Free Hope Springs by Sarah M. Eden Page A

with little but a family space and a loft. Tavish’s current home could be described in exactly the same way. He’d put all his profits into paying down his debt on the land itself. Only in the last year had he begun putting aside what he needed to begin adding on to the house. ’Twas that money, and what he could have gotten from Joseph Archer for selling off his land, that he’d meant to live on in order to follow Katie to Ireland. He hadn’t, in the short time since those plans had changed, given any real thought to what he’d do with the funds from his berries.
    “So you enjoy having your own room, do you?”
    “It makes me feel very fancy.” Her smile was a touch whimsical. “A person feels less—I don’t know, less dispensable when she has a space all her own. She feels more important, I suppose. A person has to be truly needed for her to be worth more than a tiny corner of an attic or a blanket on the kitchen floor.”
    Tavish knew in that instant exactly how he meant to spend the bit of savings he’d set aside. He meant to court Katie and, in time, he’d ask her to marry him. But when he brought her to his home—to her new home—she’d find a room waiting there just for her. If a room was what she needed to feel essential in his life, that was exactly what he would give her.
    He turned the buggy in at Ian and Biddy’s. He and Ian shared ownership of the buggy. Ian had acquired it in a shrewd deal two years back whilst they were down at the train depot selling off grain. It was something of an extravagance—not useful really, but a fine thing to have for riding about or making a quick trip into town.
    Tavish brought the buggy to a stop just outside the barn. Katie made to climb down, as she always did.
    “At least give me a chance to be a gentleman,” he lightly scolded.
    They’d had this very conversation a few times. She stopped at the edge of the bench and waited for him to make his way around. He reached up and lifted her down.
    “I don’t know why it is you insist on doing this,” she said as her feet reached the ground. “I can get down on my own.”
    “Oh, I know you can. ” He kept his hands at her waist and leaned in toward her. “But it gives me a rare opportunity to stand particularly close to you.”
    Color stained her cheeks when she looked up at him. She made no attempt to slip away. A good sign, he felt certain. She could sometimes be jumpy, quick to put up walls between them. A past filled with too much pain and heartache had left her wary, but she was well worth the time and patience he’d need to win her over, if only life would grant him more time to court her properly.
    He lightly brushed his lips along her hairline, not kissing her, just barely touching. Her hands slid from his shoulders to his neck. Tavish closed his eyes and tried very hard to think clearly. He was never entirely sure what to do around Katie. If he pulled her tight to him and kissed her soundly, would she melt or would she run? Each possibility was equally likely.
    He took a deep breath in through his nose, hoping to calm his thoughts and his pulse. “Did you know you smell like flowers?” He had no idea which variety, but he’d noticed that about her almost from the beginning.
    “Scented water.” She whispered the reply. Clearly she was not entirely indifferent to his touch.
    He slipped one hand from her waist to behind her back, pulling her ever so slightly closer to him. She made no protest. Tavish lowered his head, giving her ample time to push away or pull back if she wanted to.
    Katie tipped her head in his direction, and their lips came within a breath of each other.
    “Looks to me as though I ought to be taking my wife out for a Sunday afternoon drive so I can get myself a nice squeeze afterwards,” Da’s deep, gravelly voice said from nearby.
    “Quit interrupting my squeeze, will ya, Da?” He didn’t release Katie by so much as an inch.
    “Can’t do that, son. The lass hasn’t a