Charity honed in on the tremor in Faith’s voice. “Worried?”

  “No, why should I be?”

  “No reason. It’s just I know you’re very anxious to please God, so if he tries to kiss you, you’ll want to make sure it’s on the forehead like a good girl.”

  Faith took a step forward, her fingers curled in a fist. “Why do you do this? Why do you pick at me like you do? You have everything you want. Why attack me?”

  Charity smiled easily as she selected her clothes for her date with Collin.

  “I don’t know, for sport, maybe? You’re just so easy to pick on, I guess.”

  “Can’t you be happy for me, just once? I’m happy for you.”

  Charity pivoted slowly, ice crystals in her eyes. “Are you, Faith? Are you happy I’m marrying Collin? Truly?”

  “I am … for you.” Faith swallowed hard.

  “And for you?”

  “Leave her alone, Charity. Danny O’Leary’s done wonders to get Faith’s mind off of Collin. He’s crazy about her, and she’s crazy about him.”

  Charity turned to Faith with grudging admiration in her eyes. “Well, big sister, I have to hand it to you—you certainly work fast. I’m anxious to meet him. Maybe we can double sometime.” She grabbed her robe and sauntered to the bathroom while Faith glowered at Maisie.

  “Crazy about him?”

  Maisie giggled and stretched out on the bed. “Trust me, you will be. Once he kisses you!”

  It was one of the best dates she’d ever had. Of course, it was the only date she’d ever had, but that didn’t matter—it was the best. Danny arrived promptly at 7:00 p.m., quite handsome in a charcoal-gray suit. He shook hands with Patrick, charmed Marcy with his boyish smile, then led Faith out the door to his father’s automobile, on loan for the night. The Italian restaurant he’d chosen was enchanting, like him, and Faith listened with delight to his endless repertoire of stories, laughing until her sides ached.

  In the car, he suddenly became very quiet, and Faith smiled shyly. “Not all out of stories, I hope?”

  He flashed her a grin, but his tone was serious. “No, I just think it’s time I do some listening. Tell me about you.”

  “Well, you’ve already heard all about my family, and you know my father …”

  “No, I mean tell me about you, you and this guy you’re trying so hard to forget.”

  Her stomach tightened. She had the sudden urge to throttle Maisie. “So, she told you.”

  “Afraid so. Said you were head over heels, but it didn’t work out. Is that true?”

  Faith shifted in the seat. “Something like that.”

  “Do you still care for him?” Danny’s voice was quiet.

  “I don’t know. I’m desperately trying not to, but I honestly don’t know. I don’t allow myself to think about it. There are times when I think I’m over it, and then something happens and, well, then I’m not so sure.”

  Danny parked in front of the house, switched off the ignition, and turned to study her. “You still see him?”

  She nodded.

  “Why don’t you just tell him to get out of your life? Why even let him come around?”

  Even in the dark, she could see the pucker of his brow. Faith held her breath and then exhaled slowly. “Because he’s engaged to my sister.”

  “What?”

  Faith bit her lower lip and turned to face him. “He’s engaged to my sister. Like it or not, he’s going to be around for a long time.”

  The look on Danny’s face was priceless. “Tell me you’re joking.”

  “I wish I were, but I’m not. I had a crush on him long before he began seeing my sister, and when he did, my feelings started to grow. They escalated, I’m afraid, when he … well, we had several encounters when he …”

  “He made a pass at you while he was seeing your sister?”

  Faith nodded. Danny rubbed his chin with his hand and shook his head. “What a snake! What a two-timing, double-crossing snake. Do your parents know what he is?”

  She nodded again. “It proves they were right to forbid my sister from seeing him, initially. But then things changed. He changed. He knew he had to if Father was going to allow him to come around. He’s stopped drinking, as far as we can tell, and goes to church with our family every Sunday. He’s a charmer, and he’s won everyone over. Now we all love him.” Her tone was edged with sarcasm.

  Danny looped his arm over her shoulder. “Faith, I’m so sorry.”

  “That’s okay. You’ve helped a lot, really. You’ve been such a good friend, and we’ve had so much fun together.”

  Danny inched closer, and Faith’s heart stopped for a split second. “I hope we’ve been more than friends,” he whispered. He kissed her softly on the lips.

  “I … I don’t know, Danny. Friends are good …” she sputtered.

  “Yes … frien
ds are good,” he whispered, “but this is better.” Gently he kissed her again, arms huddled around her.

  All warmth evaporated into a cold chill at the sound of Charity’s voice. “So, this must be Danny O’Leary … at least, I hope you’re Danny O’Leary.”

  Faith was certain she levitated several feet in the air as she whirled in the car, cheeks surging with heat. Charity exhibited one of her most becoming smiles while a stone-faced Collin looked on.

  “Charity, you scared me! Why on earth did you sneak up like that?” Faith rasped. With shaky fingers, she swept away strands of hair from her face. She swallowed a lump and pressed toward the door. Undeterred, Danny scooted closer, hand possessive on her shoulder.

  “Don’t blame us,” Charity said. “All we were doing was walking down the street. Hello, Danny, I’m Faith’s sister, Charity. And this is my fiancé, Collin McGuire.”

  “Pleasure to meet you,” Danny said. He smiled at Charity and gave Collin a curt nod.

  Collin scowled. “It’s better we startle you than your parents, wouldn’t you say, Faith?” His eyes narrowed. “Besides, I thought this sort of thing was against your beliefs.”

  “We weren’t doing anything …” Faith stammered.

  “Excuse me, but we were,” Danny said. A gasp escaped from Faith’s lips as he reeled her into his arms, “We were doing this.” Before she could object, he kissed her again as Charity and Collin looked on. When he let her go, Faith fell against the seat with a soft thud, breathless. Danny smiled at Collin. “Any objections?”

  Collin grunted and jerked toward the car.

  Charity gripped his arm. “Collin, no! It’s not worth it.” She looked at Faith, her eyes glazed with frost. “I don’t have any, Danny, but I’m sure Mother and Father will. Let’s go inside, Collin. It’s rather chilly out here.” She tugged him toward the house while he glowered at Danny. The door slammed behind them, and Faith finally exhaled.

  She turned to Danny with fire in her eyes. “What in the name of sweet saints did you think you were doing?”

  Danny grinned. “Putting those two in their place, I hope. Enjoyed it too.”

  Faith shoved at the door to get out, and Danny grabbed her arm. “Faith, I’m sorry. Please forgive me. It’s just I would jump at any excuse to kiss you. I really care about you.”

  She swerved to face him. “Danny, I like you too, but this is going much too fast for me.”

  “Okay, Faith, we’ll take it slow, I promise. Say you’ll spend time with me again. I give you my word—nothing but pecks on the cheek, if that’s what it takes.”

  She let him wait before she answered. “All right, Danny, but I want to be friends first. There’s plenty of time for the other. Promise me.”

  “Okay, I’ll promise, but I’m not sure I can keep it—”

  “Promise me, Danny. I want it ironclad.”

  Danny sighed and dropped back in the seat. “Okay, Faith, I promise. Friends it is.”

  She smiled. “Then I will see you again, as friends. I had a lovely time, honestly I did. Thank you for everything.”

  Danny got out of the car and escorted Faith to the house. At the door, Faith looked up at him. “Would you like to come in for a while? You’re welcome to.”

  “No, I don’t think I’m up to facing those two again, but thanks. See you tomorrow?”

  She nodded. Danny leaned to kiss her cheek. “Good night, friend.” He turned and whistled all the way to his car.

  Smiling, Faith entered the foyer. The sound of laughter was spilling from the parlor. She glanced at the clock—10:30 p.m. on a school night, and everyone was still up? Peeking in the parlor, she saw Sean and Father embroiled in a game of chess while Collin hand-wrestled on the floor with Steven. Mother was reading a book to Katie, who was half asleep in her arms, and Charity was braiding Elizabeth’s hair.

  Her mother looked up, a bright smile on her face. “Faith! How was your evening? I want to hear all about it. Danny seems like such a nice young man.”

  Faith smiled, careful to avoid Collin’s probing stare.

  Her father glanced up from his game. “I like that boy, Faith. He’s a hard worker. I have a hunch he’ll go far at the Herald. Did you enjoy your evening?”

  “I did—very much. Danny’s a perfect gentleman.” She regretted the words the minute they were out of her mouth. Charity’s smirk was positively annoying, and Collin’s look was penetrating. Faith leaned to kiss her father good night.

  “I’m very tired, so I think I’ll head up. Mother, will you come talk to me after you’ve put Katie to bed?”

  “I wouldn’t miss it. I want all the delicious details,” her mother said.

  Faith felt a hot blush stain her cheeks when Collin chuckled. She shot him a scathing look. “Good night, everyone,” she called, hurrying to the staircase. “Sweet dreams.”

  “Don’t count on it, sis,” Charity teased. “Tonight, they all belong to you.”

  Anxious for escape, Faith tore up the stairs two at a time, the sound of her family’s laughter ringing in her ears.

  “So tell me, how was it? Wonderful?” Maisie’s eyes were glowing with curiosity.

  “It was nice.”

  “Nice? It was nice? No, lunch with Mrs. Gerson is ‘nice.’ Dinner with Danny should be beyond nice.”

  “It was beyond nice, if you must know. I really like him. As a friend.”

  Maisie plopped back in her chair. “Then he didn’t kiss you?”

  “Oh, he kissed me, all right. Several times.”

  “And you still think of him as a friend? Impossible—that man is an amazing kisser!”

  Faith smiled patiently. “He kisses nice, I suppose.”

  “That word again, nice! I know, I know—nice, but no bells, right?”

  “No, not yet, anyway. But I really do like him. He’s safe, I think.”

  Maisie laughed out loud. “Boy, oh boy, would Danny O’Leary really hate being referred to as ‘safe.’ There are girls at this paper who would kill to go out with him, and I’m at the top of the list. Trust me. One thing Danny O’Leary definitely is not, is ‘safe.’ He’ll get under your skin, I can promise you that. You’ll fall for him. All of us eventually do.”

  “I just like being friends with him. He calms me.”

  “So you’re going to see him again?”

  “Of course I am, as friends. It’s the deal we struck.”

  “And he agreed to it?” Maisie’s brows lifted.

  “He promised—nothing more than a peck on the cheek.”

  “All I can say is he must be out of his mind with love. I can’t believe he promised that. It’ll be interesting to see if he sticks to it.”

  “Wouldn’t tell you if he didn’t.”

  “Oh, you’ll tell me, all right. You tell me everything—such as there is to tell.”

  12

  The crowd at Brannigan’s Pub was in rare form tonight, and Collin was certainly up for it. There was no better place to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day than here, with Jackson, and he wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Charity pouted considerably, of course, but Collin was adept at handling her. Before long she was, once again, smiling and cooing, anxious to please.

  Few things swelled his chest with pride more than being Irish. He loved everything about it—the people, the music, the dancing, the pubs. He’d forgotten how much he enjoyed sharing a cold beer with Jackson, flirting with a pretty girl, or playing a game of poker with old friends. It had been months since he’d been here, five to be exact, a fact that did not exactly endear the O’Connor family to his best friend.

  Jackson had saved him a seat at the bar, one of the few left in the room. The tiny pub was packed bar-to-wall with apple-cheeked old women, pretty young things, and all ages of proud Irishmen raising toasts to their heritage. Collin jostled his way through the sea of green, occasionally greeting an old friend or enjoying a kiss from a lass in his path. He gave Jackson a bear hug and sat down beside him, then signaled Lucas for a beer.<
br />
  “So, Collin, I thought you fell off the face of the earth.” Lucas shoved a foaming mug his way. “I swear my profits have dropped in half. Where you keeping yourself these days?”

  Collin downed half the mug before wiping his mouth and answering. “Don’t expect me to boost your profits any, Lucas. Haven’t you heard? I’m going to be a married man.”

  “Jackson spread a nasty rumor to that effect, but none of us wanted to believe him. Especially the ladies. So, when’s the big day?”

  Collin chugged his beer, then pushed the empty glass toward Lucas. “Middle of September, if we don’t go to war first.”

  Jackson punched Collin on the arm. “Come on, Collin, I don’t want to be talking war. It’s Saint Patty’s Day, and I aim to enjoy it. Besides, that woman of yours doesn’t let you out all that often. Let’s make the most of tonight.”

  “Got you on a short leash, does she now?” Lucas grinned ear-to-ear, obviously tickled Collin McGuire would allow a woman to hog-tie him. He placed another glass with foam spilling down its side in front of Collin.

  Collin shot Lucas a look that tempered his grin, then quickly drained half the mug. “Nobody’s got me on a leash, Lucas. I’ve just got better things to do with my time than hang out with this riffraff.” He flicked Jackson’s head.

  “Don’t be a stranger, Collin. A wife needs to know a man’s got someplace to go if she gives him any grief.” Lucas grinned and worked his way down the bar.

  Jackson watched Collin finish his second beer in record time. “Hey, buddy, take it easy. I know it’s been awhile, but we have all night. I sure don’t wanna carry you home. So, how’s ‘almost-married life’ treating ya?”

  Collin swiveled on the stool to scope out the scenery. “It’s okay. You know what, Jackson? None of these girls can hold a candle to Charity. She’s one beautiful woman. I’m a lucky man.”