Ivor shook his head. “But we’re nae…we cannae be together, Sadie. It isnae what ye’re imagining.”
Sadie let out a gentle laugh. “Oh, aye? And what is it I’m imagining?”
Ivor said nothing.
“Sounds to me like ye love this woman. Why should ye nae be together?” Sadie went on. “Why not take the lad and raise him with yer woman and be happy?”
Frustrated, Ivor said, “I’m telling ye, it’s nae that easy. And Callum…he deserves better than me.”
“Och, that’s nonsense, and ye ken it,” Sadie protested. “Ye love the lad already. He cares for ye. Are ye planning on leaving him with me?”
“Aye,” Ivor said, though he didn’t even sound convincing to himself. “Aye, he’d be happier here surrounded by other bairns than he would on the road with me. It’s just the right thing to do.”
“Hm,” Sadie said. “Well, if that’s what ye think. Ye ken, there’s always room for a wee lost soul here in me home. But do me a favor and talk to Callum about it before ye leave, aye?”
Though he wanted to, there was no real way for Ivor to disagree with that. He nodded, and Sadie left the room.
He lay awake for hours more before he finally drifted into a troubled, restless sleep.
* * *
“I need to be moving on,” Ivor said as he downed the last of the porridge that Sadie had kindly provided for him. He’d only been here one night, and yet it felt strange to be going to be on his own again after being surrounded by all these children and all this noise.
“As ye say,” Sadie agreed. “I spoke to Callum this morning. Jackie is willing to share his bed for a while if Callum’s willing to let Mossie sleep between them. He’ll be comfortable here.”
“Good,” Ivor said. He glanced across the table, where Callum himself hadn’t said much of anything. His eyes were downcast, staring at the bowl in front of him. “Callum?”
The boy looked up.
“Ye’ll be happy here, lad. Sadie’s one of the kindest women around, and she’ll look after ye better than almost anybody else in the world. I ken it isnae the same as being with yer mammy and daddy, but all these bairns will be yer friends, and it’ll be like a whole new family,” Ivor told him. He tried to speak gently, though his accursed voice caught in his throat for some reason. “Doesnae that sound grand?”
“Right grand,” Callum agreed quietly, not looking up. “I ken it’ll be nice here. Thank ye for bringing me, Mr. Ivor.”
There was a pause. Sadie gave Ivor a meaningful look across the table, and Ivor sighed.
Women. Always right, every one of them. It’s infuriating.
He took another breath. “Is there abutthere, Callum?”
The boy looked up, his cheeks red under his freckles. “Well,” he said shyly. “I just…ye and Miss Eithne, ye saved me. And I miss me mam and me dad. But since ye dinnae have a family, and I dinnae have a family, I thought…well, I thought maybe we could be each other’s.”
Ivor stared at him. “Oh.”
Callum looked away. “Dinnae mind what I just said,” he said quickly. “It was really silly of me; I shouldnae have said anything.”
Ivor stood up and walked around the table, kneeling before Callum’s chair. He put a gentle hand under Callum’s chin, tilting the boy’s head so that they looked each other in the eye. “The road’s nae place for an orphan boy,” he said softly. “I ken that from experience.”
“I ken,” Callum replied, though he didn’t – how could he? Ivor had only ever shared the whole truth with Eithne. He was too young, too gentle. Too innocent. “But…”
“But?” Ivor prompted.
“But alone is nae place for an orphan boy either,” Callum said. His little eyes narrowed with stubbornness. “Mossie and I, we want to come with ye. Please dinnae send us away.”
Ivor looked at him a little helplessly, then glanced at Sadie, who seemed to be barely hiding a laugh behind her smile.
“Ken what it looks like to me, Ivor Sinclair?” Sadie asked, amused as she tended to a baby.
“What’s that?” he asked.
