Page 21 of The Duke’s Sharpshooter (The Duke’s Guard #14)
Flaherty nodded and reached for the door to the servants’ side of the house.
A cacophony of happy voices reached him as soon as he entered.
The dulcet tones of two voices rose above the others, drawing him like an invisible thread.
He had come to depend on the two to brighten his days with their smiles, along with Maddy’s hugs and the gifts she’d taken to leaving in his quarters.
He’d found a drawing on his pillow. It took a bit to figure out what Maddy had drawn before he realized he was looking at it upside down.
Sure and wasn’t it himself on horseback?
Then there was the drawing of himself carrying the lass in his arms to the rose garden with a tiny speck he recognized as a faerie.
He loved the little girl’s exuberance and imagination…
’Twas time he gave voice to what was in his heart.
Time to tell Maddy and Temperance that he loved them!
Rounding the corner, he saw Temperance and noticed she had tucked in the silky strands of her ebony hair that had escaped their pins earlier when she’d run to him.
The hope and fear evident in the depths of her expressive green eyes hit him like a blow.
He wanted to press his lips to hers then and there, but did not want to listen to his cousins’ comments.
He planned to kiss her later, if he could convince the lass to take a walk with him after she tucked Maddy in for the night.
He had a feeling he was on borrowed time, if the furtive looks Temperance kept sending him meant what he thought they might.
His gut told him the lass was still thinking of leaving.
Maddy rushed toward him, flinging her arms around his knees. “Careful of yer cheek, Maddy-lass,” he warned. “Ye don’t want to bruise it on me kneecaps.”
She mumbled something, but her voice was muffled against his knees and he couldn’t quite hear it—though Temperance’s quiet gasp had him asking the little girl, “What did ye say? My knees heard ye, but me ears are too far away.”
Maddy’s smile could warm the coldest day of winter.
Hanging on to his pant legs, she bent back to look him in the eye.
Afraid she would fall over, he bent down and picked her up.
Delighted with the joyous sound of her giggle, he was rewarded when she put her tiny hands on either side of his face. “I love you, Just Flaherty.”
He melted. Right then. Right there. The little lass with sunshine in her heart loved him. Flaherty wasn’t waiting a moment longer, or they’d slip out of his life just as quickly as they’d slipped in. He kissed the little girl’s forehead. “Faith, but I love ye too, wee cailín .”
She giggled. “It’s Maddy!”
Everyone was smiling except for Temperance—her eyes were round with surprise and a bit of trepidation—but that would not stop him. Flaherty had made up his mind, and he was not waiting another moment.
With Maddy snug against his chest, her arms wrapped around his neck, he walked over to stand in front of Temperance. He reached for her hand, brought it to his lips, and brushed a featherlight kiss to the back of it. Capturing her gaze, he went down on one knee and offered his heart.
“Temperance, I cannot lose ye or yer daughter. Ye’ve wormed yer way into me head and me heart. I promise to protect ye always. Ye’ll never go hungry, and ye’ll always have a roof over yer head. Marry me, lass.”
Instead of the immediate yes he’d expected, she wrinkled her brow and opened her mouth, but not a sound emerged. Had she been so overwhelmed by his offer that she’d lost her voice?
“Say yes, Mum,” Maddy urged.
When Temperance stared at him with a blank look on her face, a bad feeling slipped up from the soles of his feet.
Had he rushed her? Had she not noticed the way he’d made it a point to spend whatever free time he had with them every day?
Had he misread what he thought were signs that she felt the same about him?
Had he taken a chance and now the woman he loved was going to refuse?
Maddy pressed her tiny lips to his cheek and patted his face, getting his attention. “I’ll say yes. Marry me , Just Flaherty!”
His heart bled, but no one noticed. He would give his right arm to be a father to the little girl who had wrapped him around her little finger, but her ma had to want him too.
Devastated by the lack of response from the woman he’d thought returned his affections, Flaherty slowly rose to his feet.
He handed Maddy to her mother, bowed, turned around, and strode from the room.
His heart ached to the point where he wondered if it would simply stop beating.
His aching head was crowded with questions he did not have the answers to.
Was he not worth loving? Had he done something to warrant her dismissal?
Bloody fecking hell , he deserved the courtesy of a no…
if that was what she couldn’t bring herself to say.
He did not make eye contact with Humphries as he let himself out of the side door. He walked around the building and climbed the ladder to resume the rooftop shift he’d pawned off on Garahan.
His cousin frowned at him. “I thought ye had plans to spend part of yer shift with the lass and her ma?”
“Changed me mind.”
Garahan held his gaze for a few moments before he muttered, “Bloody buggering hell!”
Flaherty could not agree more. “’Tis where Temperance just consigned me for the rest of me days.”
“Ye asked her to marry ye, didn’t ye?”
“Aye.”
“Just now?” Garahan seemed to want details.
“Aye.”
“And she said refused?”
“Aye.”
Garahan grabbed him by the cravat and shook him. “Did she say the word no to ye?”
Flaherty frowned. “She didn’t say anything. But I watched the light in her eyes dim as she stared at me.”
Garahan let go of Flaherty’s cravat and shoved him. “Ye’re a bloody eedjit. She didn’t say anything.” When he repeated it matter-of-fact like that, it added another layer of hurt.
“The wee cailín kissed me cheek and told me she’d marry me, because she loves me.”
Garahan slowly smiled. “Well now, that’s another thing altogether. And proof that all hope is not lost.”
“Temperance doesn’t want to marry me.”
“But she might.”
“Then why didn’t she say yes? Ye aren’t making sense.”
“Yer brain’s muddled, and yer heart’s breaking. I can all but hear it.”
“Ye can have the little bit of time O’Malley granted me. Go say hello to yer pretty wife for me.”
“I didn’t think I was worthy of Emily,” Garahan told him.
Flaherty raked a hand through his hair. “Why is it that after we bleed for the women who have us tied in knots, and receive untold number of knocks on the head for them, we still wonder if we’re worthy?”
“I have no idea, but I do know this—if ye give up, ye’ll regret it for the rest of yer days. Do ye want another man to marry the lass and be father to that curly-haired pixie?”
Flaherty’s hands curled into tight fists. “I do not!”
“Well then. There ye are.” Garahan nodded, walked to the ladder, and started to descend.
Flaherty rushed over to the ladder, grabbed hold of it, and leaned over the edge. “What in the bloody hell does that mean?”
Garahan looked up at him and smiled. “Ye have yer work cut out for ye showing Temperance how much ye love her daughter. Maddy’s love for ye is obvious to everyone. Did it not occur to ye that the lass has only been a widow for a few years?”
“It hadn’t, no.”
“Has she spoken of her husband? Do ye know how he died? Was it an accident, and did she see it happen? Was Maddy born already, or did he die before she was born?”
“No and no. I don’t know the answer to the rest of yer bloody questions.”
“Well, when ye know the answers to those questions, ye might have a better understanding of what the lass has been through. ’Tis plain to all of us that she has had a hard road, but she’s been fighting tooth and nail to provide for Maddy—even at the cost of blows to her pride by those who would shred her reputation.
” Without another word, Garahan descended and walked away.
“Garahan?”
He didn’t bother to turn around when he answered, “Aye?”
“I love ye like a brother.”
Garahan snorted. “Feck yerself, Flaherty.” He made it to the corner of the building before he paused and called out, “Faith, I’m fond of ye, too.”