Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
“Dad!”
We jolted apart, my lips tingling, my nerves jangling as we turned to find Kelly, pale-faced and holding out her phone. If she was aware of catching us in a moment, she didn’t let on. Instead, she waved the phone desperately in the air, her voice shaking as she announced, “It’s Mum.”
Just like that, the air chilled as Murray marched past me and took the phone from Kelly’s grasp. He strode out of the room, and I heard him demand, “Why are you calling Kelly?”
Kelly stared after him, her hands clenched at her sides.
Shaking off whatever had almost passed between me and her father, I walked over to press a comforting hand to her shoulder. “My mac and cheese is probably ready. Why don’t you help me set the table?”
Kelly nodded numbly and followed me upstairs, leaving Murray to deal with Jill.
25. Murray
“Not that you’re Mr. Loquacious, but you seem extra quiet tonight,” Quinn observed, expression concerned. “You all right, Murray?”
My eyes flickered toward Ramsay who was in the middle of tuning his bagpipes. He didn’t return my gaze, and I lowered mine to the bass drum at my feet. I very rarely played the Lantern with the rest of the band because the bass drum was so loud. However, it was also an underrated and underappreciated instrument because it really provided the heartbeat of the melody.
Tonight, I’d act as an intro for Quinn on the snare drum, Forde on the tenor drum, and Ramsay as the piper. Laird, the second bagpiper in the Leth Sholas Pipe Band, wasn’t playing because we never used two pipers in small venues. He and Ramsay alternated gigs. Laird was at home tonight, and I would join our friends and family in the audience after my intro piece.
“It’s just been difficult,” I finally replied to Quinn, “bringing Kelly home under those circumstances.”
“You know we’re all here for you both. Well, for the three of you.”
“Aye, how’s that going?” Forde grinned behind Quinn.
We were crammed into Aodhan’s office while we waited to go out into the pub to play our first gig of the season.
I pretended not to know what Forde meant. “How’s what going?”
“Having a beautiful, young wife in your life.” Forde winked, still wearing that shit-eating grin.
For Forde, I imagined the thought of committing to one woman was a scary thing. At thirty-seven he’d never shown any signs of settling down. He was the island’s mechanic and paramedic and he volunteered for the lifeboat service. The man had more awards for heroics and bravery than anyone I’d ever met … but to me, it seemed to stem from an idea that his life was somehow expendable.
If I said that out loud, he’d probably swing for me.
Forde always got tight-lipped and defensive whenever someone tried to discuss his lack of personal commitments.
“It’s none of your business,” I replied with quiet sternness.
Forde chuckled. “Well, that sounds promising.”
Quinn cut a look over his shoulder at his best friend. “Read the fucking room, Forde.”
He just shrugged, still laughing under his breath.
It made me feel a bit raw. Like Forde could see all the less than gentlemanly thoughts and fantasies that increasingly invaded my mind now that London was under my roof.
“You sure it’s just the Kelly stuff?” Quinn prodded.
Over the years I’d observed the way people were drawn to Quinn for advice. It had become a habit of his to feel like he had to take on the burden of other people’s problems. But the man had finally found true contentment and happiness for the first time in almost nineteen years, and I had no intention of ruining that for him by bringing him into the Walsh brothers’ issue.
Ramsay and I would deal with it.
I’d called McRae last night as soon as I’d gotten off the phone with Jill. She’d had the audacity to call Kelly because she knew I wouldn’t answer if she called me directly.
What she’d said chilled me to the bone.
Jill knew exactly who Dorian Walsh was.
She promised she hadn’t known when he first came into her life but that now, because of me, she was his goddamn hostage.
“And it’s not just me in danger if you don’t do what they want,” Jill had hissed, panicked down the phone. “They’ll hurt your precious Kelly too.”
“Does that not terrify you, Jill? Is there no part of you that feels an inkling of motherly instinct?”
“You stopped caring about me as soon as Kelly came along. You put this wall between me and her by making it very clear she was the priority over me,” she snapped. “But that doesn’t mean I want her hurt. All right? Is that what you want to hear? She’s in danger, Murray, and you are the only one who can keep her safe.”
Even as I’d choked on my anger at her accusations, I’d asked her what the Walsh brothers wanted.