To them, Margaret was not a beloved daughter—they saw her as an obligation, now passed to someone else.

Delivered Like a Bargain

When the truck stopped, her father hardly glanced at her. He unloaded her few belongings and muttered, “Thomas should be around. Remember, Margaret, you are his responsibility now. Don’t bring shame to our name.”

Two men appeared from behind the farmhouse. One was Thomas Brennan himself, a man in his early thirties with strong shoulders and kind eyes. He wore a plaid shirt, jeans, and carried himself with quiet confidence. Beside him walked an older man with a grey beard and gentle smile—his father, Samuel Brennan.