Maggie stared at her in wonder. “You’re a Madam. You’d not want a child.”
Nora nodded. “I would never want to raise a child in the Bordello. But I’m still a woman. I had other dreams as a girl.” She paused as she returned to what she deemed the important topic. “Now you blame your father. He blames himself. Dunmore is missing, and you wish you were dead.” She raised an eyebrow. “Have I missed anything?”
“Dunmore’s dead,” Maggie whispered, battling tears.
“No, my dearest girl, not until years have passed or someone has found his body should you believe he’s dead. It’s odd to me that everyone’s body but his was found.” She paused, but Maggie remained quiet. “As for your anger toward your father, do you want to have his death on your conscience too?”
“His death?” Maggie asked, jerking with surprise at Nora’s frank question.
Nora’s intelligent brown eyes belied her annoyance. “How can you live with the man and not know what he’s planning?” At Maggie’s shake of her head, Nora said in a terse tone, “He’s planning to travel to that backwater town to search for Dunmore. Says he won’t come back until he has answers. Intends on taking a few of your brothers with him.”
“He can’t! It’s the busy season.” Maggie rubbed at her head, as she whispered, “He promised he’d never leave Mum again.”
Nora looked into Maggie’s tormented gaze. “For you, he’d break such a promise.”
Maggie pushed herself up, holding her hand out to help the older women rise. “No, I can’t allow that. I have to …” She paused as her breath caught. “I have to go, Madam Nora. Thank you.” Impulsively she threw her arms around the woman’s neck, giving her a hug.
Maggie raced along the path that ran along the backside of the town, ignoring those who called out to her. She refused to believe she’d be too late this time as well. Barreling into her father’s warehouse, she saw Kevin and Niall stare at her with concern and thinly veiled condemnation. “Da?” she gasped. At Kevin’s nod toward the office, Maggie approached with a sense of trepidation.
Peering inside, she paused, as she attempted to calm her breathing and to appear composed. Any such thought fled, as she saw her father slam his hand onto his desk, swear, and rise, as he faced away from the door, his head bowed. For the first time, he appeared defeated and dejected.
“Da?” she whispered.
Seamus turned to face Maggie, his gaze glowing with anguish, as he stared at his youngest daughter. “Lass, are you well?” He strode to her, his strong hands cupping her shoulders. “Did someone dare to harm you?”
“Da,” Maggie whispered again, as she fell forward into his strong arms. A keening wail emerged, as soul-deep sobs sputtered forth. She pressed herself farther into his embrace, relishing the feel of his sturdy chest underneath her.
“Whoever hurt you, lass,” Seamus murmured, as he held her close, “I promise. He’ll wish he’d never been born.”
Maggie sniffled and pushed herself backward to peer up at him. “No one hurt me, Da. I … Don’t leave. Don’t go,” she begged. “Don’t leave us alone here, without you.”
Seamus stilled, his gaze searching hers. “I have to go, my Maggie. I have to find your Dunmore. Bring him back, if he’s alive. And, if he’s not, bring him here, so you have a grave to pray over.”
Holding a hand to her heart, Maggie shook her head. “I have him here,” she said, as her breath stuttered. “I don’t want you to go.” She clung to his arms, when he attempted to move away from her. “You don’t have to prove anything to me, Da.” Tears clung to her long eyelashes, as she looked at him beseechingly. “Please. Don’t hurt me again.”
Seamus inhaled sharply, the rasp of his breath filling the otherwise silent room. “I need you to forgive me, Maggie.”
Maggie gasped in deep breaths, nodding subtly. “I do, Da. I realized, when the Madam told me what you had planned, that I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you too. Not because of me.”
He took a deep breath, his shoulders stiff, the lines around his mouth and his eyes even more pronounced by the grief and the sorrow he exuded. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to make this right, Maggie.”
She bit her lip and flushed. “I’m so sorry.”
He took a half step forward, cupping her cheek, as he gazed deeply into her eyes. “What do you have to ask my forgiveness for? I’m the one who hurt you.”
Maggie shook her head and then nodded, making it look as though her head were moving in a circle. Finally she blurted out, “I used words to hurt you, and I’ve held on to my anger as a shield. I wanted to hold it forever, so I never had to feel this sorrow. But Nora wouldn’t let me.” Tears slipped out. “She thinks I should continue to hope he’s alive, but should I?”
Seamus made a soft cooing sound, as he pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her again. “I don’t know what is right or wrong, my darling girl. I want you to do what will bring you the least pain.” He stroked a hand over her back and breathed into her ear. “And what will allow you to live a full life someday in the future.”
“I don’t want to imagine a life without him, Da,” she whispered, her voice breaking.
He tightened his hold on her. “I know, love. I know.”
Maggie stood for many minutes, taking solace from her father, discovering a small measure of peace after the past days and weeks of turmoil.
* * *
Seamus returned home to find Niamh at the stove. Her children played
