Page 149

“They’ve come to hearyouspeak, Patty. What am I s’posed to do?”

“Play ’em a song,” Patrick suggested, playing with a tendril of my hair. “Pass out a round of drinks.”

“They’re four deep already, Pat. Hurry up!” He hit his fist against the door one last time, then stomped away, cursing us both loudly.

“And so, it ends,” Patrick muttered beneath his breath. He held my fingers in his beneath the water, but now rose them to press his lips to their pads. Then he lifted himself from the water, the streams running down all those fine muscles. He stepped out of the tub and collected a towel with which to dry himself.

“If I asked you to wait here until I get back, would you do it?” he asked me.

I grinned at him, resting my chin on the lip of the basin. “Not a chance.”

He groaned. “Every man, woman, and child out there will be wantin’ to buy you a drink,” he said, donning his clothes in distractingly practiced ways. “It’ll be midnight before I can tear you away.”

I laughed. “So youarethe jealous type.” I rose from the bath and stepped out.

Patrick was suddenly before me, hands sliding around my wet waist, “It’s not jealousy. It’s greed.”

The way his tone graveled, pulled at the cords of my resolve. Heat descended into my belly. “Haven’t you ever heard of the risks of having too much of a good thing?”

“Not in this case,” he said, then drugged me with his fingers skating down my neck.

I exhaled shakily. “You won’t distract me. I’m coming with you.”

He sighed, then released me. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

The thrum of the pub rang up the stairwell, pulsing the windows in their frames on each landing. Even at this early hour, someone belted the piano keys, voices walloped, the unmistakable thunder of dancing shook the floorboards when we alighted the stairs.

I raised my eyebrows at Patrick. I noticed he had already stowed away that light in his eyes. The peace that had been on his face was gone. Back was the careful veneer, that knife-sharp glare. But his hand remained on the small of my back, gentle and sure.

“Are they… celebrating?” I asked incredulously. It seemed in poor taste.

“Don’t judge them too harshly,” Patrick said. “They’ve come to expect catastrophic loss when a mine collapses. Yesterday feels like a miracle by comparison. Itisa miracle,” he said, his gaze boring into mine. His fingers touched my cheek. “I’ll apologize now for what’s on the other side of this door.” Then he pushed it open.

Uproar descended upon us.

A voice screeched, “The Charmer! There she is!” and it seemed the entire sea of faces turned simultaneously.

A discordant cheer rent the air. Glasses clinked above heads. Men waved their caps and women covered their mouths with their hands. Some of them wept. Several children, none of them taller than my hip, swarmed my legs and gripped hold of my dress. They hugged me, shoved limp dandelions into my palms, pulled me forward into the crowd. I looked over my shoulder, silently pleading for help, and found Patrick leaning against the wall beside the door, hands in his pockets, a small grin on his face.

I was swallowed by the horde a moment later, and Patrick disappeared from view.

I felt as though my hand was gripped and shaken by a hundred different people, all their faces floating into view and then abruptly disappearing, replaced by more.

“Thank you, Miss Harrow. Bless you.”

“You’re a gift from God, surely.”

“Me brother were in that shaft. We owe you his life.”

“I’ve always trusted Patty Colson. Always! And now he’s brought you to us.”

“You consider yourself a Kenton girl now. If there’s anythin’ you need…”

It went on and on. Somewhere in the mix, I caught a glimpse of Theo and Polly. They sat together in a bay window. I looked long enough to make out Polly’s pinched expression, Theo’s balled fists, before they were eclipsed once more by another wave of drunken gratitude.

Eventually, Gunner clawed me out of the scrummage. His large frame appeared at my side, and his presence alone was enough to make those clustered nearest take a step back.

“All right, you dolts. That’s enough for one night. Let the girl breathe, for fuck’s sake. She ain’t had a single drink yet.” He offered me a wink, a sly grin beneath his wild beard, then gripped my upper arm and pulled me away.