“I don’t see him. I feel him—more than you do.” I stopped myself before I wiped my hands on my dress. I looked around the kitchen and found an apron and set it over my clothes. As I made my way back to the stove, I said, “My Mam taught me to stand by my man. Unless he hits me. Then she told me to kill him in his sleep.”
It took a second, but a slow smile stretched across Killian’s face. It rivaled sunrises in Ireland after dreary days.
“You are crazy, Keely Kelly. Maybe crazy enough to match his level of chaos.” He moved his wheelchair closer to me. “There's one thing I can't take away from the marauding bastard. He's got a head harder than stone. Once his mind is set, he'll either seize what he wants or wait until the end of time for it. He'll be faithful to you, if it's you he truly wants. Not even the threat of death will change his mind.”
My eyes met his and held. We were trying to read the other’s intentions toward the man we both loved. Even though Killian was fighting it, I could tell he loved Cash. Whatever had happened between them, both of them ended up wounded from it in different ways. Some scars come from internal battles, not always physical ones.
Cash cleared his throat, and it took a second, but Killian and I moved in opposite directions. Killian wheeled himself to the table. I started removing bowls and putting oatmeal in them. Then I made us each a mug of tea. When I turned around with two cups in hand, Cash was backing his brother away from the spot at the head of the table, moving him to the right.
Killian held on to the wood for a second before he decided not to fight. “You’re lucky I don’t have a gun on me,” he said, glaring at Cash. “Or I’d shoot you.”
“My spot,” Cash said, taking the head of the table, tapping the spot where he’deatenme last night.
If I were easily embarrassed, my neck would’ve turned red, but that only seemed to happen when Cash Kelly looked at me with those fierce green eyes.
After setting down the cups, I made myself a bowl of cereal and set it on the table next to my tea, to the left of Kelly. He’d always move my plate at dinner when I’d try to sit too far from him. So I made things easier on the both of us this time.
We ate in silence for a few until Killian sat his spoon down and cleared his throat. “That’s disgusting,” he said, nodding toward my bowl and my tea.
“What?” I said, about to take bite. “They’re both made with milk.”
Cash dropped his napkin, sat back, and gave his brother a pointed look. “You know I’m not much for fucking around.” He cleared his throat. “Why are you here so early?”
“About that. Why are you sleeping so late?”
“Answer my fucking question, Kill.”
Killian turned and removed a long envelope from the pocket of his wheelchair. He slid it toward Cash. “It’s a good thing you’re sittin’,” he said, “or I’d tell you to take a seat.”
* * *
Before Cash could openthe envelope, a knock came at the door. It was much lighter than Killian’s. Almost a tap. Loud enough in my ears, though, that it almost rang.
Cash and Killian stared at each other.
“I’ll get it,” I said, standing.
It was hard to tell if the woman on the opposite side of the door hated to be where she was or couldn’t believe that she was standing there. Her black hair streaked with silver was pulled back, emphasizing harsh lines on her face and eyes rimmed red from crying.
“Hello,” she said, her voice quiet. “I’ve come—”
“Come in,” Killian said from behind me.
I nodded, opening the door wider. After she entered, I offered her my hand. “Keely,” I said.
Her grip was firm. “Keely Kelly,” she said. “I’m Saoirse Kelly.” Her name came out asser-sha. Her eyes were no longer on me, though. They were feasting on the man sitting at the table, his face turned forward, refusing to give her the power of his eyes.
At her voice, though, I sensed something in Cash. The giant stone he’d told me about the night before? He’d taken a similar one to the gut.
His mother was, in fact,notdead as he’d been led to believe.
“Take a seat, Ma,” Killian said, nodding to the spot where I’d been sitting.
Saoirse nodded, but she didn’t take my seat. She took the one at the other end of the table so Cash was forced to look at her. The same stone seemed to go through him and hit me, directly in the gut, when their eyes met. It was the subtlest fucking thing I’d ever seen, but as they looked at each other for the first time in years, Saoirse’s fingers closed over the edge of the table, her knuckles turning white.
“Son,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.
He didn’t answer her, and the tension in the room grew thick. I cleared my throat and asked her if she would like a cup of tea. She nodded, but she still didn’t look away from him. I quickly made her cup, set it down, and then put my hand on Cash’s shoulder before I told him I was going for a walk.
