Niall

by Diane Darcy

  “Of course, I’m going to want a DNA test first.”

  Tina threw her hands in the air and looked at Jenny as if to say, see?

  Jenny surged forward to put her hand on her brother’s shoulder. “Zach, stop it. Don’t go there.”

  “Too late,” Tina was glaring at Zach. “He already went there and no child of mine is going to have a DNA test, so you can just sit back and wonder.”

  “Is that my kid, or not?”

  “What kid? I haven’t confirmed anything. You don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

  With one last glare, Tina moved to the kitchen table, lifted her purse off the back of a chair, and headed toward the back door.

  Zach chased after her.

  Though he had no idea what to do, Niall went after them with Jenny on his heels. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “I didnae know what to say in such a situation. When heads are hot, and tempers high, naught that is said can get through to anyone.”

  She let out a breath. “You’re probably right.”

  They followed the couple out the door to where they were still yelling at each other. Tina opened her car door, threw her purse inside, and then quickly slid into the seat and pulled the door shut.

  Zach tried the door. It must’ve been locked, because he hit the top of the car just as Tina started the engine.

  With a rude gesture at her husband, Tina sped off.

  “Zach! How could you do that?” Jenny was practically in tears as she yelled at her brother.

  Zach shot his sister a murderous glare and headed around the side of the house.

  Jenny followed, but Niall could’ve told her it wouldn’t do any good. He walked slowly behind the other two, and when he reached the front, Zach was already moving the car backwards, and then swung around and left.

  “I thought he didnae have a car?”

  “It looks like he’s borrowed my dad’s.” Jenny wrapped her arms around herself.

  Niall approached her slowly, feeling like a failure. This was the one task that he was here to do, and he’d bungled it. “I’m sorry, lass. I truly am.”

  Jenny shrugged her shoulders. “I wish there was something you could have done, but I don’t think there was anything anyone could do. They’re both just so hardheaded!”

  They watched until the car was out of sight.

  “Do ye think he’ll follow?”

  She shook her head. “He won’t. He’s got too much pride.”

  “But still, a babe …”

  She shook her head. “Come on. No need to let the breakfast go to waste. Not after all the work Grandma did to put it together.”

  Niall followed, and wondered if there was anything he could do right.

  Breakfast was a gloomy affair, all of them trying to ignore the drama that just played out before them. Grandpa had been pragmatic—They’ll either get back together or they won’t. Grandma had been worried—Surely there was something they could do? Jenny had simply been upset, and slightly angry at Niall, if the truth were known. Why couldn’t he have done something to stop the situation from blowing up? Wasn’t that what therapists did for a living?

  Jenny helped her grandmother do the dishes. “When are you guys going to retire?”

  Grandma sighed. “Chance would be a fine thing, indeed.”

  “Just do it, Grandma, bite the bullet.”

  “We’ve talked about buying a condo in town, in one of those retirement communities. And we’d like to take a cruise. Can you imagine that? But, your grandfather has a hard time leaving the farm. There’s always plenty to do.”

  “Have you thought about selling it?”

  Grandma sighed again. “Your grandfather just doesn’t want to see all of his hard work end up in the hands of land developers. He’s very proud of what he’s built.”

  “He should be.”

  When they finished cleaning up, Grandpa said, “Why don’t the two of you go ride the horses? There are several that are getting fussy.”

  “Niall? Are you up for it?”

  “Sure.” With a nod, he followed her out the door.

  Once in the barn, he helped her bring out two horses and they saddled them together.

  When she went to stick her left foot in the stirrup, he held her back and checked to make sure the saddle was tight before helping her mount.

  Another thoughtful gesture that warmed her heart. This man’s mama had done a good job raising him.

  “Have you ever ridden a horse before?”

  That finally got a smile out of him. “Aye, lass, many times and often. But I will say it’s been a while.”

  That said, he grabbed hold of mane and saddle and swung up in one smooth, easy motion, leg muscles flexing.

  Nice. The man had definitely ridden before.

  Jenny guided her horse down a well-worn trail and soon it was wide enough for them to ride astride.

  “What animals do ye have in the area?”

  “The usual. Beavers, raccoons, you’ll see a lot of mice out here. Chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits. Of course, you have to watch out for rattlesnakes. They’re dangerous.”

  “Dangerous how?”

  “Their bite is poisonous.”

  “Truly?” Niall’s brow raised and he looked excited by the prospect.

  “They have snakebite antidote at the hospital, though. If you can get there on time.”

  His golden eyes brightened and she bit her lip. Men.

  “What other dangerous animals are out here?”

  “Well, they’re rare, but we do have black bears, mountain lions, and wolves.”

  To her amusement, Niall glanced around as if looking for the dangerous beasts. “You’re not to worry, I will protect ye.”

  He wasn’t joking. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. And it was silly, but she was actually touched by his sincerity. What girl didn’t want a man who was willing to be her champion?

  “Well, Doc. Any suggestions on getting Zach and Tina back together?”

  “I’m sorry, lass.”

  Her heart clenched. “So you think they’re a lost cause?”

  “I didnae say that. I will say I’m shocked at how easy it is to divorce these days.”

  “It’s not that way in Scotland?”

  “Not in my experience.”

  Jenny tried desperately to hold onto her optimism. “Couples go through problems all the time. I’m sure they’ll work it out.”

  “I’m sure you’re right.” He didn’t sound sure, he sounded like he was trying to make her feel better.

  Her phone beeped, and she checked her message, hoping against hope it was Zach or Tina, needing her help.

  No such luck. It was her boss. “Hello?”

  “Jenny, Marcus here. What are you doing?”

  “I’m out at my grandparents’ farm riding a horse. What are you doing?”

  “Why would you do that?” Marcus’s horror came across the line and she chuckled. Marcus, with his designer suits and silk shirts, would not get along with a horse.

  “Believe it or not, I enjoy it. Thousands do. Now, was there a reason you called?”

  “I got the account from the Hamilton firm. They were impressed with the marketing you did for BB Entertainment and want you to do the same for them.”

  “That’s great!”

  “When can you start?”

  “How about Monday?”

  He growled on the other end of the line. “Come on, surely you can give it some time over the weekend. I saw you were uploading videos featuring some Scottish dude and his platitudes. You’ve obviously got time on your hands.”

  “You saw that, did you?”

  “I was surprised at the number of hits you got.” He sounded disgruntled.

  “How many hits are we talking about?”

  “Over 20,000 so far.”

  She gasped. “What?”

  He chuckled. “You didn’t know?”

  “No.” She glanced over at Ni
all again. The man was drop dead gorgeous, and wore a kilt. Maybe she shouldn’t be so surprised after all. But still, 20,000 …

  “Now work that magic on the Hamilton account.”

  “Monday.”

  “Good one. I’ll expect something later tonight.”

  “Not going to happen, Marcus.”

  “I’ll be hoping.” There was a slightly wheedling tone to his voice when he signed off in his usual way of simply hanging up.

  She sighed. The man liked to push but was ultimately terrified of losing her, so he allowed her to work from home, or office, whichever she preferred in an attempt to keep her happy.

  He was well aware she could freelance and had the skills to do her own marketing if she wanted to pick up a clientele.

  “Who was that?”

  “My boss, trying to get me to work over the weekend.”

  “He sounded as if he bullied ye, lass. Did I get that wrong?”

  She chuckled. “No, you got that right. The man thinks I should breathe, eat, and sleep his marketing business.”

  “I doonae like the sounds of him.”

  She chuckled again. “Marcus is a good guy; he’s just obsessed with his business and wants me to be the same. He’s definitely a force to be reckoned with.”

  They rode in silence for a moment, and Niall asked, “What do ye want to do about your brother and his wife? How can I help?”

  She was gratified he still wanted to. “I’m not sure. If we tried to get them together again, they’d just take off again. Do you have any suggestions? Anything from your practice that’s worked in the past?”

  He looked deep in thought for a moment, and finally nodded. “I know things are different here.”

  “In America?”

  He nodded again. “Just so.” He took a breath. “As I was saying, I know things are different here, but I do know of something that might work.”

  “What’s that?”

  “When we brought them together here, they were given a choice. They both had cars and could easily get away.” He looked at her and his eyes suddenly gleamed with mischief.

  She responded with a smile. “What?”

  “We need to strand them where they’ll not have that choice.”

  “What do you mean? Leave them somewhere and take the cars?”

  “I’m thinking perhaps we bind them and drop them off somewhere without any source of transportation.”

  Jenny’s mouth dropped as shock raced through her. “Kidnap them?”

  “Just so.”

  She laughed, until she realized from his expression he was totally serious. “But …”

  “But, what?”

  “But they could have us thrown in jail for kidnapping.”

  “Would either of them do that?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe if they were mad enough.”

  “So we dinnae let them see our faces.”

  “You mean like we wear ski masks?”

  “Ah. Masks. A very clever idea.”

  “It’s a very crazy idea!” But she had to admit she did enjoy the fact he was looking at her with admiration.

  And really, in an ideal world, it was a good idea. If the two of them could just have a few decent conversations, they could work it all out.

  It was the getting them together part that was proving to be the problem.

  But kidnapping?

  It was ridiculous. Right? Of course she wouldn’t have a hand in doing such a thing. She looked over at Niall and his mischievous grin once more. The look in his eyes was almost as if he was daring her to do it.

  She opened her mouth to tell him that, no, she wouldn’t have anything to do with such a plan, but what came out was, “All right, let’s do it.”

  His grin widened, “Good lass!”

  Her eyes sparkled as disbelief and excitement rushed through her. “When?”

  In response, he turned his horse back in the direction they’d come from. “The sooner started, the sooner done.”

  “Really? You’re going to give me some of your Scottish wisdom while planning a kidnapping?”

  He winked at her. “What better time for wisdom, than when planning a crime?”

  Her heart was beating fast. “If I get arrested, you’d better bail me out.”

  “Doonae worry, lass. I’ll see ye safe.”

  She gripped the saddle horn tightly. “Zach might be more than you bargained for, and Tina, though small, has a mean right hook.”

  He chuckled. “Doonae fash yerself. Tis not my first kidnapping.”

  “It’s not?”

  He looked offended. “O’ course it isnae.”

  He urged his horse into a canter, and she quickly did the same, pressing one hand to her stomach.

  She hoped she didn’t regret this.

  Jenny quickly got online and found the perfect place: a remote cabin an hour away in the mountains, with a warning that cell service was almost non-existent.

  She’d even used Google Earth to make sure it was remote enough, and it definitely was. They could only hope there weren’t other people at the nearby cabins hooked up to landlines.

  Perfect.

  She rented it for the night and paid the deposit, which cost her a pretty penny, and also left a paper trail.

  She bit her thumbnail as she looked at a picture of the property. If Zach and Tina worked out their marriage problems, they’d be so busy thanking her they wouldn’t have time to prosecute, right?

  The cabin had a lockbox on it with a key inside, and she’d printed off the information.

  They were really going to do this.

  She checked her Find My Friends app for Zach and Tina, and was glad to see neither of them had turned off their location.

  “Doonae worry so much, lass. Tis done all the time in Scotland. Men kidnap brides, handfast them, or head for the nearest priest. Zach will be thanking us by the time we pick him up.”

  “What about Tina?”

  “If Zach does his job properly, she’ll be a very happy woman.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  She stood from the computer and blew out of breath. “What’s next? Pick up some groceries? Pack some clothing?”

  “Some food would not come amiss, as to clothes, they can just wear what they have on.”

  Since she didn’t have access to Tina’s house, and didn’t want to rifle through Zach’s clothing, that was fine by her.

  “All right, groceries and then we pick them up?”

  “Do ye have rope?”

  “In the garage.”

  “I’ll get it.”

  She went upstairs and dug around until she found her ski clothes and plucked two masks out of the pile.

  She could not believe they were doing this!

  She went downstairs, feeling slightly shaky again, and Niall was waiting for her by the door.

  “Ready?”

  “I am.”

  She grabbed her purse, locked the doors, and they were soon on their way.

  At the grocery store, they stocked up on frozen pizza, muffins, bread, and peanut butter and jelly for good measure. She added some water bottles to the mix, and then a last-minute box of saltine crackers, just in case Tina needed something for morning sickness.

  What were they doing?

  Back in the car, she opened her Find My Friends app once more, almost hoping they’d turned off their locations. If she didn’t know where they were, she couldn’t kidnap them. Hahahaha!

  No such luck. Both locations were readily available.

  Her knee was bouncing, her heart throbbing in her chest. “Are you sure we should do this?”

  Niall grinned, the serious man from yesterday gone. “Aye, lass. They cannae run from each other if they donnae have a way to get away.”

  “And has this really worked out in the past? With your friends?”

  “It always works. With no possibility of divorce, many a couple finds ways to make the marriage a happy one.”

  She nodded
. Swallowed. She could see that it might work, but it was still scaring the pants off her.

  She looked at her app once more, sucked in a lungful of air, then slowly released it. “All right. Who shall we take first?”

  “I think yer brother. He’ll give us the most trouble —”

  “You don’t know Tina.”

  “As I said, he’ll give us the most trouble, and when Tina is hysterical —”

  “Hysterical? Don’t forget she’s pregnant!”

  “When Tina is upset, she’ll have her husband to comfort her. It’ll bring them closer together from the very start.”

  “Where do you get this stuff? Are you trained to do things like this?”

  “From the cradle, lass.”

  She nodded again, his confidence fueling her own.

  “All right, it looks like my brother is at his favorite sports bar. Let’s go get him.”

  He was grinning again and that impossible-to-resist, incredible smile had her heart speeding again, but this time for an entirely different reason.

  Chapter 8

  A car pulled into the side of the sports bar and parked, leaving Jenny feeling exposed in the afternoon sunlight. “Maybe we should just wait?”

  If they went inside with ski masks, they’d likely get shot for their trouble.

  If they simply waited for Zach, he could be in there all night.

  “We can’t wait, lass. We doonae want him to have time to drink himself silly, or Tina might form a disgust of him.”

  She grinned. “I like the way you say things sometimes.”

  “Perhaps we could send someone inside to call him out?”

  She glanced over to see her dad’s car and that gave her an idea. “I could text him from an unknown number and tell him someone keyed his car. That would get him out here quick enough.”

  “Keyed his car?”

  “Ruined his paint.”

  He looked like he was going to ask for further clarification, but then nodded. “Do that, and I’ll be ready for him.”

  Luckily, her dad’s car was parked down the side of the building, and there wasn’t a lot of foot traffic. Decorative bricks stuck out every four feet or so, making a perfect place to hide.

  She moved around the bricks, and Niall followed, pressing himself close against her.

  “Ready?”