Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70174 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70174 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
“Ye’ll be back in Kentucky by then,” she said softly.
I hated it, but I had to return for the start of my sophomore year at the University of Kentucky. “I have to start school, yeah. But I’ll leave you the money for the trip. As soon as you’re eighteen, you get on that plane and I’ll be waiting for you.”
She exhaled, her shoulders loosening. “That sounds like the best plan.”
I smiled, burying my hand in her curls. “Then that’s what we’ll do.”
She rose onto her toes, pressing a soft kiss to my lips, and I pulled her closer, holding her like I could keep time from slipping through my fingers.
But that wasn’t to be, for up ahead, Seamus’s car was parked in front of the cottage.
Fiona stiffened beside me. “No.”
My gut tightened. “Stay behind me.”
We pushed through the door to find Fiona’s father standing in the middle of the kitchen, his presence sucking the warmth from the room. Kathleen sat stiffly in her chair, her hands clenched on top of the table and an icy glare on her face.
“Ah, there ye are,” Seamus said smoothly. He glanced at Fiona. “It’s time to come home.”
Fiona lifted her chin. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Seamus chuckled low and menacing. “Ye don’t have a choice. I am yer legal guardian and ye must obey me.”
“She’s not going with you,” I said, pushing Fiona even farther behind me. I didn’t know if her dad was crazy enough to make a grab for her.
He looked completely unbothered by my protectiveness. He merely looked pointedly at Fiona. “If ye don’t come willingly, I’ll involve the police. I’ll have them come here, and they’ll drag ye home.”
Kathleen gasped. “Seamus, ye wouldn’t—”
“I will,” he said coldly.
Fiona’s fingers dug into mine. “Ye can’t do this.”
Seamus’s glare narrowed. “I’m yer father. I can do whatever I want.”
I’d heard enough, took a step toward him, but he smiled at me. It was so chilling, I halted. “And ye.” His voice dripped with disdain. “Ye’ve had yer fun, but now it’s time for ye to get off my property.”
My spine went rigid. “I work here. Rory hired me.”
“Rory is dead,” Seamus snapped, and Fiona made a tiny, distressed sound but I didn’t dare look away from him. “I run Glenhaven now. And ye’re fired.”
“I’m not leaving,” I said, my voice firm.
“Ye’re leaving or I’ll have the Garda drag ye out of here. I’m sure some time in an Irish jail cell would do wonders for ye, and I bet yer own da wouldn’t appreciate having to come bail ye out.”
“You think that will scare me,” I replied hotly, but Fiona laid a restraining hand on my arm, silently begging me for silence.
Seamus saw it and smirked. “I suggest ye let Fiona talk some sense into ye. I expect her home in an hour or I’ll return with the Garda.”
With that, he turned and walked out, leaving a trail of silence in his wake.
Fiona trembled beside me, her grip on my hand tightening to the point of pain.
“I have to go.”
My stomach dropped. “Fi—”
She shook her head. “I have to protect Siobhan. And now ye. If I stay, he’ll have ye thrown in jail. Ye have to leave.”
“No.”
She looked up at me, pleading. “Promise me, Tommy. I can’t worry about ye and Siobhan.”
I clenched my jaw. “I can’t.”
“Ye have to.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “Because if ye don’t, I won’t be able to go on.”
I swallowed hard, my heart fracturing. “Fi…”
She gave me a sad smile. “Who knows what the future holds? But for now… we have to be done.”
I knew what she was saying. I understood it. And I hated it.
Right now, we couldn’t be together. Maybe there was the hope that one day things would work out for us.
I wished I believed that, but somehow, deep in my gut, I knew I was leaving Ireland without Fiona and there was nothing I could do to fix this mess.
CHAPTER 26
Fiona
A week had passed, and Rory’s absence weighed heavy over Glenhaven. When I walked the property, through the barns and watched training sessions, it was quiet. No boisterous laughing, no raucous ribbing. Heads down and work was done. It felt thick and blinding like the mist that clung to the hills in the early morning. Siobhan told me, “It’s like the land is mourning Uncle Rory.”
The house had also settled into an unnatural stillness, but I think that had more to do with the fractured family living within than Rory’s death. I don’t think my father was sad at all he’d lost a brother. He had jumped right into the training center, taking over management. On the outside, some would think that was just his way of grieving—by being busy.
I felt it was more distraction by the golden opportunity that was laid at his feet, because with Rory gone, my dad owned all of Glenhaven now.