Page 77 of In Search of a Husband
“Yer fancy parties and pretty things, no doubt. Must be so hard to return home to yer castle,” Finn muttered.
She stomped forward and waved her finger in front of his face. “My brother died,” she nearly growled.
Finn tossed his arms into the air. “And everybody forgot he was my friend. He was like a brother to me as well.”
“Right, is that why ye stumble around drunk for days and canna get out of yer own way to piss? If he was yer brother, then ye did a shite job protecting him. Ye hung around and wallowed and drank and gambled away everything until it was too late for him.”
Gabriel placed his hands on her shoulders, feeling the tense roll of her small body. Their mother used to call her Lioness. And he remembered Elsie would cry, wishin’ to be a bear. That was how Elsie was. She always wanted what she couldn’t have.
Including Finlay Wallace.
“That’s enough now, lass.”
She shook off his touch. “Dinna dare tell me how to feel now, Brother. Ye left as well. Then came home to play hero, but ye think ye’re too good for Kate, and ye’re going to do the same as Finn. Ye’re gonna take everything she has until she breaks, and then ye’ll be askin’ why she left.”
“Kate?” Gabriel cleared his voice, wishing suddenly to switch the topic.
“Och, ye think we dinna see?” Finn laughed, tossing his head back. “Ye’re blind. And ye’re bloody daft to think we dinna ken what ye’re about with that Englishwoman.”
“Dinna call her that,” Gabriel snapped.
Elsie snickered, and he turned to glare at her just as screams erupted from the kitchen.
Gabriel was running before he could think better of it and rushed down the stairs, deep into the bowels of the castle until the screams pierced his ears, and his heart hammered against his chest.
“It’s a miracle!”
He struggled to catch his breath, his eyes jumping from Maisie and Lorna before Kate stepped into view with the old cat clawing its way out of her arms covered in butter.
“Ben’s alive! Alive! Alive!” The girls yelled and danced around thesmall kitchen as he stood there, realizing he didn’t care for the governess. It was some tryst or affair. He damn well loved the woman, and it made no difference if the old cat had run off to die, or Finn and Elsie were at each other’s throats, or Mrs. Malcolm shuffled through the doorway waving her beloved broom at the girls to quiet down.
Because this was his world now.
She was his world.
“Ye touch me again, Finn, and I dare ye to see what I do,” Elsie snapped.
“Christ, woman. I tripped.”
They mumbled at one another as they stumbled into the kitchen.
This was chaos.
This was family.
And Kate smiled back, shrugging her shoulders before she began to leave.
And that was when he knew, well and truly, that he loved Katherine Bancroft with each beat of his heart.
And he’d lose her far too soon.
CHAPTER 20
Kate finished walkingthrough all the guest rooms once more, fixing quilts and making sure the windows were clean, and each room smelled of cinnamon and vanilla. She wished for their guests to feel warm and welcome and at ease.
“It’s good,” Gabriel said, stopping in the hallway to poke his head in. “Damn near perfect, actually.”
“Wherever I am concerned, yes, I tend to agree.”
