by Clare Austin
“Flann, too many questions. I miss you too. I’m comin’ home soon and, yes, the bonfire was spectacular.” A memory of Muireann’s naked skin intruded on his thoughts. Then Muireann by firelight, her hair backlit by flames like a pagan goddess. Soon enough he would have to tell his sisters of his current passion. Not yet though. “Put Cade on, will you?”
After a pause, Flann spoke again. “You sound odd. You can’t hide things from me, y’know.”
Ty cleared his throat. No, he couldn’t. “In good time, Butterfly. All in good time.”
Flannery released a big sigh of resignation and then called, “Better talk to my brother. He’s up to something, I can tell.”
“The pregnancy is making her psychic. Spooky, man,” Cade said. “Hey, I can’t keep a secret from her for five seconds.”
“Now you know one more pitfall of marriage to an Irishwoman.” Ty felt a stab of envy for his brother-in-law. Cade had what Tynan dreamed of—a solid bond with a beautiful and creative woman, a baby on the way, a settled but exciting future. Could this happen with Muireann? One thing Ty knew, it would never be dull.
“Sorry to wake you.”
“No problem. In my bachelor days, I’d be outta here by now. Actually, I really need to talk to you.”
That sounded a bit ominous. “What’s up?” Ty ventured to ask and hoped it was not bad news about the family. As quickly, he banished that worry. If one of his sisters so much as stubbed her toe, he would have heard right away. They knew not to keep anything from him. The three had been through much in the last year.
“Jamie’s going ape-shit over the pub sale. I guess the family is putting a lot of pressure on him to close some kind of deal.”
Tynan was afraid it would come to this. “That’s why I’m calling.”
“Look, bro, I can cover your shortfall. If you want O’Fallon’s, you need to act now. The price is only going up.”
Ty knew Cade could come up with the cash in a heartbeat and without putting a dent in his bank account. It just wasn’t right in Tynan’s thinking. He couldn’t justify having his brother-in-law bankroll him. Pride? Sure. And it would be his downfall.
“I know and I truly appreciate the offer, but I’d like to do this on my own…or not at all. I’m not going to clear anything on the land over here.” Life might have been simpler if he’d choked on next words, but fate would not allow it. “I’m going to donate it.”
“Whoa…man, you don’t want to do that. You can’t afford to do that.”
Ty knew Cade had a sharp business sense but this was one time his advice would have to go unheeded. “I’d like to save it. It’s…uh…a real pretty spot. Comes right up to the cliffs.”
“Ty, it’s a pile of rubble.” Cade’s exasperation was evident in his raised voice. “Sorry, but it might be your choice of a sea view or O’Fallon’s. I’ve been doing a little side research on that situation and, even in this rotten economy, I think you could make a killing. At least pay the down payment on the pub and have enough left over to make the repairs.”
“Yeah? Who’s got that kind of money today in Ireland?”
“Not the Irish, that’s for sure.” There was a pause. An alarm clock jingled in the background and Flannery sighed dramatically. “Sorry, babe…Yeah, Ty, listen. The interested party is a fishing company, goes by the name Cooperative Fishing Consortium, CFC. They have big bucks and want access to the coastline. That pretty view you admire so much is all that stands in their way.”
“Fishing?” Ty closed his eyes and swallowed hard.
“Don’t do anything until you hear from me. I’ll get the Kincade attorneys busy on this right away. I’ll text or email you with the facts.”
Ty stiffened his jaw. “I can’t wait, man.”
“Are you crazy? This is the opportunity of a lifetime. Money like this isn’t gonna be around in the very near future.” Cade’s voice was tight with frustration. “Wait until you hear from me.”
Tynan’s stomach clenched. Industrial fisheries. Muireann’s worst fear. How could he sell to her enemy? Even for a clear title to O’Fallon’s.
“Ty, you there?”
“Right, just thinking.”
“Hey bro, what’s there to think about? This is a killer opportunity here.”
Tynan was torn. This might be the only way to fulfill his plan and have a secure future. But what kind of a future would it be without Muireann?
“Cade, what would you have done, to what extremes would you have gone, to keep Flannery in your life?”
A big, sympathetic sigh crossed the lines from Boston to Ballinacurragh before Cade spoke. “It’s that way is it?”
“Yeah,” Ty confessed. “It’s just like that.”
A painfully long pause hung in the air before he heard Cade’s voice again.
“Promise her the moon, but, please don’t do anything you’re going to regret. Promise?”
“Sure.” Ty had to fess up. “It’s about seals.” As he said it he knew it would take much explaining. At least this was a start.
“Seals? Like…seals? What the hell?”
“Seals?” Flann repeated.
“Trust me on this one. Yeah, seals, the furry kind with flippers, and a selkie…a woman named Muireann O’Malley.”
“Okay, I understand about the woman.” Cade laughed into the phone. “But what the hell is a selkie?”
“A selkie?” Flann squealed. “Ty has a seal woman? This is rich. Who? Tell me now.”
Ty couldn’t help but grin at Flann’s reaction. “Whatever you do, don’t tell my sister.” He knew Cade would immediately tell Flann, and the news would travel through family and friends faster than Jamie could fry a basket of chips.
Chapter Twenty
The main street of Ballinacurragh had taken on a subtle difference when the glass door of the bank closed behind Muireann. Seabirds cut a sharper call through the still air. The thump of boat hulls against the pier were heartbeats loud in her head. The sky was uncommonly bright, scalding her eyes with burgeoning tears.
Cait, broom in hand, chatted in her usual animated fashion with Niabh on the sidewalk in front of O’Malley’s. Declan Conneely fussed over the outdoor fruit and vegetable display at his food market. The populace greeted one another with a hug or a wave. Students strolled lazily toward St. Brendan’s school in the same style of uniform Muireann had worn as a child.
Nothing had changed, but everything was altered just enough to make her world tilt. Of course, no one else would feel the slight change in gravity that weighed her courage.
Blind to her plight, life tracked on for everyone else.
Tynan might see it, feel it, in her. That possibility was doubly distressing. She had almost let herself lose sight of her goals because of a man. Tynan had confused her with his soft caresses, his honesty and gallantry.
Now, she was determined. Her decision had been made and she knew she needed to act on it before she lost her nerve.
Cait and Niabh waved and called, “Good day to you.” Muireann forced a smile and a nod. She didn’t cross the street. Conversation, gossip, and cheery company were not going to help today. They would know something was wrong. She couldn’t hide anything from people who had known her since birth, so she kept her head down and her hands in her pockets as she made her way back to where she had parked her van.
As she came around the corner behind the Bloody Oar, her vehicle came into view. Her head jerked up. Someone was sitting in the passenger seat.
“Oh, shite,” she muttered.
Tynan.
He sat with his long legs stretched out the propped open door. “Good mornin’, beautiful,” he greeted her with a smile which, if not meant to melt her bones, had that effect by default.
Muireann tried to steel herself. She had just decided this was over. It wasn’t like they had anything even approaching a permanent thing here. They’d had a couple of great days, and one spectacular night, together. That does not constitute an affair and certainly did
n’t qualify as a relationship.
“Hey, Ty,” she said and searched her mind for an excuse to avoid his attentions. All she wanted to do was get into her van, drive off, and leave him in the dust, but warm current swept her skin as her eyes roved over his broad shoulders and appreciated the way his dark hair had started to curl over the collar of his shirt.
Ty stepped around and opened the driver door for her. “I stopped by your place. You weren’t there, so I walked into town.”
“I was here.” She stumbled over the words as her mouth went dry. She had a sudden, scorching need to remove his crisp white shirt and bite his neck right there where his pulse throbbed below his ear. Instead she settled herself behind the wheel and tried to remember how to start the van and drive. Her hands shook as she searched for the keys. “Keys? Where are my keys?” she mumbled to herself.
Ty reached over and jingled the keys where they hung from the ignition. “You seem a little distracted. Want me to drive?” Ty asked.
Muireann shook her head. “I’m fine,” she asserted.
She wasn’t. She knew she was close to having a Muireann meltdown, a rare but never pretty sight. She turned the key in the ignition and pulled out from the curb.
Ty leaned back in the seat and propped his left foot up against the dash. He looked at her with a Cheshire cat grin that triggered tingles in all the places that would have been right yesterday and today were so wrong.
“Look, Ty, I have some work to do today.” Was that disappointment she saw flash across his face? “I mean, well, I really do have to get some things done.” She tried to soften the truth, but he didn’t look like he was buying it.
“Something I can help with?” he asked and reached out to put his hand on her shoulder.
The touch shot fireworks to all parts, with special attention to some very private ones. Vivid images of the last twenty-four hours played behind her eyes: his naked body pressed against her, his tongue probing her mouth. Perhaps one more day with him wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
“No,” she yelped. “No, it’s nothing important.” She was too close to giving in to the temptation, putting off the inevitable, and losing the momentum of the day. “I’ve got to go into Galway City today,” Muireann told him and resisted with all her being the need to run her hand along his thigh just to feel him respond.
“Fancy a bit of company?” Ty said and his lips curved into that devastating half-smile of his. “We can stop and have a bite.”
She had a strong desire to smack her own ears. This wasn’t the day to lose herself to his smile…or any of his other delicious attributes. The time had come to clear the air, to lay the facts out straight and send him on his way back to Boston.
They pulled to a stop in front of An Currach. She waited for him to get out.
He didn’t.
Muireann felt herself sliding. The slope was precipitous and though she dug in with all her might, the fall was certain. A rush of blood crept up her neck and filled her cheeks. The few lucid brain cells she had left screamed a warning. Putting off the inevitable was just too stupid. She knew she would kick herself for rationalizing but before she could deny him, her rebellious mouth started to form words.
“Let’s take your car,” she said and told herself she could handle this. It would just take a little more time.
****
It was an unusually warm day in Galway. If the paving stones of Quay Street had a voice to complain, they would have cried out under the thousands of feet that trod the ancient thoroughfare.
Ty and Muireann walked past vendors, buskers, skirted groups of students with matching caps and rucksacks as they headed toward Spanish Arch. Muireann kept her hands in her pockets in an attempt to avoid touching Ty. He tried to stop and kiss her, but she faked a cough and he rubbed her back between her shoulder blades to soothe her instead.
The stretch of Galway Bay lay before them as they traversed Wolf Tone Bridge, walked along the sea wall and into the Claddagh district. Muireann started several times to try to query Ty further about the plans he had for his pub, but she was afraid she would find out how important it was to him. After all, she was about to make a commitment that would not be in his best financial interest.
She couldn’t possibly tell him her true heart. Not now when she planned a deception. After all, it was only a little ruse, not meant to be malicious, and wouldn’t hurt him, if he didn’t know. The result would free him of the tax burden, allow him a swift departure from Ireland and from her. Tynan would be the better off for the losses, though Muireann was sure the sting would wound him for a small while.
“There’s a shop I’d like to step into for just a moment.” Best do it now before she changed her mind.
“Sounds grand. Lead the way.” Ty slipped his arm over her shoulder. It felt possessive and she knew she should find an excuse to wiggle away, but Muireann’s heart was about to take a hit and she craved comfort.
With each step in the direction of the shop she sought, Muireann had a tightening in her throat. Once she offered the harp, there would be no turning back.
The little shop she sought was tucked away in a back street. Tourists generally missed it, but every musician from Kilfenora to Cleggan could find it blindfolded.
“Here we are,” she said. Fortunately the little music store was crammed to the door with musos of every description. “I’ll just be a moment.”
“No problem. Take your time. This is great.” He kissed her quickly on the cheek before she walked away. “I’ll be right over here checking out the guitars.”
The inside of An Ceol smelled of tonewood and rosin dust. Seamus O’Donnell only dealt in the most excellent of instruments, his specialty being vintage fiddles and fine harps. He did not handle consignment and a sale was always final, but he gave more than a fair price.
Seamus was sealing a deal on a violin when he looked up and saw Muireann. “Ah, Muireann O’Malley. What brings you to An Ceol?” He stopped what he was doing. “Brid, take care of this sale, would you, darlin’?”
His face showed transparent knowledge. She would not be in his establishment for any other reason than the one that brought her here today. Muireann’s knees wobbled and her stomach threatened with a watery gurgle.
“I’ve something to sell,” she said and she felt her heart splinter into sharp shards that cut deep into her soul. “Are you still in the market for a harp?”
****
Tynan had been strumming on a guitar in the corner of An Ceol when Muireann rushed out the exit. By the time Tynan caught up with her, she had rung up Simon and instructed him to pack up Ronan’s harp and get it out of her house. She wouldn’t take the chance that seeing it again would trigger a change of heart. That bridge had been crossed.
“You’re quiet. What are you thinking?” Ty asked when they stopped to watch the swans rally at the bridge where they were unable to breach the weir and floated peaceably on the Corrib.
A bank of clouds cast a shadow on the waterway and Muireann shivered.
“Here comes the rain.” She mumbled so quietly it surprised her that Tynan picked up on what she said.
He slipped his jacket off in one sleek movement and flung it about her shoulders. “Don’t want you to catch a chill. I’d have to put you to bed and bring you hot whiskey.”
Tynan didn’t sound like that would be an onerous chore, and it occurred to Muireann that in another life or time his comforting ministrations would be very welcome.
Tynan covered her hands with his. “I can’t stop touching you.”
A nervous chuckle escaped her throat. “You’ll get over that.”
“Not in this lifetime, beautiful.” The remark came so easily to Ty, as though he hadn’t even had to consider it first.
Muireann closed her eyes and tried to focus her thoughts. There was no good reason to continue to flirt with him. She didn’t want to think of the dare, the deception, or to trigger her overwhelming desire for his touch. When she did, it was impossibl
e to remain rational. She should make a resolution right here and now.
Honesty demanded she tell him she had no room for him in her untidy life. He deserved better.
She commanded herself to comply, but her rebellious mouth wouldn’t form the words.
As a woman who was rarely at a loss for a smart remark, she had no explanation for her lack of quick response. It must have been because his hands cupping hers just felt so good. “I don’t know,” she offered. “I can’t think when I’m hungry.”
Dollops of rain began to splatter on the walkway. Ty pointed across the street to a small café. “How about coffee and a biscuit?”
They rushed past the empty patio where umbrellas strained to stay upright in the wind and into the espresso bar. They took seats at a little round table in the window. Muireann’s tummy grumbled at the smells of hot brew and warm pastries, but then the enormity of what she had just promised Seamus hit her full in her gut. The menu in her hands blurred.
Muireann pushed back her chair and stood. “Ty, please take me home.” Her eyes burned with a threat of tears and she knew she had to retreat from his scrutiny.
“Wait. How about a take-away?”
One look at him and she was lost. “Sure. I’ll wait on the patio,” she said over her shoulder.
“It’s bucketing.” Ty touched her arm.
Muireann flinched. “Just get your coffee and let’s go,” she snapped and a tear slipped down her cheek. She wiped it away with the back of her hand.
He leaned close and whispered into her ear. “I don’t know what’s wrong. Wait here where it’s dry. I’ll get the car and pull up. Watch for me?”
“I’ll be here,” she whispered, her throat choked with pain, and watched him jog off into the downpour.
Tynan was pelted by rain but hardly noticed. What had just happened back there? One minute she was warm, pliable, and accepting of his affections. The next, she clammed up and got teary. Was it something he said? Did? Was she having second thoughts about last night? Could he blame this on PMS? God help him, had he made her cry?