found that hard to believe. “They’d pay those kind of prices to any woman?”
Maddie shrugged as if the matter were out of her hands. “There are nine men for every female over the age of twelve here. Before we came on the Continental, fellows were paying fathers to hold their newborn daughter to marry when she was of age, just so they’d know they’d have a wife someday.”
“That’s madness,” Michael said, stepping away from the door.
“That’s loneliness,” Maddie countered, pulling open the curtain to the kitchen. “I suppose they think it’s better to have a spouse than live alone. Can’t say I agree with them.”
Was she so willing to encourage her customers, only to leave the men dangling? He couldn’t help thinking of Katie, with her sweet smiles and warm words, until he’d refused to risk his future to help the Dead Rabbits. He’d wondered whether she was the only woman to think her power was more important than her suitor’s love. He wasn’t sure why he was disappointed to find Maddie O’Rourke might think the same way.
Michael followed her into the kitchen. “With dozens of suitors to choose from, you haven’t found one to your liking?” he asked, trying for a light tone. “Are your standards so high, Maddie?”
She chuckled as she pulled a canister from under her worktable and pried off the lid. “Sure-n I could find more than one fellow in that lot to marry, if marriage was important to me.” She jingled the coins she drew from her skirts and dropped them into the tin with a clank. “As it is, if I marry I have to share all this. Why would I want to be doing that, when it’s my efforts that earned it in the first place?”
He couldn’t argue with her there. He knew the law generally granted any money a woman earned to her husband. But to be so coldhearted about it? That didn’t make sense.
She cocked her head, watching him. “You look disappointed in my answer. Did you think I should give up my dreams to marry? You never let love get in the way of your goals, did you now? You wouldn’t have let your Katie sway you from your intended course.”
“I fell in love,” he admitted, “but I never lost sight of my goals. If I had been willing to compromise my values, I might be married by now.”
“Love is compromise from what I can see,” she said, going to the washbasin, wetting a cloth and wringing it out. “You work and work to put food on the table and clothes on your back, until there’s no time left for love. Sure-n but we’re better off without such heartache.” She tossed him the rag, and he caught it in one hand. “Use that to clean off the counter. I’ll go up to check on Ciara and Aiden, and then I’ll start the baking for this evening.”
In the act of pushing back into the shop, Michael paused. “More baking?”
She laughed. “You make it sound as pleasant as the rack. Yes, more baking. That’s my job. This is a bakery, and I bake. I was hoping for a lady to come with Ciara and Aiden to help, if you recall.”
And she’d gotten him instead. “I’m sorry I can’t be more use to you,” he said, “but I’ll do what I can.” Feeling inept for the first time in his life, he went to clean off the counter, wiping away the crumbs and scrubbing at the drips of icing. Yet her words refused to leave him.
He wanted to agree with her that love meant heartache. He’d certainly had his fill. But some part of him whispered that more might be possible, if he would but try once again.
He had been so focused on his task that he didn’t see her move into the room. Instead, he felt her hand on his arm.
“Good enough, Mr. Haggerty,” she said. “Another minute and you’ll rub right through the wood.”
He relaxed his hand, feeling her grip soften. She was close enough that he could see a dusting of freckles across the tip of her nose, as if ginger had escaped some of her cookies. Cinnamon-colored lashes fluttered over eyes as dark as fresh-roasted coffee.
Michael mentally shook himself. Working in the bakery must have addled his brain, because all he could think about was that her kiss would taste as sweet as her cooking.
“Are they gone?” Ciara asked from the stair.
Maddie stepped away from Michael, cheeks turning pink as if she’d been the one thinking about sweet kisses.
“For the moment,” she told her sister. “There will be another group coming later, when the shift changes at the mill. I aim to have more loaves of bread and dozens of cookies ready by then along with the ones I promised Mr. Horton.”
With her chin up, she was all determination, and Michael could only marvel at her energy.
But even more surprising was his reaction to her. He’d given his heart to Katie. He’d never thought to give it to another. And she’d made it clear that, while she might flirt with her customers, she had no interest in marrying.
Why, then, did he want her to reserve her flirting for him?
Maddie could only be glad for her sister’s interruption. For a moment, with her hand on Michael’s burly arm, she had felt as if the earth had tilted, pushing her toward him. Why? It was all well and good to talk about true loves and lost hearts, but in the end she’d only be disappointed. She had too much evidence to think otherwise.
So, broad-shouldered or not, charming smile or not, Michael Haggerty would get no further in her affections. She knew her plans, and they did not include forming an attachment to any fellow, no matter how helpful and well-meaning.
Standing at the foot of the stairs now, Ciara scrunched her face. “More work, more noise? What sort of place is this?”
Her sister’s complaints were like touching a hot stove with her bare hand—sharp and painful. She’d worked so hard to make a home for Ciara and Aiden. Could her sister not appreciate the effort?
“This is a home with plenty of food to eat,” Maddie told her. “That’s a blessing.”
Ciara shrugged. “The rolls were good. But I’m not going to sit in my room all day while you have all the fun.”
“Fun, is it?” Maddie said, temper rising. “Perhaps I ought to wake you at three in the morning to help knead tomorrow’s dough.”
Her sister scowled at her.
Michael leaned his hip against the counter. “You seemed awfully pleased with that room yesterday,” he reminded Ciara.
The girl eyed him. “It’s nice too, I suppose.”
What crumbs of affection she offered! Had her sister no understanding? Maddie tightened her lips to hold back a scold.
Michael merely smiled at Ciara. “But you have the urge to wander, is that it?” he teased with a look to Maddie.
Maddie blinked. Of course! That must be the source of today’s animosity. Ciara and Aiden had been cooped up aboard ship for months. It was only natural that they’d want to get out, explore their new home. And that was one yearning she could satisfy.
“Let’s
