Sara had kept her hat on ever since she’d bought it, whether she’d been indoors or out. Come to think of it, Irish women sometimes did that, too. He’d automatically taken his off because that’s what he would have done before going into Granny’s house.
Granny. She’d be asleep by now. That was a blessing. He’d have time to plan how he’d break the news. He couldn’t predict how she’d take it. Hell, he couldn’t predict his own behavior going forward, let alone someone else’s.
But stretching his legs felt good. Breathing fresh country air cleared his head a little. Walking beside Sara reassured him. Although he barely knew her, they’d fallen into a natural friendship that he found steadying. He had the impulse to take her hand. Decided against it.
Granny believed in fairies and omens and Fate with a capital F. He swore he didn’t, that it was all nonsense, but this trip had him questioning… well, everything.
As they drew closer to the barn, a footpath revealed itself to the right side of it. Looked like the trail ran along the pasture fence and on toward the pines.
Sure enough, when they got beyond the barn the view opened up, giving him a good look at the massive Sapphire Mountains to the west. According to his online research, sapphires were still mined there.
He glanced past Sara to the horses nibbling on grass only a few feet from the fence. They paid no attention to the dog or the humans.
He’d never had much chance to look at horses before. These were beautiful, their coats glossy, their manes falling gracefully along the curve of their powerful necks. Different colors, too — brown, black and white, gold, gray, even a white one that looked like the Lone Ranger’s horse Silver.
Lucky had grown up with these animals. One of those in the pasture might be his. He’d landed in a bed of clover, thanks to his mum being in the hospital at the same time as Desiree. And that fine woman had the generosity to adopt a motherless child.
Once he told Granny about that, she’d add more candles, one for Lucky and one for Desiree. That much he knew. And she’dcry. If only he could be there with her, but he wasn’t keeping this to himself until he flew home. She deserved to hear it quickly, just not in the middle of the night.
As they left the pasture behind, Sam dashed down the well-traveled path. Evidently he knew this route and the many exciting spots requiring investigation along the way.
The collie reminded him so much of Bailey, who’d loved trips to the outskirts of town where he could roam and sniff to his heart’s content. “I miss having a dog.”
Sara glanced up, eyebrows raised in a clear invitation to expand on that subject.
“His name was Bailey, a collie like Sam but slightly different coloring. Not a purebred, for sure. Had him when I was a lad and oh, did we have the adventures. I was eighteen when he got sick and died.”
She reached over and squeezed his arm.
He liked that, liked it a little too much. He’d pictured them working together to solve the mystery of his mother’s disappearance. Wouldn’t need to do that, now, would they?
Instead he’d spend the week getting to know his brother, which wouldn’t leave much time to get to know Sara. He’d planned to have a talk with her about her intentions toward him. Likely her intentions had changed in the past hour. Like everything else.
What had he been talking about? Oh, yeah. His dog. “I was in a state when I lost Bailey, but the truth is once I started learning a trade and working steady, I wouldn’t have had time for him.”
She cocked her head to one side and looked at him. Easy to figure out she wanted more on the subject of his work, which he hadn’t mentioned before.
“Carpentry. I’m in construction back home. Most of the jobs are in Dublin. Takes a lot of petrol, which cuts into my earnings. I’d move there, but Granny would hate living in the city and Ican’t leave her. Not sure I’d care for city life, either, if it comes to that.”
Sam had found a stick. He trotted back with it in his mouth and dropped it the middle of the path, leaving them to decide who’d play with him.
“Want to throw it?”
She shook her head.
“Alrighty, then.” He scooped up the stick and looked it over. The bark was gone, leaving a smooth wood that shouldn’t easily splinter. “You found a good one, Sam. Go get it!” He sent the stick flying toward the trees.
Sam retrieved it in no time, so he kept up the game until they were so close to the trees that throwing it made no sense. “Game’s over, Sam.” He shoved the stick in his back pocket. “That was fun, though. Brings back memories.”
As they stepped into the cool shade of the pines, he looked over at Sara. “I appreciate your decision to stay quiet and let me ramble on, but I’d really like to know more about Lucky. Since we’re alone, I can get your version as an unprejudiced observer.”
“That makes sense. Keep in mind this is only my second time here and I haven’t seen much of him since we flew in.”
“But you were here for your brother’s wedding, when you took those pictures.”
“Yes, and Lucky was in the middle of a huge drama that week. Based on what I gathered from Rance, it was mostly because his mixed-up brother had his head up his ass.”
He chuckled. “That doesn’t sound good.”
