Love's First Flames (Banished Saga, 0.5) Read online

“It took you a few moments to . . . ?” Florence prompted, unable to hide her curiosity.

  “Outrun my cousins as I took them on a wild goose chase. I didn’t want them to know where I was headed.” Richard beamed with pride.

  “You do know you aren’t ten?” Florence asked with a shake of her head.

  “Ah, but I feel that old with my cousins.” He titled his head to one side as though considering a philosophical question. “And maybe that’s the best thing they’ve done for me. Kept me feeling young and as a child. Whereas they’ve only made Gabriel an old man before his time.”

  “Why would you say that?” Florence asked as she accepted the flowers, holding them to her nose and frowning as there was no scent.

  “Dahlias don’t smell, love,” Richard said with a chuckle. “You’ve met Gabe. You’ve seen how sober he is.”

  “I think that, with the right inducement, he could be as you. More carefree, more apt to laugh and see joy in the world,” Florence said as they slowly walked through the darkened square, the streetlamps already lit.

  “Is that how you see me?”

  “Yes. It’s one of your aspects that drew me to you. You always seem on the verge of smiling and seeing the positive in the world.”

  “Thank you,” Richard said and cleared his throat. “I’ve never thought of myself that way.”

  Florence squeezed his hand. “When you surround yourself with such serious company as Gabriel, it’s no wonder.”

  “Don’t make fun of Gabe. He’s sacrificed everything for Jeremy and me.”

  “And don’t spend your life feeling guilty for it,” Florence said. “It was his choice. He wouldn’t have done it if he didn’t want to. Believe me. People only do what they want. If it’s too great an inconvenience for them, or they don’t love enough, they’ll find a way out of their responsibilities.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Nothing.” She paused for a moment before speaking again. “While I would never discount all he’s done for you, don’t live your life beholden to what he wants. Determine what it is you want.”

  “Why do you think I’m here? Do you think Gabe encourages me to visit you with such frequency?” He stared into her eyes, hidden behind her spectacles. “I am my own man, and I’m here for me.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I like you. Maybe more than I should. Definitely more than I thought I would. I enjoy your bright mind, your perceptive questions, your fresh take on this world. You know what it is I’ve lived through and don’t treat me like a leper or a charity case. You treat me like a person, and I value that.”

  “You do the same for me. No one ever really saw me before that day at the bakery. Well, except for Mrs. Kruger, but she doesn’t count.”

  “You mean no man really saw you,” Richard teased as Florence nodded.

  “Yes. And I was certain all you were interested in was a bit of mischief with the orphaned hired help. You can’t know what it means to realize you aren’t what I supposed,” Florence whispered. She shook her head as Richard came to a halt in front of Mrs. Kruger’s. She had been focused on their walk and hadn’t paid attention to her surroundings.

  “I wish you a good evening, Florence,” Richard murmured, raising her hand and kissing it.

  She flushed and flexed her fingers to grip his tightly for a moment.

  When he released her hand, she kept hers raised and caressed his cheek for a second, the heat from her fingers warming his cheek even through her glove. His eyes flashed their approval before she smiled and turned to descend the stairs and move out of sight.

  ***

  “HOW ARE THINGS with Miss Butler?” Gabriel asked that evening as they lay on their cots.

  Jeremy sat with his legs Indian style, reading a book for school. Richard lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. Gabriel read the evening’s headlines from one of the newspapers pilfered from the upstairs by one of the staff members.

  “Fine.”

  “Seems things are more than fine when you’re happy to miss supper two nights running,” Gabriel said as he lowered his paper and looked at Richard. “Aunt has become suspicious, and you don’t want her to start investigating your whereabouts when you’re not here.”

  “Don’t start, Gabe.”

  “I’m not the one who’s starting things. You are. With a young lady of rather unknown origins,” Gabriel said.

  “Her origins are known. She told Rich she’s an orphan like us but had no family,” Jeremy said without raising his head from reading his book.

  “Exactly,” Richard said.

  “Rich, you’re young. You don’t have the profession, or income, to consider marriage at your age,” Gabriel argued. He glowered at Jeremy.

  “Whoever said anything about marriage?” Richard asked with exasperation.

  “Are you saying you want to treat her dishonorably?” Gabriel asked, incredulous.

  “No, of course not. I’m still trying to determine what it is I do want. Friendship? Something more?”

  “When was the last time you brought your friends flowers?” Jeremy asked with humor lacing his voice.

  “And when was the last time we had to make up a story about a damned rabbit?” Gabriel said as he chuffed out a laugh. “I know Henry and Nicholas didn’t believe us.”

  “I thought they saw me with the flowers,” Richard said.

  “They didn’t. They took after you because they like chasing you, and you were home too soon. Their mother still had fancy friends about, and she didn’t want you anywhere nearby. Seems there are those among her friends who are most curious to meet us and see how we are faring after her years of doting care,” Jeremy said.

  Richard scoffed. “No wonder she wants us far away. She can’t have her friends seeing us in near rags when she boasts about the good care she provides.”

  “Did you know she has rooms prepared upstairs to show her friends where we sleep?” Jeremy asked.

  “What?” Gabriel nearly bellowed and was hushed by his brothers. “Who told you this?”

  “No one. I’m good at skulking around, Gabe. As good as, if not better than, you, and I can find out quite a bit while I’m at it. Turns out, during his last visit here, the new pastor at her church wanted to see our rooms, give them a blessing of sorts for the ‘poor lost souls’ who’d no parents. Aunt was in a state as no such rooms were ready, and she pushed him off until his next visit. He came by today, and she showed him three rooms that are supposedly ours.”

  Gabriel looked over at Richard. “It’s why, today of all days, you couldn’t be at home, Rich. The pastor would have taken one look at you and would have known her for the lying woman she is.”

  “Thus she sent her pathetic sons after me. I thought they were upset about the flowers,” Richard said.

  “That came later. After everyone had left and her ploy had worked. Then she noticed the hacking job you did in the garden to her prized dahlias. You should have heard her shriek.” Jeremy shared a smile with Gabriel.

  “Won’t it be wonderful to never hear her shriek again?” Richard asked.

  “Or get thunked on the head with some cooking instrument as she makes a point?” Jeremy sighed.

  “Or be accused of eating her out of house and home as we nearly starve?” Gabriel asked. “But”—his deep, commanding voice forestalled any further fantasies from his brothers about what they looked forward to when they were out of this house—“that still does not answer my question about your relationship with Miss Butler.”

  “I really don’t see how that concerns you, Gabe,” Richard said, disgruntled.

  “You’re welfare has been my concern for nine years,” Gabriel snapped. “Don’t think now as though that is going to change anytime soon.”

  “Like I said, Gabe, we’re friends, and I’m seeing if it becomes more. I hope it does. And I hope you can come to like her. Think of her as a friend.”

  “I’ve always wanted a sister,” Jeremy said as he looked up from his boo
k and winked at Richard.

  “Jer, you’re not helping,” Gabriel said. He cast a disgruntled look at his youngest brother, but Jeremy just smiled back with an impish grin.

  “I don’t understand why you’re so upset, Gabe. Rich’s found someone he’s interested in. Good for him. I hope we’ll both be so lucky. And I hope we like her. But it’s really up to him to figure it all out.”

  “Thanks, Jer,” Rich said.

  Gabriel sighed and returned to his paper.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  GABRIEL STRETCHED HIS SHOULDERS and lowered his chisel. Bright autumn sunshine brightened the room. The sounds of gentle snoring rose and fell in a melodious cadence from the pallet in a far corner where Mr. Smithers took his habitual afternoon nap. Gabriel moved quietly to the stove, setting a pot on to boil and to prepare a simple repast for his brothers. He heard the clunking of footsteps up the stairs and knew one of them was to arrive momentarily.

  The door burst open, letting in a waft of cold air, the hint of autumn clinging to Jeremy. Jeremy glanced toward Mr. Smithers’s sleeping form and grimaced at the amount of noise he’d made upon entering the room. He mouthed the word “sorry” to Gabriel as Jeremy took off his jacket and slung it over the back of a chair at the table. Gabriel fixed the pot of tea, placing the pot, cups and sugar bowl on the table soundlessly. He watched as Jeremy fixed himself a cup and wolfed down a piece of the soda bread Mr. Duncannon had brought during his visit.

  “This is nearly as bad as Mum’s,” Jeremy whispered as he choked down the bread with a swig of tea.

  Gabriel grunted his agreement. “I think that’s why Mr. Duncannon was so relieved to give it away. Mr. Smithers was out this time, and I’d always wondered why he’d been so cagey on refusing Mr. Duncannon’s offer of baked goods in the past.”

  Jeremy gasped, nearly choking on a piece of bread. Gabriel pounded him on the back, and Jeremy swallowed the piece of bread. “Seems like the man wants to continue living and so gives the bread away.”

  “Doesn’t much care for his friends though to keep trying to gift us with that slop,” Mr. Smithers said from his pallet. “I dread his weekly visits. For days before he comes to the workshop, I think of reasons why I can’t accept his offerings. I’ve about run out of ideas.”

  “You could tell him the bread about killed me,” Jeremy said.

  “Do you think the man’d care? He’s trying to prevent his own death.” Mr. Smithers sighed as one does when relaxed and with friends. “No, he’s no regard for those around him. Knows the longer it’s in the house, the staler it will become and the more difficult to swallow.”

  “This can’t be freshly baked,” Jeremy said incredulously, holding up the crumbly bread and staring at it.

  “She baked it this morning, son. Imagine how much worse it would be tomorrow, toasted? That’s poor Duncannon’s fate. Married to a buxom woman with no ability in the kitchen and no sense to know it. Thus, she’s nearly poisoned him on six occasions that come to mind. I have a feeling there’s more, but he’s not as quick to share them anymore as I laughed a bit too heartily at his last tale.”

  “Poor man,” Gabriel said.

  Mr. Smithers sat up, his gaze meeting Jeremy’s. “Brave man, for eating her food.”

  Jeremy paled as he set down the piece of bread he’d been gnawing on.

  “So, sonny, are you here to learn more from your brother?” Mr. Smithers asked as he rose with a groan, his knees cracking with the movement. He nodded his thanks as Gabriel poured him a cup of tea.

  “Yes, although I need to study. I have a test tomorrow in math, and I need to do well.”

  “That goes without saying,” Mr. Smithers said. He scratched at his thinning gray hair. “I haven’t seen much of Richard lately. He used to stop by after his work at the smithy and head home with you.”

  “He’s been meeting up with a friend after work,” Gabriel said.

  Mr. Smithers watched Gabriel curiously for a moment. “A friend. This friend wouldn’t happen to be one of a female inclination, would she?” At Jeremy’s laugh, Mr. Smithers nodded. “Thought as much. You’re out of sorts because your brother’s sweet on some girl.”

  Gabriel glared at Mr. Smithers but remained silent.

  “It’s about time, and you should follow his lead. Find a young woman you fancy and live that life you’ve dreamed about.”

  “You don’t know my dreams, sir,” Gabriel growled as he rose and paced toward his workbench.

  “I’ve a far better idea what goes on in that brain of yours than you think. And you deserve happiness just as much as the next. Just as much as sonny, here,” Mr. Smithers said, patting Jeremy’s arm. “What’s this young lady like?”

  “An orphan, like us. Smart. A survivor,” Gabriel said.

  “Well, seems your brother has chosen well,” Mr. Smithers said. “When the woman you love is smart and feisty, fights for what she wants, that’s a fine thing. But when she’s also loyal and honest, well, that’s a rare gift that shouldn’t be squandered.” He nodded once to Jeremy who was doodling on his paper, yet listening intently to Mr. Smithers’s speech. “You mark my words, boys. Find a woman like that, and you’ll have a good life.”

  “A contented life?” Gabriel asked with a raise of his brow.

  “That’s a namby-pamby word if I’ve ever heard it. No, you’ll be happy. For once your eyes will shine because of your own joy, son, not because of something your brothers did. But for yourself.”

  “Mr. Smithers,” Gabriel said in warning with a glance toward Jeremy.

  “He should understand all you’ve sacrificed to give him this life.”

  “I do. Rich and I know what Gabe’s done for us.” Jeremy looked at his math.

  “And you shouldn’t feel guilt for it,” Mr. Smithers said as he set down his tea mug. “If you’d been the elder brother, you’d have done the same.”

  Jeremy raised startled green eyes to Mr. Smithers.

  “Never discount your good fortune in having each other. But don’t become so self-reliant that you won’t allow others into your little group.”

  Gabriel watched him with an arrested expression and nodded. He focused on his work, Mr. Smithers’s words turning over and over in his head.

  ***

  GABRIEL LEFT THE WORKSHOP the following day in the midmorning. Although Gabriel had advised Mr. Smithers that he was to meet with a new client, he took a trolley and headed toward the South End. He disembarked near Chester Square and walked to Mrs. Kruger’s house.

  Florence opened the door to his knock. “Mr. McLeod. Has something happened? Is Richard all right?” She gripped the doorknob until her fingers turned white.

  “He’s fine. He’s no idea I’m here.” Gabriel rubbed at the back of his nape and looked down the block. “I know this is highly improper, but might I speak with you?”

  “I have duties, sir,” Florence said. “And I must complete them.”

  “I understand. I wish you no disrespect, Miss Butler.”

  “However,” Florence said, “I’ve yet to make it to the bakery today. Mrs. Kruger was quite unsettled last night and required more care than usual this morning. In a few minutes, I will be on my way.” She watched him pointedly before closing the door.

  He nodded and headed toward the square. He walked around the fountain three times before he heard soft footsteps approach. “Miss Butler,” Gabriel said.

  “Hello, Mr. McLeod. I must admit I never expected to see you on Mrs. Kruger’s doorstep alone.”

  “I will not take much of your time. Nor do I want to harm your . . . friendship with Richard in any way.” He walked next to her, not offering his arm, but ensuring that she moved through the crowded streets with ease. “I want to apologize.”

  Florence paused at his words, her shocked gaze meeting his. “Why?”

  “A good friend made me realize I’ve been unfair to you.” Gabriel gripped her arm for a moment, helping her around a delivery cart. “For nine years, it’s been my b
rothers and me against the world. It’s hard to imagine anyone else entering our little group. And yet I know that’s not realistic. I wanted you to know that I’m sorry I’ve not been as friendly as I could have been when we called for tea.”

  “Mrs. Kruger enjoyed scolding you.”

  “She’s good at it.” Gabriel laughed with fondness. “When I imagine a grandmother, it’s someone like her.”

  “I’m sure she’d like to hear that. She’s terribly lonely.”

  “Would you mind if we visited for tea on Sunday? I think Jeremy should come too.”

  “I’m sure Mrs. Kruger would enjoy the visit.” At his searching stare, she blushed. “I’d like more time to get to know all of you too.”

  “Until Sunday, Miss Butler.” Gabriel walked her to the bakery and then departed.

  ***

  “RICH,” GABRIEL SAID as the three of them wandered the Boston Common on a cold Sunday in November with an abundance of free time and a desire to be out of their aunt’s house, “let’s go take tea with your Miss Butler.”

  “I don’t know as that’s a good idea, Gabe.”

  “Mrs. Kruger seemed eager to have us back, and I think she’d like to meet Jer.” He glanced pointedly at Jeremy who nodded his enthusiastic agreement.

  Richard looked at his two brothers and knew he wouldn’t succeed in evading a visit to Mrs. Kruger’s house on Chester Square. They boarded a trolley headed in that direction and got off to one side of the square. The harsh early winterlike weather and recent frost had frozen the blooms on the late-season dahlias and roses. They walked through the central part of the square, past a large pond with a bronze fountain in the middle. Trees lined the walkways and leaves crunched under their feet.

  They crossed the street and continued to Mrs. Kruger’s mansion. “This is where your Miss Butler lives?” Jeremy asked as he stared at the impressive home.

  “She’s a maid, Jer, not a lady of the house,” Richard snapped as he raised the knocker and gave it a hard rap.

  “I bet she doesn’t go hungry,” Jeremy muttered as the door opened.

  Richard nodded to the same maid who had granted them admittance before. After a few moments of waiting in the hallway, they were led into the front parlor.