He leaned his elbows on his legs and rested his head in his hands. He’d planned to tell her that he loved her. A man doesn’t build up the courage to do so easily, which made the night’s events all the more tragic. ’Twould have been quite a perfect Christmas.
But sometimes all one needs for perfection is an added measure of patience.
A mere moment after Sean had chastised the heavens, the sound of approaching hooves pulled his head up out of his hands. The family, it seemed, had returned. He’d be terribly late getting to the Butlers’ cottage, but he would get there just thesame. He would knock at the door for hours if necessary until Maeve allowed him to explain and apologize.
He rushed to his expected position, just inside the entry arch, and stood at respectful attention. Into the stable yard came not a fine carriage pulled by a high-stepping team, but a humble and rickety old hay cart, pulled by two draft horses and driven by a ginger farmer, with a dark-haired beauty beside him, and a tall stick of a man behind.
’Twasn’t the Butlers of Kilkenny Castle nor the up-road Butlers, but the six-boulders family.HisButlers. And his Maeve.
Liam pulled the cart to a stop in the middle of the yard. Sean stood in shock, frozen at the unexpected sight. His Maeve.
True to the feisty colleen she’d proven herself to be, Maeve hopped from the cart without waiting for anyone’s assistance, then came directly toward him.
“I am so very sorry, Maeve. I’d not meant to—” He managed nothing beyond that.
“We’ve brought supper, Sean. Will Desmond have a tantrum if we eat it here with you, do you think?”
“Supper?” His thoughts swam too swiftly for making complete sense of her words.
“When you didn’t arrive, I assumed you’d been made to stay here rather than being given the evening to yourself as you’d been promised.”
He nodded, his worry still too great for a verbal response.
“So we brought Christmas supper to you.”
He took her hand, his own trembling with uncertainty. Did this mean she’d not lost faith in him? “I have to wait for the castle family to return with their carriage and team. I’m the newest hand, so the lot fell to me.” The gloves she wore were cold. Her hand beneath must have been near to freezing. “You shouldn’t have come so far in the cold, love. You’ll catch your death.”
She reached up and touched his face. “I’d’ve gone clear to Mayo if need be.”
“You aren’t angry with me for disappointing you?”
Hers was a soft and alluring smile. “You’ve not disappointed me.”
“Kiss the lass, already,” Kieran called from the hay cart. “We’ve a Christmas supper to eat.”
“There are empty stalls at the end of the row,” Sean said. “Your animals’ll be warm there.”
Liam smirked a bit. “Trying to shoo away your audience, are you?”
“That is precisely what I’m doing. Now off with you.”
They obliged.
Sean turned every ounce of his attention back to Maeve. He pulled her fully into his arms. “I was so afraid you’d be boilin’, love. I broke m’ word to you. You gave me your trust, and I broke it.”
“You’ve not broken my trust in you, Sean. I trust you enough to have never doubted all the day long that you’d’ve come if you could.”
He lightly brushed his lips against her forehead. “I don’t deserve you.”
“No, you don’t.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “But you come close enough that I’ll not hold it against you.”
He kissed her temple, then her cheek. Heavens, but he adored this woman. “Maeve. Darlin’ Maeve. I’ve nothing to give you for Christmas. I haven’t money for a fine gift, and I didn’t make it out to see you today.” He cupped her face in his hands. “But I give you what I have, love. I give you my devotion and my caring, and I give you my love, all of it, every beat of my heart and every breath that fills my body.”
He meant to seal the promise with a fervent kiss. She, however, was swifter than he was. She rose up on her toes andkissed him, her lips to his, making a promise without words that matched his spoken vow.
A promise of days and months and Christmases yet to come. A promise of love.
Bonus Epilogue
