“Oh, he was an ornery old coot. Miss him to this day.” He sighed, as he shook his head. “He brought every known man to the house to entice Bessie, convinced she’d enjoy another’s company more than mine. They were bankers and lawyers and storeowners. None were river rats like me.” He sighed again. “I lived in fear those weeks.”
“Why?” Maggie whispered, her focus entirely on the man who was like a beloved cousin. “You knew she loved you.”
“I hoped,” he murmured. “But I knew I could never offer her what they could. I hoped to make a good livin’ one day, and I dreamed of bein’ a captain.” He stared at her, gleaming with pride at all he’d accomplished in his life.
“Weren’t you upset with her for having dinner with so many other men?” Maggie asked.
His expression held a residual pain, as he thought about those days. “I was never upset with her. If she wanted another man, I had no right to upserp her right to choose.”
“Usurp? Upset?” Maggie whispered.
“Exactly,” A.J. said, with a small smile. “I had to be brave enough to let her go.”
“What happened?” she asked in a low voice, ignoring the yells of the men around her.
“Oh, finally my Bessie’d had enough. Told her pa she’d see no more of the puffed-up peacocks and demanded I be invited for dinner.” A.J. smiled, his gaze distant, as he envisioned that scene. “I wore my best suit, which wasn’t sayin’ much. On the outside it looked respectable. On the inside, it was tattered.” He chuckled, as he acted out fingering the inside of a jacket. “Scraggly an’ ripped apart.”
Maggie giggled, and he grinned at her.
He wiggled a finger at her. “Never discount the importance of appearances, missy.” His smile faded to one of contentment. “All that evenin’ all I saw was my Bessie. Dressed in a beautiful ice-blue dress. We laughed and talked, and it seemed as though no one was there but us two.” He shrugged. “Her pa realized separatin’ us was a hopeless endeavor, an’, by the next mornin’, I had his blessin’ to wed his daughter.”
Maggie gripped his arm. “It can’t have been that simple, Mr. A.J.”
He nodded. “It was. Her father saw us together and understood he could make a decision that would lead to his daughter’s misery or to her joy. He loved her enough to want to see her happy.” He shifted to rise, pausing to murmur. “Forgive them. Neither acted to hurt you, Maggie. Sometimes we are blinded by our love and our need to protect those we love.” He squeezed her shoulder, as he rose and moved away.
Maggie sat for long minutes, staring at the Missouri, thinking through A.J.’s story and his subtle yet compelling advice.
* * *
Maggie walked to the Bordello in silence, her brother Kevin beside her. Although the owner, Nora, was a family friend and had helped Niamh after the death of her first husband, Maggie had never before been asked to enter the house of ill repute. Seamus had agreed to the request, as long as at least one of her brothers was with her.
“You know you’ll have to speak to him at some point,” Kevin murmured, as he nodded to townsfolk.
Maggie kicked at a stone. “When Dunmore is back, and all is well between us again. Then I will speak with Da. Then he will be forgiven.”
“Mags,” Kevin cajoled. “That could be weeks from now. Don’t make us suffer through more tense evenings like last night.”
Stopping, Maggie looked up to glare at her older brother. Like her and their mum, he had brown hair. Unlike her, he also had Mum’s hazel eyes. “Don’t make this out to be my fault,” she hissed. “I’m not the one who separated his daughter from the man she loved because he was so miserly with his own love that he couldn’t bear to share!”
Gripping her arm, Kevin tugged Maggie away from the bustling boardwalk to the river and to a place where they could have a private talk. Kevin bent forward, speaking in a low voice, as his eyes flashed with anger and a warning. “No, Mags, you know that ’tisn’t how it was at all. Da is not miserly. He’s overgenerous.” He paused. “I know you suffered away from us. I know you still worry about that crazy man who’s after you. But you have no idea what Da suffered.”
Maggie shook her head in confusion. “We were all lonely and miserable.” She shrugged her shoulders.
“Aye, but Da was tormented too because all he wanted was Mum. And he thought he’d failed you, by not being a good-enough father and provider. That due to him and his inability to provide for Mum, he’d caused your death. That he’d killed you and Mum.”
Maggie’s eyes rounded.
“’Twas a heavy burden for him to carry.” He sighed. “Then, when Colleen started harpin’ on him about lovin’ a dead woman more than he would ever love her, his life was a true misery.”
“Da would never have caused us harm. He always does what he can for us.” Maggie bit her lip at what she’d just admitted out loud.
Kevin gave a knowing nod. “Aye. Don’t punish him for holding you a bit too close after havin’ lived through the hell of losin’ you. He’s a good man, Mags, but he’s a man. He makes mistakes, like we all do.”
Maggie nodded, sniffling. Finally she whispered, “Is Dunmore as good a man as I thought he was?” When Kevin stared at her incredulously, she barreled on. “Why would he agree to Da’s demand? Why wouldn’t he speak with me and make sure I understood?”
Kevin squeezed her shoulder. “I can’t answer that, lass. Only he knows his reasons.” He sighed, as he looked down the Missouri at the sight of another steamboat approaching. “What I do know is that Dunmore is a good man. He was
