Father For Keeps

He stood and took her in his arms to give her a chaste kiss. “The ‘yes’ was all I needed to hear.”

She leaned her head against his chest, her heart bursting with happiness. “I love you, Sean,” she said again. Perhaps this time he’d say the words himself.

“I almost forgot!” he said instead. He released her and began to fish in his watch pocket, finally drawing out a tiny ring box. “This is for you.”

She took the velvet case and opened it. Even m the darkness, the stones glittered in regal splendor. A spectacular diamond, completely encircled by smaller rubies. Kate looked up at him in amazement. “You didn’t get this in Vermillion.”

He laughed. “Lord, no. It’s from San Francisco. I brought it with me when I came. Are you thinking it was vain of me to be so sure I could persuade you to forgive me?”

She shook her head. What she was thinking was that this showed he really had come back for her, come back expressly to marry her. Which meant that his words about how he had never stopped thinking about her in all those months were true. “It’s so beautiful, Sean,” she said simply.

He took the ring from the box and slipped it on her finger, then held her hand out to the moonlight so that they could admire it together. “It suits you, I think.”

Kate smiled and shook her head. “It’s far more elegant than anything I’ve ever owned or expected to own.”

“You can flaunt it in front of Mrs. Billngsley and all those other self-righteous biddies who gave you a hard time about the baby.”

Kate dropped her hand to her side. “I’ll love the ring because you gave it to me, Sean, not for any other reason. I have no bitterness against those ladies. They were merely upholding the standards of propriety that they had been raised to believe in.”

“Well, they didn’t have to try to ruin your and Jennie’s lives because of it.”

“That’s all past. Everyone in town accepts me now. And our true friends have supported us all along.”

Sean shrugged, but said with a grin, “I’ll still look forward to seeing old lady Billingsley’s face when she sees it on you.”

Kate laughed. “I might get a tiny bit of enjoyment out of that sight myself.”

“He bought the ring in San Francisco, Jennie. You see what that means—he came back intending to marry me.”

Kate’s face was radiant with happiness. The two sisters were out in the little washhouse behind the main house, working on the seemingly endless task of washing linen. Dennis, Brad and Smitty came in filthy every night from the mine and went through several towels each. Carter’s prosecutor job was not as dirtying, but he was a fastidious man who also liked a daily bath. And Barnaby, though he would easily forgo the bathing process if the sisters would let him, managed to track m more dirt than the four adult men combined. With so many towels, along with the sheets and other laundry, Kate and Jennie found themselves out at the washing shed almost every day.

“It’s too bad he couldn’t have done that a few months back,” Jennie said dryly. She seemed reluctant to endorse Kate’s sudden change of position on Sean. Of course, Jennie had been cynical about men in general before she’d fallen for Carter.

Kate picked up the ring, which she’d carefully set on a shelf while they scrubbed the clothes. “I never thought to have anything this pretty,” she said dreamily

“A pretty ring doesn’t make a marriage, Kate. Are you sure about this? Are you sure you won’t be too lonely way off in San Francisco?”

Kate’s expression dimmed. “Sean said we’d come for regular visits. And you can come to see us.”

“It’ll be hard for all of us to let little Caroline go. The first thing the silverheels do each night when they get home is go in to check on her. Carter, too. And you know Barnaby considers himself her personal protector.”

“I’ll always be grateful for that, Jennie. Caroline hasn’t felt the absence of a father because she’s had a whole household of them. But if she can have her real father, don’t you think that’s better?”

“I just hope Sean’s family will love you both as much as we do.”

“I’m sure they’ll be wonderful. Sean said he told them before he ever left that he was hoping to bring home a bride.”

“He was sure of himself, wasn’t he?”

Kate chuckled but then became serious. “You can’t imagine how important this has been to me, sis. When he left me that spring, I thought I’d been foolish to believe that he loved me. But now I see that he really did love me all along. It just took him a bit longer to figure it out.”

Jennie’s smile was weak, but she walked around the wooden washtub to give her sister a hug. “He’d just better have it figured out now, because it’s a big responsibility to take on a wife and baby. If he’s not up to it, he’ll have to answer to the whole passel of us.”

“I can’t believe you would be such an idiot, Kate.” Lyle Wentworth was striding angrily up and down the front porch of the Sheridan house while Kate sat on the swing at one end trying to stay calm.

“And I can’t believe you would use that tone of voice to me, Lyle Wentworth. If you came here to shout, you can leave right now.”

He spun around and walked back toward her, his long face contrite. “I’m sorry, Kate, but, honestly, you’ve got to realize what a mistake you’re making. This man abandoned you when you were expecting his child.”

“We’ve been through that, Lyle. I’ve listened to Sean’s explanations and I’ve decided to forgive him. I’m sorry that this is disappointing you. I know you…”

“You know I’ve loved you my whole life. I’ve waited for you. When you had to be by yourself at the hospital in Virginia City, who was the one who stayed by your side? It sure as hell wasn’t your fast-talking rich boyfriend.”

Kate stood and faced him. “I’ve asked you to watch your language, Lyle.”

His eyes reflected his misery. “Don’t scold me, Kate Can’t you see how I’m suffering?”

“I’m orry, Lyle.” Ana she was truly sorry. Lyle

had been a help and comfort to her when she’d been so sick before Caroline’s birth, and he’d been a devoted visitor ever since. If she’d let him, he would have called on her daily. Frequently he arrived with trinkets for the baby, flowers for her or sweetmeats for their table. But she’d never been able to get over the feeling that Lyle viewed her as something he wanted to possess. As the only child of the town banker, he’d had everything he wanted his whole life—everything except Kate.

“Just take some more time to think about it, Kate. The guy’s been back less than a month. And you were together only a couple months in the first place. You don’t really know him that well.”

She could have told Lyle that she knew enough to realize that Sean’s kisses made her heart soar, whereas the few times Lyle had kissed her, she’d felt nothing. But such an admission would be too cruel to an old friend. “The heart is a funny thing, Lyle. Sean and I haven’t spent that much time together, but I love him. It’s as simple as that, really.”

They were still standing in front of the swing. Lyle grabbed the chain and moved it back and forth in frustration. “I think you’re wrong, Kate. Sometimes it’s not that simple at all. When you go into his world in San Francisco, you may find that love isn’t enough. And by then it’ll be too late. All the people who love you will be too far away to help.”

Jennie had offered similar sentiments, but Kate was ignoring them all. Of course, Sean needed to be back in his world. He was expected to take his place in his father’s business and, as his wife, it was her duty to live where he needed to be. She stopped the motion of the swing with her knee and laid her hand on Lyle’s. “It’s where I belong,” she said, her eyes sad. “I’ll never forget what you’ve done for me, Lyle. But you’ve got to let me go and give me a chance to build a life with my child’s father.”

Lyle pulled his hand out from hers. “I won’t wish you luck, Kate,” he said tightly. Then he turned around, crossed the porch and ran down the path to the street.

Kate insisted on keeping the wedding preparations to a minimum. Though everyone in the household offered best wishes, she knew that Lyle’s skepticism and Jennie’s concern were shared by the others. No one else in town had been invited. Some of their friends had been staunch supporters during Kate’s unwed pregnancy, but she thought it was unseemly to advertise the nature of Caroline’s birth with a regular wedding.

So it was just the family and the three silverheels who lined up in the parlor to listen to Kate and Sean exchange vows in front of Reverend O’Connor. An Irishman himself, the blustery minister seemed willing to overlook Sean’s tardy arrival on the scene months after his daughter’s birth.

“May the Lord bless you both on this holy occasion,” he said in closing, and shook the groom’s hand warmly before accepting just a “wee” glass of the celebratory champagne Sean had insisted on having brought from Virginia City.

Kate was kissed by each of the silverheels in turn, then Carter, and finally by a teary-eyed Jennie. “Be happy, Kate,” she whispered. “That’s all I want.”

All in all it was a subdued evening, and by the time she and Sean left to go back and spend their wedding night at his hotel, Kate’s stomach was jumping with nerves.

“Would you like me to have some food sent up, sweetheart?” Sean asked as he took off his blue suit coat and hung it on the clothes tree. “I noticed that you didn’t eat anything back at your house.”

“I wasn’t hungry,” she said, and walked toward the bed, feeling odd and lonely, as if she had already said goodbye to her family and home.

Sean came up behind her and put his arms around her. “You’re tired. You’ve worn yourself out packing the last two days. I’m sorry I couldn’t have waited longer, but I know my father is anxious for me to get back to San Francisco.”

The warmth of his arms dispelled some of her gloom. “It’s going to be hard to leave tomorrow,” she agreed. “But as you say, we’ll see them often. And I’ll have the two most important people in my life with me.”