“But…” She inhaled sharply. “He’s still my father. I still want to protect him. Despite all his faults, despite how much I hate who he has become, is it not my responsibility to try and save him from himself?”
“You cannot save a parent from their worst demons. Trust me, I know.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Theodore turned her quicker around the room to avoid looking Maggie in the eye. He couldn’t tell her about his past. He kept a door firmly locked on that part of his life. To speak of it, would mean letting that darkness sully all that was good between him and Maggie.
“I meant that your father is using you all. He sees all his children as a means to more money, does he not?” Theodore determinedly kept the conversation about her family and far from his own. “Gabriel has talked enough about how your father pesters him from money. Clearly, we shall be no different.”
“He’s desperate –”
“He just insulted you, because he was so busy thinking of money, he didn’t once think of you as a human being with emotions, Maggie. Does that not hurt you?”
“Of course it does.”
“Then stand up for yourself!” he hissed.
“I beg your pardon?” She jerked her head further back from him. Theodore wondered if he’d gone too far now. Would she end their dance at once and push his hands off her?
“You are always full of spark with me,” he said, lowering his voice to a deep tone. She hadn’t pulled away yet and he was determined to take advantage of her being so near for a fewminutes longer. “You have fire. You have a strong spine. Why do you lose it with your father?”
She blinked, her lips pressed firmly together.
“There are things you don’t see, Theo,” she whispered, her gaze flitting up to meet his. “I do stand up for myself, I do have a strong spine, despite what you think, but there are times when it’s hard. I can argue with my father until I’m blue in the face, but do you not think I have tried? Do you not think I have seen that it makes no difference?”
The wind left him. Theodore slowed their dance, moving so he and Margaret were just rocking side to side again. Her hand had slipped a little off his shoulder, so that it was resting on the top part of his chest.
Do not pull your hand away now.
It was just a small intimacy, but it meant everything.
“Then I am sorry it makes no difference,” he said in a husky tone, “but we cannot fund him. That will only make things worse.”
“What do you suggest?”
“I suggest that any money I give you, we figure out together how it goes to your sisters, andonly to your sisters. Your father only has so much money he can gamble,” he reminded her. “Invite your sisters to stay.”
“To stay? Here?” She lifted her head sharply. “Do you mean it?”
“Yes.” He nodded. “All the leaves will be gone from the trees soon. Before you know it, December will be here, and it will be Christmas.”
“It will be a nice time to have them here,” Maggie whispered, clearly deep in thought as a smile tugged at her lips.
“Exactly. Invite them here. Give them a taste of what life is like outside of a house that is so dominated by your father’s debilitating way of life,” he whispered. “Yes?”
“Yes.” Her smile grew fuller. “You would do this for me? You would have my sisters in this house for a few days?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because you like your space,” she pointed out with wide eyes. “There will be laughter, card games, and we’ll go for long walks in your beloved garden. You won’t be able to escape us that much, you know,” she whispered with mischief.
“I know.” Theodore found himself smiling, too. “I’m ready for that.”
“Curious.” She narrowed her eyes a little.
“What is?”
“When I first met you, I was convinced all you ever wanted to be was alone and in your own space. The more I know you… the more I wonder if you actually like company much more than you pretend to.”
