Swiping up the manuscript from the grass where she’d left it, she marched around the kitchen to the side door. As she stepped inside, Zaira was standing in front of the sink,scrubbing a pan and telling Cook a story as she did each time she took Alannah’s place in the kitchen.
Cook stood at the center worktable, her preparations for the next day’s meals forgotten, her attention riveted to Zaira. Storytelling was a skill Zaira excelled at whether written or vocal. And she’d spun an almost magical spell over Cook with her tales each visit. As a result, Zaira had garnered a promise that the cook wouldn’t tell anyone about Alannah skipping her duties.
Now as Alannah halted just inside the doorway, one question clamored in her mind. If anyone could answer it, Zaira would be able to with as insightful as she was. “Has your brother, Mr. Shanahan, been matched with anyone by the matchmaker Bellamy McKenna?”
“Bellamy?” Zaira’s brows rose. “That man is a sneaky one, to be sure.”
Alannah was tempted to call out that she didn’t care to hear Zaira’s thoughts about Bellamy. But she swallowed the retort and persisted with her question. “Has he matched your brother with someone yet?”
Zaira lifted the blackened pot from the sink, heedless of the water she was sloshing onto the floor. “From everything I’ve heard, Bellamy’s been busy setting up visits with potential matches for Kiernan. He had a few last week and a couple so far this week.”
So the rumors were true. Kiernan was meeting with other women. Lots of other women. To find a match. Particularly one with a sizable dowry. “You’re certain?”
“I’m not certain of much.” Zaira cast a smile toward Alannah. “But I do know that Kiernan is on a mission to finda bride. And when he’s on a mission, he’ll stop at nothing to succeed.”
Alannah didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. So she did neither and stood mutely.
Bellamy was the one making it all happen. If that was really the case, why had he told her that he wanted to match her with Kiernan? It made no sense. Had she misunderstood the matchmaker? Or maybe he’d changed his mind and hadn’t bothered to tell her.
Whatever the case, she’d made a complete fool of herself in spending time with Kiernan. She never would have done so if Bellamy hadn’t mentioned Kiernan as a potential match. She wouldn’t have been so bold or so forward. And she certainly wouldn’t have presumed he wanted to be her friend.
She hung her head. Saints above. How could she ever face Kiernan again now that she knew the truth? That he hadn’t been considering her for a match. That he really had only been watching over her because she’d been so insistent on going outside by herself.
She couldn’t face him. She would have to avoid him. It was the only way.
12
Alannah hadn’t shown up at their usual meeting spot two nights in a row.
Kiernan stared at the ledger on the desk in front of him in his mine office, but the numbers all blurred together. He’d been trying for the past hours to study the financials his accountant had laid out for him, but all he could see was Alannah.
Mostly he pictured her sitting beside him with the stars and moonlight casting a glow over her that made her ethereal. He loved the way she focused completely on him when he was talking, her eyes bright with questions, her head tilted with interest. And he loved the way her expression lit up when she told him about the things she liked doing, her lips curling up with an almost-smile.
He loved when her nose scrunched whenever he said something she didn’t like, and he loved that she wasn’t afraid to tell him when she disagreed. She had her own opinions about matters, and he’d begun to relish hearing them andsometimes even debating her. Their conversations were never dull, always lively, and yet genuine.
Genuine. Alannah was genuine about everything. She never pretended to be anything she wasn’t, was her real self, and never tried to impress him.
Unlike all the women and their families he’d been meeting with where everyone was trying to impress everyone else, especially with what they could offer each other in a marital arrangement.
It felt too much like a business deal, and the longer it went on, the more awkward he was finding it. Of course, he’d always been considered one of St. Louis’s finest catches. Although he didn’t have a fortune currently, as firstborn he would someday inherit the bulk of his family’s estate and wealth in addition to what his da had already given him.
With just the right match, he could rise to the top, farther than Da. But was this whole process worth it?
He clasped his hands to both sides of his pounding temples. If only he wasn’t thinking so much about Alannah, maybe he’d be able to think more objectively about his future. But the truth was, he’d missed meeting with her over the past two nights, so much that now he couldn’t stop contemplating it. He was actually starting to drive himself crazy with his preoccupation.
“Stop this, Kiernan Shanahan.” He shoved away from his desk and stood with such force it sent his chair toppling behind him. He was not only wasting time thinking about her, but he was likely worrying for nothing.
He righted his chair, then stalked around the front of the desk, paused, and shoved his hands into his hair. He stared out the open door that overlooked the area where several menwere mixing clay with water in large vats—the last batches of the day before quitting time. Beside them were rows of long wooden boxes with uniformly sized compartments and the edges nailed tight to prevent the clay from seeping out. Several other men were packing the already mixed clay into the molds, while yet another worker scraped off the excess with a level rod.
Kiernan normally took pleasure in watching the creation of the bricks. But not yesterday. And certainly not today.
Expelling a tight sigh, he paced to one side of the cabin and then back.
When he’d stopped by the kitchen to check on her this morning, he hadn’t been able to speak to her privately because Cook had been present. For the couple of seconds that he’d stood awkwardly in the doorway, she’d kept her back to him at the worktable, as though she hadn’t wanted to see him at all.
He’d been as baffled then as he was now. What had happened to cause the change? It was almost as if she was avoiding him. Was she?
He paced the length of the cabin again. The office was sparsely furnished with only a corner stove, an old desk, and a couple of wooden chairs. Years ago, it had been home to the mine owner, but Kiernan had turned it into the official headquarters.
