Page 2

I saac would never as long as he lived understand the female mind. He’d told Alice of his plans to move quite seriously forward with Miss Kilchrest. Rather than offer immediate congratulations or encouragement, she’d looked shocked. Shocked.

How could she have been even a little surprised?

They’d spoken of his pursuit of Miss Kilchrest nearly every weekend since he’d first crossed her path some four months earlier.

She knew as much about his plans and thoughts as anyone on earth, more even.

And yet she clearly hadn’t expected his declaration.

Women will never make the least sense.

They reached Market Square where the weekly crowd of men gathered to jostle for position alongside Miss Kilchrest as she wandered about the vendors’ tables.

Isaac had been at the task of courting her for months.

He’d planned out his efforts quite meticulously.

Those plans seldom needed review or second thoughts.

Alice, on the other hand, was near constantly throwing his understanding of her entirely out the window.

“Have we made good time?” Alice asked that question every Saturday as they came in to Cavan Town. She needed a timepiece of her own, she did.

He checked his pocket watch. “’Tis only just noon. Ye’ve time to reach yer grandparent’s house for luncheon.”

Her nod was one of relief.

“Have they taken a turn for the worse?” She’d spoken often of her grandparents and their failing health. They were the reason she returned to Cavan every weekend, to take over from a cousin the task of caring for them.

“No more than expected. They’re growing old fast is all.” She gave him a sad smile but with more than a hint of her usual optimism. “I’d best not keep ya from yer efforts. There’s a market full of men needing tripping up and pushing aside.”

There was the laughing encouragement he was used to receiving from his friend. Perhaps she’d only been distracted earlier by worries over her family. That would certainly account for her unenthusiastic response to his news. ’Twas a logical explanation, something Isaac far preferred to confusion.

“Is there anything I can do to help with yer grandparents?”

“Bless ya, no. There’s no immediate crisis, only the hardship of waiting and watching them fade.”

He could appreciate that. “Ya know where to find me if ya need anything.”

“Yes, I simply follow the crowd,” she said dryly, with a bit of a twinkle in her eyes.

“Indeed. And ye’ll find me at the very front of it.” He set his eyes in that direction, in fact. ’Twas time and past to get on with the weekend’s goals. “Wish me luck.”

She hesitated the briefest of moments. “I’ll wish the best for ya.”

There was some difference between that and what he’d asked for, though he couldn’t put his finger on just what that difference was.

“Until tomorrow, then. Farnham Street after church.”

She smiled. “I’ll be there.”

He watched her a moment as she made her way down Market Street away from the square.

His weekly walk to Cavan had improved drastically with the addition of her company and friendship.

Even as the weather had turned colder he’d not minded waiting at the point in the road where she always joined him.

Her company was well worth the discomfort.

She would certainly be the first person he told when Miss Kilchrest accepted his proposal.

Likely only his mother would be happier for him, though she didn’t live close enough for telling in person.

But, he would have nothing to tell either of them if he didn’t focus on his goal.

The list of things to accomplish was clear and precise in his mind.

He’d purchase a few foodstuffs to eat over the weekend whilst making his way to the coveted position at Miss Kilchrest’s side.

Once he had accomplished that, he would speak with her about furthering their connection.

After her acceptance, he would take himself to the friend’s house where he stayed each weekend.

’Twould be his most productive trip into Cavan yet.

He purchased a bit of bread and cheese. A few of the men he saw every weekend trailing Miss Kilchrest noticed him there.

Their faces fell a bit upon seeing him arrive, a sure sign his progress with Miss Kilchrest had not gone unnoticed.

She was a fine catch, to be sure. Her dowry was something any man would wish for, but her kind heart and gentle spirit even more so.

That those arguments in her favor were combined with a strikingly pretty face and a fine figure had secured her more suitors than she likely knew what to do with.

She’d not have to worry over that long, though.

His sack upon his back and his eye on the thickest part of the bachelor crowd, Isaac set his mind to the task at hand. Some assertive weaving in and around tables and vendors and spectators, set him within a few feet of his goal and well within sight of the lovely Miss Kilchrest.

He’d thought it a very good sign during his twelve-mile walk from home that the last remaining autumn leaves were a shade of red that quite perfectly matched the color of Miss Kilchrest’s hair.

The glimpses of sky he’d spied between the ever-growing clouds reminded him of the brilliant blue of her eyes. A very good sign, indeed.

Today would be his day. Of course, first he’d have to actually come close enough to her to speak the words.

The past months had taught him to be more forward than he was by nature. Standing about waiting for Miss Kilchrest to notice him hadn’t worked very well.

He stepped in front of one of the other men, moved around a few others. Miss Kilchrest was fully in his sights, and lovely as ever she’d been. What man could help but notice her, especially when she wore a bright smile as she did in that moment?

The rising wind rustled the few curls she’d let hang loose about her face.

She was friendly to everyone, charming them and easing even the most nervous of her suitors.

The women, too, seemed happy to see her when she crossed their paths.

She’d make a good wife and a good addition to his neighborhood.

He caught her eye in the next moment. She smiled welcomingly. ’Twas all the encouragement he needed.

Isaac slipped up to her side. “A good afternoon to ya, Miss Kilchrest.”

She laid a light hand on his arm. “How are you, Isaac?” She’d taken to using his first name, though he’d not felt comfortable calling her “Sophia.” Perhaps after she accepted his coming request he would.

“It seems we are in for a bit of weather,” he said.

She nodded, glancing briefly up at the sky.

Her gazed returned quickly to the men standing about.

Some held hats in their hands. Others stood with airs of confidence.

Isaac had made a study of which men she gave second and third looks.

Those who arrived ragged or dirty, she seemed less than impressed with.

She preferred a smile to a somber expression.

She also preferred to make the conversation than to follow it. Isaac usually obliged her in that, but if he were to pose his question, he’d have to take control of their usually short time together.

“I wondered if I might have a word—”

One of Miss Kilchrest’s particular friends arrived in that exact moment. Isaac stood back, waiting, while the women exchanged embraces and quick-paced words.

He looked over those men who hadn’t yet given up for the day.

O’Leary from Drumora, who’d received ample attention from Miss Kilchrest. Kelly from Pullamore Far.

Others he’d not met in person but recognized from their many weekends jostling each other about.

Malone and Sheridan, both Cavan men, who Isaac knew were his greatest rivals.

They, alone, had been granted as much of her time as he.

Others had early on in Isaac’s courtship of her, but they’d fled the field, apparently having been deemed not quite what Miss Kilchrest wished for.

Her friend moved along with one last wave goodbye.

Isaac began again. “Miss Kilchrest, I wished—”

“Buy a flower for the fine lass, will ya?” a little flower girl, likely no older than ten, implored with a bit of forward cheekiness but wearing the dimpled smile of an angel.

He could hardly resist such a request, especially seeing the acceptance of the offering already hovering on Miss Kilchrest’s face.

Whether the flower girl had anticipated it or not, she’d made a clever suggestion.

Given the sheer number of men still trailing after Miss Kilchrest, all the little girl’s flowers were purchased and offered in a moment’s time.

“Oh, I do love flowers,” Miss Kilchrest said, her arms laden with blooms, likely the last they’d see in a while. The chill of late autumn hung heavy in the air.

A light sprinkling of rain began as it so often did. Isaac didn’t usually even note it. But the timing might actually prove helpful.

“There’s an overhang just this direction,” he said, motioning toward a nearby building. “If ye’ll just step that way ye’ll be out of the rain.”

“How thoughtful.” She shifted the flowers into one arm. She offered a wiggly-fingered wave to the other men, then slipped her arm through his.

Isaac took a deep breath as they walked swiftly away. His moment had come. Months of working to gain her notice were about to pay off. Soon she’d send the other men packing and he could move on to the next part of his plan.

Safely under the overhang, he charged ahead. “Miss Kilchrest, I feel we’ve come to know one another these past weeks.”

“Indeed.” She smelled her flowers, obviously at ease with him. A good sign.

“I think ye’ve come to feel something of a preference for my company.”

She touched his arm briefly. “Of course, Isaac. Who could possibly not enjoy your company?”

With that extra encouragement, he cut directly to the heart of the matter. “I wish to ask you, then, if ye’d be so good as to consider me yer beau, rather exclusively.”

She did not appear nearly as shocked as Alice had, though perhaps a bit surprised. Her smile, however, remained serene. “You sweet man,” she said. “I didn’t realize you were so fond of me.”

“Who could possibly not be fond of you?” He echoed her words of a moment earlier, thinking she might laugh at the sally.

Miss Kilchrest shrugged a single shoulder, returning her attention to her collection of flowers.

“I don’t wish to press ya, but is there an answer to my question?”

A flattering swash of color touched her cheeks. “Of course there’ll be an answer, I’m only uncertain what answer to give.”

“Might I suggest ‘yes’?”

She swatted at his arm. “You sweet man. ’Tis not a matter of yes or no.”

“It isn’t?” Isaac didn’t think there was a third option.

“This is only unexpected, is all.”

Unexpected? What did she think he’d intended with his four months of pursuit if not an eventual proposal? The sensible assumption was that he meant just this, to further their connection.

She gave him such a heart-tuggingly uncertain look. “Can my answer be ‘perhaps’?”

Perhaps. A third option, after all. “‘Perhaps,’ but not ‘no’?” he clarified.

Miss Kilchrest looked quite pleased with that. “Yes, exactly.”

Not no. He could accept that. For the time being.

And, he thought with some burgeoning hope, Alice would help him think of ways to win Miss Kilchrest over for good. Alice would help, and he’d have Miss Kilchrest’s hand for sure and certain.