finding little to delay his progress. “I’m off to see Seamus.”
Sean met his gaze, his eyes damp. Luke left the workshop, bound for his uncle’s cottage.
Luke rapped on the door of the cottage, gaining an answer he hadn’t been
expecting.
“Come in, come in!” his uncle boomed.
Luke opened the door and found the man seated on his velvet chair, a wing chair built to his specifications and covered in velvet of his favorite green. Though his clothes were rumpled, they appeared clean as did his face and hands. His red hair curled wildly about his head, but that wasn’t so far from its normal condition. Luke dismissed all those details when he looked into Seamus’s eyes. They were as clear a green as a prized emerald.
“Luke, my boy.”
Luke grinned and shook his uncle’s offered hand. The grip was weak, but he wouldn’t think about that. “How are you, Uncle?”
“Fine.” The older man appeared puzzled, his head cocked to one side. “Why do you ask?”
Luke wished for his brothers’ company at the moment, to question them about this perplexing recovery. From the sounds coming from the kitchen, he knew Mrs.
O’Grady worked in there. Everything seemed fine, as it had before.
Luke sat down on the settee across from his uncle, resting his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward. “You feel well, then?”
Seamus laughed, a hearty sound. “Fit as a fiddle and twice as noisy!”
Luke smiled at that. “But I thought without the gold you would—”
“You found our gold?”
Luke gave a slow nod. “Aye. It’s where O’Shey said it was.”
His uncle’s mouth turned down. “O’Shey, the vile Leprechaun. Don’t trust him, Luke. He’ll be wantin’ something for helping us.”
Any day now, Luke suspected. Leprechauns were not known for their patience.
“Aye,” he said.
“So you brought back the gold, then?” his uncle asked. “Your brothers will be happy.”
“But what of you?” Luke asked. “I thought you needed it.”
Seamus laughed again, that wonderful sound of mirth so long missing, and Luke’s heart jumped in response. His eyes glinted with an understanding that escaped Luke.
“Not only gold be a treasure, my boy.”
“Uncle, what…?”
But the man was gone, in mind and spirit. The change was so abrupt, it left Luke breathless.
“Lucas, you marry the girl,” Uncle Seamus said. “She loves you.”
Luke grasped his uncle’s hand, desperate to bring him back. Not the man he was when Luke’s father courted his mother. Nay, the gentle man who had sat before him a moment before. Lucid and clear and sharp.
“Uncle Seamus!” Luke said.
“Love be the most important thing, brother,” Uncle Seamus said to Luke’s long-dead father. He withdrew his hand from Luke’s after giving him a reassuring pat. “Thirty years I’ve wasted, but don’t you do it. Love will keep you when all else is gone.”
Before Luke could question him further the singing began again, that high-pitched childlike song that deeply chilled him. Seamus rocked back and forth in his favorite chair, his arms wrapped around his drawn-up knees. The sparkle in his eyes, the direct manner of speaking, was gone. He was gone.
Luke swallowed around the lump in his throat and struggled to his feet. “I’ll…
I…”
His uncle didn’t seem to notice either Luke’s words or actions. He was gone to that place again, his self and dignity lost because of the gold.
“Mrs. O’Grady,” he called.
The lady stepped out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on the apron across her wide middle. “Aye, Master Luke?”
Luke flicked his head in Uncle Seamus’s direction, not that subtlety was needed in this case. “Pray, look after him?”
The woman nodded. “Aye. ‘Tis my duty since you be gone.”
Innocent words, spoken in earnest. They struck him in the heart. Since he’d been gone. Gone. He’d left his family to reclaim the gold, to heal his uncle’s mind. And he’d returned with nothing.
“Aye,” he said and headed for the door.
He had to bring the treasure back somehow. Had to satisfy Violet’s treatments as well. No answer seemed clear but he wouldn’t find it here, watching his uncle deteriorate.
And he couldn’t face his brothers’ disapproval. They were right, damn it.
Uncle Seamus had spoken of love, when he thought Luke was his father. Surely that explained what he meant by thirty years. Luke didn’t dare hope his feelings for Brianna would prove the answer. He would go back to the future, though. To Brianna.
* * *
Brianna wiped down the counter, another dull day at the coffee shop behind her.
Lori asked after Luke yesterday but, after Brianna’s evasive answers, she didn’t pester her about him. Brianna shook her head. If only Violet were as accommodating. The child was so determined, but she had only asked what Brianna herself wondered.
“Hey, Lori!” a masculine voice called.
Brianna looked up to find Luke’s friend Jim had arrived. Lori leaned over the counter and the two shared a kiss. Brianna blinked. How long had the two of them been seeing each other? The past weeks, first spent in hiding and then in company with her tracker, had obviously clouded her mind to anything else.
As Lori went in the back to get her purse, Jim waved in Brianna’s direction.
“Hey, Bree,” Jim said. “Have you seen Luke?”
She shook her head in honesty. “He’s… visiting his family.”
Jim nodded, accepting her answer. He smiled and gave her a wink. “Not that I’ve seen much of him lately.”
Brianna flushed hotly. As oblivious to her friends’ business as she had been, she hadn’t realized they would know of hers. Not that she and Luke could hide the attraction that flowed between them. A pang of loneliness struck her, deep in her core.
“Y-yes,” she said.
Lori returned and the two of them bade her good night. Brianna retrieved her sweater. She called good night to the boy cleaning in the kitchen and stepped out into the evening.
It was still light out, not that she ever felt in peril on her walk home. The protection spell still served her well. The hairs on her nape shivered just as she had that thought, quickly dispelling her sense of safety. She whirled, seeing nothing behind her nor to the left or right. Her key was still, though it only seemed attune to Luke’s presence.
And he was far away in more ways than one.
She hurried home, unable to shake the feeling that someone was watching her.
And if her senses were to be believed, danger was closer. When at last she closed the front door behind her, she breathed easier. “I’m home, Mrs. Henning.”
“Hello, dear.”
“Hello, Brianna!” Violet called.
Violet sat on the couch, piles of books surrounding her. One of the house’s previous tenants must have much enjoyed reading. And that was fortunate because now that she spent far less time sleeping, Violet was quickly making her way through the volumes.
“How was your day, love?”
Violet shrugged. “Nothing much to do, except read and watch the telly.” She gave a start and looked intently at Brianna. “You’re sad.”
Brianna attempted a smile, but her sharp little sister saw through the weak expression.
“I’m fine, Violet.” Brianna stood and straightened the blanket thrown over the back of the couch, work meant to keep her hands busy and herself away from Violet’s too-knowing gaze. “So you feel better, then?”
Violet snorted. “You can’t hide it from me, Brianna.”
Brianna finally looked at her sister. She gave up the fight and sat beside her on the couch.
“I miss Luke,” she said.
Violet wrapped her arms around Brianna’s neck and gave a squeeze. Brianna took the comfort, her eyes tearing.
“He’
ll come back.” Violet stroked Brianna’s hair, the same gesture Brianna used to soothe her during her treatments. “He’ll come back for you.”
Brianna closed her eyes and prayed her sister was right.
Chapter 17
The carpet was scratchy beneath Luke's palms as the room stopped spinning. The amber around his neck cooled and he opened his eyes. He was back in Indianapolis and, though he was closer to Brianna, he was no closer to solving his dilemma. And he would have to tell her all of it. She’d accept nothing less.
Luke changed out of his old clothes and donned jeans topped with a soft collared shirt. A quick glance in the mirror showed he was in need of a shave, so he saw to that and stepped into his favorite pair of sneakers. He would grab something to eat at the coffee shop; he couldn’t delay the inevitable.
Uncle Seamus was worse than when Luke left him weeks ago. His brothers
couldn’t reach him most of the time, and surely the man would soon become a danger to himself. Despite Brianna’s compelling reason for it, this was all because she took the gold. What the devil was he to do now?
He opened the door to leave, startled to find someone standing there.
“Hello, MacDonald.”
Luke blinked as he looked down at the familiar, ugly face. Daniel O’Shey of Ulster Province. Had the imp follow him from Meath?
“O’Shey.” Luke let him in and shut the door. “Why are you here?”
“To get me share!”
Daniel sat on the couch, his legs folded beneath him. He gave less thought to his attire than Luke apparently; he wore tattered jeans and a faded T-shirt, both items no doubt cast-offs from some unknown mortal here. The modern shower apparently held no interest for the Leprechaun. He stunk like a bog in August.
Daniel regarded Luke closely, his black eyes sharp.
Luke had nothing to give the Leprechaun, but he wouldn’t let him know that. Not
yet. “It’ll be a while, O’Shey. I don’t have my hands on the treasure yet.”
Daniel chortled. “Oh, ya’ have yer hands on the Pixie though!”
Luke fisted his hands at his sides. “What do you know of it? You just—” At Daniel’s grin, Luke knew. “You’ve been following me.”
Daniel waved a pudgy hand in the air and hopped off the couch. “Aye, though ya’
were sure slow about it. She be pretty, the Pixie. I can see why ya’ took her to yer bed.”
Luke’s hands fisted. “I never took her to my bed! And you’ll not be speakin’ so of her, O’Shey.”
Daniel shrugged. “I care not who ya’ bed, MacDonald. I told ya’ she had yer gold and she does. I want me share and then we’ll return to Ireland.”
Luke raked his fingers through his hair. How the devil was he to get himself rid of Daniel?
“How did you follow me before?” Luke asked.
Daniel rolled his eyes. “’Twas easy. Just as ya’ fell to the ground I touched yer boots.”
“But you weren’t here when I arrived.”
“Ya’ landed near the busy streets, MacDonald. I hid in an alleyway till ya’ left.”
The alleyway? Something tickled at the back of Luke’s mind. A few times he was certain he sensed something. Had Daniel been following him all along? My God, had he followed him to Brianna’s?
“I won’t have the gold for a few days,” Luke began, his mind working. Daniel was cunning. Not as sharp as a Braunach from Meath, though. “You’ll have to give me a chance to take it from the Pixie.”
That slick grin came again. “Seems ya’ took plenty from her.”
Luke didn’t rise to the bait. He crossed to the door and held it open. “Where are
you staying?”
“Got me a room.” He looked around the flat. “Ain’t as nice as this place, though.
Ya’ must have some of yer uncle’s money, then.”
“Aye.” Luke took a breath. “Do you need any?”
Again, those dark eyes sparkled. “I be hungry, and the food here be pricey. Except for that little shop where the Pixie works.”
Luke withdrew some paper money from the pocket of his jeans and thrust it at Daniel. “Here. And stay away from the Pixie else you won’t get a another farthing from me.”
Daniel’s round face turned red. “Ya’ owe me, MacDonald! Don’t be makin’ me wait!”
“You’ll have your share, O’Shey. A Braunach keeps his word.”
Apparently, Daniel missed the slight toward the Ulster Leprechauns.
He nodded with satisfaction and clutched Luke’s money in his chubby fist. “Yer time be runnin’ out, MacDonald. Pray, have an answer fer me. And soon.”
With that, the imp left. Luke slammed the door and spat out a curse. Daniel O’Shey followed him from home weeks ago! And he no doubt watched Brianna once Luke was foolish enough to lead him to her. What else did the little man know? Did he know of Violet’s illness? Surely he’d seen their house. He’d know the gold was hidden there as well as Luke did.
No reasonable argument would work with a Leprechaun of Daniel’s clan. And
Luke wouldn’t risk exposing Brianna and Violet to the bastard by divulging the truth of the little girl’s plight. If his opponent would only fight fairly, Luke wouldn’t hesitate to send him back to Ireland. Daniel wasn’t to be trusted, and his clan’s legendary lust for gold surpassed any rational thought. So reasoning with the imp wouldn’t work, either.
Luke left the flat, bound for the coffee shop. He needed to see Brianna, to make certain Daniel hadn’t touched her in his absence. If Daniel knew of the passion they’d shared, surely he’d watched the house more intently than he divulged. Damn him to Hell!
Brianna was soon before him, bustling behind the counter as she served the patrons seated there. Again he was struck by her honor, and the knowledge that she hadn’t used a bit of the stolen gold for her own luxury or comfort. And now he had to take what little was left of the treasure in hopes of appeasing Daniel O’Shey? What would happen to Violet? To Uncle Seamus?
“Brianna,” he said.
She looked up, and as he saw the love shining in her gaze he once more heard Uncle Seamus’s declaration of that emotion’s value. Love will keep you when all else is gone. If only he could believe that.
* * *
Brianna stilled as she drank in Luke’s appearance. Had he only been gone for two days? Her body reacted sharply to his presence; her heart pounded and her face flushed.
He smiled at her, but it was a faint expression compared to his usual grin. She knew in her heart something terrible had happened back home. And it would soon befall Violet as well.
“Luke,” she said.
He stepped closer and sat down across from her. She reached for him and he grasped her hand in his. His eyes spoke to her heart, and she sucked in a breath.
“I have to speak with you, Brianna,” Luke said.
She swallowed and pulled her hand away from him. “I can’t.” She looked at the customers waiting her service and chose to see them for the escape they represented. “I’m very busy.”
Lori called to her, flicking her head in the direction of the door. “I’ll see to your customers, Bree.”
Brianna didn’t know whether she should thank Lori for the consideration or dig in her heels and refuse to leave the coffee shop. She reluctantly untied her apron and handed it to Lori as she passed her.
Luke waited for her at the door and waved her ahead of him. No words were
spoken until they gained the little alleyway behind the shop.
“Brianna, I…” His eyes glistened with tears.
She brought her hand to his cheek. “Tell me, Luke.”
He clutched her to him, his body shaking with silent sobs as he buried his face in her neck. “He didn’t know me, Brianna. My uncle is gone.”
Brianna soothed him, stroking his head as he steadied himself. He released her and took a step back, swiping at his eyes. “Forgive me.”
She waved that comment away. “W
hat are you going to do?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. Perhaps he… My uncle spoke to me, Brianna.
For a moment he seemed himself. Then he… he didn’t make much sense.”
“He’s ill, Luke.” Her stomach dipped. “And it’s all my fault.”
His brows drew together as he gave a violent shake of his head. “You had no choice, lass.”
She turned from him, wrapping her arms around her waist. “And now what?” she whispered.
She heard him, his feet shuffling on the walk as he stepped closer. He didn’t touch her. And that told her much.
“I’ll find a way, Brianna,” he said. “Perhaps what he said… Ah, I don’t know.”
She faced him again, this man who had come to mean so much to her in such a
short time. So noble, so devoted to both his family and hers.
“Maybe Violet is strong enough now,” she said.
Luke’s eyes widened. “She must stay here, lass. Your Dr. Noble said as much.”
Brianna brushed her hair out of her face. “I know, I know. If your uncle needs what gold is left—”
“Nay!” he shouted.
He grabbed her arms and his intensity coursed through her.
“You did this for her,” he said. “She’s nearly better and she must remain.”
She kissed him with all she had in her. He pulled her against him and she was nearly lost. Something niggled at the back of her mind, the notion that soon he would leave her and never return. Despite his words, his family needed him; his uncle no longer led the family and that duty would fall on Luke.
Brianna wrenched out of his arms, trembling as she sought to find the strength that had served her well since coming to this place. Little of it remained as she stood there, sensing all at war within him. The crystal key vibrated, low and deep. She turned and took a few steps away from him.
“I must get back to work,” she said.
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