He tried to focus on his work, rinsing off the dishes in a bowl of water one at a time, then drying them, but the simple task could not take his mind off what was happening in the other room. Now Ciara was saying her prayers with Maddie, hands clasped and face lifted up. Sylvie used to kneel at his side when he was Ciara’s age, encouraging him, guiding him. Good for Maddie for wanting to take that role with her siblings.
“And bless the Dead Rabbits and all those who work to protect us,” Ciara said.
Michael stiffened. He could see Maddie raise her head as well. The gang had cost more than one of Sylvie’s children a parent, forced Michael out of his home and job. Why would Ciara want to bless them?
“Sure-n it’s a fine thing to bless your enemies,” he heard Maddie say. “Perhaps we should ask the Lord to change their hearts instead, help them use their influence to the good.”
“They already do,” Ciara protested, but Maddie must have given her a look, for she humphed and raised her eyes again. “And help the Dead Rabbits do more good things. And make Katie O’Doul sorry she ever hurt Michael.”
Michael nearly dropped the plate. He shouldn’t be surprised Ciara knew about Katie’s defection. He and his aunt had talked about the matter often enough in the evenings when they thought the children were asleep. But Sylvie’s flat was small and cramped; nothing remained a secret for long. And much as a part of him would once have considered asking the Lord for vengeance, he knew it was wrong. Katie had made her choice just as he had, and they each must live with the consequences.
“Are you sure that’s how you want to be ending your prayers?” Maddie prompted her sister.
Ciara humphed again. “Fine.” She cleared her throat. “And I suppose You should help Katie O’Doul do Your will as well. Amen.” She dropped her hands. “Now will you leave me be?”
Maddie leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Only after I’ve wished you sweet dreams, me darling girl. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Well, of course,” Ciara said, but her cheeks were a pleased pink as Maddie took the lamp and left the room.
He thought she might turn in for the night as well, but she joined him at the sideboard and plucked the towel from his shoulder as if intending to help him finish his task. Her sigh told him she was none too sure about her siblings.
“They’re settling in already,” he told her. “It will only get easier from here.”
“I hope you’re right,” Maddie said, taking the dishes he’d already dried and stacking them on the shelves above the sideboard. “It would be nice if something was easy.”
“That was a long boat ride coming out here,” he said, offering her a smile.
She chuckled. “Try it with sixty-odd females all determined to find a mate before they even reach shore.”
He decided not to tell her about the stories in the newspaper. “You arrived unscathed.”
“Unscathed and unwed and thankful for both,” she assured him. She accepted the last plate from him, and their fingers brushed. Her touch was warmer than the water.
He shook the suds off his hands, feeling as if he needed to shake off the feelings she raised in him as well. “I thought Asa Mercer brought all you ladies just to wed.”
Her face was reddening. “Sure-n and he didn’t tell us that he had the husbands all picked out until we were almost here! He even accepted bride prices for us. Well, I wanted no part of that. I came here for one reason—to make a home for Ciara and Aiden, and forget all about New York.”
They had that in common, the need to start over. “Sylvie said you lost your father and stepmother in the tenement fire last year,” Michael murmured. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“’Twas a sad, sad time,” she answered, setting the plate on the shelf. “I just wanted to hold Ciara and Aiden close, never let go. Leaving them behind was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, for all I knew it was the only way. I had to go somewhere I could be more, so I could be enough for them.” She glanced toward him. “I suppose that makes no sense to you.”
“More than you might think,” he said, remembering his reasons for leaving New York. “What should I do with this water?”
“Leave it by the door to the stairs. I’ll take it down with me in the morning and use it to scrub the floors.”
She stepped away from the shelf with a nod as if satisfied with their work and turned for her room. Though she left the lamp on the table, he felt as if some of the light went with her.
She’d taken only a couple of steps, however, before she turned to face him. “Thank you for your help, Michael Haggerty. Now if you’ll be so good as to answer a question or two for me.”
Michael toweled off his hands. “What do you want to know?”
She gazed up at him, the light shining in her dark brown eyes. “Are you involved with the Dead Rabbits?”
Had Sylvie written to her? But no, Maddie had been surprised to see him on the pier. It must have been Ciara’s prayer that had raised the question in Maddie’s mind.
“I’ll have no truck with gangs,” Michael promised her.
She seemed to accept that, and he relaxed.
Her next question, however, drove all thought from his mind.
“So, who is Katie O’Doul?” Maddie asked, watching him. “And why would Ciara wish her to regret how she hurt you?”
Maddie watched as Michael’s eyes dilated until the blue seemed as vast as the sky. Did he know that his face gave him away? She could see every thought, every hope on those firm features.
He set down the cloth he’d been using on the dishes and stepped away from the bucket. He must have splashed water on himself at some point, because she could see darker spots on his shirt. He took a deep breath as if determined to give her a good answer. She found herself holding her own breath, waiting.
“I courted Miss O’Doul for a time,” he said slowly, as if measuring each word as she might have measured an ingredient for her baking. “She decided we would not suit.”
As simple as that. She wasn’t sure why she was certain there was more to the story. Perhaps it was the tense line of his body, poised as if ready to escape. It was none of her affair, yet she felt as miffed as Ciara had been about Miss O’Doul’s decision.
“Well, then,” she told him. “I’ll know how to help Ciara pray in the future. Sure-n but it’s intelligence and wisdom Miss O’Doul must be lacking to refuse a fine upstanding gentleman like yourself.”
She’d hoped for a smile, but he turned away from her. The hurt went deeper than she’d thought, or perhaps it was merely too soon for him to feel comfortable joking about it.
“If there’s nothing else you need from me tonight, Maddie,” he said, “I’ll be turning in.”
All at once she wanted more. There was nothing wrong with two people from common backgrounds sitting at a table, swapping tales, perhaps sharing a chuckle. She’d seen her friend Allegra and her husband, Clay, behave that way aboard ship, and Maddie had thought it a shame her father and stepmother hadn’t managed that kind of relationship. They’d each put so much time and energy into keeping the family fed and housed that they’d nothing left for companionship. It must be her own hard work that had her thinking about a quiet cup of tea with a friend just then.
Besides, why be companionable with a man who would be in her life less than a month if she had her preferences?
“I