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“Then what—oh. Oh.” Her eyes narrowed. “And here I was just beginning to like you.”
“I think I could make you like me even more, if you give me a chance.” He moved closer, and she shoved a hand between them.
“I will not be sharing a bed with you, Mr. Kelly.”
“It doesn’t have to be a bed, lass.”
“I will not be having relations of that sort with you, Mr. Kelly. I’m sorry, but you will simply have to suffer through a few weeks of deprivation. For the good of the mission.”
“The mission. I hope this mission is worth the sacrifice.”
She rose and, grasping her clipboard firmly, moved to sit where he’d been a few minutes before, increasing the distance between them. “I feel exactly the same.”
They didn’t speak again for the rest of the journey. Bridget studied her papers and tried to commit what Callahan had told her about his family to memory. She wouldn’t know what profession he’d be given until they met their contact in Dublin. Then they’d be shown to the flat they would share, and Callahan would be given some sort of work that would, presumably, bring him into contact with the leaders of Innishfree. She would try to glean what information she could at any gatherings where wives were present. Baron had told her he expected she would not have much direct involvement, which was why he had no qualms about sending her into the mission, though she had not been through the same training. Her primary role would be to write coded letters back to Baron, keeping him informed of what Callahan had learned.
This was something she felt prepared to do. She was uncertain as to whether Callahan felt as prepared. He’d gone back to sleep a few minutes after she’d moved. He didn’t even stir when the coach stopped to change horses. But she woke him when the coachman knocked three times on the roof, a signal they were nearing the port at Heysham.
Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Bridget moved back to her original seat. “Mr. Kelly,” she said.
He didn’t move.
“Callahan Kelly.”
Nothing.
She shoved him. “Cal!”
He sat up, his hand raking through his disheveled hair. “Christ Jaysus. Can’t a man sleep for a few minutes?”
“You’ve slept for hours. We’re nearing the port in Heysham.”
He made a sound of annoyance, parted the curtains, and glared at the midday sunlight.
“Here.” She held out two buns she’d purchased at the last posting house. “I thought you might be hungry when you woke.”
He looked at her then at the buns as though she might have laced them with hemlock. Finally, he took them and ate each in two bites.
“Thank you.” He was still looking out the window. “I see the masts. We’re close now. You have the name of the packet we’re to take? What am I saying? Of course, you do.”
The coach slowed as the driver had to negotiate the tangle of vehicles and people about the dockside. Finally, he pulled down an alleyway and slowed the horses.
“What’s this?” Callahan asked.
“We don’t want to be seen arriving in a private coach. We’re people of modest means.” She gathered her clipboard and reticule. “We depart here and walk the rest of the way.”
The door opened and one of the outriders helped her down. Callahan followed. “How do you know all this?”
“I told you there was no time for sleep.” She gestured to where her luggage was stored, and a second outrider handed her a valise and Callahan a small satchel. “Thank you. Safe journey back.”
Still holding her valise, she stepped back and out of the way. When the coach was gone, she started for the dockside. “Give me that.” Callahan grasped the handle of her valise.
She didn’t release it. “I’m perfectly capable of carrying it myself.”
“We’re playing at husband and wife now, lass. If we were wed, I’d offer to carry it, and you’d allow me.”
He was right, so she released the valise and walked beside him to the docks, where together they searched for the slip. They’d almost reached it—in fact, Bridget could see the longboats bobbing in the slip, ready to be rowed out into the open water where the larger ships waited—when Callahan swore under his breath.
“What is it?” she asked, suddenly worried they’d missed the last longboat, though she’d checked her pocket watch earlier and they still had plenty of time.
