“What you feel makes you human, beloved, not a bad person. If you didn’t want him dead, then I’d worry about you.” He paused, as she stared at him for a long moment, as though assessing him to see if he spoke truth or was merely attempting to soothe her. With a long sigh, he blurted out, “Do you think less of me because I fantasize about all the ways I can torture the man?” When she gaped at him, he flushed. “Forgive me.”
She clung to him, when he moved to slip out from underneath her. “You do?” she asked in astonishment.
“Why are you so surprised?” He looked at her, with a hint of disappointment. “If someone hurt Niamh, what would you want to do?”
“Slip a bit of poison in their drink,” Maggie said, without thought. “I wish I’d known what a monster Connor was. I could have eased her torment sooner.”
Dunmore bit back a bark of astonished laughter. “Never admit that to anyone else. Promise me, Maggie.” When she shrugged and nodded, he sighed. “The sheriff would be only too happy to look into suspicious deaths.”
Rolling her eyes, Maggie rested her head down again, her fingers playing in his chest hair. “No, he wouldn’t. He’s investigated three murders in the past year, and you know as well as I do that at least three men die a week when the steamboats are in town. The sheriff has a penchant for becoming deaf and dumb, if he’s offered enough of an incentive.”
Dunmore sighed. “Aye, an’ he knows the men guilty of murder would string him up as easily as they did the men they murdered. I think he has no desire to become the latest resident in our town cemetery.” He paused and shook his head. “Back to our original discussion. Do you think less of me for wanting to punish Bergeron for hurting you?” He had discovered that Maggie didn’t react as violently if he used Jacques’s last name.
“Of course not.” She bit her lip and looked away.
“Beloved?” he asked, tilting his head to better see her expression.
“I feel embarrassed because you would want to act in such a way for me.”
“Embarrassed?” He rolled, so she was on her side, and he could better look into her eyes in the darkened room, only lit by the faint light of the moonlight entering a window. “My desire to defend you embarrasses you?”
She gripped his shoulder and smiled brightly. “No, of course it doesn’t. I’m embarrassed it brings me so much delight. That you love me so much that you’d want to act in such a way.” She traced a finger over his eyebrow. “To know that you are as affected by your feelings for me as I am for you.”
“Of course I am,” he breathed, arching down to kiss her.
She kissed him back, gasping when he broke the kiss. “I shouldn’t relish the thought of you beating him to a pulp.”
“Of course you should,” he murmured, kissing her again. “And, if I don’t do it, one of your brothers or your father will. You have many champions.” He deepened their kiss, his hands roving over her. After they were both breathless, he rolled to his side, “Come. I should let you rest.”
“Or you could help replace all the nightmares with the best of waking dreams,” she teased, as she ran her hands through his long hair and caressed his head. “Now I know what Da is talking about when he asks if we are in the midst of waking dreams. He’s been in one since Mum returned.”
“I’ve been in one since the moment I saw you,” Dunmore whispered, lowering his head for another kiss, and soon they were lost to their waking dream.
* * *
A few nights later, Maggie sat beside Dunmore at her parents’ table. She glanced around the crowded table, smiling at how little had changed. The younger boys sat at one end, jabbering away and laughing, as they recounted and embellished stories from the summer. Niall and Lucien had formed a tight bond and spoke in soft undertones, as they waited for supper to be served.
Samantha, the woman who had traveled with Declan as his wet nurse to baby Gavin and now worked as a nanny, sat near Niall and Lucien, and Maggie couldn’t determine which one she favored. Both of her brothers treated her like a good friend, but Maggie wondered when that would change and wondered if there would be sore feelings when Samantha chose the brother she desired.
Pushing aside that thought, she watched Eamon flirting with Phoebe, as she held their one-year-old daughter, Orla. Ardan cast furtive, worried glances at a very pregnant Deirdre, as though afraid she’d go into labor at any moment. She, in turn, stroked a hand down his arm in an attempt to soothe his concern. Declan and Lorena canoodled like newlyweds, even with Gavin settled on Declan’s lap. Kevin and Aileen sat near Seamus and spoke with him and Dunmore. Finn attempted to appear jovial, but he was unable to hide the sadness in his gaze.
“Finn,” Maggie murmured, as Dunmore spoke with her Da. “Are you well?”
He forced a smile and then sobered, when she stared at him with patient understanding. Her steadfast stare prevented him from prevaricating. “No,” he said in a low tone. “I feel alone in a sea of people.”
Her eyes widened in shock, and her gaze filled with compassion, as she reached out to grip his hand. “I know how hard that can be, Finn.” She sighed, casting a quick glance in her husband’s direction. “Although my period of disillusionment was short, I know how painful it can be.”
“The worst thing is
