Ciara humphed and crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s servant work. Servants should be paid.”
“You aren’t servants,” Maddie said, meeting their gazes in turn. “You’re members of this household. We all work together and we all share the rewards.”
Aiden perked up. “Like cakes.”
Maddie nodded. “Like cakes and the other goods from the bakery. But we cannot be eating all our wares or we’ll have nothing to sell and no money to buy what we need.”
They both sobered at that, nodding their agreement. Like Maddie, they must remember the times when Da and their mum had been out of work, and food had been hard to come by.
“I expect you to be kind to each other and me,” Maddie finished. “And under no circumstances will you allow Amelia Batterby out of doors. She’ll run off or be eaten by one of the fearsome creatures in the woods, bears and cougars and wolves. Neither of you is to go into the forest alone. Take an adult who knows the area with you.”
She couldn’t help glancing at Michael. He had stopped washing at some point and was listening to her, his head cocked so that a lock of black hair fell over his forehead. Why did her fingers itch to tuck it back?
Now he nodded agreement but did not offer commentary. She’d asked him to stay out of her business, but his silence somehow felt worse than his interference.
She turned back to her siblings. Aiden was already fidgeting in his chair, gaze toward his bedroom door, where Amelia Batterby was giving herself a bath. Ciara was watching Maddie with a smug smile, as if she knew Maddie was having trouble keeping a dark-haired Irishman out of her thoughts.
“Off to bed with you, then,” Maddie told them. “I’ll come hear your prayers shortly.”
They seemed to accept that, for they rose and left her for their rooms. She turned to Michael. “Well, Mr. Haggerty? Have you nothing to say about the matter?”
He shrugged, hands splashing in the water. “Not my place to say, as you pointed out. But if you want my opinion, I think you handled that well.”
She wasn’t sure why that warmed her so. She didn’t need his approval. She didn’t need his help. She certainly didn’t need his distracting presence.
“Thank you,” she said, determined to be no more than polite. She eyed him a moment. He’d rubbed soap on her dishrag, and the bubbles were dripping from his fingers. Long, strong fingers they were also meant for far more than washing her dishes or eating her biscuits.
Maddie drew in a breath, preparing herself to take up the next difficult subject. “And then, Mr. Haggerty,” she said, “there’s the matter of what I’m supposed to do with you.”
* * *
So she’d come to a decision. Michael could tell by the way she raised her chin. Though he stood taller in response, he couldn’t match her for seriousness.
“I’m a bit old to go to school like Ciara and Aiden,” he offered, trying not to smile.
“You’re never too old to learn,” she countered. “And I imagine the university president would be over the moon to have a second student old enough to graduate. But going to school won’t be paying your debt, which is what you said you wanted.”
More than anything. But to pay his debt to her, he needed work, either at her bakery or at some other business in Seattle.
“So what, then?” he asked.
She nodded toward the floor. “You can sleep near the stove, and I’ll provide you food until you can provide for yourself. I haven’t a blanket to spare right now with the children arriving. Did you bring bedclothes with you?”
“Sylvie sent a blanket with me for the boat,” he said. “I can use that.”
“Good. Sure-n it won’t be a soft bed, but I’ve had worse.”
Had she? He knew she and the children had lived in the tenements of Five Points, most of which were furnished with beds. It was the number of people sharing those beds, as entire families crowded into a single room, that made life difficult.
“After I’ve finished the morning baking,” she continued, “I’ll show you the doing of the laundry.”
That ought to be less than amusing. Him, Irishtown’s finest, doing laundry. But he was determined to pay her back, so he merely nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
She made a face, nose scrunching and mouth tightening into a bow. “And you can stop calling me ‘ma’am,’” she told him. “You make me feel as old as a granny.”
He couldn’t help his grin at that. No granny he’d ever known had looked half so fetching with her eyes snapping fire.
“Yes, Miss O’Rourke,” he agreed.
She blew out a breath. “Would it be killing you to call me Maddie?”
“No trouble at all, Maddie,” he assured her, liking the feel of the name on his tongue. “And you might try calling me Michael. It’s a mite easier to say than Mr. Haggerty.”
She gave him a nod, but didn’t come out and say his first name. “Very well. Then there’s the matter of the rules.”
“I heard them,” Michael said. “And I’ll honor them. Since I don’t know the area, I won’t be taking the children on any outings among the trees.”
“You’ll not be taking the children on outings anywhere,” she informed him. “I told you—you may sleep here and eat here, and it goes without saying that you’ll be doing the laundry here until you find a job. I can see the effort you’re making not to come between me and Ciara and Aiden, and I thank you for it. But the sooner you find work and a place of your own, the better it will be for all of us.”
He knew she was right, yet still a part of him balked. He’d spent nearly three months watching over Ciara and Aiden, rejoicing with them when they excelled, encouraging them when they feared, admonishing them when they strayed. She couldn’t ask him to simply turn off those feelings, leave the children behind like unwanted baggage.
But tonight might not be the best moment to argue his case. The better approach would be to bide his time, show her how helpful he could be. Then maybe she’d let him remain a part of Ciara’s and Aiden’s lives. He’d had to leave everyone else he loved back in New York. They were his last ties to his old life.
“I’ll start looking for work tomorrow,” he promised. “As soon as I finish the little tasks you have for me.”
Her smile curved up. “You might not be calling my laundry little once you’ve seen the piles awaiting you, Michael Haggerty. Finish the dishes if you’ve the will. I’ll be back shortly.” She turned and swept toward Aiden’s room.
She was going to make him earn every penny of that ticket money. He found he didn’t mind. His gaze followed her into the bedchamber, where Aiden knelt beside his bed with bowed head. Maddie gathered up her skirts and knelt beside him, listening as the boy murmured prayers for friends and family.
Michael rubbed at the plates in the cooling water, his own mind turning upward. Prayer comes easily for him, Father. There have been times it didn’t come so easily for me. Thank You for new opportunities. Help me to make the most of them.
Aiden climbed into bed, and Maddie pulled the covers up around him. As if granting Aiden’s earlier request, Amelia Batterby leaped up and curled onto the foot. Bending, Maddie pressed a kiss against her brother’s forehead. Michael felt as if her lips touched his skin instead, gentle, sweet.
What was wrong with him? So what if she was as pretty as Katie? He wasn’t going to let a woman, particularly one he wasn’t so sure about, into his confidence again.
He still remembered