Page 26

Sara jumped down as soon as James brought the carriage to a stop, resisting the temptation to hold her handkerchief over her nose. She must have been out of Irish Town too long, for the stench of the open sewers almost overpowered her.

Inside, the tiny landing was dark, the only light coming from a lamp burning low beside Granny’s bed. Granny lay, still and pale, her cheeks sunken and her skin an unnatural gray. She looked small and frail, and the sight brought a lump to Sara’s throat.

“Granny? It’s Sara.”

Granny’s eyes opened a fraction and the corners of her mouth lifted. “Sara, my dearie. Come all this way back just for me?”

“Of course,” Sara answered, her eyes taking careful inventory of Granny’s face, looking for a symptom she might have missed. She had no idea what was wrong, or what she could do to make Granny better.

Granny’s eyes lit on James where he hesitated in the doorway, and some of her old spark returned. “Brought company, did ye?”

Sara looked over her shoulder. “He insisted on escorting me. Forgets I’ve spent more time in Irish Town than he ever did.”

James held her gaze and crossed his arms as if to confirm that he wasn’t going anywhere.

“Only proper, accompanying you.” Granny sent him a nod of approval. “I told ye he were a gentleman.”

Sara knelt beside the bed, taking Granny’s small, wrinkled hand in hers.

“How are you now, Granny? Did the tea help?”

Granny squeezed her hand, so lightly she could barely feel it. “As well as can be expected.”

“I’ll have you better in no time.”

Granny’s smile was gentle, as though she were comforting Sara instead of the other way around. “Never mind that.”

“But there must be something we can do.” Sara wanted to stand up and stomp her feet. Force Granny to get better.

“Hush now. I’m ready to go.”

But I’m not ready to lose you. The ache of unshed tears clogged Sara’s throat. She heard James retreat into the entry and softly close the door.

“You’re a good lass, Sara.” Granny’s hand crept from under the quilt to cover hers. “I never had a daughter until you.”

Sara swallowed. “If it hadn’t been for you, I don’t think I would have survived after Colin died. You saved me.”

Granny smiled. “’Twas the Lord who saved you, dearie. Has kept his hand on you all these years, too. And now you’ve a new life before you. Where you belong.”

“Oh, we’re not—that is, it was only temporary. Mr. Kinney will find a real governess now. I’ve come back to nurse you. You’ll be better in no time with me to care for you.”

“Don’t even think of it.” Granny’s voice was sharp and her hand squeezed Sara’s with surprising strength. “It’s my time to go. I’m ready. I’ll see Colin again, and Sean, too. That’s Colin’s grandfather. You never knew him, but he was a good man. Like Colin. Wild for horses, too.”

Sara squeezed her eyes shut, picturing Colin as she’d first seen him in her father’s stable, his blue eyes aglow with laughter. He’d wanted to own a livery. A tear slipped down her cheek. He’d been so young, so full of hope and energy.

“I miss him,” Sara murmured.

Granny nodded. “Reckon you’ll always miss him. But now it’s time to look ahead to your future. Ye’ve a life before you, one God planned better than you or I ever could.” Granny paused for a moment, to catch her breath.

Sara opened her eyes. “Granny, you should rest. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”

Granny snorted, sounding so much like her former self that Sara hoped for a moment she might recover after all. “Fine, is that what ye call it? Hiding away, too afraid to care about anyone again?” Granny’s wise eyes pierced through her defenses, seeing everything she’d thought she’d hidden.

“I’m doing well. Working, taking care of myself.”

“Living separate from others ’tain’t living, Sara. I hope ye’ll realize that before it’s too late.”

Sara kept her lips sealed. She wouldn’t argue with Granny. Not today.

Granny sighed. “Come, give me a kiss then. I love you, girl, like you were me own.”

“I love you, too.” Sara kissed her cheek, letting the silent tears flow. It felt like losing Colin all over again. Her last connection to his family, the last person in the world who cared what became of her.

“Ye mustn’t carry on so,” Granny said. “I’m going to a better place.”

“But I... I need you.”

“Child, you’ve got everything you need right here.” She tapped Sara’s chest, right over her heart. “You’re not alone.”

Sara’s eyes darted to the door where James had stood minutes before.

Granny gave an impatient shake of her head.

“I’m not talking about him, though if you both weren’t so stubborn.

.. but that’s another story. I’m talking about faith.

Hope. All those things you pretend you don’t need.

You figure God abandoned you, but you know deep down that’s not true.

He was there all along, holding you up until you was ready to stand again. ”

Sara’s heart burned in her chest at Granny’s words.

She didn’t want to stand again. She wanted to hide in Irish Town with Granny, safe from the world that had turned its back on her.

Yet she couldn’t deny that something had changed.

Holding you up until you were ready to stand.

Was that what had kept her going through the dark years?

Was it God who’d led her to the love of a little girl and helped her feet find bedrock again?

“Ye’ll do just fine, dearie.” Granny dropped her hands, her body sagging back into the pillows.

“Is there anything I can get you?” Sara straightened Granny’s blanket with trembling fingers. Whatever bedrock she’d found was still mighty shaky, for she didn’t think she had the strength to face another loss.

“Come to mention it, I could do with a cup of tea,” Granny said.

Sara stood. Tea she could do. “Of course.”

James retreated to the quiet of the front hall and soon realized he wasn’t alone. He found himself under the scrutiny of a woman of indeterminate years. Her hair was dark brown and her face unlined, yet her body was bent with years of work that had aged her before her time.

“Got an eye on Sara, do you?”

James drew himself up and infused every bit of lawyerly condescension he could muster into his tone. “I can’t imagine to what you are referring.”

The woman was undeterred. “Can’t you?” She gave a hoarse burst of laughter. “Don’t think I’d be against it, that’s not why I’m here.”

“Well, then I cannot imagine why you linger.”

Any other woman would have retreated before the ice in his tone, but this one only smirked.

“You can’t scare me with all your fine talk, no more than Sara can.

” She took a few steps forward and lowered her voice.

“She ain’t coming back here to sponge off me, not once Granny is gone. I’ll let out the front room.”

“I see.” James raised his brows. “And who, pray tell, are you?”

“Her landlady.” She crossed her arms, seeming to run out of patience. “Look, you’d be doing her a favor, taking her on, so to speak. Might be all she’s good for now.”

“I have already taken her on, so you need have no fear,” James answered haughtily. “She is my daughter’s governess.”

“Is that what you fancy gents call it?”

If she were a man, he’d be at her throat, demanding satisfaction. He contented himself with a growl. “Sara is a lady.”

“Lot of good that does her.” The woman gave another burst of her strange, gruff laughter. James spun away before he said something he’d regret, backing into Granny’s room. How had Granny and Sara come to be under the thumb of such a woman?

Granny was alone, her eyes bright and watching. She gestured to James. “Come here.”

He moved into the room and sat on the stool at her side.

Granny lifted her head off the pillow. “I’ve got some things I need to say.

” She paused, her eyes drifting to the kitchen.

“I hate to leave her. I know she be a woman grown, but she’ll never survive here in Irish Town, not without me.

She needs to be among her own folk.” Her hand came out and grasped his arm, her grip surprising for one so feeble.

“You’ll take care of her, keep her safe, won’t you? ”

James didn’t hesitate. “Of course. She has a position with me for as long as she wants it.”

“A position, you say?” Granny regarded him with somber eyes, and he couldn’t help but feel he’d disappointed her.

“I pay her well. She’s happy with us.” He wasn’t sure whom he was trying to convince.

“What Sara needs is a family.” Granny stared at him for a long moment, and he had the uncomfortable feeling she could see right down into his soul. “I reckon that’s what you need, too.”

The words hit him like a gavel, sharp and hard.

He had a daughter. That was all the family he needed.

“She—she’s made Evie happy. We want her to stay.

” He swallowed. “I’ll keep her safe, Granny.

I promise.” Security was all he had to offer, but suddenly, it didn’t feel like it was enough.

Granny’s sharp eyes watched him, waiting.

Expecting declarations he couldn’t give.

Granny’s face softened and she let her head rest once again on the pillow. “Aye,” she said finally with a satisfied nod. “I believe you will.”

She closed her eyes, the lines of pain and exhaustion once again prominent on her face. James rose and paced the room, letting out a jagged sigh. How had he ended up so embroiled in Sara’s life that he couldn’t think straight?

He stopped short at the sight of Sara in the doorway, holding a steaming cup of tea.

“Thank you,” she whispered, a faint flush in her cheeks. “I would never hold you to a promise given in such circumstances, but it was kind of you to comfort her.”

James grasped her elbow as she would have slipped past him. She looked up and met his eyes and he realized his words weren’t merely to placate an old woman. He would protect Sara with every tool at his disposal.

“Make no mistake, Sara O’Connor. I meant it. I meant every word.”