by Debbie Mason
Caine took the cinnamon and chocolate-filled candy cane from Evie’s hand. “Stop eating the merchandise.”
“I can’t help it. You’re stressing me out.” She looked for reinforcements, skipping over her mother, who was gleefully discounting the entire table of Fitz and Floyd dinnerware as Caine had directed.
Evie spotted his uncle ducking behind the antique Christmas tree. “Seamus, look what Caine’s doing. Please tell him he’s ruining the look of the store. The singing cookie jars do not belong on the table at the front of the store, and neither do three boxes of Christmas candles. He’s turning us into a mass market retailer.”
Seamus peeked around the tree. “I got in the middle of your last spat, and it didn’t end well for me.”
“He won’t take you off his payroll, Seamus. He was just teasing. Now, come on, don’t be afraid to tell him the truth. I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Well, your candles have a lovely scent to them, and they haven’t really been moving. I think we still have four cases in the storage room.”
Her mother snorted a laugh.
“Thanks for that, Seamus. Remind me not to take your side next time Mom changes the channel in the middle of the Hallmark movie,” Evie said.
“The lass is right, nephew. It’s looking a little junky.”
Her mother sniffed. “There’s something not quite right about a man loving those sappy movies as much as you do, Seamus.”
“There’s nothing wrong with a man being in touch with his feelings. Besides, Evie and I love our Hallmark movies,” Seamus said.
“And that’s the problem. There’s no room for—” Caine began.
“Sentimentality in business,” Evie and Seamus said at almost the same time.
“Mock me all you want. We’ll compare profit-and-loss statements at the end of the week.”
“I can hardly wait,” Evie said, and stuck the candy cane in her mouth.
Caine laughed, took the candy cane from her mouth, and kissed her. “You’re right. Cinnamon-chocolate-filled candy canes are the best.”
“It’s a Christmas miracle,” Seamus said. “They actually agree on something.”
The four of them turned toward the door when Santa ho, ho, ho-ed. Jamie walked in with a gallon of paint in one hand, a bag in the other, and Max on his heels. Jamie held up the paint can. “Mr. O’Malley says this should do the trick.”
“Okay, then. Let’s get to it.” Caine gave Evie a light swat on the butt. “And while we’re off to paint the little shop of horrors, you can update your blog. I left some suggestions beside your laptop.”
“I really appreciate the thought, but I know you have a thing about basements, Caine. You don’t have to do this.”
“For you, I’d wade through rat-infested waters.”
“My hero,” she choked out. Then, through the laughter she could no longer hold back, “You look like someone poured a bucket of spiders down your shirt.”
“Holy Mary Mother of God, you have the oddest sense of humor of anyone I know,” he said with a full-body shiver.
* * *
Much later, after Caine had given her several full-body shivers of her own, Evie snuggled against him on her bed in the attic, which the electricians had recently deemed safe.
“This is my favorite part of your angel-wish assignment,” Evie said.
Caine laughed, kissing the tip of her nose. “Progress—something else we agree on.” His cell phone vibrated on the nightstand. As he went to turn it off, he glanced at the screen. “I have to take it. It’s Theia. Hey, T…What? She did what? Calm down, okay? I’ll be right there. Tell everyone not to worry. She may own controlling interest, but I’m still CEO of the company.” He disconnected and got out of bed.
Holding the covers to her chest, Evie sat up. “What is it?”
“My grandmother arrived at the manor and wasn’t there two minutes before announcing that she now owned Bradford’s Savings and Loan and the Gallaghers had until midnight on Christmas Eve to pay off the debt or she’d foreclose.”
“Can you stop her?”
“Yes, I…” He looked up from fastening his jeans. “I can if she hasn’t already put a plan in place to stop me.”
“You think she has, don’t you? The cousin who wouldn’t take your calls—would he be involved?”
“He nodded. I have a feeling Alec is up to his ears in this. But they aren’t the only ones who know how to play the game. I was trained by the master.” He leaned across the bed to kiss her. “They can’t shut me out of the company for long. And if worse comes to worst, I can personally cover Greystone’s loan.”
“You’re not leaving without me,” she said, scrambling off the bed. She wouldn’t let him face this on his own. She knew what the company meant to him. And while he might not know it yet, the Gallaghers and the manor had worked their way into his heart, as his willingness to cover their debt proved.
She wondered if the man who didn’t let emotions interfere with business even realized that he’d broken his own cardinal rule.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Caine didn’t know how he could want to throttle his grandmother and hug her at the same time. Emily stood dwarfed by the majestic fireplace at her back. She played to her audience of both Gallaghers and guests, refusing to go somewhere private as Caine had suggested upon his arrival. Beside him, Evie’s hand brushed his. He linked his fingers with hers. Despite her obvious exhaustion, Emily noticed, and her peach-painted lips tightened.
She must have refreshed her makeup on the way here. She’d want the Gallaghers to see her for who she’d become: rich and powerful. It was why she’d worn her fur coat, with diamonds and rubies glistening on her fingers and at her throat.
“May I get you something to drink, madam? You’ve had a long flight,” Jasper said.
“A long flight indeed. In a private plane with anything I want there for the asking.”
“Gran, there’s no need for that. Sit,” Caine said, moving from Evie’s side to guide his grandmother to the chair. “Where’s your oxygen tank?” he whispered near her ear.
He should have known better than to ask, he thought, when her eyes sparked with fury. She wouldn’t want to seem weak in front of the enemy.
She brushed him aside to look at the Gallaghers, who sat on the leather couch. Kitty perched on the edge with Jasper standing behind her. “I’m not the same young woman who you threw out of here nearly sixty years ago, when I came begging for help, now, am I? I’d had to beg, borrow, and steal to get here. Sick and alone, scared, cast aside by my own family, carrying the child of the young master of the manor. It’s a tale as old as time. You looked upon me as if I were nothing.” She lifted her chin. “I’m no longer nothing. It’s your turn now, the high-and-mighty Gallaghers will be brought to their knees to beg and borrow.”
Emily smiled, obviously pleased with the shocked gasps that ran through the crowd.
Pale, looking frantically from one family member to the other, Kitty clutched her pearls. “No. That’s not true. No one threw you from the manor, Emily. You didn’t come here. You sent a letter telling Ronan you were carrying his child. We’d just been married, and I…” Her voice caught on a sob, and Jasper gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze. “I didn’t give Ronan the letter. I’m so sorry, Emily. So very sorry. I know that words can’t make up for all you must have suffered and lost, but Ronan never knew you carried his son. I kept the secret from him until the night he was on this deathbed. To this day, I don’t know if he heard me. I begged his forgiveness, as I beg for yours.” Tears rolled down her cheeks, and one of her sons, the fire chief, took her hand. It was obvious none of them had heard the story before. “And yours, Caine.”
“You’ll not have it. From either of us,” his grandmother spat out, then began to cough. Jasper hurried away and returned with a glass of water and a cloth. Caine didn’t know what the cloth was for until he noticed blood on Emily’s hand.
His chest tightened on a spasm of pani
c. “Gran, you need your rest.”
“No. I need to make them pay.”
“For what?” His uncle pushed past several people to stand in front of his grandmother’s chair. “You’ve done far worse than what’s been done to you. You sit here on your red velvet throne, the high-and-mighty Emily Green Elliot, lying through your teeth like you’ve been lying to my nephew for twenty-five years. Your mother didn’t abandon you, Caine. She didn’t have anyone to turn to.”
“Because you were a drunk, panhandling on the streets,” Emily said, gasping for breath by the end.
Somewhere in Caine’s mind he knew he should bodily carry his grandmother from the room, but he was caught up in his uncle’s tale. Was that all it was though? he wondered.
“Aye, and that’s my cross to bear, and I’ll bear it until the day I die. But I can no longer stay quiet, even if it means my nephew will hate me for the role I played.” He lifted his gaze to Caine. “My sister left you with her so she could get back on her feet. She took the fifty thousand pounds, aye, but she thought it was a gift, not a payment. She came back for you, Caine. Your mother came back for you time and time again, but she’d not let her see you. The last time was too much for her. It was your fifteenth birthday. Weeks later your mother died of a broken heart.”
“Don’t listen to him!” Emily staggered to her feet. “You can’t believe a word he s-s-ays…”
“Gran, please, calm down. Uncle, stop.”
Kitty’s son came over and crouched by Emily’s chair. “You need to listen to your grandson.”
“I’ll not have him listening to her lies, to his lies. You’re liars. You’re all—”
“Gran.” Caine caught her as she toppled over. “Help. Please, I need help.”
“It’s all right, son. The ambulance is on the way. Here, let me help you,” the fire chief said.
* * *
Caine sat in the chair beside his grandmother’s hospital bed, holding her hand. He’d been there for five hours, and so had Colleen. She’d joined him in the ambulance, unwilling to see him go off on his own. Both Seamus and Evie had tried to come with him, but he’d pushed them away.
Colleen couldn’t imagine how her great-grandson felt after listening to his grandmother’s lies. It had been hard for her to listen to them too. Kitty had told the truth. The only reason Colleen had learned about Emily and the baby was because she’d walked into her son’s hospital room and overheard her daughter-in-law’s confession about the letter. If Caine had continued reading Colleen’s memoir up to the year 2009, he would have seen the truth in black and white. She understood why Emily didn’t want him to get close to the Gallaghers. Her lies would have been exposed.
The machine attached to the older woman began to beep, and the red and green lines on the screen went flat. A nurse hurried in and then a doctor. There was nothing they could do for Emily. Once they’d detached her from the machines, they offered Caine their condolences and left him to say his goodbyes.
Colleen stood behind him with a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t feel it, didn’t sense her trying to offer him comfort. She didn’t like that he’d chosen to say goodbye to his grandmother on his own. He didn’t have to be alone. Evie, Seamus, Theia, and young Jamie would be here with him if he’d allowed them to be. Kitty and Jasper too.
As Colleen looked at the older woman on the bed, a perfect but faded image of Emily sat up. She turned to look back at herself lying on the hospital bed and gasped. Her gaze shot to Caine and then to Colleen.
“You. I know you.” She looked back at her body again. “I’m dead. I died.”
“You are. You did.” Despite the pain this woman had caused her family, Colleen couldn’t help but feel a touch of sympathy for her. She knew what she was going through. It would have been nice to have had someone to talk to when she’d died, a guide of sorts, she supposed. She could do that for Emily. “You’ll be all right. There’ll be a light, and you’ll go to it. It’s beautiful and warm. Don’t dally or you’ll be left behind like me.”
“There’ll be no light for me.” Emily’s gaze left Caine to return to Colleen. “Ronan showed me your picture all those years ago. He loved you and his father. He would have stayed with me if it weren’t for you, his family, and the manor. Oh, but he loved Greystone. He talked about it all the time.”
“Is that why you wanted to destroy the manor, because it took him away from you?”
Emily’s gaze was considering, and then she lifted a shoulder as if there was no longer a reason to hide the truth. “I wanted to make you suffer like I had.”
“But we never did what you accused us of doing. If you had come, we wouldn’t have turned you away. And while I’m sure it gives you little comfort, it must be said: Kitty is a good person who did a bad thing, and I’m sorry for that, Emily. Sorrier than you’ll ever know. My son, my family, we would have done right by you.”
“Ronan’s wife ruined my life. And aye, I lied, and what you heard tonight was not a tenth of what I told my son and grandson. I wouldn’t lose them to the Gallaghers. You’d taken enough from me by then. I’d shamed my family with the pregnancy and they abandoned me. I had to marry a man who made my stomach turn to put a roof over my head and food in my belly. I’d convinced him the baby was his, but those damn Gallagher-blue eyes were our downfall, just as your son’s had been mine. My husband kicked me out with nothing but the clothes on my back and a six-month-old baby.
“Again I found a man who was willing to put a roof over our heads and food in our belly, only this time without the benefit of a wedding ring. Like everyone else, he used me and threw me away. But him I made pay. And with the coin he tossed at my feet, I clawed and fought my way to the top. When I made it, I bought his land and his businesses out from under him. I ruined him, but I held true to our bargain and his wife never knew why.”
“Did you tear his home and businesses down like you intended to tear down Greystone?” Colleen asked.
“No. And truth be told, it would have been difficult to do so. The manor is as beautiful as Ronan made it out to be. I would have liked a chance to see more of it. Unlike my grandson, I admire the architecture of the past.”
“I don’t understand.”
“So Ronan never did tell you…I suppose I’m not surprised. He was afraid you’d laugh at him, and if you laughed at him, the historical society to which he aspired would do so too. He was a proud man, like this one.” She nodded at Caine. “He looks like Ronan.”
“He does. Did his father?”
Emily nodded. “Spitting image, but it’s Caine who was most like Ronan.” She smiled. “Although he didn’t acquire his love of history or architecture. It wouldn’t have bothered him to bulldoze the manor to the ground. Whereas Ronan’s second biggest fear to besmirching his reputation was that the search for the pirate’s treasure would destroy the manor.”
“Pirate’s treasure?” Colleen stared at the woman in surprise.
“Aye, Ronan believed William Gallagher buried the treasure in the tunnels and that the excavation would bring down the manor.”
“So that’s why you wanted to bulldoze Greystone? To find the treasure?” A treasure her son had never told her about, but she thought perhaps Daniel had. She remembered brushing it off as a foolish notion. But what if it wasn’t? What if this had been the answer to their prayers all along? If there was any truth to this, she knew where to find it. In Ronan’s journals and writings. It had been too painful to look at them when he died, and she’d locked them away in her desk. Somehow she had to get them, or better yet, have someone who could do something with the information unlock her desk drawer.
“Aye, and now it’s lost to me like everything else in my life.” She looked down at Caine, who sat with his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands. “I was going to lose him. He was going to abandon me just like his father did all those years before. I offered Killian the world, and he chose the O’Leary girl over me. She had nothing, just like Evangeline Christmas.”
Emily brushed her fingers over Caine’s dark hair. “He thought he had the best poker face, but I could always read him. I could see he was falling in love with her. Never before had he put anyone ahead of the company, but he did for her. And then there were all of you.”
She lifted her gaze to Colleen. “I lashed out, and he’ll pay dearly for it. He’ll need you, all of you. And he’ll need that uncle of his too. You don’t know how much it galled me to spend good money getting him off the street and into a treatment center.” She shook her head. “He still has no idea it was me who got him dried out. Imagine, someone puts you up in a private clinic for two years and you don’t even ask who it was or why they’d do such a thing. Or how after twenty-five years of not seeing your nephew, he turns up out of the blue at the warehouse you’ve been hired to clean.”
“Caine doesn’t know any of this, does he?”
“No. He’d ask too many questions.”
“Then why did you do it?”
“Because I didn’t want Caine to be alone when I was gone, and Seamus was right—I owed him for taking the boy from his mother. I didn’t intend to, you know. But I couldn’t lose him. I couldn’t face one more person I loved leaving me.”
A warm glistening light appeared above the hospital bed, shining down on Emily’s body. “I’m afraid,” she said to Colleen. “I don’t belong there. I’ve been selfish, cruel, and greedy.”
“You have, and you’ve also suffered.” Colleen looked down at Caine, who’d picked up his grandmother’s phone to scroll through her contacts. “And for all your faults, he loved you.”
“But will he forgive me?”
“Do you ask it of him?”
“I do. Please, if you can find a way to tell him, tell him I’m sorry for the hurt I’ve caused him. I love him. He needs to know I loved him.”