Bellamy pushed away from the beam and straightened. “Sounds like a fine plan if I ever heard one.”
It didn’t sound fine to her. But at the moment, she was outnumbered, the three men watching her and waiting for her acquiescence. What else could she do but give Kiernan a week? At the very least, she would have time to come up with a better plan—one in which she didn’t have to marry a man who deserved a much better woman.
19
“This is madness.” Da’s voice boomed through the parlor. “I expected more from you.”
Kiernan perched on the edge of the settee, his head down, his face buried in his hands.
Da was pacing the length of the carpet in front of the settee. Mam sat in one of the wingback chairs and hadn’t said much so far. She hadn’t needed to. The disappointment etched into her face spoke loudly enough.
The Shanahan reputation was sacred, especially after Da had worked so hard to build it. They’d already had one scandal earlier in the year with Enya. Thankfully, everything had worked out. Even so, they didn’t need another situation to deal with.
During the short walk back to Oakland from the pond, Bellamy had offered to stay for the meeting with his parents. Kiernan and Bellamy had led their horses by foot with Alannah and Torin walking behind them, the two arguing in hushed tones the entire way. Even though Kiernan hadwanted to have Bellamy’s support while talking with his parents, he’d also known that wouldn’t make things any better.
Kiernan had wanted to ask Bellamy the reason behind bringing up the list to Alannah. But a part of him already knew why. Bellamy was forcing him to be honest with her so their relationship wasn’t based on any pretenses.
Somehow over the next week, Kiernan had to prove to her that the list didn’t matter to him anymore, that he cared about her above all else and was ready to marry her no matter what anyone else thought. Because he didn’t care about the opinions of others, did he?
Da stopped his pacing and stood in front of him. “What were you thinking, Kiernan? I raised you better than to take advantage of a maid, so I did.”
Kiernan sat up, flinching at the despair in Da’s green eyes. With his broad shoulders, stocky body, and muscular build, James Shanahan was an imposing man. Everyone said Kiernan looked like his da not only in body but with the same wide cheekbones, dimple in his chin, and thick brows. The only difference—besides twenty-five years in age—was that his da had bright red hair and green eyes instead of Kiernan’s muted auburn hair and blue eyes.
Kiernan shoved a hand through his still-rain-drenched hair. “I told you I didn’t sleep with her, that we did nothing more than talk.” At least until today.
“And I told you it doesn’t matter.” Exasperation filled Da’s tone. “People will be thinking what they will about it. Believe me, they’re already assuming the worst.”
“I’m marrying her, so it doesn’t matter.”
Kiernan didn’t know where Alannah had gone after they’d returned home and she’d said her good-bye to Torin. Maybeshe’d retired to her room. After all, it was still part of her afternoon off, for another hour at least, and she could go anywhere or do anything.
A strange mounting anxiety urged him to seek her out and try to set things right between them, the way they’d been before she’d learned of his list. She’d kissed him without reservation, had wanted him as much as he’d wanted her. If only they could go back to that.
As it was, with Da’s fiery temper, the entire household was likely hearing the conversation. He just hoped Alannah was back in the summer kitchen and wasn’t being subjected to his parents’ comments.
Mam sat with her hands clenched in her lap. She was still attired in her best Sunday gown, everything about her lovely and graceful. “You should have let me send her on her way when I first wanted to. I knew she was trouble from the moment you brought her out here.”
“She’s not trouble.” Kiernan’s spine prickled. “Since arriving in St. Louis, she’s faced difficulties that aren’t of her own making.”
“Everyone faces difficulties, and we can’t be taking responsibility for hers.”
“Some people face more than others, and we need to help.”
“Not her.” His mam’s tone was stubborn. “Not any longer.”
Kiernan couldn’t keep to his chair. He shot up, forcing Da to take several steps back. “I am marrying Alannah.” His voice came out low, almost menacing. “And you need to accept it.”
His da’s eyes widened.
Kiernan couldn’t let them disparage Alannah. She didn’tdeserve it. Even if he didn’t marry her—which he would—she was one of the sweetest, kindest people he’d ever met. She deserved to be treated with the same kindness in return.
His da was watching him, his thick brows quirked high. For a moment he didn’t say anything. Then he spoke quietly. “You care about her.”
“Aye.” Kiernan’s chest swelled almost painfully with his longing for her and the possibility that he might have ruined things between them.
His mam rose now, too, smoothing down her wide silk skirt. “It doesn’t matter how Kiernan feels. That woman has been manipulating him all along, trying to wheedle her way into his life so she can secure a future for herself.”
“You’re wrong. She doesn’t want to marry me.”
