Keelin gulped. "Um, okay, last night was stupid. I shouldn't have gone down to the cove. I know that I was being unsafe but I wasn't thinking clearly after a few ciders. It was just so confusing to me that the moonlight wouldn't shine in the cove. I was stupid though. I ran right down and scooped up a handful of water. It happened so quickly." Keelin shuddered.
"What did?" Fiona asked carefully.
"The wave. It slammed me immediately and took me under. I can't believe the force of it. There were no waves when I went down." Keelin shook her head.
Fiona nodded and stared down at her glass. "Flynn saved you last night, didn't he?"
"He did. And today. I don't even know how he always manages to be there. I guess that I should be grateful," Keelin said grumpily.
Fiona laughed. "Tell me about today."
"I went down to the cove to snorkel and I wanted to just get a lay of the land, start mapping the coral formations, and look at the variety of species in the water. I did what you said for protection." Keelin explained what she did for the ritual, her initial impression of the water, and how she quickly got dragged out to sea. She downplayed Flynn's rescue so as not to worry the older woman.
Fiona eyed her closely.
"It had to have been a bigger deal than you are saying as there is an exceptionally strong current outside the cove. Most people don't come back from that. You are very lucky that Flynn was there."
"Grr. I know, I know." Keelin knew she sounded like a whiny child.
Fiona smiled.
"Get your knickers in a bundle, does he?"
Keelin choked on her sip of whiskey and broke into a coughing fit.
"Grandma!"
"What? I was a young woman once. I wasn't unaffected by strong muscles and chiseled jawbones, you know. How do you think I fell in love with your grandfather?" Fiona winked and Keelin laughed.
"What do you plan to do about him?" Fiona asked casually.
"I don't know. He scares the shit out of me to be honest."
"Even better," Fiona said.
"I don't want to talk about Flynn. Tell me about the gold that I thought I saw. What happened today?" Keelin asked. She was uncomfortable discussing Flynn. She already spent too much time thinking about him.
Fiona picked up the small book she had pulled out earlier. She began paging through it silently, nodding a few times, and then closed it.
"This book has been passed down from Grace O'Malley's daughter. She speaks of her mother in here as well as the cove. One of her mother's greatest wishes was to be left in peace as she chose her final resting place to be the cove. This is the reason we do the protection ritual and bring offerings. It is sacred water."
"But I did it! I did the ritual and brought offerings." Keelin huffed out an angry breath.
"Then your purposes for being there were impure."
Keelin immediately flashed to Flynn and his strong hands wrenching an orgasm from her. She flushed.
Fiona's eyes crinkled at the corners. "Impure as in you wanted something from the cove. Why did you go there today?"
"I told you, to work on my studies."
"You're lying." Fiona sipped her whiskey calmly.
Keelin stopped. Why had she gone there today? Of course it was for her studies, she thought. Liar, liar, her brain whispered to her. She looked into Fiona's knowing eyes.
"I wanted to find the chalice. What a huge accomplishment it would be for my beginning career and for Ireland's National Museum!" Keelin blurted it out and then stared down at her hands.
Fiona reached over and patted Keelin's hand.
