Just as he’d hoped, Rigg found Sean at the house. He was eating supper and, with a mouthful of chicken, he stared at his sister and his employer. Sean noticed a marked difference about both.
Rigg’s eyes, although always kind, held a certain tenderness that Sean had never seen before. And Kaitlin. She looked as if she needed a piece of string to keep her on the ground.
“I have a question to ask you Sean,” Rigg stated quietly. “I just wrote to your father and asked if I could marry Katie. Now I want to ask you and then Marc. Do you mind if I marry Kaitlin?”
Sean wiped his mouth and hands on a napkin and then looked up at the two with an expression that was older than he was.
“I just have one thing to say to you Rigg,” Sean paused and smiled slightly. “It’s about time.”
Kate laughed and moved to hug her brother. The two shared a long embrace before Rigg came to claim him. He held Sean by the upper arms and looked him in the eye.
“I love you Sean,” Rigg told him honestly. “And I want to thank you for what you did to bring Kate and me together. I know you’re disappointed about your father and I’m praying that he’ll come home soon.
“But I want you to understand that you still have a home. I think Marcail will probably want to be downstairs here or have you upstairs with her. Whatever you both want. If you’d like to be upstairs, go up and pick out a room. Or better yet, do that later and come to my folks with us now, so I can ask Marcail.”
Sean’s eyes were shining with happiness and when Rigg finally hugged him, he held on tight. Being offered a home and a choice on a bedroom might have seemed a small thing to someone else but to a boy whose life had been so unsettled of late, it was a lifeline in a stormy sea.
As it was they all went upstairs together, a first for Kate and Sean. There were three bedrooms and Sean, surprisingly enough, chose the smallest. It had a large bed, dresser and a standing full length mirror.
“It’s cozy,” he told them. “And I like the view.”
Sean planned to move his gear in the morning so they headed back to Kaitlin’s so she could get a sweater and then on to the farm. Rigg was careful to hide his disappointment once they arrived and found both Jeff and Gil gone. A friend of Jeff’s, who’d been away from the area had returned so he was at her house for supper. Gil, May informed Rigg, was coming back anytime. He’d just had some errands to run.
Rigg knew that his parents were suspicious with the way he and Kate asked Marcail to go for a walk but they stayed quiet even though they were more than a little curious.
“How was your day, Marcail?” Kate asked as Rigg sat quietly and watched them. The three had climbed into the loft in the barn.
“It was okay. I wrote a letter to Loni and one to Father. I think you need to read the one to Father though, Katie, because I told him I want him to come home. I don’t want to send it if you think it will hurt his feelings.”
“I can read it for you, Marc, but I got a letter today and Father said he wouldn’t be coming until sometime after Christmas.”
“But Katie, Father said he was coming in the fall.” The little girl’s face showed her disappointment and Kate didn’t know what to say. Too much more of this and Marcail would begin to doubt her father’s honesty. As Kate searched for the right words to reassure her, Rigg stepped in and saved the moment.
“I’ve only known you for a few months, Marcail. But even though it’s only been since March, I really like being with you and talking with you. I can only imagine how much your father likes to be with you because he’s known you your entire life.
“You can believe, honey, that if he can’t be here, it’s not because he doesn’t want to be.”
Marcail nodded and both adults could see she was relieved.
“You know Katie,” Marcail stated a moment later in a logical tone, “you should marry Rigg, he’s very nice.” Marcail’s hand flew to her mouth as she stared in horror at her sister.
“I’m sorry Katie, I’m so sorry.”
Rigg rolled from his sitting position to lay in the straw, until he was nearly nose to nose with Marcail.
“I’m glad you brought that up Marc,” Rigg told her. “Because today I wrote to your Father and asked if I could marry Kaitlin. Now I want to know if it’s all right with you?”
“What did Katie say?” Marcail asked cautiously, not wanting to make another mistake.
“She said yes.”
“Did you ask Sean?”
“He said yes.”
Kate had been doing fine up to that point, letting Rigg handle everything. But Marcail’s next words were her undoing.
“I knew this would happen Katie, I just knew. Rigg looks at you just like Father looked at Mother.”
Kate reached for her sister then and held her tight. She couldn’t stop the tears that fell and Rigg gathered them both in his arms as Kate sobbed. Finally he pressed his handkerchief into her hand and she made an attempt at containing herself.
“I told you she does this a lot,” Marcail informed Rigg seriously.
Rigg thanked his young, future sister-in-law for the reminder giving her a conspiratorial wink.
“We were at my house when I asked Sean, and I told him he would be living with us, as will you. He decided to take another bedroom upstairs so you can have his old room on the first floor or pick one of the other ones upstairs.
“Sean’s new room has a bed and so does one of the other bedrooms. If you want the room that doesn’t, then we’ll just move furniture around.”
“Thanks, Rigg.” Marcail smiled at him. “Katie, are you going to teach school or work with Rigg?”
“Oh!” Kate said in surprise.
“We haven’t talked about that yet,” Rigg informed the little girl. “But we’ll let you know what we decide. How about we go down now and tell everyone else?”
“How come you asked Sean first?” Marcail suddenly asked, frowning at her sister as though she’d been betrayed.
Rigg scooped Marcail up and planted a kiss on her cheek, effectively wiping the scowl from her face. He also stole a kiss from Kaitlin as they were climbing down the ladder. Before Kate was even back on the ground, Marcail was running for the house and shouting at the top of her voice that Rigg and Kate were going to be married.