by Gavin Green
***
Present
A cold mid-November rain fell and drummed off of the new shingle roof of the open-faced stone shed. Brody hurried into its dry interior, pushing the last of the delivered granite blocks in with a handcart. His dogs moved aside, and then resettled.
Brody looked out onto the drenched lawn and up to the new patio with its Plexiglas roof. Jack and the Gavin brothers had done quality work, and expediently. Brody kept them busy, and for an extended period, but the new photos on their website garnered the company some fresh business and they moved on to other clients when the initial contract was completed.
The larger patio was finished, as well as two stone shelter sheds and reconstruction of some of the border walls. Brody planned to finish Kate’s sitting area on his own, and would tinker with creating a walking path between the southern paddocks as time permitted.
With all the space, he toyed with the idea of farm animals, but then frowned at the thought. Brody knew nothing of sheep or horses or cattle, other than that they were picturesque whenever he’d drive by a farm. Kate knew some about horses and such, having learned from her father, Liam – he owned a few horses when his kids were young. Nonetheless, Brody didn’t want to worry himself with training and saddles and all of the other upkeep that a serious horse owner would. He was trying in some way to keep things simple, like his initial plan.
Brody had been in Ireland for nearly three months, and they were anything but simple. He had met some great people, which helped with his pain of loss. He had fallen hard and fast for one of them; Kate was a continuous blessing he couldn’t have hoped to ask for. She agreed to live with him, and Brody couldn’t remember being so happy. Of course, fate made him earn it, namely with paranormal activities and violence. It was with the former that actually drew more of Brody’s irritation than the latter.
Some things were for the better because of the Other Crowd, and some worse, but they had taken away some of Brody’s control over his own life. Kate had found a new gift, her mother had mellowed somewhat, and the fae were obviously helpful in the incident concerning the Wagner’s. On the other hand, one of them had instigated the violence, including the torture of his friend Jamal and death of Don Keller’s former lawyer and his wife. They were the source of Cora’s initial bitterness, which had a chain effect.
Brody also admitted to himself that Kate’s gift sometimes unnerved him; he felt a part of his privacy was unintentionally violated in her presence. When she’d catch that dark nimbus with her new sight and politely inquire, Brody would explain it with a simple, “damn fairies”, which was essentially true.
Because of that exposure to his emotional states, Brody was torn between convincing Kate to quit her job at the bank, or let the idea go. He wanted her close, yet that nimbus thing... It was something he’d have to get used to. With Brody’s offer of Kate being hid financial advisor still on the table, she’d probably quit soon enough on her own anyway.
Discussed either in bed or over a meal, Kate had some ideas in mind to further his philanthropic desires. She seemed excited over her notions, and continued to research to make sure they were financially viable. Brody was happily intrigued with her initial thoughts as well, although his memory of a personal, hands-on approach was invigorating, to say the least.
Nonetheless, his tactic was a risk to his privacy, and Kate's approach was safer and possibly more inclusive. Those words seemed to suck the thrill out of his goals, but they were more logical.
Over the past week, Brody had begun testing the waters of sculpting, and started with abstract shapes. He only ordered limestone and granite to start, compositions he had experience with. Marble, while more aesthetic, was a material yet to be thoroughly tested for his conceptual ideas. Brody's first thoughts were to give an impression other than stone; giving a rock the shape of natural flow, like wood or water, might catch an admiring eye. That, in essence, was his intent: create something he enjoyed, and hopefully others might appreciate it as well. If his work became popular enough to sell, then it'd be a nice bonus.
The chirp of Brody's text signal brought him out of his thoughts. It was from Amy O'Sullivan, a cousin of Fiona's who was accomplished at genealogy and ancestry searches. Since Kate brought the subject up just before his birthday in early October, Brody had been interested in getting to know more about his heritage. Not just any Lynch's in Ireland - there were plenty - but more in the way of his own direct line. He hoped there were more than just the Wagner's to call family. All Brody was aware of, besides his criminal cousins, were the names and faded memories of grandparents.
Amy's text asked him to call at his convenience. Besides having some information, she also wanted to talk about something she found, something 'very strange'.