The Mystic Cove Series Boxed Set (Wild Irish Books 5-7)

by Tricia O'Malley

  “Looking for something?” Sean asked from across the room where he had a little bag packed and a leash in one hand.

  “Just trying to figure out where your pan goes,” Margaret said with a smile, holding up the pan in her hand. “Though it seems like it can go anywhere, there’s not much in your cabinets. Did you just move in or something?”

  “No, I’ve been here about six years now?” Sean said, scrunching up his face as he thought about her question.

  “Six years and you only own two plates? Don’t you ever entertain?” Margaret was genuinely curious. It was positively un-Irish not to invite people to your home.

  “Sure, I entertain at restaurants and pubs. Rarely do I have people over,” Sean said, shrugging and moving to the front hallway. “Ready?”

  “I’ll just get my purse,” Margaret said, realizing the conversation was over.

  And wondered just why his house seemed so unlived in.

  Chapter 29

  Riding in the large black pickup truck to Sean’s business proved to be a far different experience than in his natty little convertible, Margaret thought as they rode further out of the city and towards the docks.

  Not that she minded. It was kind of nice to sit higher up in a truck. At home, Margaret didn’t even own a car. She either took the T, walked, or used a car service for longer drives. The cost and inconvenience of owning a car while living on Beacon Hill just didn’t make sense to Margaret.

  The morning radio show discouraged conversation, and Margaret found herself biting back a smile as Sean cursed about a score in last night’s hurling match. She’d forgotten how incensed the Irish could become when their local team lost out at the nation’s favorite sport.

  Sean pulled up to a large warehouse by the docks, a chain link fence surrounding the lot. He waved at the guard and the gate slid open so he could motor past. Margaret felt her jaw dropping open at the sheer expanse of the enterprise laid out before her. The warehouse was easily a football field large, with a large parking lot of semi-trucks where workers were bustling about with dollies and boxes. To the right, a long line of docks housed impressive fishing boats, some of which were already motoring away from the dock while others looked like they were in the process of being serviced. Margaret knew enough about commercial real estate to know that this space along the water had to have cost a small fortune.

  “Moved up in the world, have we?” Margaret asked, raising an eyebrow at Sean. He barked out a laugh and shook his head, but Margaret could see the pleasure on his face.

  “Told you I was going to build a big enterprise,” Sean said, shrugging her words away. Yet there was something there. Margaret felt a low press of anger wash over her, along with self-satisfaction. She wondered if Sean thought she had ever doubted that he would be successful.

  “I always knew you would,” Margaret said lightly as they pulled into the parking spot marked “Owner.”

  “Did you?” Sean said, matching her tone, then hopping from the truck. This time he didn’t come around to open the door for Margaret and she wondered just what sort of landmine she’d stepped on now.

  Slamming the door, Margaret straightened her shoulders and waited for Sean to direct her.

  “Come on over to the main office, I’ve got to check in,” Sean said easily, the anger in his voice having now been replaced with a polite tone. Margaret knew that sometimes silence was the best answer to sticky situations, so she nodded and followed Sean quietly as he walked through a large garage type door that was pulled open to welcome the sea breezes.

  Again, Margaret was astounded at the sheer magnitude of people working for Sean. It seemed that everywhere she looked people were bustling about, packing boxes with dry ice, walking in and out of coolers, shouting orders across the room. From her estimation, Sean’s business looked like a tightly run ship.

  She wrinkled her nose against the fishy smell that emanated from the warehouse, wondering how they worked around the scent every day. Margaret supposed they stopped noticing it after a while. Trying her best to just breathe through her mouth, Margaret followed Sean across the warehouse to where glassed-in offices lined one wall.

  Sean stopped at a door and waited for Margaret, smiling politely before he swung the door open for her, ushering her into a waiting room of sorts. Margaret automatically smiled at the woman who sat at the desk, assuming she was the receptionist.

  “Adeline, this is…an old friend of mine, Margaret O’Brien,” Sean said, pausing for a second as he stumbled over how to introduce her. Margaret didn’t blame him – who wanted to introduce their non-existent child’s parent?

  Margaret’s eyebrows shot up as Adeline surveyed her. The woman was compact, but curvy in all the right places, her figure showcased in a snug grey knit sweater, black leather pants, and high heels that made Margaret cringe just to think about wearing. Flowing red hair – not an Irish red but from a bottle, Margaret noted with a sniff – topped an attractive face, with entirely too much makeup for this time of the morning. Margaret estimated her to be close to their age. Margaret’s back stiffened as she was met with a wave of disapproval from Adeline that belied the smile on her face.

  So it’s like that, Margaret thought, holding out her hand and pasting a polite smile on her face.

  “Sure and it’s nice to meet you. We just love having friends come visit us, don’t we, Sean?” Adeline said, standing next to Sean and patting his arm briefly. It would take a blind man to miss the look of adoration she shot Sean, and Margaret was surprised to feel her Irish beginning to kick up.

  “Um, that we do,” Sean said, clearing his throat. “I thought I’d take Maggie on the boat tour this morning and show her around.”

  “Well, I’m just sure that…Maggie…will love that,” Adeline purred, moving around the desk to pick up a folder. “Here’s your passenger list today. If you need me to spend any time showing Maggie around, I’d be happy to.”

  Sweet as peaches and cream aren’t you? Margaret rolled her eyes behind Adeline’s back.

  “That’d be great,” Sean said, at the same time Margaret said, “I’ll be fine on my own, thanks.”

  “Um,” Sean said, turning his head between the two women.

  “I would hate to take her away from her receptionist duties,” Margaret explained lightly and was rewarded when Adeline narrowed her eyes at her.

  “I’m the manager, not the receptionist,” Adeline said, flipping her hair back and placing her hands on her hips.

  “Oops,” Margaret said, shrugging her shoulders.

  “You two can chat more later,” Sean said, pulling his nose out of the folder he was reading, oblivious to the tension in the room, “We’ve got to get down to the boat.”

  “Have a good tour,” Adeline said, running her hand down Sean’s arm again. He barely nodded at her as he continued to peruse the folder, walking out of the office.

  “Bye, Maggie,” Adeline called sweetly. The way she was using Margaret’s nickname – that only Sean called her – really grated on Margaret’s nerves. Swiveling on her heels at the door, she shot a look at Adeline.

  “Bye, Addie.”

  The woman’s eyes flashed again and Margaret considered her job done as she hurried to catch up with Sean.

  And wondered just exactly what she’d gotten herself back into.

  Chapter 30

  “She seems nice,” Margaret said sweetly, wondering if Sean would pick up on the sarcasm in her voice.

  “Who? Oh, Adeline? Yeah, she’s fairly new. Been here about six months or so. Our last manager quit suddenly and we were in a bind,” Sean said, tucking the folder under his arm and holding out his hand to help Margaret step over some rope onto the dock.

  “Why’d your manager quit?” Margaret asked, matching Sean’s step as they passed several docks, most of them empty, as they wound their way towards a cheerful tour boat docked at the end. Margaret could already see a line of passengers waiting to board.

  “Said he wasn’t compensated
fairly for what he put up with,” Sean scoffed. “I don’t even know what he means – we’ve got a great crew of people working for us.”

  Margaret’s alarm bells went off at that comment but they reached the boat before she could react.

  “Hi folks! I’m just going to run through my safety check and we’ll get you boarded quickly,” Sean called, motioning for Margaret to step past the line of people to where the little plank for boarding the boat lay.

  Margaret skipped, holding onto Sean’s hand to board the boat, and hopped lightly onto the deck of the party-boat style vessel. It was a large rectangular boat with benches lining all sides of it, with a cheerful blue and white canopy for shade above. The Captain’s chair was situated at the back with a large microphone and speakers attached. One of Sean’s men went around the boat, ticking off the number of life vests tucked under the benches, while Sean moved to the Captain’s chair.

  “Here, you can sit next to me,” Sean said, motioning to where part of the bench was tucked behind the Captain’s chair. She’d still have great views but wouldn’t need to be squished in next to the rest of the people. Margaret smiled in gratitude at Sean and sat down, leaning back to cross her arms and watch Sean’s operation in motion. Margaret wondered why he even bothered to run tours when it was clear his fishing business was doing so well.

  “All aboard!” Sean shouted into the microphone like a train conductor, startling Margaret from her relaxed position on the bench. Sean went over and stood by the plank to the boat, shaking everyone’s hand as they came aboard, helping those who needed it. Laughing, cracking jokes, and telling stories already, Margaret could see that Sean was in his element.

  Her mind flitted back to his sparsely decorated home. She wondered if the reason he still ran tours was because he craved companionship. Margaret would be the first to admit that getting older on her own certainly had its lonely moments. In mere moments, Margaret found herself laughing along with Sean as he teased a pie-eyed child about sharks in the water.

  “Nah, I’m just pulling your leg,” Sean said, crouching down to cuff the little girl’s chin and Margaret felt her heart tug. Would this what it would have been like to raise Keelin with Sean? What if she had stayed to find out instead of running? Pressing her lips into a tight line, she turned to stare out over the harbor, refusing to let regrets creep into her carefully planned past. What’s done is done, she thought.

  Sean got behind the wheel and, signaling to his first mate, waited while the lines were untied from the dock before reversing into the water. The tourists let up a cheer as Sean clanged the bell at his side, causing Margaret to jump and laugh again. Flicking a switch to play traditional Irish music from the speakers, Sean let his guests take in the view as they puttered away from the dock, giving them a different view of Ireland. As they pulled further out and began to move down the coast, Margaret found herself relaxing into her seat, transfixed by Sean’s animated face as he detailed great battles that had once been fought along the shore.

  Margaret’s heart clenched a bit as she studied his face, his mannerisms, the way he stood. She could see Keelin in him – or perhaps it was the other way around, and Keelin shared many of his traits. Guilt crept up her spine as she thought about how little she had told Keelin about her father over the years. Even though Sean had never come for her or tried to initiate contact, Margaret could still have given Keelin more of an idea of the man she came from.

  Chalk it up as one more thing she could regret about her past, Margaret thought on a sigh and turned to look out over the coastline, wondering not for the first time what she was doing here.

  With him.

  As people laughed at his patter, Margaret tuned back in to listen to Sean, pushing her morose thoughts aside to study him again. She’d be lying to herself if she said that she and Sean didn’t still have chemistry. Margaret just wasn’t sure if it was anything more than that.

  And one lesson she’d learned long ago was that leading with her heart would only get her into trouble.

  “Having fun?” Sean asked, breaking into her thoughts. Margaret looked up at him with a smile.

  “Of course, this is a great tour,” she gushed.

  “Glad you like it. You probably wonder why I still run them,” Sean said sheepishly, covering the microphone with his hand.

  “No, I think I see why you do it,” Margaret said.

  “You do?”

  “You love it. You love Ireland, the history, the stories…and you love entertaining people. It’s clear that this is a great joy for you,” Margaret said.

  Sean beamed down at her, pleased that she understood. He shrugged a shoulder sheepishly, “I know it isn’t a huge moneymaker and probably not the best use of my time.”

  “Sometimes business doesn’t have to be only about money. Especially when you already have a business that is working for you,” Margaret said gently and then sat back again to consider her words.

  If it wasn’t about the money, then what was she doing spending all her time running her business and not doing what she loved? The problem was that Margaret couldn’t really figure out what it was she loved. Sure, helping people find their dream home was great, but Margaret also missed the days back when her business was just a start-up. Problem-solving came naturally to her and she’d loved digging her hands in, figuring out all the ins and outs of running her business. Problem was, her business was so well-run now that they’d all but urged her to go on vacation, promising they wouldn’t miss her in the slightest.

  And wasn’t that the truth? Her phone hadn’t beeped with a single email in the days since she’d left. Which should make her proud, Margaret thought on a sniff. Not annoyed.

  Margaret laughed when the tourists booed at Sean’s turning the boat around, but he was so cheerful about the tour coming to an end that they had nothing to do but smile and shake Sean’s hand back at the dock. Margaret waited for him to say goodbye to everyone before she drifted over to where he stood.

  “Nice job, Captain,” Margaret said, leaning up to brush a kiss over his cheek.

  “I’m happy to take you for a ride any time,” Sean said eagerly, then blushed furiously when he realized what he had said.

  Margaret couldn’t help but bend over and howl with laughter.

  Sometimes there were no words.

  Chapter 31

  “Penny for your thoughts, pretty Maggie?” Sean asked as they sat at a picnic table down by the water, eating a lunch of fish and chips that Sean had picked up from the best take-out restaurant in town. Supplied with his fish, naturally.

  “I was thinking that you were right, this is the best fish and chips I’ve ever had,” Margaret said, even though that hadn’t been what she’d been thinking about.

  A sense of melancholy had washed over her after the boat tour, while she’d waited for Sean to pick up lunch. Luckily, she’d been spared a run-in with Adeline by sitting out on the harbor. The minutes spent staring out at the water and contemplating her life’s direction had left her moody and quiet when Sean had returned with their food.

  “Aye, it is,” Sean agreed, leveling his gaze on her. He waited patiently, which caused Margaret to be even more annoyed.

  “I’m just in a mood,” she finally said, exasperated that he was making her talk.

  “About?” Sean said cheerfully, and she wanted to smack him.

  “This week hasn’t exactly been easy for me,” Margaret said stiffly, hoping that would end the conversation.

  “Aye, it’s got to be hard to watch your daughter get married,” Sean agreed.

  “I thought it was 'our' daughter,” Margaret said snippily.

  “'Tis. But she’s more your daughter than mine. I can imagine that brings a lot of bittersweet emotions with it,” Sean said easily, brushing her comment away.

  “It does. Though I feel pretty good about Flynn. I know he loves our daughter,” Margaret said stiffly, her mind flashing to her gift, wondering if she and Sean would ever discuss her abilities.
He’d yet to bring it up – which was fine with her.

  “Flynn’s a good man. I’ve worked with him for years. He’ll be a good husband,” Sean said.

  “I can see that. Feel that. I’m really happy for them. It’s just…been a lot,” Margaret shrugged, not sure she wanted to get into everything right now.

  “First time back in Ireland since you went tearing off in a tizzy. I can see where that would be hard,” Sean said agreeably, leaning back against the table to stretch his legs out in front of him.

  “A tizzy?” Margaret’s voice squeaked and she felt her blood begin to boil.

  “Well, you know, a snit,” Sean said.

  “A snit? Sean, you left me on the side of the cove after taking my virginity and I didn’t hear from you for like five weeks!” Margaret shot back, her heart beginning to race. A tizzy? Was this man insane?

  Realizing that the temperature of their conversation had just passed the boiling point, Sean sat up quickly and reached out to put an arm around her. Margaret pulled back, not wanting him to touch her right now.

  “Okay, tizzy isn’t the right word, I’m sorry,” Sean said, trying to placate her. Margaret just shook her head at him.

  “Don’t ever try to downplay what was the most pivotal and difficult decision that I have ever had to make in my life. It wasn’t in a tizzy. It was to start a new life. Without the person who had broken my heart,” Margaret said, standing up to take her trash to a nearby rubbish can. Her heart pounded in her chest. It didn’t seem they would ever get past this endless circle of blame and hurt.

  And maybe that’s just what she needed to know. Margaret could go back to Boston with a clear answer as to what would have happened if she and Sean had ever gotten together.

  Maybe she’d finally be able to move on.