Decorated with her artwork, the room was a cacophony of color and mood. It was jarring and comforting at the same time, just the way that Aislinn liked it. She never wanted to get too comfortable…with anything in her life. If she knew one thing, it was that life could change in an instant.
Aislinn took a deep pull from the bottle and allowed the crisp cider to cool her throat. Deep down, she knew why she had run from Baird. Though there was no denying the attraction she felt for him, Aislinn just didn't think that they would last in a long-term relationship. And, Dr. Yum had commitment written all over him.
Aislinn sighed and tucked her legs under her. It wasn't that she couldn't commit to someone. She looked around the room at her half-finished art projects. Okay, so she sometimes had trouble committing to a project, but she had been in relationships before. It was just that she and Baird were so different.
And she knew where that would lead…divorce. Heartache.
She knew from firsthand experience as she had watched her parents go through it. Leaning back, Aislinn allowed her mind to go back to those awful years. She and her twin brother, Colin, had just entered into their teens when their parents had split. It had been a shock to everyone but her.
It had been impossible for Aislinn not to see that her parents were unhappy. She could literally feel the wall of unhappiness that radiated from them when they were in the same room together. Her mother Mary, much like her, had preferred to be a free spirit, always setting up day trips to the country, going to see local bands, and planning trips away on her own. Her father had been the levelheaded businessman. Sean ran his life on a schedule and his boat tour business thrived because of it. The two had been a poor match from the beginning and Aislinn had often wondered what had drawn them together.
Until she'd learned about her half-sister Keelin, and Keelin's mother, Margaret, shortly after the divorce.
She wasn't meant to know, but Aislinn couldn't help sharing the news with her only confidant at that point, Colin. She'd discovered a letter that Mary had written to Sean about how Mary knew that Sean had never gotten over his true love and that she knew about the daughter Sean had with Margaret.
It had been like a knife to the heart.
Aislinn had packed her bags that night and gone to live with her mother while Colin had chosen to stay with Sean. For the following few years, Aislinn had barely spoken to Sean and tolerated, if not sometimes enjoyed, her mother's absentminded ways. It hadn't taken much for her to move out from Mary's house and decide to settle in Grace's Cove. Finding her shop had been a blessing, and when Aislinn realized that she could afford the rent, she had never looked back.
Her relationship with her father had grown stronger over the years since she had moved out of Mary's house. Unable to hold a grudge for long, and feeling like she had gained some wisdom as she had matured, Aislinn was finally able to see Sean's side of the story – though she still was determined to hate her unknown half-sister Keelin.
Until the day that Keelin showed up in her shop.
Whoo, that had been quite a punch to the gut. Aislinn had wanted to hate Keelin on principle alone. But, Aislinn's ability made her able to see that Keelin was just as nervous and scared as she was. Together, they had formed a fragile bond over their mutual otherworldly gifts. Through the past year they had grown to be close, just like sisters were meant to be.
Aislinn sighed and shook her head. It was amazing how things worked out.
Thinking of her power, she barked out a laugh as she imagined Baird's quizzical look if she tried to explain that she could read people's feelings, auras, and even got glimpses of the future sometimes. He'd probably run right out the door.
Aislinn had stopped running from herself a long time ago, though. Even though she had run from Baird tonight, if he wanted something more from her, she would just have to tell him what she was. That would most likely nip things in the bud fairly quickly.
Uncomfortable with the thought of losing Baird completely, but certain that she was on the right path, Aislinn headed for her bedroom. Shame niggled at her for her poor behavior tonight – it was rude to leave Baird like she had. Sighing, she crawled under the covers of her huge bed and pulled her eye mask out. Aislinn suspected that she would be delivering an apology in the morning.
Chapter 5
The next day, Aislinn sat down at her desk in the shop and ran through her figures. Sales were up this summer and she would need new inventory soon. Unfortunately, she had barely been able to paint this morning as planned. Awakening before the sun came up, Aislinn had gone to the hills to capture the sunrise over the water. A fitful night of sleep had left her drowsy and moody, and her work had turned out more melancholy than she had intended. Calling it quits, she had come back to the shop to deal with some paperwork before she opened for the day.
Aislinn twisted a pencil in her mass of curls to pull them off her shoulders and squinted down at a bill on her desk. A knock interrupted her thoughts and she leaned back in the chair to look out the front window.
Nobody was visible through the front window, so she stood and the knock repeated again – from the back door. Aislinn hurried to the back, assuming it was Keelin or Cait come for a quick visit before work. Swinging the door open, she stopped in her tracks.
Baird stood before her, a clutch of daisies in his hand, and her heart melted, just a bit.
“Baird!”
“Aislinn, since I didn't get to wake up with you, I thought that I would bring you breakfast,” Baird said and gestured to her table in the courtyard. Aislinn gaped at the table, set with fat candles, scones, tea, and a bowl of fruit. Turning to look at him, she struggled for words.
“Say, 'Thank you, Baird,'“ Baird said.
“Thank you, Baird,” Aislinn said automatically and then caught herself. “No, seriously, thank you. Let me get water for those flowers.” Aislinn hurried into the small kitchen at the back of the shop and pulled out a small vase deglazed in a cheerful blue and popped the daisies in. Admiring their charm, she placed them on her work table and went to join Baird in her small courtyard situated off the back of her shop.
Baird sat at the table, a navy t-shirt molded to his chest and his wire-framed glasses in place. Aislinn wanted to go sit on his lap and wrap her arms around his neck. Instead, she crossed the courtyard and sat on the bench across from him. Nerves laced her stomach and her finger beat a tap-tap-tap rhythm on the table.
“Scone?” Baird asked.
“Please,” Aislinn said softly and allowed Baird to put a warm scone onto her plate and spoon clotted cream on the side. Without asking, he poured her a cup of tea. Aislinn cleared her throat.
“Listen, I…I'm sorry about last night. I shouldn't have run out like that. Thank you for a wonderful time.”
“Why did you?” Baird asked.
“Why did I run?”
“Yes.”
“I…a lot of things, I guess.” Aislinn shrugged her shoulders and shoved a piece of scone in her mouth to keep herself from talking more.
“Start with the first and go from there,” Baird suggested.
“Well, that, for one. You're a psychiatrist,” Aislinn grumbled.
Baird laughed at her. “So?”
“So, so…you are supposed to be hard to figure out. Instead you are super direct and now I feel put on the spot.”
Baird leaned forward and met her eyes and Aislinn found herself struggling to breathe as she stared into his gray eyes.
“I don't play games. I don't lie. And, I'm straightforward with my feelings. In everything that I do.” Baird's voice held an intensity that made Aislinn shiver a bit. He had made love to her with that same intensity last night.
“See, that's what scares me. You're serious. About everything. And, I don't know if I can commit to us. You're a commitment guy,” Aislinn protested.
“Well, it's not like I asked you to marry me, Aislinn. I asked you out to dinner,” Baird said gently.
“I know. I get all that.
It's just…” Aislinn trailed off as she thought about what she wanted to hit him with. Their differences? Her childhood? Her gift?
“Let me guess, you've been hurt before and are reluctant to try again?” Baird hazarded a guess and waved his scone at her.
“Something like that. My parents are divorced.”
“Ah, a rare thing in Ireland. That had to have been hard,” Baird said.
“It was. Incredibly so. Even more so when I found out that my father was still in love with another woman and that I had a half-sister living in Boston.”
“Whooo.” Baird let out a soft whistle. “That's a lot. How old were you?”
“Thirteen. Perfect time for me to become all dramatic and move in with my mother.”
“Was it just the other woman that split them?”
“No, they were so different. He was – is – a steady businessman. Very regimented. Focused on career success. My mom is a free spirit. Wild, on the move, you never know what you will get with her. I love her dearly, but she can be a handful sometimes.”
“And so you see that as us? I'm an uptight psychiatrist and you are the free spirit?” Baird got directly to the point.
“Exactly.”
“So you can't be persuaded to see where our similarities lie?”
“I honestly don't know. There is some stuff that you may never be able to understand, Baird,” Aislinn said softly and looked helpless into his eyes.
“Try me.”
Aislinn sighed and took a sip of her tea. Where to start?
“What do you know of the rumors of Grace's Cove – the actual cove, not the village – being enchanted?”
“Oh, I've heard all sorts of things about it. I'd love to go down there sometime.”
“But, what specifically?”
Baird leaned back and watched her carefully. “I've heard that the cove can glow sometimes. I've heard that many people are afraid to go there. There are rumors that Grace O'Malley, the famous pirate queen, lies there. And, I've heard whispers of special powers of the descendants.”
“Ah-ha! So, you have heard about the special powers.”
Baird shrugged a shoulder. “So? It isn't like Celtic mythology isn't chock full of mystical tales.”
“But what if it isn't mythology? What if it is real?” Aislinn asked carefully.
Baird's hands stilled.
“Are you trying to tell me something, Aislinn?”
Aislinn took a deep breath. Now or never, she thought. Knowing how hard it had been for Keelin and Cait to get deep into a relationship before telling their men about their gifts, Aislinn decided to take the plunge.
“All female descendants of Grace O'Malley have an extra special gift. It manifests differently for each female. Intuition, healing powers, reading minds, empathic abilities…each woman has her own ability to deal with,” Aislinn said nervously.
“Really? That's fascinating. I'm not sure that is scientifically possible. Do you believe in that?” Baird asked, his eyebrow raised.
“See, this is why we won't work. You are so science-minded,” Aislinn said, and made a move to get up. Baird reached across the table and grabbed her arm.
“Sit. Please. I'm sorry if I upset you. You just said that with such conviction.”
Aislinn sat and met Baird's eyes.
“I'm a descendant of Grace O'Malley.”
Chapter 6
Aislinn let down her shields and allowed herself to feel Baird's emotions. Confusion, a little bit of anger, covered in disbelief pulsed at her. She shook her head. Aislinn should have expected this response. She'd received it in the past; it wasn't like this was anything new.
“You're telling me that you have some magickal power?” Baird's voice went a little high at the end and Aislinn sighed. If this was to be the end of it, at least she could be honest.
“Yes. Though it's not magick. It just is.”
“What…what can you do?”
“I'm empathic. I can read people's feelings, I can tell if they are lying, and sometimes I get glimpses of the future. Oh, and I see auras too. Yours is blue. A lovely aura, in fact…” Aislinn trailed off as she watched Baird's face.
“I…I'm not really sure what to say.”
Aislinn shrugged her shoulders. “It's okay. I know that you don't believe me.”
“It's not that. I'm sure that you believe what you are saying.”
A slap of anger hit Aislinn and she worked to control her breathing.
“I believe what I am saying because it's the truth.”
“Okay, okay…I'm not calling you a liar,” Baird said soothingly. Aislinn threw up her hands.
“Don't pull your shrink crap on me. I'm not crazy. This is the truth. And, this is why we can't date. You'll never accept it.” She got up and stood in front of the table. “Thanks for breakfast. And for last night, sincerely. It was wonderful, but this can go nowhere.”
Baird jumped up and walked around the table to face her. Aislinn's breath hitched at his nearness and she tried her best to act unaffected.
“You didn't exactly give me a lot of time to process what you just said, Aislinn,” Baird said.
“What do you want? Evidence? Go ahead, tell me a truth or a lie,” Aislinn dared him.
Baird sighed.
“I'm thirty-six years old.”
“Lie.”
Baird shook his head at her. “Okay, I'm thirty-three.”
“Truth,” Aislinn said.
“My mom lives in Galway.”
“Truth.”
“I'm wearing black underwear.”
“False. Are we done here? I need to open my shop,” Aislinn said angrily and turned away only to be whipped around.
Baird crushed his lips to hers and Aislinn pushed at his chest. Caught in his arms, she melted against him. Just for a minute. When he loosened his arms, Aislinn stepped back, tamping down the lust that rose deep inside of her.
“I don't have to prove myself to you or anyone else. Now get out,” Aislinn said quietly. This time when she turned, Baird let her go.
Chapter 7
What the hell was that? Baird's mind was whirling with confusion and possibilities as he watched Aislinn walk to her shop. Part of him wanted to run after her and beg her to go out with him again. Watching her leave was harder than hearing what she had to say about herself.
His science mind scoffed at Aislinn's belief that she had some sort of power. And, yet, he'd just witnessed a small taste of it himself, hadn't he?
Baird began to clean up the table and examined his own feelings. Though he was shocked at what he had just discovered, he needed to decide if the news scared him or intrigued him.
Since he was already trying to figure out how it all worked, he supposed that it intrigued him, Baird thought.
Baird made a mental note to contact a few doctors that he knew in Dublin. They specialized in learning the intricacies of intuition. Perhaps they'd have some light to shine on this.
Baird checked his watch. He needed to unpack and get his things in order. Now would not be the time to go out to the cove, but before the week was over he'd make a point of venturing out to this much-talked-about beach.
Casting his gaze back on the shop, Baird forced himself to leave. It looked like he had some research to do.
Chapter 8
Aislinn's hands trembled as she moved invoices around on her desk. She dropped a pencil and bent to get it, surprised that tears pricked her eyes.
Damn it. She was not going to cry over Baird. She barely knew the man.
Which is why you shouldn't have slept with him, her conscience lectured her.
Aislinn slammed her fist on the desk. More than anything, she hated how he made her feel – like she needed to check into the loony bin. Though she knew she had her moments of being irrational, Aislinn was quite certain she wasn't crazy.
With a sigh, she went to unlock the front door. Saturdays were typically busy as the tour buses brought through hordes of gift-seeking touris
ts. Bracing herself for the onslaught of people in her shop and all of the emotions that they brought with them, Aislinn examined her inventory. She was getting low on her hand-painted postcards and made a note to pick up more blank cards this week.
As if on cue, the bells above the door chimed a cheerful greeting and Aislinn turned to greet her first customer of the day, grateful for the distraction.
Hours later, Aislinn stretched and wandered back to her small kitchenette to freshen up her tea. One thing that was great about running her own business was that it didn't allow her a lot of time to sulk over personal problems. Pleased with the day's sales, Aislinn thought about closing the shop for a few days next week to focus on painting and printing more photographs for the shop. She did that occasionally – closed her store on a whim. She knew that it drove some people crazy, but Aislinn refused to let her business run her. As soon as she felt like a slave to her work, she'd leave it. Freedom to make her own decisions was vitally important to her.
The bells chimed again and Aislinn turned to smile at the new customer and stopped short.
A slim girl stood just within the door, examining a rack of small black-and-white photos that Aislinn had on display. Aislinn recognized her and had heard talk of the girl through the small town. Her name was Morgan and she'd recently signed on to work on Flynn's fishing boats. She couldn't have been more than nineteen years old and had a startling beauty that was only heightened by the softness of her youth. Aislinn was also a hundred percent certain that she was looking at another one of Grace O'Malley's descendants.
Instead of calling out her usual cheerful greeting, Aislinn stayed where she was and watched Morgan move through the room. She stopped dead at a photograph of the cove, shot at sunset when the rays of the sun pierced the entrance to the cove and played on the cliffs protecting the sandy beach. It was one of Aislinn's favorites and she wasn't surprised that Morgan had stopped to examine it.
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