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Bride Of The Emerald Isle
Trish Wylie
On the Irish Isle of Valentia wisps of cloud hang low in the air, and a rugged figure appears through the hazy mist–the man that Keelin O'Donnell has been searching for without ever realizing it. Garrett Kincaid can help beautiful stranger Keelin unlock the secrets of her past. But he can't give her his heart–he knows Keelin's life lies elsewhere.Except the essence of the Emerald Isle is capturing Keelin, drawing her in and giving her the courage to claim a future. A future that belongs to this man.
Bride of the Emerald Isle
Trish Wylie
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
For my brother Neil—whose birthday
I completely forgot while writing this book….
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
EPILOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
KEELIN O’DONNELL had always been a morning person. But today was testing her love of the a.m. to its limits…
She paused, looked back down the road, and sighed. The house had to be somewhere near by now, surely? Did people still die on the moors?
There was the sound of barking nearby.
�Great.’ She scowled as she looked towards the source of the sound. �Now I’m going to be eaten by wild dogs. The Hound of the Baskervilles lives.’
The barking sounded closer again. Not so much of a rabid-dog sound as an excited yapping, which made her feel vaguely better, so her blue eyes searched what she could see of the surrounding countryside. With the last of the early morning mist clearing she could finally see more than the outline of the old stone walls on either side of her. Now there were fields, swirling with a hint of mist in pockets where the ground was still wet with morning dew.
She could hear the sea in the background, could smell it in the air. But even with the reassuring, steady rhythm of waves hitting rocks, she still felt like the last person left on earth. Until her peripheral vision caught sight of a shadow looming through a pocket of mist.
The dogs sounded closer, too, one of them appearing at the shadow’s feet. And then a voice called one of them, followed by a whistle. So Keelin knew the figure was male. A man walking straight towards her—practically dreamlike—like some kind of early morning ghost.
The mist swirled again in pockets at his feet, the sun came out and caught in a glint off his dark hair. And Keelin stood transfixed as he got closer and looked straight at her.
He was sensational.
Straight out of the pages of some big-city magazine trying to sell country-wear to women who dearly hoped those clothes would make their citified men turn into this Adonis.
But as his tall, lean frame made its way over the uneven ground, two bouncing Springer Spaniels at his heel, Keelin almost felt transported back in time.
It was the clothes. It had to be. Long, waxed coat, open necked loose shirt; he even had a walking stick, for crying out loud! If Heathcliff had looked half as good in the early morning light on the moors then it was a wonder Cathy ever let him go…
As he got closer, his gaze still fixed on her, Keelin felt her mouth go dry. Where had this kind of man been hiding away from the world? Here, on some tiny island off the coast of Co. Kerry? What a waste.
�Good morning.’
Lord, he even sounded good; the most gorgeously deep, multifaceted, rumbling masculine tone. A symphony of a voice. Was he real?
Keelin stared up at him as he got closer, blinking her eyes slowly in stark appreciation. After all, she’d always been a bit of a sucker for tall, dark and handsome. What woman wasn’t?
Say something, Keelin!
She silently cleared her throat and managed a husky. �Hello.’
Oh, great start.
The man continued staring at her. �Are you lost?’
If his eyes were as great close up as the rest of him looked from a few feet away, then there was a very good chance she would be, but. �Not according to the man in the hotel who gave me directions, no.’
�Patrick?’ He smiled briefly, white teeth flashing and a momentary hint of deep dimples appearing on his cheeks as he continued closing the distance between them. �Told you it was only a stretch of the legs, did he?’
With legs the length of this man’s it probably was. But Keelin was only five feet five on a heels day. And Valentia Island was hardly the place for heels.
She nodded resignedly. �A regular running joke for him, is it?’
�Afraid so.’ His gaze still fixed on her, he reached one large hand down to a bouncing dog, which wagged its tail manically in appreciation. �Where were you looking to get to?’
�Inishmore House.’ Keelin tried her best not to feel jealous of a wet dog. After all, no one had patted her head since she was nine and she’d hated it then. �It’s s’posed to be out here somewhere. And I read in a brochure that this island was only seven miles across so I can’t have too much further to go before I fall off the other side.’
�Oh, you’ve a mile or two to go before that happens.’
�That’s reassuring.’
He made the final few steps to the opposite side of the stone wall, which created a barrier between them. Keelin was momentarily distracted as one set of paws appeared on top of it, rocking a loose stone. The dog looked up at her with a tilted head, pondering her with soulful brown eyes before its long tongue appeared and it appeared to grin at her.
Smiling softly in response, Keelin let her eyes stray upwards to meet his. Rich, toffee colored eyes, framed with thick dark lashes. And she had to make herself pat the smiling dog’s damp head to keep herself from sighing loudly in contentment. She’d always been easily swayed by great eyes. And this man had sensational eyes. But being a connoisseur had always led her into heartache before.
And a man like this one didn’t live in a tiny place like this alone, did he?
�What brings someone like you to Inishmore House?’
That was probably as close to �What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?’ that Keelin had heard in a while.
Drop-dead gorgeous men who seemed to tug at every sense she possessed were a rare occurrence, so she didn’t really know how she was supposed to deal with that. But corny one-liner chat-up lines she could deal with.
After all, she hadn’t come all this way to look for a new love interest, had she? No matter how sensational he was to look at. It would be the kind of complication she really didn’t need at this point in her life.
Nope, she had bigger things to deal with. She really couldn’t allow herself to get so easily distracted.
So she drew on her wealth of social experience and changed her tone, became a little less warm, more businesslike. Making it clear she had somewhere to be, something important to do. �I’m looking for someone, is it nearby?’
�A short stretch of the legs from here.’
Keelin stared up at him, unamused. �That’s very funny.’
There was a sudden deep chuckle of laughter. And the deep, resonating rumble touched her somewhere deep inside. Briefly. As lasting as a single heartbeat, but she felt it echo through her like the ripple in a pool. And for a following brief moment, it frightened the life out of her.
It was obviously something in the atmosphere. It had to be. The setting, the mist, the lengthy dramatic entrance he’d made across the field looking the way he did. She was being seduced by the moment. That was all.
A form of escapism from her fear of the thing she was here to discover, possibly?
She squared her shoulders. There wasn’t any time for fantasy here. She hadn’t travelled halfway across the country to fawn over the first good-looking man she met.
�If you could just point me in the right direction? That would be very helpful, thank you.’
�I can do better than that.’ He set his walking stick on the wall and, leaning on one hand, vaulted over it, landing neatly on his feet in front of her as she stepped back to make room for him. He then studied her up close and personal, his toffee eyes meltingly warm.
�I’ll take you there.’
Oh, no, Keelin didn’t think so. She read a lot of murder mysteries, thank you. And this man was dangerous enough as it was, looking and sounding the way he did…
�No, it’s fine, thanks. I can find it if you point me the right way.’
�I’m going that way.’
Not with her, he wasn’t. �Really, I’m sure I can—’
�Aren’t there any gentlemen left in the big cities these days?’
Not so much. But that wasn’t the point. �You’re a complete stranger, I don’t know you.’
�Well, that’s easily remedied.’ He reached out a large hand. �I’m Garrett—’
�I don’t actually need to know who you are, either. I’m sorry. I just need to get where I’m going. I’m not here to get picked up by strangers in the middle of nowhere.’
The hand dropped back to his side. �Bit full of yourself, aren’t you?’
Keelin noted how his face remained impassive, but a twinkle of light stayed in his eyes, hinting at his amusement. Lord, but he was tempting. A nine point nine on the Romance Richter scale. But she refused point-blank to allow herself to be swayed by him. Her mother had come to this place once and been �swayed’ and look where that had got her!
The thought refocused her, so, instead of allowing herself to be tempted by his obvious charms, she frowned, crossing her arms across her chest and tilting her chin as she answered. �Look, Mr—’
�Garrett.’
Her frown upgraded to a scowl at the sound of his steady deep tone and her own visceral response to it. Well, her attempt at a cool brush-off hadn’t worked, so she’d have to be direct.
�Garrett. I’m sure there’s more than enough female fodder amongst the usual tourists here to keep you amused for a few months a year. But I’m not a tourist. Neither am I on the market as fodder. And I won’t be here long enough to be swayed by you turning on the rustic charm. So why don’t you just point a finger in the general vicinity of where I need to go and I’ll spread the word to the tourist board about how friendly the locals are.’ She added a sugary-sweet smile for good measure.
�I thought you said you weren’t a tourist?’
The calm tone to his voice made her falter briefly. �I’m not.’
�Well, then, how are you going to tell the tourist board that you noticed I had rustic charm?’
What was she now, a magnet for wise guys? Perfect. She sighed. �Forget it. I’ll find it myself.’
Even that jolly local prankster Patrick wouldn’t have sent her in the wrong direction.
Garrett fell into step beside her and when she glared sideways at him she almost tripped over one of the Springers.
One large hand shot out and caught her elbow, steadying her, long fingers curling in and around as she leaned briefly into his strength.
But she recovered quickly, snatching her elbow away, yanking her body back from his, and spinning round to look up at him while still glaring. �Would you just go away?’
�I already told you I was going this way.’
�Well, then, I’ll just wait right here ’til you’re gone before I start walking again.’
His mouth quirked, teasing at his dimples as he silently watched her folding her arms again. Then he mirrored the movement, blinking down at her with an intense gaze. �Are you always this rude to someone who’s trying to be a gentleman?’
�Only when I’m stranded in the middle of what could be, as far as I know, the killing fields of Co. Kerry. Bodies might never be found way out here.’
�Do I look like a mass murderer to you?’
�You wouldn’t have to be a mass murderer—there’s only one of me.’
His eyes glowed. �Well, I’m one of the good guys, honest. And I know where I’m going. You could dander on up this road and walk off the cliffs if I let you. And that would definitely ruin my reputation as a good guy.’
Keelin stared at him for a long, long moment. Well, just because…
Then she finally shook her head, recognizing that the spark in his eyes was teasing, not the least little bit threatening. Though how she could possibly have known that so surely after ten minutes stunned her. It was too surreal. She just really needed coffee—a nice mocha cappuccino maybe. And the gentle hum of traffic in the background that would fill the �if you scream noone will hear you’ void. And not to have walked so far already in one morning would be good, too.
Mind you, so would sleeping a single wink the night before she’d come out on this quest of hers in the first place…
When she said nothing, merely unfolding her arms and staring up at him, Garrett’s mouth twitched again. He was obviously easily amused.
One of the bouncing Springers seemed to notice there was tension in the air and decided to help dissipate it by jumping up to say hello, leaving a matching set of paw-prints on her pale beige trousers.
Keelin flinched, as much out of surprise as anything else. She liked dogs, normally.
�Down, Ben!’ Garrett’s voice sounded firmly and the dog obeyed immediately, moving around his master’s legs to sit at his side before looking upwards with an expression of apologetic adoration.
Keelin glanced down at her trousers. �Oh, terrific.’ She raised both arms from her sides and let them drop. �That’s just great.’
�They’re a little over-friendly at times.’
Ignoring the rueful tone to his voice she smiled sarcastically. �Seems to be a glut of that here, doesn’t there?’
His eyes studied the paw-prints, then dropped lower. �Are those supposed to be wellingtons?’
Keelin looked down too. �They are wellingtons.’
She should know; she’d bought them especially for her trip, after all. Not much call for wellingtons in the middle of Dublin.
When he continued to study them she raised her eyes and studied the top of his head. Lord, he even had gorgeous hair: thick, sleek, deep chocolate brown, the kind of hair that begged to have fingers thread through it.
What were they talking about again? Oh, yes. �What’s wrong with them?’
�They have flowers on them.’
Keelin nodded and spoke slowly. �Y-e-s, I’m a girl.’
His head rose, toffee eyes sparkling again as his voice dropped to a more intimate tone. �Yeah, I got that.’
Her cheeks warmed.
�It’s just that wellingtons normally come in green or black.’
�Or navy?’ She batted her eyelashes.
Garrett nodded slowly. �Sometimes in navy.’
There was a brief silence. While Keelin stared into his eyes and momentarily forgot how to think. She could feel her pulse beating erratically, could hear her heart thudding against the wall of her chest. Aw, c’mon! She was getting turned on by a conversation about wellington boots now? How sad did that make her?
�You really need to get off this island more, you know that, right?’
�Explore the world of possibilities available to wellington wearers worldwide?’
�Exactly. Broaden your horizons some.’
He stepped a little closer, lowering his head to grumble. �You see, I would, but I’m a boy. We happen to like green, black or navy. It’s much more practical.’
Keelin swallowed convulsively.
�So—’he smiled a slow, sensual smile �—you ready to walk a little more? Now that we know where we stand on the wellingtons issue?’
�You’re not going to let me walk on my own, are you?’ She somehow knew that instinctively.
Garrett shook his head. �Nope.’
Damnable chivalry! Whose idea was that in the modern era? Women like Keelin really weren’t used to being treated this way!
Allowing herself just a second more of up-close study, she then forced herself to look away, sighing dramatically. �Well, lead on, then, if you must. But if we get near anything that remotely resembles a shallow grave, I warn you—I’ve taken classes in self-defence.’
There was another low, rumbled chuckle of laughter beside her as they fell into step along the narrow laneway. �You’ve been in the city too long.’
�What makes you so sure I’m from the city?’
�It’s written all over you. You look—’ his face turned to study her profile �—expensive.’
Keelin tilted her head his way as she walked. �Now, Garrett, did you just go calling me high maintenance?’
His mouth quirked yet again. �Are you telling me you’re not?’
If only he knew. �If you knew me better you’d know I’m one of the least high-maintenance women on the planet. But, please, feel free to jump to conclusions.’
�That’s why you’re enjoying being on the island so much already, I take it?’
No, that wasn’t why she wasn’t enjoying the island.
She focused her gaze forwards, following the gentle sweep of the narrow stone-wall-lined laneway she was walking along, to where it had branched out in two different directions. It could almost have been metaphor, but then every path taken had a set of choices, right? She sighed, and a confession rolled off her reluctant tongue.
�It’s not the island’s fault. I just get a little tense when I’m nervous.’
�And I’m making you nervous, am I?’
She glanced his way again with a small, mischievous smile. �Now who’s full of themself?’
He smiled a glorious, full, dimpled smile in return and Keelin found herself laughing.
Garrett leaned his head a little closer. �That’s better. See, now you look less high maintenance.’
She was still smiling in amusement as his focus went back to his dogs, his upper lip flattening briefly against straight white teeth as he whistled them back into closer proximity.
�Do you flirt with every woman who gets lost on this island, then?’
When he glanced at her, his warm eyes were so intense she almost caught her breath. �Maybe you just bring that out in me.’
Keelin rolled her eyes, which was rewarded with another low chuckle of laughter.
Both looking up the laneway, they fell into an almost companionable silence for a while before his voice sounded again. �So why are you nervous?’
Ah, now there was a question. �Let’s just say I’m still not entirely sure what I’m doing here.’
�You know someone at Inishmore?’
�No. Not yet.’
They walked another couple of steps. �Is someone expecting you?’
�I’d think it’s safe to say no one is, no.’
Out of her peripheral vision she saw him nod, as if he was confirming something he already knew. �So, are you the bearer of bad news, then?’
Even though she knew he was just seeking a logical explanation for her nervousness, Keelin faltered. Tilting her head back slightly, she looked up at the rapidly clearing blue skies above her, her voice low. �Sort of.’
Garrett leaned forwards and looked down at her upturned face. And he smiled an encouraging smile when she looked at him. �No one likes to be the bearer of bad news. It’s no wonder you’re nervous.’
Keelin stared, transfixed as he smiled down at her. Then his hand reached up again, cupping her elbow briefly, squeezing in reassurance. �They’re not bad people. They won’t shoot the messenger.’
�That really depends on what the messenger tells them, doesn’t it?’
A dark brow quirked. �Is it the messenger’s fault?’
�No.’ The whispered word came out on a small sigh as a wave of emotion swept over her. She really had thought she was better prepared for this. But she was out on a limb further than she’d ever been. And it was terrifying. When she had told him she still wasn’t sure what she was doing here, it hadn’t been entirely a lie. Not entirely.
She had reasoned with herself that she could handle it if she was turned away. If she was rejected. But there was still a part of her that would hurt deeply if she was. If she didn’t find out what it was she was looking for.
It would be pain on top of anguish and grief that she was barely holding together as it was. Maybe she should just have let it be. Left the past in the past and got on with building her future, instead of standing beside a complete stranger with a confession on the tip of her tongue.
The large hand on her elbow exerted a little pressure, bringing her out of her sorrowful reverie, so that she was forced to look up again.
Garrett smiled a slow, soft smile and the depth of warmth that emanated from it brought an equal warmth to her chest in reply that was surprisingly soothing.
She stared at him with wide, curious eyes. She’d just never met a man quite like him before. And she couldn’t even put it down to the romance of rolling mists and a grand entrance into her line of vision. There was just something about him, something that held her attention, fascinated her more than she’d ever been fascinated before.
He was compelling. Yes. Compelling was a good word.
Toffee eyes roamed over her face and his hand dropped from her arm. �Dermot Kincaid is a good man. He’ll listen to what you have to say, whatever it might be.’
Keelin’s eyes widened. �You know him?’
Garrett’s eyes sparkled briefly again as they began walking once more. �Yes, it’s safe to say I know him as well as anyone. And judging by the look on your face a minute ago, whatever you’ve come to see him for is important. He’ll see that too, if you’ll give him a chance. Not all us island folk are potential mass murderers…’
She found it difficult to breathe, her chest suddenly tight. So that it took a few moments before she could find a single question to ask from the long list she’d been forming on her way to the island. �What’s he like?’
Garrett’s eyes took on a far-off expression before he looked away from her face. �Like any other man his age. Has lived and learned some, so sometimes has entirely too much common sense, which can be annoying if you’re convinced you’re in the right when he knows you’re not. And he’s formed some strong opinions along the way, so can be a real stubborn-headed goat when he wants to be.’ He grinned briefly at her, dimples flashing.
�But he still has an appreciation for a good-looking girl, so you’ll be just fine.’
Keelin felt her cheeks warm again.
And Garrett caught sight of it before he laughed. �Yeah, he’ll like you all right, even if he is old enough to be your father.’
She was glad he turned his face away as he threw out the latter.
�That’s the house over there.’
The hand that had been subconsciously straightening the material over the elbow he had held onto froze as her gaze followed his pointing finger to the large, old stone farmhouse ahead of them.
Garrett stopped a few steps in front of her and turned, a quizzical expression on his face when she remained still. �What’s wrong?’
Keelin frowned. She had been so momentarily transfixed by the sight of her destination that she had forgotten he was there. And she wasn’t about to explain to him why it was suddenly so difficult to take the final steps to get there. How could he possibly understand that, to her, it had taken a lifetime to reach this place?
So she sought a safer answer. �And you couldn’t have just told me it was round the next bend?’
He smiled laconically. �And ruin all the fun?’
Hitching her chin up a very visible inch, Keelin walked past him with determined steps in flowered wellingtons. �You really need to get off this island more.’
It didn’t occur to her addled mind that he was still following along with her until his dogs stopped at the small gateway, wagging their tails as they waited for it to be opened. Keelin stopped, looked down at them, and then up at Garrett’s face as he reached for the latch.
�You don’t need to see me to the door. I can take it from here.’
�I already told you I was going this way.’
�I didn’t think you meant all the way into the house.’
With his hand holding the gate open, dogs already having galloped ahead, Garrett leaned his head a little closer, and smiled another heart-stopping smile. �I have to go in. I live here.’
Keelin’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. �You live here?’
Garrett nodded very slowly. �Yes, I live here, for the moment anyway. I’m building a house nearby, but this has been home for a long time. I did try introducing myself but you were having none of it. And incidentally—’a single eyebrow quirked at her �—I didn’t catch your name….’
Still reeling with the new information, Keelin had to struggle to keep up. �Maybe because I didn’t give it. And you didn’t ask.’
�Well—’he leaned back and took a breath �—that we can fix.’
She watched as he reached a large hand out towards her, but hesitated accepting it, in making the simple skin-to-skin contact involved with setting her smaller hand into his.
And he quirked a single eyebrow again in question.
So, with a deep breath, and a brief run of the end of her tongue over her dry lips, she placed her hand in his. And felt the immediate sliver of warmth run through her fingers and up her arm. �I’m Keelin O’Donnell.’
�Hello, Keelin O’Donnell.’ Still holding her hand in his, he inclined his head slightly. �It’s nice to meet you. I’m Garrett Kincaid.’
�Kincaid?’
Again in that deeply hypnotic tone. �Yes, Kincaid.’
Keelin let go of his hand as if he’d burned her, rubbing her palm up and down against her thigh as she stared up at him.
Garrett in turn held his now-free hand out to the side, beckoning her through the gateway. �My father will be in the kitchen.’
Keelin walked through the gateway on automatic pilot. His father. His father, whom she had come all this way to find. It held a certain irony that she would feel something in the wrong place at the wrong time, would meet the first man in a long time whom she found compelling, too attractive for his own good, who had made the most perfect of perfect entrances into her already complicated life. And then discover that, rather than being a mass murderer, this gorgeously compelling male could, in all likelihood, already be out of bounds…as a potential family member…
Or, Lord help her, he could even be a brother!
CHAPTER TWO
AS THE dogs scampered across the tiled floor to their baskets Garrett watched the sylph-like blonde hovering in the doorway, a look of sheer terror on her face.
She was quite the mystery woman, wasn’t she?
And, to be honest, he’d thought that before he had even found out where she was going. It wasn’t too often he bumped into a beautiful woman in the middle of nowhere first thing in the morning…
Especially not one he’d felt drawn to the way he had to her. There was just, something, about her. What was it?
�You checked the herd?’ His father’s voice sounded out from in front of the huge range that dominated the kitchen, his back to the door. �All still in one piece?’
�Yes, all present and accounted for.’ He jerked his head. �Come on in, Keelin.’
She took a deep breath and walked into the room, her eyes immediately seeking out its only other occupant.
Who in turn turned to face her with curious eyes. �Where on earth did you find this lovely creature? I’ve been sending you out to check stock for decades and you never came home with one of these.’
�She’s not here to see me. She’s here to see you.’
A mischievous light entered Dermot’s eyes as he winked at Keelin before walking over and slapping Garrett on the back. �Son, really, you shouldn’t have. It’s not my birthday ’til next month.’
But the attempt at humour washed right over Keelin, who seemed to be growing paler by the second. It gave her an almost ethereal look, with her already pale skin and huge, luminescent blue eyes. And in the second it took for Dermot to reach out a hand in greeting she seemed to shrink a little, suddenly appearing almost glasslike, as if his touch might shatter her.
And Garrett really wanted to know why she was so full of contradictions—sassy city girl one minute, shy and almost innocently childlike the next. Who was the real Keelin O’Donnell?
He cleared his throat. �Paddy McIlroy sent her up here from the hotel in Knightstown.’
�On foot?’ Dermot looked over at his son with a smile as Keelin finally shook his hand. �Good stretch of the legs, eh?’
Keelin seemed to recover as she took back her hand. �I don’t think he used the word “good” or “fair”. If he had I might have known to use my car.’
�He has a very individual sense of humour, does Paddy.’
�Yes, I got that.’
�So what brings you up to visit us, then? Not that the sight of a lovely girl doesn’t brighten any day of the week out here!’
Garrett couldn’t hold back a smile of amusement, leaning his head closer to Keelin’s as he peeled off his long coat. �Told you he’d like you.’
Colour returned to Keelin’s face as another flush worked its way onto her cheeks. And, despite his best intentions, Garrett smiled all the more. He liked the fact that she blushed so easily. A rare thing in the modern age. Especially from a woman who lived in the big city.
Another contradiction. City women were way too self-assured to blush, weren’t they? They were in Garrett’s experience. He’d found that kind of confidence sexy once, that was true.
But once had been enough.
�And knowing that, you’d think he’d have had the sense to keep you to himself, wouldn’t you?’ Dermot waved a hand in Garrett’s direction. �Get the girl a cup of tea, then. The pot’s stewing on top of the stove.’
Garrett merely lifted an eyebrow in question as she looked his way. And she smiled a very small smile in response. So he nodded. �Milk, no sugar, I suppose?’
City girl’s second preference to some foreign froth of a coffee in his experience…
�Thank you.’
�Sit down, sit down.’ Dermot pulled out a chair for her at the long, well-worn kitchen table. �Keelin, is it? What a lovely name. Are you here for a bit of a holiday? Do you know the island at all? It’s a lovely place, isn’t it?’
�She might be able to answer if you paused for breath.’ Garrett threw the words over his shoulder as he reached for a mug and poured steaming tea into it. �Let her get a word in.’
Not that he doubted her ability to do that if she chose. But something had changed when she’d walked through the door. And Garrett was keen to have his father let her get to it.
The curiosity was killing him.
�I’m not here on holiday.’
As Garrett turned to place the mug in front of her she was lifting the long strap of her bag from across her shoulders, shrugging her head below it before she searched through its contents. �I came here to bring you something I think belongs to you.’
�To me?’ Dermot’s eyes widened in surprise. �Are you sure about that?’
�Yes.’ Her eyes flickered briefly to his face, then up to Garrett’s as he set down the mug. �Thank you.’
Garrett smiled encouragingly. �You already said thank you. It’s only a cup of tea, Keelin O’Donnell, it’s not that big a deal.’
There was a sudden silence. Broken by. �O’Donnell?’
Garrett’s gaze narrowed as his father repeated her surname in the same surprised tone Keelin had when he’d said his name was Kincaid at the gate. What the hell was going on?
Keelin faltered, her hand rising from the bag with a bundle of faded blue letters that she laid on the table in front of her, both hands then smoothing over them as she studied his father’s face.
�Yes.’
The answer was low, almost flat, yet determined. And the reaction on Dermot’s face was dramatic. He stared at her long and hard, as if he was searching for something, lost for words for the first time that Garrett could ever remember. Which was saying something.
And when Garrett looked back at Keelin, she was studying Dermot in exactly the same way.
Then her eyes flickered back up to meet his and Garrett felt a wave cramp the region of his chest. She looked lost. And he suddenly remembered what he had said to her about his father listening to whatever she had to say. How he had reassured her it would be all right.
Garrett was no liar. And he wouldn’t let his old man make one of him either.
So he pinned a bright smile on his face and pulled out the chair beside her. �So I take it you two know each other, then?’
He looked back and forth from one to the other.
Finally Dermot’s eyes strayed to the letters that Keelin was stroking, colour fading from his face as he looked back up at her. �Recently?’
The word was almost choked.
Keelin swallowed hard, her eyes shimmering as she nodded. �Six weeks ago.’
�I’m sorry, child.’
She nodded again, her gaze dropping to her hands as she took a moment to control herself before she pushed the letters towards him. �I thought you might want these.’
This time Dermot nodded. And even though Garrett now had a million and one questions, he didn’t ask. It felt as if he would be intruding somehow—maybe already was simply by being there.
He watched as his father’s fingers closed around the letters, drawing them closer to him on the table top before he smoothed his hands over them in the same way Keelin had. As if they were something very precious; something beyond any monetary value.
�Thank you, for bringing them.’ His eyes rose to look at her face again, a small smile playing at the edges of his mouth as he spoke in a husky tone. �You look like her.’
�I know.’ Keelin smiled tremulously in return. �I get told that all the time.’
�Aye, well you do. She was your age—’ He stopped and cleared his throat. �Garrett, get Keelin something to eat, would you? I’m sure she’s hungry after that long walk.’
�I’m fine, really.’ She flashed a small smile his way. �I ate very early at the hotel.’
Garrett nodded. He couldn’t seem to think of anything to say in the sight of her sparkling eyes and small smile. Damn but she was beautiful, really, an absolute stunner. What looking at her did to him took him back in time, reminded him of who he’d been a lifetime ago. And whoever it was she looked like must have had equally big an impression on his father.
Because the next thing he knew Dermot was pushing his chair back from the table, his fingers closing around the letters. �You’ll have to excuse me for a minute.’
Garrett watched in stark amazement as he left the room. What—?
There was the sound of chair legs scraping over the floor again as Keelin stood up and Garrett’s gaze immediately returned to her face as she gathered her bag to her and spoke in a low voice. �This was a mistake.’
�Wait.’ His hand caught her smaller one on top of the bag, fingers curling round hers as he stood up. �I’m sure he’ll come back. This isn’t like him.’
But then he wouldn’t be the first Kincaid male to act strangely around this woman, would he?
Keelin untwisted her fingers from his and stepped back, her eyes avoiding his. �No, really. I shouldn’t have come here. I think I maybe knew that before I came.’
He could hear the tremor in her voice, could see the shimmer in her eyes as she glanced towards the door. And without thinking he knew he didn’t want her to leave, not when she was so obviously upset.
Her being so upset was partly his fault, after all. He was the one who had told her his father wouldn’t blame the messenger for whatever news she brought. Even though he still didn’t really know what that news was.
�Who was he talking about?’
She swallowed again, frowning hard as she looked down at her flowered wellingtons. �My mother.’
Six weeks ago.
Garrett put some of it together. �She passed away?’
A single nod. �Breast cancer.’
He flinched inwardly, floundering as he searched for something to say to her, annoyed with himself that he couldn’t. He of all people should have been able to find some words. After all, she wouldn’t be the first one he’d had to find the right words for when a mother had gone.
But while he frowned at the sudden flash of regret from his own past she turned, and was out of the door before he even had time to react.
When he did, without thought, he was immediately on her heels. �Wait!’
Her hand was on the gate when he caught up with her, his hand on her shoulder, forcing her round to look at him. And when she did she wasn’t able to hide the tears that streamed down her face.
Garrett swore.
She turned away again, fighting with the latch on the gate. �I have to get out of here.’ She shook the gate again as her voice cracked. �What sort of a damn stupid gate is this, for crying out loud?’
He watched her struggling, a battle waging inside him between what propriety dictated he should do and what she might need most in that moment.
When her breath caught on a sob, he frowned hard, decision made. �Leave it, Keelin. Stop.’ He took a deep breath and stepped towards her. �Come here.’
And even though it was entirely inappropriate with someone he had barely met, he drew her into his arms. �I can’t let you go running off in this state.’
She struggled in his arms. �It’s not your problem.’
�Maybe not, but if you run in the wrong direction and fall off the island, then I’ll feel responsible.’
She struggled again. �Let me go Garrett.’
�No. Just give yourself a minute.’
When she continued struggling, he spread his feet wider to support them both, even though she was so small in his arms. Then he waited, his arms firm around her waist until she went still, and sobbed against his chest, directly above his heart, so that the sound vibrated through him.
After a moment she seemed to soften, and Garrett felt his shoulders relax, knowing she wasn’t going to fight with him any more. So he waited again, his arms moving so that he could smooth his hands over her back as if he were soothing a wounded animal, trying to gain trust.
Her voice was muffled but stronger when she spoke. �Well, this is a first.’
�Crying?’ He tilted his chin down to study the top of her head as he attempted to inject a little humour. �Don’t all women do that?’
�No.’ She lifted her head back a little so that her voice was clearer. �I mastered that one the first time I saw a Lassie film. I’ve just never bawled all over someone within twenty minutes of meeting them.’
�You lost your mother. You have every right to cry. I just happen to be here, that’s all.’
She stiffened in his arms again, then drew back, stepping away from him as she swiped at her cheeks with her palms. �I really shouldn’t have come here, I almost didn’t make the trip. And now I know I shouldn’t have. This was a bad idea.’
Garrett watched as she shook her head, his arms suddenly feeling redundant at his sides. So he shoved his hands into his pockets. �I take it Dermot knew her?’
�A long time ago.’
�Well, he obviously never forgot her.’
Keelin flashed a brief smile his way. �My mother had that effect on people. Once met, never forgotten.’
�Then I guess he was right when he said you were like her.’
Blue eyes widened as she shot him another glance, then she frowned and looked away. �I better get back to the hotel.’
�I’ll drive you back.’
�That’s not necessary.’
�You already know how much of a stretch of the legs it is to get back there. Don’t be daft.’
�The walk will do me good.’
�Tough.’
She was still frowning when she looked back at him, the city-girl confident façade back in place. �Are you always this bossy?’
�Yep.’ He flashed a half-smile at her. �You’ll get used to it. Most people do, given time.’
�I won’t be here long enough to get used to it.’
�Well, then, consider this a one-shot deal.’
While she opened her mouth to answer that he took his hands out of his pockets and pointed a long finger at her. �Don’t move and I’ll go get my keys.’
�I can walk.’
�You could try. But I’ll catch up with you in about a minute flat. So you may just think of this as a way of getting rid of me sooner. Otherwise I’m going to wind down the window and annoy you the whole way back. And I’m better at annoying than I am at bossy.’
By the time he had her seated in the passenger seat of his Range Rover, still scowling at him, Dermot had reappeared.
He tapped on Keelin’s window, and Garrett hit the switch to wind it down.
�It took me a minute to find them. I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.’
Another bunch of letters was handed through the window and Keelin looked down at them as she took them from his hands, her face then rising, brows lifting in question.
Dermot smiled sadly. �Call me sentimental if you like, but I kept hers, too. You should have them. So you can see both sides of the story.’
Keelin’s voice was a low whisper. �Thank you.’
A hand came through the window and squeezed her shoulder. �Come back for dinner later. Garrett will come down and get you. I’d like to get a chance to know Breige’s daughter, if that’s all right with you?’
Garrett didn’t realize he was holding his breath until she nodded. Then he smiled inwardly as he started up the engine and turned out onto the laneway.
�Told you he’d be back. Now you’ll have a chance to get used to me being bossy.’
�I doubt one meal will do it.’
�Well, then, maybe I’ll have to get Dermot to ask you to stay longer. You like him better than me.’
She rewarded him with a small, mischievous smile. �He’s better looking than you.’
Garrett shook his head as he looked out the windscreen. �Nah, he’s not.’
When she didn’t argue his smile made it onto his face as he gave into a sudden pleasure that her mood had brightened. What man was ever comfortable with a crying woman, after all?
As they got closer to Knightstown he glanced across at her, where she held the bundle of letters hugged against her lap.
Garrett wanted to know the story behind those letters.
And not just because of the mystery that surrounded her mother and his father.
He needed to know why it was that a second generation of Kincaids was suddenly so fascinated by a second generation of O’Donnells.
Even though the second generation of Kincaids had no business being fascinated by a woman who came from the city. A woman who had no place on an island like Valentia. The two were like oil and water, Garrett knew. Because he’d already been badly burned once before.
So, the way he saw it, once his fascination waned with a little taste of familiarity, he could let it go. He wasn’t about to be burned twice. No matter how beautiful Keelin O’Donnell was, or how drawn he’d been to hold her and offer her comfort.
No. He wouldn’t put himself through it again. Casual and un-involved worked much better for him these days if he felt the need for a female on his arm. And even if he was stupid enough to be tempted by anything more, he had responsibility for more than his own welfare now. He had Terri’s to consider, too. And she was more important to him than anything else ever could be again.
Fascination, or no fascination.
CHAPTER THREE
KEELIN considered packing her bags and getting on the next ferry. But there was still a part of her that wanted to stay, to know, one way or the other. So she could put it behind her, close off another chapter before she moved on with her life.
She just hadn’t factored a Garrett into the equation.
He had to be, what, early thirties? Which meant Dermot Kincaid had to have been a married man when her mother had met him. And, despite her mother’s bohemian approach to life, that just didn’t sit well on Keelin’s shoulders.
Any more than being so attracted at first sight to someone who might be her half-brother did…
But then she had no way of knowing for sure that Dermot Kincaid was her father. Except that the dates were close enough to match. Well, at least that she could tell from his letters.
Her mother’s letters might tell a different story.
But even as she sat on a bench overlooking Valentia Harbour, the vast panorama of the lush green countryside laid out before her like a painting her mother might have created early in her career, she couldn’t bring herself to reach into her bag for them.
To have a direct line into a part of her mother’s life that she hadn’t known about.
It was just too glaring a reminder of how lacking their relationship had been while her mother was alive. Of what Keelin had missed out on by carrying around a sense of something major missing from her life, due to her mother’s lifestyle and �artistic’ temperament.
Keelin had been so angry at her growing up. But even though they had made their peace before she’d left, Keelin was left with a hole inside, a hole she had hoped to fill with the things she had never known. As if somehow that could make it easier to move on…
This journey had been her attempt at trying to put the pieces together. To try and make sense of everything that had gone before so she could put it aside and move forwards. So she didn’t feel as if she was drifting through life, filling in time, waiting for something she hadn’t put a name to. While not really living at all.
�You’re more like your father than me,’ her mother would say to try and justify the glaring differences in their personalities when Keelin had been a rebellious teenager, determined her mother’s way of living had ruined her own life in some way.
�How would I know that when you never talk about him?’ had been Keelin’s defence mid-argument.
She reached into her bag and took out the bundle of letters. They were her only chance to try and understand the woman who had never understood her, not really. And to try and put together the missing part of the puzzle that had led to her own existence.
She promised herself it didn’t matter what Garrett thought about how she looked that evening. Even though she had taken an inordinate amount of time getting ready.
Living up to the memory Dermot had of her stunning mother would be difficult enough.
But the glow in Garrett’s dark sable eyes when he turned to look at her in the tiny hotel foyer still brought a rush of welcomed self-confidence.
He didn’t make a comment, though. Just slowly looked her down and back up.
And in that second she sent up a silent prayer that she could manage to control how attractive she found him, how he could have such an effect on her with just a glance. He took her breath away. He really did.
�I have to make a stop along the way.’
�No problem.’ She pinned a bright smile in place as he eased his long legs in through the driver’s side door.
�Just get ready for about a hundred questions.’
A rueful smile caused his dimples to flash briefly her way as he turned out onto the narrow street, executing a U-turn at the harbour. �Terri is going to find you fascinating as all hell.’
Meaning he didn’t? Not that it wouldn’t be better if he didn’t, but, surely, having been on the sidelines earlier, he couldn’t help but at least be curious?
As she was now about the mysterious Terry. �He doesn’t get off the island much more than you do I take it?’
�She. And, no, she doesn’t. No matter how much she bugs me on a daily basis about it.’
Not Terry, then. Theresa.
Keelin was suddenly ragingly curious about the kind of woman that Garrett spent time with. She was probably some excruciatingly pretty island girl who loved the outdoors and had wellingtons in one of the prerequisite colours. At least if she was interested in city life Keelin would have something to talk to her about.
Keelin the outsider might find a way not to feel so awkward in the company of two enigmatic Kincaid men that way. And with a girlfriend in tow then she could concentrate on trying to view Garrett as a friendly brother-figure rather than anything even resembling gorgeous male.
�You should take her for a nice romantic getaway in the city. She’d like that.’
Garrett laughed a low laugh beside her. �Somehow I don’t think dragging her old dad along on the trip would be part of the plan.’
Keelin gaped at his profile. �You have a daughter?’
�Yes, that I most definitely do.’
�What age is she?’
�Fourteen.’
She gaped even more. He was obviously ageing better than she’d given him credit for.
When she didn’t say anything, he glanced across at her, chuckling at her expression. �Why do you look so surprised?’
Maybe because she was. �You just don’t look old enough to have a fourteen-year-old.’
�Careful now, that’s almost a compliment.’
�What age are you?’
�Why is it women are always so quick to ask that question and never that keen on having it asked?’
�Twenty-seven in two months’ time.’ She smiled sugary-sweet when he glanced her way again. �See, I have no problems with my age.’
�That’s because you’re only twenty-seven.’
�Still twenty-six, thank you.’
He chuckled again. �Yep, no hang-ups about age there at all.’
She lifted her chin when he glanced across after turning onto a narrow lane. �Spoken by the man who still hasn’t fessed up to his. Having a fourteen-year-old ages you, you see.’
�More than you’ll ever know.’
They made a right-handed turn and he slowed down to get through a set of gates. While Keelin smiled wistfully at his confession. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have a teenager. Or a child, for that matter.
Even though for a while she had ached for one, so that she could do a better job with it than her mother had with her. But having a child involved a father in Keelin’s mind. One that was there to watch his child grow.
And Keelin had never cared about any man enough for that to happen. To commit herself to a lifetime in his company. Which was the way she still believed it should be. Maybe that made her old-fashioned. But having grown up without one, with only the odd �uncle’ as a stand-in…
And Keelin didn’t believe she should even start to look for a suitable candidate until she had sorted out her own life. It would hardly be fair on him, would it? No one should rely on someone else to sort out their problems, to take on their responsibilities for them. Not in this day and age. No, she would walk into a relationship a whole person or not at all. That way she would have equal footing with the man who would be a father to her children.
It took two people to make a marriage work.
They pulled up in front of a two-storey red-brick house and Garrett sounded the horn as he swung the Range Rover around.
�I was twenty when she was born.’
Keelin looked at him in surprise, again. Her mind immediately thinking back to the person she had been at twenty. She’d had enough of a problem dealing with herself without the added responsibility of a baby.
His eyes flickered briefly over her face again as the front door of the house opened. �I’ll let you do the maths.’
But, even while she worked it out, Keelin was already looking out of the side window to catch a glimpse of his daughter. She was the walking female version of her father. No denying her parentage. And she was tall, even for her age. Not quite as tall as her father, but certainly taller than Keelin. Not that that was difficult.
Though she had felt a little better in the hotel foyer, that, wearing heels, she at least made it to Garrett’s shoulder. He just had a way of making her feel small and feminine that went way beyond her height and build.
�You’re late, Dad.’
�No, I’m not. I just decided to get Keelin first so I could warn her about you.’
�Ha, ha.’ She leaned between the seats and smiled at Keelin, her warm brown eyes lit with interest. �Wow, you’re beautiful! I love your hair. I’d like to go blonde.’
�You already think blonde.’
Keelin raised an arched brow at him and he grinned. �No offence meant.’
�Well, I could take offence at that very easily.’ She swallowed a smile as she tried to appear offended. But his grin teased it out of her and, instead, she shook her head at him in mock chagrin.
�Oh, don’t listen to what he says. I never do.’
Keelin laughed aloud as Terri sat back and buckled her seat belt. And Garrett gave her a sparkling-eyed look that told her his daughter spoke the truth.
�I heard that Gramps knew your mum. They wrote letters to each other and everything. That’s so romantic.’
Garrett’s deep voice grumbled at Keelin’s side. �See? She does listen sometimes. Mostly when it’s none of her business…’
�Like I wasn’t going to listen in on this one. This is the most interesting thing to happen since Sean Leary’s cow fell off the cliffs last winter.’
�You’re kidding!’ Keelin turned round in her seat, staring at Terri with wide eyes full of disbelief and amusement. �It actually fell off the cliff?’
�Told you I had to be responsible about where you went this morning.’
She glanced briefly at Garrett from the corner of her eye before her attention was brought back to Terri, who waved a hand in front of her body.
�We had a stinker of a blizzard and the stupid thing forgot where it was. Sean said it looked like a fly on the windshield of a car.’
Garrett sighed. �Sean didn’t even see it. His father found it.’
�Well, his dad said it was well squished.’
�I’d imagine it would be.’ Keelin felt a constant smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. �I may not know much about cows, but I’m pretty sure they don’t have wings.’
Terri grinned. �Make them easier to milk if they could float over your head.’
Keelin laughed.
�Where are you from, then?’
Garrett’s voice grumbled beside her again. �She’ll have you fill in a questionnaire before the end of the night.’
�Well, it’s not like you were heavy on the details. I asked what you were like and he wouldn’t tell me anything.’ She rolled her eyes dramatically. �Men!’
�Well, you can see me for yourself now.’
�And you’d have thought he’d have mentioned how beautiful you are. It’s not like my dad hangs round that many good-looking women.’
�That’s right, ruin my reputation as a lady’s man, why don’t you?’
Keelin couldn’t help but join in with the easy banter, feeling tension roll out of her for the first time in weeks. �I thought you said you were a good guy?’
�Oh—’he stopped at the end of a road and looked directly into her eyes with a look that curled her toes �—I’m good all right.’
Keelin’s eyes widened in shock at the innuendo, said as it was with that low rumbling tone of his. Wasn’t he still a married man? What kind of married man flirted with another woman under his teenage daughter’s gaze? She glanced at Terri to see if she’d heard, but Terri was looking out of the side window, her forehead creased into a frown as she thought.
But even so. It was bad form. And having had such a good impression of him so far, Keelin was disappointed, so she looked back at him and narrowed her eyes in warning.
His face stayed completely straight, as if he’d not meant anything by it at all. Mr Innocent.
Having had a moment to think, Terri looked back at her. �So, where are you from?’
�Dublin, at the moment.’
�Cool! I’m gonna live in Dublin when I finish school.’
�Maybe.’
Terri scowled at the back of her father’s head. �Yes, I am. I’ve always wanted to live in the city.’ She leaned forwards again. �This place is so boring.’
Keelin could understand that to a teenage girl who had always lived there it would probably seem that way. She might even have felt the same way herself if the situations had been reversed. But to her, having a stable family life growing up, in somewhere as close knit as Valentia so obviously was, would have been heaven.
�But it’ll be nice for you to have a home to come back to. I spent my whole childhood moving from one place to the next when all I really wanted was somewhere to call home.’
Had she just said that out loud?
She felt, rather than saw Garrett turning her way again, inwardly cringing at the bitter twist that might have come through in her voice.
But it wasn’t just the man who had caught it.
�Didn’t you have a home?’
She focused all her attention on Terri, who was the safer option in her mind. �Oh, I had a home, lots of them, all over the place. Wherever we were my mother was always careful to give the appearance of it being a home.’
�Where’d you go?’
�London, New York, Paris, Rome, all the major cities at one time or another. Wherever my mother needed to be to promote her work or find her “muse”.’
�Wow.’ Terri’s mouth formed a perfect circle for a second, her eyes wide. �That must have been amazing!’
Amazing would have been one word for it. Keelin had a list of other, more heartfelt adjectives. �It was certainly never boring.’
�I’m so jealous. Why can’t we go to those places, Dad?’
�Because I have work and you have school. And anyway, stop complaining, you’ve been to London.’
�It’s not the same as living there.’
When Keelin looked at Garrett’s profile, she saw how his jaw clenched, just briefly. And she wondered why. Maybe his daughter’s lack of travel experience was a source of greater debate with them? But surely he had to understand that, to a fourteen-year-old girl, the world must have looked like an adventurous, magical place?
Still, when he shot a cool glance her way, she felt she had to make amends somehow, or at the very least not add fuel to Terri’s fire. So she looked for a safer topic instead and suddenly realized she’d been missing out on a major piece of information. And in not having asked had probably allowed Garrett his earlier, small indiscretion.
�Did you go to London on a school trip or did your mum and dad take you? Will she be at home when we get there? I’m looking forward to meeting her.’
The atmosphere in the car changed immediately.
But before Keelin could discover what she’d done wrong, they were pulling up at the house and Garrett was switching off the engine.
Keelin frowned in confusion as he scowled in silence at the steering wheel. And when she looked back at Terri, she just caught the tail-end of the look of pain she gave the back of her dad’s head.
Before her eyes met Keelin’s and she took a breath. �My mum’s dead. She died when I was little.’
Keelin’s breath caught.
But before she could find something to say, Terri shrugged, unbuckling her seat belt before she reached for the door handle. �And Dad doesn’t like talking about her.’
�Terri—’
The softly warning tone went unheeded with another shrug. �You can try if you like but I bet he won’t say much about her. He never does.’
When she slammed the door shut, Keelin looked back at Garrett’s profile, her voice low. �I’m so sorry—I had no idea.’
�Why would you? It’s not like we run around wearing T-shirts with it written on the front.’ He shrugged in a similar way to his daughter. �It was a long time ago.’
She waited until his face turned towards her, his eyes searching hers for a brief second while she held her breath, exhaling it on a question. �You brought her up alone?’
�No, I brought her up with Dermot’s help.’
�That can’t have been easy.’
�No worse than being dragged from pillar to post most of her life might have been.’
Keelin looked down at her lap, joining her hands and focusing on them. �We all have something to deal with.’
�Yes.’ The word was low, intimate in the confined space of the car. �Yes, we do.’
Keelin’s eyes rose slowly, her gaze tracing up each of the buttons on his dark blue shirt, sweeping over the few dark hairs she could see at the open vee, and then up, past the sensual sweep of his mouth until it locked with his. The warm toffee melting as he blinked back at her.
And Keelin had never before been so knocked sideways. So aware of the steady sound of someone else’s breathing, or the way that his mouth parted slightly as he took each breath, of how the very space that he occupied seemed made more vibrant by the very fact that he was in it.
Oh, this could not happen! Not with him.
But even as she straightened her spine and leaned back towards the door he turned away, his voice suddenly cooler.
�Dermot will be wondering what’s keeping us.’
CHAPTER FOUR
�WHY do you call your father by his first name so much? Is that an island thing?’
Garrett tried to focus his attention on the mist-covered lane as they left the house, his grip tighter than necessary on the steering wheel. But the tension he felt wasn’t linked to a fear of driving in such bad visibility. Oh, no. It had much more to do with being alone in Keelin’s company. Again.
No matter how he tried he couldn’t seem to stop himself from being abundantly aware of her, no matter how close or how far away she was from him. Even when she had sat on the far side of the living room after dinner, he had had to force himself to look away from her, to stop himself being consistently hypnotized by her smile or the golden sound of her laughter or her sweet scent when she walked by. A scent that now surrounded him inside his own car.
And he felt a growing resentment towards her for all those things. She had no damn business being so noticeable.
He frowned at her question. �Do I?’
�Yes, I caught it a few times earlier but I guess I only really thought about it tonight.’
�Well, it is his name.’
�Would you like it if Terri called you Garrett?’
�No, I’m her dad, and I work harder on six days out of every seven to live up to that title; especially since she hit puberty.’
�You’ve earned it.’ Her voice was softer this time, like velvet almost, as it reached across the minuscule gap between them and caressed his eardrums.
She had the most gorgeously sexy, husky voice. A bedroom voice. The kind of voice that would have seduced even without the aid of the way she looked. And she’d almost floored him when she’d walked into the foyer earlier. With her almost ethereal beauty, and an innocence that belied the kind of worldly upbringing he now knew she’d had.
�Don’t you feel that Dermot has, too?’
Garrett could have corrected her simply enough. Dermot had more than earned it, which was why Garrett had taken his name in the first place. But his resentment at how he had been feeling in Keelin’s company all evening, hell, since he’d first set eyes on her, translated as a lack of willingness to share any information with her.
�He’s never complained, so maybe he’s happy with it.’
With his eyes still fixed on the grey blanket beyond the wind-screen, he couldn’t attempt a look sideways to see her expression. But he felt the change, heard the slight whisper of the material of her dress against the seat as she straightened. And when she eventually spoke, her voice told him even more.
�Do you want to tell me what it is I’ve done wrong? Or should we just play twenty questions ’til I hit it? You can give me yes or no answers if that’s easier for you.’
Her tone was cool, but there was an underlying edge to it that translated to him as hurt. Which brought an unwelcome wave of guilt washing over him.
�Is it because I mentioned Terri’s mother earlier?’
�No, it’s not because you mentioned Terri’s mother.’
�Then what is it?’
His fingers flexed around the steering wheel. �What makes you so sure you’ve done something wrong?’
�Maybe the fact that you’ve been staring at me with a scowl on your face for the last half an hour? You need to work some on your polite face, just for future reference.’
�Not all of us find it easy to bury things so deep that people can’t see them. Or feel the need to try.’
He heard her sharp intake of breath and knew he’d hit a nerve. Well, at least all of his silent observation hadn’t brought him to false conclusions, then…
Another risked, split-second sideways glance found her staring straight ahead, her full mouth pursed in a tight line. �Which is what you try doing, isn’t it? It’s what you’ve been doing since I met you this morning.’
Keelin didn’t answer him.
�I’m not the only one that needs to work some on their polite face. Just for future reference.’
She was silent for another long moment, then. �And this isn’t because I made the mistake earlier about your wife—you’re quite sure about that? Because if it is then I apologize again, I had no way of knowing—’
�It isn’t about that. And she wasn’t my wife.’
�You didn’t get married?’
�She wouldn’t marry me. Marrying me would have involved her settling down and she wasn’t ready to do that.’ Now why had he just told her that? She didn’t need to know. No matter how he tried he couldn’t seem to stop himself talking around this woman. Or saying or doing something inappropriate, like offering a hug of comfort or his earlier comment about how �good’ he was…
And in telling her this latest piece of information he’d opened a doorway for further conversation on the subject, which was the last thing he wanted. �It’s about Terri if you really must know. I’ve spent all of her life making sure she had a secure home and firm foundation to build on. The last thing I need is for a stranger to come in and help feed her obsession with running off to the big city for a life of adventure.’
There was a long pause. Then. �And you think one night with me will have her running off?’
�Well, you sure as hell didn’t help. She’s fourteen! She doesn’t need some complete stranger making it out that the city is all things bright and shiny. And that’s precisely what you did. It’s tough enough keeping young people on the island as it is.’
�I had no intention of—’
�Maybe not, but you did.’
Another long pause, then. �I see.’
Her voice was cooler this time and Garrett’s resentment grew. This time because she was trying to hide the fact that she was hurt by his words. �I don’t expect you to understand my reasoning. I just ask that while you’re here, you try and avoid the subject of how fantastic the city is—’
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