Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70174 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70174 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
“That’s not fair,” Siobhan wailed. “Yer my sister.”
“Aye. And I love ye, and it will all work out. Trust me. But for now… just do what Da orders, yeah? Keep the peace so ye don’t get in trouble. I don’t want to have to worry about ye.”
She buried her face into Fi’s shoulder but nodded her assent.
I exhaled slowly, realizing my fists were still clenched. This wasn’t right. None of it. Fiona should be home. Her sister shouldn’t have to creep out like a damn criminal just to talk to her.
And Seamus Conlan sure as hell shouldn’t get to pretend his daughter never existed.
“Ye should get home,” Fiona said, but Siobhan shook her head, expression set into firm denial.
“Just a little longer.”
Fi sighed and motioned toward the couch. “Just for a few minutes. Come on… let’s sit and ye can tell me all about what ye’ve been up to the last few days.”
I rose from the couch, offering my seat, and the sisters sank into it, their hands twisted together. I moved into the kitchen, my eyes boring into Rory’s. I leaned in, lowered my voice to the barest of a whisper. “You know, maybe she doesn’t have to stay here.”
Kathleen blinked her surprise and Rory frowned. “What do ye mean?”
“She can come back to the States with me. My parents would love to host her.”
Silence. Rory’s glared at me with a mixture of disbelief and anger. “Take her from her home.”
“Is it her home anymore?” I asked. “Her parents abandoned her.”
“But I haven’t,” he said. “She has a place here with me, always.”
“I know,” I murmured with a sigh. “It’s just… maybe she needs a fresh start. It’s painful for her to be this close and yet be so far away from those she loves.”
Rory’s expression lightened and I knew that he understood this came from a place of caring for his niece. “Tommy… she’s seventeen.”
“She’ll be eighteen in three months,” I countered. “And what’s waiting for her here? A father who won’t even let her take a damn change of clothes? I know it’s sudden, but… I could take care of her.”
Kathleen sucked in a breath, but her smile was tender. “That’s a big commitment, Tommy. Yer both so young and ye’ve only known each other—”
“I know,” I said, realizing my voice had risen so I lowered it again. “I know. But…”
I glanced into the living room, saw Fi’s and Siobhan’s heads bent toward each other as they talked in low voices. I looked back to Rory. “I know my heart.”
Rory nodded his understanding. “I don’t doubt it, lad. But if yer serious about such a… proposal… ye need to talk to Fiona about it. Not me.”
CHAPTER 21
Tommy
The early-morning light was muted by the gray clouds but every once in a while, the sun would peek through and cast long shadows across the track. With the chill dissipating, I had rolled up the sleeves on my lightweight flannel. I stood next to Rory at the rail, timing the young colts as they thundered past, their hooves kicking up clods of packed dirt in steady, rhythmic strides.
“One minute, four seconds,” I called out, lowering the stopwatch in my hand and writing the number down on a sheet.
Rory nodded, arms folded over his chest as he studied the chestnut gelding on the track. “He’s comin’ along fine.”
I glanced at him. “You think he’s race material?”
Rory exhaled through his nose. “If he gets his mind right.” He shifted his weight, still watching the horse. “He definitely has the heart.”
That word had been sitting heavy on my chest since last night.
Heart.
Fiona had plenty of it.
And I’d do anything to protect it.
She and I stayed up late last night talking on the couch after Kathleen and Rory went to bed, but none of it was pertinent to her current predicament. We discussed politics and food. I asked her to go see Smokey and the Bandit, a popular film from last year in the States that was now showing in the local Fethard cinema. She asked me when she could sneak back to my cottage one night and that prompted a groan from me before I kissed her.
We made out, right there on the couch, and both of us were breathing hard. I wanted her so bad, but I knew I had forever to be with her, and I wasn’t about to disrespect Rory in his own home. I eventually left with a hard-on and a heart that was both aching for Fiona and exhilarated at the potential future we had before us.
A crunch of gravel behind us had me turning, yanking me from my daydreams of Fiona, the hairs on the back of my neck prickling. A Black Mercedes pulled up near the track, its tires spitting dirt as it skidded to a quick stop. The driver’s door flung open, and out stepped Seamus Conlan.