Araminta nodded, her gaze wandering to the stairs. She frowned as she imagined what was being said upstairs. “I would think that conversation will take a while.”
Gabriel nodded before sighing and placing hands on his belly. “For more than the obvious reasons. Rissa had news today that …” Gabriel broke off and stared into space. As the silence lengthened between them, Gabriel focused on Araminta. “You do know I’m not an employer to you. I’ve always considered you family, and finally you will be. Ask me questions. Tell me when I’m being an idiot. That’s what families do.” He gave her a small smile. Then his smile faded, and any trace of levity leached away. “Melinda died, Araminta. From that influenza that’s in the East.”
Araminta froze, her eyes widening in horror at the news. Tears leaked out, and she shook her head in denial. “She can’t have. She’s only seventeen.”
Gabriel nodded. “That’s what we’ve been thinking since Rissa received the news.” He cleared his throat and stared into space again. His attempt at relaxation failed as his jaw flexed, and he clenched and unclenched his fists.
“What else are you not saying?” She reached out her hand, as though to clasp his, before retracting it and holding it on her lap again.
Gabriel’s blue eyes were haunted as he met her gaze. “Word is that it’s spreading west. What if it comes here? Melly was young and healthy. What if … ? What if … ?” He shook his head, unable to finish the sentence.
Araminta’s breath caught at the implication of his words. “I know you’ll do everything you can to keep your family safe.”
Gabriel cleared his throat and donned a welcoming smile as the children barreled in the back door. He fell to the floor to play with Billy while Geraldine and Myrtle flitted about Araminta, marveling at her dress. Rose was in the kitchen with her mother.
After a while, Colin and Clarissa descended from upstairs, and the children raced to their uncle. He lifted Billy high, dangling him upside down a moment before giving each of his nieces a hug.
After dinner, when the children were tucked into their beds and Rose was asleep in Gabriel and Clarissa’s bed, the adults gathered in the living room. Fiona snuggled into Patrick’s side on one of the two settees and smiled as she looked around the room. “’Tis wonderful to have us all together.”
Patrick snorted with amusement. “Yes, it is, although I think the next time we are together we should endeavor for it to be brought about in a less dramatic fashion.”
Colin failed to blush or look repentant. “The results were what I desired. Thus I cannot feel badly about the outcome.” He squeezed Araminta’s hand. “However, I need your help.”
Clarissa smiled. “Of course we’ll help you plan another wedding. Do you desire one as grand as today’s ceremony?”
Araminta shook her head no. “I haven’t given much thought to the ceremony. That doesn’t matter to me. Marrying Colin and being his wife is all I care about. The truth is, I felt I had to marry Mr. Bouchard.”
Gabriel, who had sat next to Clarissa, tracing patterns on her palm, became alert. “Why?”
“Bartholomew informed me, if I broke off our engagement and approached Colin, that Bartholomew would utilize information he’d gathered showing Colin was sympathetic to the Germans,” Araminta said.
Patrick eased Fiona away, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. He peered at Araminta and Colin, his eyes a molten fury. “He’d use the Sedition Act against you? Lie, even, to coerce you to marry him?”
“Yes,” Araminta stammered. “I don’t know why he was so intent on marrying me. I am no beauty.” She continued over Colin’s protest. “I have no wealth. This is no fantastical Dickensian tale where I’m an heiress lost to the wilds of Montana. I’m a poor orphan. What would he want with me?”
Gabriel sat back, his gaze filled with fury. “Once I recover from my anger that anyone would threaten our family with such a vile accusation, I believe I shall relish the challenge of discovering why he desired to marry you, Minta.”
“Anyone with half a brain would want to marry her,” Colin snapped as he glared at Gabriel. He refused to be calmed by Araminta’s soothing noises and caresses down his arm.
“I meant no disrespect,” Gabriel murmured as he flushed. “I meant that I hoped to discover a nefarious plan and thus prevent him from following through on his threat.” He met Colin’s irate gaze.
“I think the question is whether or not Colin said something incriminating that could have been overheard,” Fiona said.
Patrick looked from his wife to his brother, and his gaze sharpened. “What did you say, Col?”
“I can’t remember saying anything. There are a few nights I don’t recall. Ari had determined to marry Bouchard, and I went to the pub. I might have said something stupid.” He shook his head. “What I don’t understand is, why wait until now? In all the cases I recall reading about, the charges were instantaneous once someone spoke against the war, the president or the flag.”
Araminta shifted in her seat. “I’m sure that had to do with me. Bartholomew promised you would be safe as long as I married him.”
Gabriel tapped his fingers on his thigh. “Which brings us back to my original question. Why is he insistent on marrying you, Araminta? Men marry for love. For monetary gain. For social prestige.” He shook his head. “There was no monetary or social gain, although he would have had fine company in all of us.” His sardonic smile was met with scoffs and rolls of the eyes from most in the living room.
“Did he love you?” Clarissa asked.
Araminta squirmed, only settling when Colin placed a hand on her clenched fist. “I don’t know. I think he cared for me. But I don’t know if he loved me.”
“There’s another reason,” Patrick murmured, meeting Gabriel’s inquisitive gaze. “For as much as he tried to blackmail Araminta, he could have been equally as manipulated.”
Gabriel’s eyes flared with understanding as he communicated silently with his brother-in-law. “Minta, what did you learn about Bartholomew’s business dealings?”
She shrugged. “Not much. He boasted about how generous his uncle and their bank were in loaning money to farmers during the War. It’s something the Council of Defense desires, since they want plenty of food to feed the troops.”
Gabriel frowned. “Do you know if he is an associate, or friend, of a man named Samuel Sanders?” At Araminta’s blank stare, he said, “He’s also called Henry Masterson.”
Colin jerked at the name of Gabriel’s cousin and Patrick’s nemesis.
“No,” she whispered. “He liked to preen about knowing the governor, but he rarely discussed business associates with me.”
Colin asked, “Why should he be involved?”
“That’s what we’re trying to determine. You probably failed to notice as you had a singular focus, but Sanders was at the wedding today. Made a point of smiling at Fiona, Rose and me as we walked in,” Patrick said as he held his wife’s hand.
“Bouchard was in Butte. When I visited in July,” Colin whispered. “I saw him in a pub, a short time before I left to catch a train to Missoula. To Ari.” He squeezed Araminta’s hand.
“He said his trip to Butte was unsuccessful,” Araminta whispered. “I … tried to break with him upon his return, but he was insistent we remain engaged.”
“He blackmailed you as he was blackmailed,” Fiona whispered, her lilting Irish accent even more pronounced than usual. “If he saw that man, that would have been the outcome.” She fought a shiver as though envisioning Samuel Sanders in his office.
Gabriel looked at his family and shook his head. “The question remains—Why? He hates the McLeods, but he has never paid much attention to the Sullivans, unless he could garner information about us from such a connection.”
Clarissa rubbed at her head. “If Mrs. Smythe is still working with him”—she raised an eyebrow at the dubious term working—“then there is every reason for Colin to be a target. She wreaked havoc on my life. O
n Patrick’s. But never on Colin’s. I imagine she relishes the opportunity.”
Gabriel nodded at his wife’s insight. “But I still don’t understand why.”
Fiona looked at Gabriel with compassionate impatience. “You are thinking and acting rationally. Like a decent person would. That is not the way of your adversary, Gabriel. You would need a reason for your actions. Mrs. Smythe only has a hoped-for outcome. Chaos and pain.”
Araminta shivered next to Colin. “What can we do to help Colin?”
Patrick sighed. “Until we know what you are accused of, we won’t know what to do.”
“It’s a waiting game,” Colin murmured.
* * *
Fiona sat on the bed in a cotton nightgown and watched with unveiled curiosity as her husband entered the guest bedroom at Savannah and Jeremy’s house. Rose had not woken as they carried her from Gabriel and Clarissa’s, and she was sound asleep in a bed next door to their room. “How long can we remain here?” She patted the bed next to her and curled into Patrick’s side when he settled in bed.
“I have a few days off from work.” He kissed her on the forehead. “It will be nice to help Colin if we can.” He pulled on a strand of her hair, playing with it absentmindedly.
She broke into his quiet contemplation. “I refuse to believe you are as unaffected by Melinda’s death as you’d have your siblings believe.” She freed her hair from his hold and leaned over him, her hands on his chest, her long hair acting as a veil, shielding him from the outside world. “She was your daughter.”
Patrick nodded. He began to speak, but his throat was clogged, and he cleared it. “Yes, I believe she was. And yet I barely knew her.” He met his wife’s worried gaze. “I mourn for what I never had more than for what I lost.”
Fiona sighed, resting her head against his chest. “I’m sorry, my love.” She held him as he trembled in her arms, silently mourning the child he’d had no hand in raising or cherishing. After many minutes, when his breathing was again steady, she raised her head in expectation of finding him asleep. Instead he met her concerned gaze.
“I’m rotten company tonight, Fee,” he whispered. “I’m filled with this impotent rage, and yet the only person I can truly be upset with is myself.” He ran a hand over her back, tugging her closer. “What if I’d never left? What if I’d told my siblings the truth from the beginning? Might I have had a chance to be her father?” He closed his eyes as tears leaked out.
“You gave her a great gift by allowing her to remain secure in the knowledge of the love of the people who raised her as their own. Who had saved her from the orphanage.” She kissed his jaw. “From the moment you returned in 1913, you could have caused problems, demanding that she be returned to you. Instead you allowed her to live an uncomplicated life, filled with joy, wonder, laughter and unconditional love.”
He shook his head. “You speak as though I acted out of concern for her, when, in reality, I was a coward. More concerned for myself and fearful of losing my family again.” He would have slipped from her arms and the bed, but she clung to him, wrapping her arms and legs around him.
“Stay, Patrick. Take comfort when you need it.”
He groaned, collapsing back into the soft mattress.
She watched him with wonder, tracing his jaw so he looked at her. “You love your nieces and nephews. You love Rose. I know you adored Melinda, even though you tried to keep your distance because you didn’t want to cause any problems with Jeremy and Savannah. You cherished every letter from Melinda, every window into her life.” She traced her fingers up and down his cheek. “You feel much more deeply than you want any of us to know.”
He leaned forward and kissed her. “You have no idea how your words affect me,” he whispered. “I know I haven’t been alone for five years. But to know the depth of your regard …” He looked into her eyes and shook his head.
“I love you, Patrick. I have since those early days in Butte before everything became complicated.” She flushed at his chuckle.
“Only you could call your interaction with Samuel Sanders by such a mild word as complicated.” He kissed her again, reaching down to peel her nightdress off her. He stilled as her words sunk in. “You love me?”
She nodded, as though unable to speak.
He kissed her cheeks, her chin and then her lips. “Only you could banish the despair I feel today. I love you too, Fiona. I always have.”
She gave a small sob as she flung her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest.
Chapter 17
A pounding on the door the following morning roused Colin from bed. He groaned as he was cocooned under the covers with Araminta, and he had hoped to spend a leisurely Sunday with her at his house. When the pounding intensified, he heaved himself out of the bed, kissed Araminta on her shoulder, and pulled on a pair of pants and a shirt. He shut the bedroom door behind him and walked barefoot to the front door, rubbing at his hair and yawning as he jerked open the door.
He glared at Gabriel, standing on his front porch. “Don’t you have any sense? This was my first full night with Ari.” When he saw Gabriel’s panicked expression, he immediately focused on Gabriel. After Gabriel pushed his way inside, Colin whispered, “What’s happened?”
Gabriel thrust a telegram at him. Colin stilled as he read it, freezing in place. “This is a joke, right?” he asked.
Gabriel shook his head. “No, I must leave this morning. I have a ticket on the train, and I hope to be in Boston with minimal delays. Will you watch out for Rissa and the children?”
Colin nodded. “I’ll stay there if you prefer.” At Gabriel’s slap on his back, he pulled Gabriel into a hug. “I’m certain all will be fine. They’ll think you overreacted when you arrive.” Colin cleared his throat as his mind raced with possibilities.
“I pray what you say is true, but I have to be there for Jeremy,” Gabriel said. “Wish me well. I’m sorry I won’t be here to help you as you face what is coming.”
“None of that matters now.” Colin raised dazed eyes to meet Gabriel’s impatient, terrified gaze. “You have to go.”
Gabriel nodded, patted Colin on the shoulder, and departed for home and his goodbyes with his family.
Colin collapsed onto his dilapidated sofa, his gaze distant and his hand still gripping the yellow telegram. He jumped when warm hands rubbed his shoulders.
“What is it?” Araminta whispered. She sat next to him and snuggled into his side.
“Savannah is ill,” Colin said in a dazed voice. “Jeremy’s already lost Melinda. I don’t know what …”
“Shh, Colin. You mustn’t think like that. They’ll be fine. They’ll return with a strong, healthy baby, and we’ll have a celebration.” She kissed him on his cheek. “Was Gabriel here because of the gossip?” She blushed. “He can’t have approved of finding me here.”
“He won’t make much of a fuss as long as we wed soon. And there is no gossip yet.” He shared a chagrined smile with Araminta. “As long as we don’t spend every night together. I can’t be seen sneaking from your home, and you can’t be seen scurrying from mine.”
She ran her fingers over his cheek. “Thankfully Clarissa brought over my going-away suitcase, and I have a change of clothes. It would be shocking if I were to emerge in yesterday’s wedding finery.” She kissed him. “But we will be cautious.”
“And we will wed soon,” he whispered. His expression brightened at her ready agreement.
“Why was Gabriel here?”
“He’s catching the train back East. He wanted me to look after Rissa and the children. Will you mind staying at their house for a while?” He attempted a smile and failed. “I know you must look forward to returning to your home, but I don’t want you living alone right now. I would worry too much about your safety.” He paused as she remained quiet. “I’m sorry. I know you’ll wonder why you opted for me.”
She ran a finger alongside his whiskered cheek. “This is exactly why I’ve always wanted you. Yo
u love your family. You cherish them. You worry about them. I’ve always considered them to be the luckiest people in the world because they had your love.”
He tugged her close. “Oh, Ari,” he whispered into her hair. “Now that I finally have you, never leave me.” He shuddered as he fought deep emotions.
“How can you not understand, after all this time, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be?”
* * *
Gabriel boarded the train that would take him to Minneapolis. The car was not overly crowded, and he sat next to a window, waving to Clarissa and the children as the train heaved into motion. He smiled as Billy chased after the train, eluding Clarissa’s grasp. Only when he ran into a fence did Billy stop his pursuit of his father. Gabriel sighed, his heart aching at leaving his family behind. He focused on the farm across the river, its produce harvested and fields roughly tilled in preparation for the coming winter. The river sparkled in the sunlight before the train curved into the canyon and away from Missoula.
“You always were a sentimental fool,” a man said from across the aisle, his voice derisive.
Gabriel jerked his attention from the passing scenery to the man who had settled across from him. “Henry.” He glared at his cousin. “I’m sure there are other seats for you in this car.”
Henry raised a mocking eyebrow. “But where else could I sit and catch up with my beloved cousin?” Henry Masterson had reinvented himself in Butte as Samuel Sanders and now worked in an elevated position for the Anaconda Copper Company. He never forgot his McLeod cousins or the shame their mother brought the family by marrying Gabriel’s father. “Seems a pity you are leaving your wife and family unprotected. Is this a short trip?”
Gabriel glared at him mutinously.
“If you believe that pathetic Sullivan will aid your wife and children, you’ll be proven wrong.” He smiled with evil intent. “I have plans for him.”
Abiding Love: Banished Saga, Book Eight Page 33