She felt a jumble of turmoil, caught between fear of what might have been and relief it hadn’t. “But you didn’t leave with Drew,” she reminded herself aloud. He had come to her rescue instead.
“The boy loves you like the mother he never truly had. I could no sooner take that from him than I could bear the thought of you in danger.”
Lorena breathed slowly, forcing her emotions to calm and her thoughts to clear. “And now?” she asked expectantly. “What now, Brogan?”
He searched her face with china blue eyes full of earnest. “Can you forgive me? I thought I had no alternative but to abduct Ben. Your father never would have given him up. Not to me, a stranger. Nor to anyone. Jabez tried to reason with me, but it was you, Lorena, who opened my eyes. I always had another choice, yet I deliberately ignored the right one. A choice for the good of all concerned, not just for myself. Because no matter where or with whom Ben lives, I shall always be his father. I shall be a part of his life, and he will know a father’s love. But what I still don’t understand is, why? Why did another man’s child matter so much to your father? Why Benjamin?”
When she made no immediate reply—for indeed, Lorena hesitated to make any sudden revelations—he studied her with a hard, contemplative stare.
“It’s my belief there was more behind your father’s charity than good Christian kindness,” he said. “I don’t know what, but something else transpired between the Huntley brothers and Abigail. For why else would a man of your father’s strong moral character help his brother carry on an affair with a married woman? And while Stephen was married with a family of his own? What influence did Abigail have over them that both brothers should act so extensively on her behalf and in her favor? Your father knows the answer. And perhaps even you, Lorena.”
As much as she’d like to unburden the ugly truth, Lorena could not bring herself to utter the words. Brogan was destined to find out eventually, but with his renewed faith she yearned to shield him with the same care she’d been protecting Drew, or Ben, these last three years.
If only she could. She needed Papa’s counsel in this. She had to get to him before Brogan did.
Lorena tilted her face to look at him. “That, Brogan, is a question for my father. I can’t tell you any more than I already have. Papa’s a wise and understanding man who believes in your integrity or he would not have sent you for me. He would not have entrusted Drew to your care or asked you to join in his shipping enterprise. Explain to him what you’ve just told me. You can trust he’ll be honest and forthcoming.”
He responded with a reluctant nod. “Fair enough. I will have that conversation with your father. And I will find out the truth. You can depend upon it.” Though disappointed, he did not push her further.
His good humor returned in a smile. “And now I have another confession to make,” he announced. “I’ve fallen in love with you, Lorena Huntley. These past months I have never felt more content. Every sense alive, every moment precious, as though for the first time I am experiencing life at its fullest. And I know the reason for this has to do with more than my reunion with my son. It’s you, Lorena. I want us to be a family. You already love Ben and he loves you. Do you think you can forgive and love his father, as well?”
Her heart filled with fierce emotion—love, happiness, compassion. Tears in her eyes, a lump in her throat, the best Lorena could manage was a nod. Forgive Brogan for possessing such faithfulness and devotion he could not let go of a precious loved one? Yes. He was a man not unlike her father, a man with good treasure stored in his heart, a man committed to family. The man she’d been destined to love.
He took hold of her hands. “Will you have me, Lorena? Will you marry me? Don’t give me your answer yet. I must first speak to your father and convince him I am worthy of you. For should you give me the honor of agreeing to be my wife, I should want his blessing.”
Lorena suspected he knew her answer already, if only because of the tears shining happily in her eyes. Her smile, however, was bittersweet with worry, not so much of her father withholding his blessing as for whether Brogan would feel the same after speaking with Papa.
Brogan’s love had brought promise and joy to her life, but was it strong enough to endure once he learned of the secret surrounding Drew?
18
The Yankee Heart approached the forest-dense southern shores of Massachusetts ten days later, where it entered the Bluefish River.