by K. C. Crowne
I glanced over my shoulder to see a small, slender, spry-looking woman approach. She had a warm smile on her handsome face, all of it framed by short, brown hair. She wore an apron over her outfit of jeans and boots and a rustic-looking plaid button-up shirt.
My eyes went with surprise, and she let out a raucous laugh, one that reminded me right away of Ronan.
“Sorry,” she said. “I don’t mean to scare you, love.” She spoke with the same musical accent as everyone else in the area. “Something that happens when you work in the restaurant biz for too long – you get used to just marching up to people and speaking.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “I was just lost in my own thoughts.”
She nodded. “And I’d wager you’ve got plenty to be thinking about these days, yeah?”
“Oh, no,” I said. “Let me guess – you’ve got word through town of everything that’s happening with Ronan and me.”
She grinned. “Word travels fast around Sandy Cove. But I’m sure you didn’t need me to tell you that.”
“You most certainly don’t.” I smiled, gesturing toward the seat next to me. She eagerly sat down.
“My name’s Ciara, by the by. I’m the mother of all the pervy little boys who work here.”
I laughed. “They were just being friendly. But I couldn’t help but notice how none of them are around to, ah, be friendly like they were the other night.”
“Thing about the other night,” she said. “Was that I wasn’t here. You’d better believe that when Ma’s working I make sure they treat the women who come here with a little more respect, you understand.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “So when Ma’s here, she whips the boys into shape.”
“Now you’re getting it,” she said. “And speaking of women, you mind if I tell you a little story?”
“A story? Um, sure.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “First, let’s get a little something to wet our whistle, as you yanks say.” She waved her hand, the cousin I recognized as Mikey, who was over on the other side of the roof, lifting his head up to take notice. He glanced at me, but there was no flirtatiousness – only strict professionalism. It was kind of funny, really.
“It’s about a young man who grew up in one of the rougher parts of Dublin. He lived in the south inner city, which is one of the most crime-ridden parts of the town. He lived there with his mother and brothers, and life…it was hard for the little ones.”
She went on.
“But lucky for them, they had about the best damn mother -and aunt,” she winked at me at this part, “a boy could ask for. They taught him to stay out of trouble, to look out for his family, and to always treat everyone with respect. And they were extra sure to teach him and his brothers about treating women as equals. With the tough ladies he had around him, he learned that lesson well.”
“He and his brothers grew up to be some of the best damn men his mother and aunt had ever known. They embodied the lessons their family taught them. And his aunt and mother always knew that whatever women the oldest ended up with would be a lucky one indeed.”
I couldn’t help but smile.
“That a nice story.”
She grinned. “And I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that it’s based on true events, as they say in Hollywood.”
“I think I know who it’s about.”
Ciara nodded. “I don’t know exactly what went down between the two of you, but I’m sure that if you reached out to him and tried to see some common ground, you could patch up whatever was wrong.”
“I bet you’re right.”
After I spoke, Mikey arrived with a pair of whiskies.
“One for Ma, and one for the gorgeous lass who seems to be single, from what I hear.”
“You keep talking like that,” I said, “and you’re going to be single – single-balled, that is.”
Mikey’s eyes went wide, and Ciara let out a loud, barking laugh as Mikey hurried off.
“I knew there was a reason I liked you before we’d even met. You can give it as good as any Irishwoman. We love tough women over in this part of the world. Seems like you’re fitting right in.”
She raised her glass of whiskey. We said our “sliantes,” then threw back our shots.
“Give me a hug, lass, and see what you can do about getting back together with my nephew. He’s a good boy with a warm heart, as serious and hard as he might seem on the outside.”
We hugged, and it felt good, like I was hugging a member of my family who I hadn’t seen in a long, long while. Then Ciara left with a smile, and I was alone. Maybe it was the whiskey, but the future suddenly seemed a hell of a lot clearer than it had.
Chapter 37
JOANN
Part of me wanted to stay for a bit longer, to throw back another shot of whiskey with Ciara and the family, but I needed to get back to greet Jolene. Not to mention, the last thing I needed was to be three sheets to the wind on the road.
So, I said my goodbyes to the family that was beginning to feel more and more like my family as time went on, then got in my car and headed back. The days were getting shorter and shorter, and though it was still early evening, the sun was nearly down, and the night sky above twinkled with stars. That was something else I loved about where I lived out in the country – no light pollution meant a sky that shimmered like a black satin sheet strewn with diamonds.
I pulled up to the house and hurried inside, flicking on all the lights and making the place seem as inviting as possible for Jolene when she arrived. I put on a kettle for tea, my stomach tingling with excitement at the idea of getting to share the magic of Ireland with my sister. Though things were strange with Ronan and me, I couldn’t wait to talk to her about him.
Maybe she’d even meet him.
As exciting as that idea was, I put it aside for the time being, but it was hard not to be jazzed up about it, especially after the conversation with Ciara. The more I reflected on what had happened, the more I realized how unreasonable I’d been. The crew might’ve been there because of Ronan, sure, but they hadn’t been there with his permission. They’d crashed the place, and Ronan had seemed just as pissed off as I’d been.
It’d been unfair to kick him out like that. I owed him an apology, no doubt about it.
I put on some Natalie Merchant and set out some snacks and wine in preparation for her arrival. Right as I had everything in order, the place looking perfect and the time I’d estimated for her getting there near, a knock sounded at the front door.
I grinned, my heart skipping a beat.
“Coming!” I hurried down the hall toward the front door.
“Oh my God!” I shouted as I opened it. “I can’t believe you’re actually here!”
The smile vanished from my face, however, as I saw who was on the other side of the door.
It wasn’t Jolene.
It was the man I believed to be Connor.
He stood with his hat in his hands, his dark eyes downcast slightly.
“Good evening, Miss.” There was something strange about the way he spoke. It wasn’t the bright, lilting, musical tones of people from Sandy Creek. It was Irish, certainly, but lower and rougher.
“Uh, hi.” I didn’t know what else to say.
He brought his eyes up and gazed at me. Under the low light of the front porch, I could see the striking resemblance between him and my dad up close. His eyes were narrow and dark, his nose strong and his jaw wide. He was handsome in the exact same way as Dad had been in pictures I’d seen of him in his twenties. The most striking similarity was the glint in his eyes. Despite trying his best to look humble and meek, Connor had the same glimmer of scheming, smarmy charm that was unmistakably Dad’s.
“I know this is strange, and I was always taught to never show up to house uninvited. But I wanted to speak to you and didn’t know any other way to do it. Name’s Connor Murphy.”
“I see.”
“If you wouldn’t mind me coming in, we cou
ld sit a spell and talk things over.”
There was a damn good chance that, in that moment, I was speaking with my long-lost half-brother. All the same, I didn’t know the man and what little I did know wasn’t good. Still, I couldn’t exactly throw him out on his ass.
“How about this – it’s a nice night out and I have some water going for tea. Why don’t we sit out on the porch and talk out here?”
Frustration flashed on his face, and I could tell he wasn’t happy with my suggestion. I watched as he forced the expression of mild anger away, replacing it with the previous mischievous charm.
“That would be just fine.”
“Give me one moment.”
I shut the door most of the way as I hurried into the kitchen to prepare the tea. And as I did, the back of my neck tingled with the sort of feeling you got when someone was looking at you from a distance. I felt a sense of unmistakable danger.
The two mugs in hand, I hurried back to the front door and stepped out. Connor was there, standing on the front lawn and looking up at the stars.
“They’re beautiful out here,” he said. “Not at all like what you see down in Dublin.” He turned toward me. “This is a beautiful home our grandmother had.” He put a strange emphasis on our and I took immediate offense to it.
“My grandmother’s home is beautiful.”
He stepped over and tucked his hand into his coat pocket.
“As I said, I’m Connor. But I think introductions aren’t all that necessary at this point.”
“True. But all the same, I’m Joann.”
I handed one of the steaming mugs to him and he took it. Then I gestured for us both to take a seat on the wooden bench out front.
“This is strange,” he said. “I know.”
“It is. Especially since we don’t know each other.”
“But that’s what I came here for. We had to meet one another some way, yeah? Might as well rip the Band-Aid off and get it done with.”
I nodded. “I suppose you’re right. Let me ask you this – what do you know about my family?”
He shrugged, his big hands wrapped around the mug. “You mean your da? Or, rather, our da? Not much at all. Me ma never told me much about him, and there were so many men in and out of our lives that it could’ve been any one of them for all I know. But you got to know him. He actually raised you, stuck around.”
I scoffed. “For a while, at least. Dad was never the sticking-around type. Even when he lived with us, he was always out on business trips in one city or another. He left us when I was six.”
“Us?” he asked.
“Jolene, my sister.” Again, I almost said something, that she was going to be there any minute. Part of me wanted her to show up soon to be there during this strange and awkward meeting. Another hoped that she was running late, that she wouldn’t have to meet Connor. Natalie Merchant continued to drift in from the kitchen, the song “Carnival” on the speakers.
I was really, really tense.
“Aye, there’s two of you?” a small smile formed on his lips. “That’s great. Two half-sisters for the price of one.”
“Yeah, something like that.”
He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, and I could tell he was about to say something that wasn’t easy for him.
“I don’t know what you’ve heard of me, Joann. But I’ve had a rough go of it. I grew up down on the south side of Dublin, had to drop out of secondary school just to get a job to make ends meet. And I learned rather quickly that a job at sixteen most certainly didn’t make ends meet.”
“Then you become a criminal.”
He nodded, glancing up at me for a moment before casting his eyes down again.
“Aye. I was a criminal. Been in and out of jail since I was in me late teens. Did some things I wasn’t proud of. But those days are behind me.”
He sighed.
“I’ll get right to it, Joann. I’m not doing anything illegal these days – swore off it. But I’m still having a rough go of it. Hard to get an honest job when all you know how to do is break the law, yeah? I need a hand, a place to stay while I get me feet on the ground. I want to stay here with you.”
I had a feeling that was coming, but it still took me by surprise.
“I…”
“If you’re worried about me lying, we can get a DNA test done. They’re easy and cheap. But I need this; I don’t know if I have anywhere else to go.”
“Can’t you stay somewhere in town?” I almost offered to pay for it but held back.
He pursed his lips. “It’s more than what I just told you. I’m not breaking the law anymore, that much is true. But once you’re in that kind of life, getting out isn’t easy. People are looking for me. And a place like this would be perfect for-”
“For hiding out. You want to hide from dangerous people here.”
“Aye. I know it’s quite a favor to ask. But I figured that since we’re family…”
I shook my head, no doubt in my mind what I was going to say.
“I can’t. You have to know what kind of position this puts me in. I can’t offer my home to a stranger-”
“I’m not a stranger – I’m family. And that’s not your house. It’s ours.”
Conner looked up at me with fire in his eyes. All the charm and warmth had melted away.
Only anger remained.
I was scared.
As if catching himself, the anger vanished, and the warmth returned. It frightened me the way he could turn it on and off so easily.
“Sorry.” I was even more certain now. “It is my house. Mine and my sister’s. Our grandmother left it to us, not to you. And I’m not inviting a stranger into this house.”
“Then that’s it?” he asked, a hard edge to his voice. “You’re sending your brother out into the cold?”
“For now, that’s it. If you want to have a relationship with me, this can be where it starts. But we’re going to have to build on it.”
Out of the corner of my eye I saw watched him clench his teeth, his jaw muscles working.
Fear boiled up inside of me. For a moment, I was certain he’d do something bad.
“Aye,” he said. “That’s it.”
He rose and set down the mug and stepped off the porch. As he prepared to leave, he turned and faced me, a intensity in his eyes that set my teeth on edge.
“Yes?” I asked.
He said nothing, his jaw clenched hard, his hands balled into fists.
It didn’t seem like he was leaving. In that moment, I felt trapped, no different than when the man from the cartel had attacked me.
Connor just kept on staring.
Chapter 38
RONAN
I didn’t like what I was seeing. Not one bit.
“Ro?” Brendan asked from his seat behind the reception desk. “Something wrong, boss?”
The front windows of the clinic looked out onto the road and Joann’s house beyond. I wasn’t in the habit of staring at her from the clinic, but I’d been in the reception area seeing a patient out and had spotted something that I couldn’t ignore – Connor Murphy on her front lawn.
Despite the distance, I knew it was him from his ratty overcoat and cap and slouched demeanor. More than that, I’d had a feeling he’d be coming by Joann’s place. I watched for a few moments, picking up on the body language. Joann stood on her porch, her arms folded over her stomach in a way that suggested she felt vulnerable. Connor stood with his fists clenched, aggression in his stance.
It was all I needed to see.
“Hey, Doc Charms!” I turned to see Sidney approaching from around the corner that led into the back offices. We were about closed for the night, no one but he and I and Brendan in the reception area. “Wanted to talk to you about something.”
He and I had smoothed things over with a little meeting earlier that day. I’d spoken to my lawyer, had him sent a tersely written email explaining the limits of what Sidney was allowed to record. We’d come to an u
nderstanding that Joann was strictly off-limits unless she gave her express permission to be filmed. Any further intrusions on her property would result in an immediate termination of filming.
Sidney had been very, very polite since then.
“What is it?” I asked. “I’m on the way out.”
“Just wanted to see about doing some filming this weekend at the clinic downtown. I’d love for the audience to get to see that side of you and the guys.”
My eyes still locked on Connor, I nodded. “That’s fine. But the rules about giving the patients space and privacy go double there.”
“Naturally, naturally. And, ah, one more thing. Don’t want to put any pressure on you, but have you made any progress with the shelter situation?”
I was irritated with Sidney, but he had a point. Joann and I hadn’t spoken since that day. I’d wanted to give her space since all that had gone down. The fact of the matter, however, was that we needed to talk about the house.
“A bit. I’m heading over to speak to her now.”
“Perfect, Doc. Any chance of a quick interview before you head out?”
Across the street, Connor took a step toward Joann.
I needed to move.
“Can’t,” I said. “Leaving.”
“How about me?” Brendan asked. “I’d love to sit down and chat.”
I glanced over my shoulder to see Sidney rubbing his chin. “Might be good. The crew back in LA is seeing some good responses to you in the focus groups.
“Naturally,” Brendan said. “I was born to be a star!”
“Brendan, can you hold down the fort while I run across the way?”
“Sure, boss.”
With that, I pulled open the front door and hurried across the parking lot. Connor was taking more steps toward Joann, and when I reached the street, I could see the expression of fear on her face.
“Hey!” I shouted once I’d stepped onto the lawn. “What’s going on, then?”
Conner whipped a glance over his shoulder. There was rage in his eyes at the sight of me. No doubt in my mind that I’d made the right call in coming over.