Free Hope Springs by Sarah M. Eden Page B

father here to see to it suitors treat her as they ought. I’ve taken that task to my own self, I have.”
    Da would set himself to such a task. What was more, he’d undertake it in earnest.
    Katie pulled back from him, not entirely, but enough to look over at the door of the house where Da stood.
    “He’s been a perfect gentleman, I assure you.”
    Tavish grinned. “I’ve been perfect, have I?”
    Katie pressed her lips together. He’d wager she was holding back a smile of her own.
    “Aye.” Da’s tone hadn’t lightened. “And he’ll continue to be a gentleman, else I’ll take a switch to him like I done when he was little and making mischief.”
    Tavish took her hand in his and pressed it to his lips. “Off with ya, then, before my father decides to flog me.”
    “That’s quite enough, lad. Let the sweet ógbhean go on inside.”
    Tavish smiled at her. “When he starts speaking Gaelic, I know I’m in trouble.” He kissed her fingers one more time before letting her go.
    She stepped around him. Tavish watched her go. Da met her just at the edge of Ian’s porch.
    “He really was behaving himself,” he heard Katie say.
    “Oh, I know it,” Da said. “And Tavish knows I know it. And he further knows it would be a scalladh-croidhe to his poor mother should she hear of him acting elsewise.”
    Tavish could hear him well and clear, just as he imagined Da wanted him to. He leaned against the buggy with his arms folded across his chest, watching the two of them. Da had a way with ladies, young and old. He wove a kind of spell about them all, putting them at ease and making them trust him. He’d been able to soothe the often-prickly Katie from the earliest days of their acquaintance.
    “What has brought on the sad face, Katie?” Da asked.
    “Hearing you speak Gaelic puts me in mind of my father. He spoke Irish more often than English.”
    “I’m told your father is ailing,” Da said.
    Tavish stood up straight, intending to jump into the conversation if need be. Katie was not bearing up entirely under the weight of her father’s impending death. Da would make her cry with such a topic.
    “He is,” Katie answered simply.
    Da stuffed his hands in the pockets of his trousers, nodding slowly. “Do you think your da would allow me to look out for you while you’re here?”
    Tavish fully expected her to avoid the topic as she’d done many times before. She surprised him.
    A bit of a smile touched her lips. “I think he would thank you for it. And I’d thank you for it too. I’ve not had a father to care about me in many, many years.”
    Da’s very Irish, very blue eyes twinkled back at her. Tavish relaxed, torn between gratitude that Da had worked his magic once more and wishing he himself could so easily earn her faith.
    “In that case,” Da said, “if any of the other lads hereabout come around courting you, I fully expect you to tell me so. I mean to make it a particular duty of mine to be certain they’re good men and treating you as they ought.”
    “I will, though I don’t imagine there’s likely to be a great many men knocking on my door.”
    “We’ll see.” Da nodded quickly and firmly. “Now, I’d be much obliged if you’d step inside and say hello to Biddy before you make your way home. She’s missed you this past day or more.”
    Katie looked back at Tavish, a smile playing about her lips, though not fully blossoming. He winked at her, and she slipped inside the house. Da remained behind on the porch.
    “A sweet lass,” Da said.
    “Aye. That she is.”
    Da had given Katie a look of tender concern; the gaze he turned on Tavish was edged with warning. “You’re treating her as you ought?”
    “Aye.”
    “Don’t let me hear otherwise.”
    Tavish nodded his understanding. He moved to unhitch the horse.
    “And, son?”
    He looked back to the porch.
    “Our Katie’s quite a catch. Don’t let her slip through your fingers.”
    “I don’t intend to.”
    “That’s a