“You can’t spank me,” she sniffed, tears running down her cheeks as she looked at him accusingly. “Love means never havin’ to say you’re sorry, so…”
“That’s the most ridiculous thing I ever heard. Of course people should say they’re sorry if they’ve done wrong. I expect you’ll be sayin’ it from the first smack on your cute bottom. The question will be, do you mean it?” he teased, wiping her tears away and kissing her on the nose. Tucking her safely into the car, he drove her home and walked her to her door. Under the porch light, he took her in his arms and held her. She’d been sniffling all the way home.
“You’re a silly girl, Maeve darlin’,” he crooned. “’Tis only a movie.”
“But it could happen,” she insisted taking the hankie he offered. “Just suppose you spanked me and I died?”
“No one ever died from a spankin’,” he pointed out with a laugh.
“But suppose I was really sick, like that girl and we didn’t know it. Then you’d feel terrible knowin’ you treated me so shamefully and then I died,” she sighed, looking up at him from under her lashes. “Why I’d bet you’d carry the guilt for the rest of your life.”
Sean rocked her back and forth in his arms, trying to determine if she was having a go at him or not. She was pretty sly, his Maeve, and if he couldn’t figure out when to comfort and when to be firm with her, theirs was going to be a very tumultuous marriage.
“Don’t you worry, lass. You seem to be healthy, and I doubt I’d ever feel guilty over tannin’ your hide if you deserved it. In fact, I’m more likely to feel bad if I knew you were manipulatin’ me and I let you get away with it,” he continued, rubbing her back.
“What?” she asked sharply, her head popping up from his chest.
“You heard me, lass. It occurs to me that you’re pretty clever,” he observed, looking down at her. “I may have underestimated you.”
“You’re no slouch yourself, O’Malley,” she replied.
He could almost see the wheels turning as she glared at him.
“It appears we are well matched, Miss Donahue. See that you remember it,” he ordered, taking her chin in his fingers and tipping her face up to his. “Now give me a kiss.”
“I’d like to give you somethin’,” she hissed.
“I know.” Grinning he continued, “You already offered but I prefer to wait till there’s a ring on your finger.”
“Are you sure you don’t mean through my nose, and that’s not what I meant,” she said with an unladylike snort.
Done arguing, Sean snagged her closer with one arm and brought her to her tiptoes as his lips claimed hers. He was delighted to feel her hands clutch his shoulders. She may have thought she was going to fall, but he had no intention of letting her go, not now, not ever. When he finally released her, she slumped against him, and he enjoyed that too.
“The neighbors will be talkin’,” she complained when she’d regained her breath.
“Let them. Are you ashamed to be seen kissin’ me?”
It took her a moment, but she finally replied, “No.”
“Good, now go on in before you catch a cold,” he advised, pulling up her collar and smoothing her long hair down her back.
“Or worse,” she grinned with a wink. Popping up on her toes, she kissed his cheek, surprising him. He waited until he heard the door lock behind her before walking away.
* * *
He was waiting for her at Mass Sunday morning. Taking her arm, he steered her to the O’Malley pew, nodding at her parents. His parents moved over, allowing Sean to sit on the aisle.
Maeve could feel the stares boring into her back and hear the tittering of some of her friends as they whispered behind their hands. Her cheeks heated up when Sean draped his arm along the back of the pew.
“Before we begin today, I have a few announcements,” Father Fitzgerald said, moving off the dais and walking to the end of the aisle. “Mrs. Jamison has given birth to a fine baby boy. I know, I know,” he sighed as the congregation moaned collectively. “We were all hopin’ for a girl this time,” he continued shrugging his shoulders. “Seven sons is quite a handful, but the good Lord knows what’s best and she and John are pleased nonetheless.Now if any of you ladies want to swap?” he teased, looking at the O’Connor’s six daughters. Mrs. O’Connor laughed and shook her head as she snagged a toddler in a blue dress and pulled her back into their pew.
“Mr. O’Reilly is back in the hospital, so if any of you have the time, it might be nice to pay him a visit. He’ll be laid up for quite a while as he’s broken his hip, and we all know how lonely he’s been since his wife passed on. His daughter, Mary Ellen, will be arrivin’ next week, and I’m sure she’ll be attendin’ Mass at St. Patrick’s, so please make her feel welcome.
“The Christmas Pageant will be on Christmas Eve this year. Now, I know there’s been some talk of movin’ it up a day so as not to interfere with Midnight Mass, but I feel ’tis important for the little ones to have somethin’ on that most holy of nights, and many are too young to attend the late service, so we’ll be leavin’ it where ’tis always been.
“Sean O’Malley has received his degree early and is back at home with his parents. He’d also like me to announce his recent engagement to Miss Maeve Donahue. Their weddin’ will be in late summer of next year. If you see them after Mass, be sure to congratulate them.
“Now, have I missed anythin’?” he asked, waiting for a few moments. When no one responded, he nodded and turned, bowing before he ascended the steps to the altar.
