“Where is Neila? You took her with you.” Neila was the one Alanna looked up to, the one who poured her cereal in the morning when Mum was too hung over to get out of bed. Neila had held her when she cried and wiped her runny nose. Alanna had missed her sister even more than their mother.
Maire shrugged. “I arranged a good marriage for her, the best, but she vanished one day. She eloped with another Traveller about five years ago and they went off to Texas. I lost track of her.”
“Who did she marry?”
“Paddy Gorman.”
“Did you never try to find her?”
“She was of age.”
Alanna stared at the woman who said she was her mum. “You never really tried to find me, did you?”
“’Course I did, Alanna. I just said so, didn’t I?” She raised the newspaper in her hand in triumph. “And I did.”
“Why are you here?” she asked again.
Maire glanced around the room. “You married into high society, lass. You done good for yourself. Lots of land here too. Me, I’m getting tired of being crammed together at the camp. You think your husband would let me park my trailer back in the clearing?”
“I doubt it.” Alanna’s eyes burned. This woman had never loved her. Even now she was here for some kind of handout. But at least she knew something about Neila. Alanna would ask Barry to help look for her.
Maire stuffed the newspaper back into her bag. “You come see us at the village. I want to stay in touch now that we’ve found each other.”
“Do you know Patricia Kavanagh?” Alanna asked.
Maire glanced up, her gaze guarded. “Should I be knowing her?”
“You tell me why she was so upset to see you here.”
“Women like that, who knows how they think?”
“I want to show you something.” Alanna motioned for Maire to follow her. She led the way to the stair landing where the picture of Deirdre hung. “Who is she?”
“Deirdre O’Hara,” Maire said, her voice full of reverence.
“Who was she?”
“My grandmother. Some say she had the second sight. But if she was having it, she should have known her own death. She disappeared right after Mum was born. Mum said a leprechaun spirited her away. Granddad always thought she ran off with a suitor. She was quite gorgeous, wasn’t she?” Maire moved her gaze from the portrait to Alanna. “How did it get here?”
“I hoped you might tell me. Have you ever seen it before?”
Maire shook her head and turned her eyes back to the picture. “Me mum’s family wouldn’t be having money for a portrait like this. But it’s Deirdre, that’s sure.”
“What connection could there be between a Traveller family and the Kavanaghs?”
“She might have come to tell their fortune. She traveled around in a wagon from town to town, selling pots and telling the future.”
“Where was she when she disappeared?”
“Down south of here, near Beaufort. My granddad came home from a construction job and found me mum wailing in the bedroom with Deirdre nowhere to be found.”
Alanna shivered. “And he never found any sign of her?”
“Not a red hair from her head.”
“Is your granddad still alive?”
Maire nodded. “He lives at the village, but he doesn’t work much anymore. No one knows his age, but he’s ninety-five if he’s a day. Darby O’Hara. Everyone knows him.”
“I’d like to talk to him.” Alanna remembered Patricia’s face when she’d seen Maire. Her expression had been one of fear, then warning, and Alanna wanted to know why. Besides, she found she wanted to connect to her family in some way. She’d been without a family so long. Now that she carried this baby, she wanted some roots. More than what Barry could offer.
Her gaze went back to her great-grandmother. Did Barry know of the connection between Deirdre and the Travellers? What she’d just discovered made her wonder why he’d married her.
Twenty-Four
Jesse craned his neck as the mansion came into view through the driving rain. He’d hoped to catch Alanna outside and reduce his chances of meeting Barry. Jesse’s earlier certainty about his connection to her had faded, and he wondered . . . if he could touch her again, would he have another surge of memories?
Ciara sat beside him in the van’s last bench seat. “You’re being quiet today. Feeling all right?”
“Quite fine, thanks.” He glanced at her. “You probably know Alanna better than anyone.”
“We’ve been mates for five years.”
“You knew Liam well too.”
“So did you.”
“I can’t remember,” he reminded her. “They were very much in love?”
“I never saw two people more attuned to one another,” she said. “Liam could start a sentence and Alanna could be finishing it.”
“How did they meet?”
Her black eyes widened. “You introduced them. The two of you had been going out, but once Liam met her, that was it.”
Just as Alanna had told him. “Was I in love with her?”
Ciara shook her head. “I never heard that you were. Both Liam and Alanna said you’d never even kissed her.”
Then it wasn’t his own memories that had surfaced when he remembered the softness of her lips, the scent of her breath. Unless he’d wanted more from their relationship than Alanna had? Maybe what he thought were memories were longings.
“Did I have feelings for her?”
Ciara bit her lip. “I often wondered about that very thing. You stared at her a lot.”
That was the answer then. He’d carried a torch for his best friend’s wife. One more thing to prove what a sleazeball he was.
The van stopped behind a beat-up truck. Probably a contractor. Ena slid open the van’s side door and stepped out into the rain. She dashed for the porch followed by Fiona, who was driving the van. Ciara clambered around the seat and ran through puddles to the porch while Jesse pulled the van’s door shut.
Rain pelted his face and ran in rivulets down his cheeks. He leaped over puddles and ducked under the shelter of the porch roof. Rain sluiced over the gutters in a stream that battered at the roses lining the house.
Ciara rang the bell. “Alanna, it’s us.”
Light steps came from inside, and the door opened. Alanna’s smile was strained. “You’re soaked. Let me get you some towels.”
“We’ll wait here,” Ciara said. “Barry won’t want all the water on his wood floors.”
“I’ll be right back,” Alanna said.
“She looked upset,” Fiona said, twisting her Celtic cross necklace between her fingers. “She knew we were coming, didn’t she?”
“Only for practice.”
“Maybe Barry doesn’t want us here.” Ena twisted a strand of her pink hair around her finger.
Jesse gritted his teeth to avoid saying what he thought of Barry. “Does she know we had to leave the hotel?”
“Not yet,” Ciara murmured.
Alanna’s steps signaled her arrival. She handed towels all around to her band members.
Ciara glanced at her. “What’s wrong?”
“My mum is here,” she blurted out. “At least she says she’s my mum.”
“I thought you hadn’t seen her since you were three,” Jesse said. “How do you know this woman is telling the truth?”
Alanna gasped, putting her hand over her mouth. Her green eyes nearly eclipsed her face. “Did Liam tell you that?”
Jesse laid down his towel. He hadn’t known he knew about her mum until the words were on his tongue. “Does she look like a Traveller?”
Alanna’s face went even whiter. The muscles in her throat worked, and tears filled her eyes. “How could Liam have told you?” she whispered. “He promised.”
“Your mother is a tinker?” Fiona’s lip curled.
“Fiona, you be watching your mouth,” Ciara said, glancing at Alanna’s face. She took Alanna’s arm. “Introduce us. I’l
l be having a look at her.”
The group followed Alanna down the hall to the parlor. Jesse took one glance at the woman seated by the window and knew she was Alanna’s mother. Same bone structure, same shape of the mouth and hairline. He put his hands in his pockets and went to stand by the window. This wasn’t his business.
“It’s home I’d better be going,” the woman said, rising from her chair. “You come see me, lass.”
Alanna’s eyes were wide and shocked as she nodded and went to show her mother out.
“She’s up to no good,” Ciara hissed. “I bet she wants money.”
“Did you know Alanna was a tinker?” Fiona asked. “She doesn’t look like one.”
“Lass, you’re so ignorant,” Ciara said. “I didn’t know, but it doesn’t matter. Alanna is good and kind. Don’t you be changing how you treat her.”
“Of course not,” Fiona said. “It’s just—I hate tinkers. They’ll steal you blind if you don’t watch out.”
“Then you’d better get over your prejudice,” Ciara snapped.
Fiona shrugged and turned to glance out the window. Jesse didn’t understand half of what had happened. Travellers? Tinkers? The words had spilled from his lips, but the meaning of it all eluded him.
Alanna returned and sank onto the sofa. “What did you think?”
“You have her bones,” Ciara said. “You don’t remember her?”
“Like Jesse said, I was only three when she left me. I remember my older sister better.”
“Did she say anything about your sister?” Jesse asked. When Alanna turned her gaze on him, he let his breath out as if someone had kicked him. Memories flooded him again. They were sitting on a rock staring out at the Atlantic. Alanna’s fingers laced through his as she told him about her sister.
“Her name is Neila,” Jesse said. His face heated when the group turned to stare at him. “Your sister,” he said. “Her name is Neila.”
“How do you know these things?” Alanna demanded, her voice rising. “Liam would never betray my confidence. Never.”
“I told you. I-I think Liam’s feelings about you transferred to me somehow. Or he’s possessed me.”
The women took a step back when he said the word possessed, and he didn’t blame them. It was a scary notion to think Liam was controlling things somehow. “I’m right though, aren’t I?”
Alanna sagged against the back of the sofa. “Yes. Maire says Neila married a man and moved to Texas. I want to find her.”
“I’ll help you,” he said, though he had no idea how. He could barely help himself. He caught the warning glance Ciara sent his way and hunched his shoulders against the censure in her eyes. They didn’t understand. No one did.
Even he didn’t.
“Look, this is getting wonky,” Ciara said. “We have more problems than your mother. A big conference was arriving at the hotel today and they kicked us out. We brought our things with us. I hope you can find a place for us to stay or we’ll be camping on the garden. We have a bloody huge amount of practice necessary before the tour.”
Alanna’s glazed eyes gradually took on more focus. “Threw you out? You mean you have no rooms?”
“Righto. Any ideas?”
“Barry had said you could stay in his condo. I thought he was going to give you the key. I’d rather be having you here though.” Alanna glanced toward the staircase through the door to the hall. “There are plenty of bedrooms. We’ll have to clean them up though. Barry says the mattresses are rotted, but I haven’t checked all the rooms.”
“None of us are above cleaning,” Ciara said. “Except maybe Fiona, and she’ll do it because she has to.”
Fiona sniffed. “I always keep my own room clean. I don’t like maids to touch my things.”
“Righto, let’s get to it then,” Ciara said. “Where shall we start?”
Alanna rose. “This way.”
The place felt creepy to Jesse. Even more so than the last time he was here and they practiced in the ballroom. He couldn’t explain it, but walking down the wide upstairs hallway, he expected someone to grab him from the shadows. The air smelled musty too. Would Alanna expect him to go home at night? He wanted to be here to protect her. She might not realize she needed protection, but Jesse sensed it.
She reached a spot where the hall formed a T, then went left. The hallway went on forever with doorways interrupting the soft green plaster walls every so often. “Help yourself,” she said. “I haven’t checked these rooms yet. Maybe they’re in better shape than the ones I saw in the wing where Barry and I have our rooms.”
She’d said rooms. Jesse wondered if anyone else noticed. She must not be sharing a room with Barry, and Jesse hid a smile at that knowledge. He didn’t want anyone else touching her, kissing her.
He opened the closest door. A double bed and dresser furnished the room. “It’s not too bad.” Thick dust lay on the floor. He stepped inside and sat on the edge of the mattress. The springs creaked, but the mattress held him. “It doesn’t sag too much. A good vacuuming and it’s doable.”
“I’ll get the vacuum,” Alanna said. “It’s in the other wing.” She exited the room.
Jesse rose and followed Ciara to the next room. “This one isn’t too bad either.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Smells funny.”
“Mold,” Fiona pronounced. “Mold is dangerous to your health. I don’t want to stay here.”
“Good luck finding another place,” Ena said. “We can wash it down with bleach water.”
“Maybe.” Fiona’s voice held skepticism.
All the rooms were basic carbon copies. Double beds, a dresser, bare wood floors. The bed linens were rotted and so were the drapes, but the furniture was sound. Jesse knew Barry hadn’t wanted them here. What was he going to say when he found them ensconced in his house without his permission? Jesse thought he wouldn’t mind trading punches with Alanna’s new husband.
Alanna came down the hall lugging a vacuum. “Here it is.”
“You have bleach somewhere?” Fiona asked. “I’m not sleeping in mold.”
“Oh yes, of course,” Alanna said. “I’ll get it. It’s downstairs.” She sounded distracted and kept glancing behind her.
“You worried about Barry?” Jesse asked. “What he’ll say about us being here?”
She bit her lip. “I’m sure he’ll be fine with it,” she said, but her voice indicated the opposite.
Ciara crossed her arms over her chest. “He promised we’d have a place.”
“I know he intended to have it all ready. His parents are here . . .” Her voice trailed off as if she wasn’t quite sure how to explain.
“Let’s get this place cleaned up,” Jesse said, taking pity on Alanna. Her pained expression said it all.
He grabbed the vacuum from her and plugged it in. He yanked down the rotted curtains, and dust swirled into the air and up his nose. He coughed, then pulled the bedding from the mattress. The bare quilted cover was in decent shape with only a few stains. He switched on the vacuum. The sound of the motor drowned out his worry for her.
By the time he finished the room he was claiming as his, Alanna had returned with a bucket, rags, and bleach.
She’d just handed him the cleaning supplies when Barry’s voice boomed out. “Alanna, where are you?”
She blanched. “Up here, in the back wing,” she called.
Footsteps clacked along the wood floors, then Barry appeared around the corner. His smile died when his gaze settled on Jesse and the rest of Ceol peering out of their respective bedrooms. “What’s going on here?”
“The hotel kicked them out,” Alanna said, a plea in her voice. “They’ve nowhere else to go, and these bedrooms aren’t as bad as you thought, Barry. A little cleaning and they’re inhabitable.”
“Kicked them out?” Barry reached his wife and took her arm in his hand. “I’ll call and have a word with them.”
“Too late. It’s a convention, and we’ve already got our rooms
started,” Ciara said. “You promised we could stay here, and we’re holding you to it. It will be much more convenient to practice when we’re right here on the premises. Cheaper too.”
“I’ll not have you quartered in such mean spaces,” Barry said. “Really, those mattresses aren’t fit to sleep on.”
“We’ll get plastic covers for them,” Ena put in. “Where’s the bathroom?”
Like a man in a stupor, Barry pointed. “That room is the bathroom. It’s a mess too.”
How much of a mess? Jesse strode to the room he’d indicated and shoved open the door to reveal a utilitarian bathroom with an old toilet that had a tank at the ceiling. The clawfoot tub was in good shape and just needed cleaning. “It’s not bad. Just dirty. We can clean it up.”
“Why are you here?” Barry demanded. “You have a home to go to.”
“We need him,” Ciara said. “We’ll be practicing all hours if we’re to be ready in time. It’s much more convenient to have us all together.”
Barry shut his mouth with a snap, but his gaze lingered on Jesse. Jesse knew he’d just made an enemy.
Twenty-Five
By evening the rooms were as ready as they were going to be. Barry had grudgingly handed over his credit card, and Alanna had gone to town with the group to get bedding. Jesse drove. The group had made fast work of shopping at Target and stepped out to wet pavement and gray skies, but the rain had finally stopped.
The minute they got back to Blackwater Hall Jesse disappeared with his shopping bag. She wondered where he was going in such a hurry. An air of excitement surrounded him.
“Let’s practice a bit before supper,” Ena suggested later as Alanna smoothed the new sheets on Fiona’s bed.
Ena had her camera in her hand, and Alanna had heard the clicking of it all afternoon as Ena snapped shots of them working. “Thanks for sticking up for me today,” Alanna said. “About my family being Travellers.”
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