“And that is?” I asked as I witnessed the fire I’d first seen from her back at Summit Crest Preparatory.
“You’ll not control my daughter or me.”
I stepped close to her and with each step forward I took, she took one back until the back of her knees hit the couch. I gently grabbed her throat to both hold her in place and to force her gaze up at me, before smirking.
“You’ll quickly learn that I will not be controlled, either. I’ll also not be lied to again. You’ve kept my daughter from me foryears, and there will be retribution for it. I take no orders from someone like you, and you’d do best to remember that.”
The loud rapping sound at the door made me pause. I let go of her throat, and she hurried to the door. I stepped back into the shadows, as I knew this Monica would likely want to come inside. Thankfully, I was wrong because the other woman stayed at the door. The small redhead did enter though, and her eyes perked up at the sight of their packed luggage.
“We goin’ out of town?” she asked her mother as she pulled at the bottom of her T-shirt.
“Hold on, baby,” she said to her, before turning her attention back to Monica. “I can’t thank you enough for bringing her home. I’ll call you when I get where I’m going.”
“You better,” her friend said before hugging her. “And I want to hear all about your date later, too.”
“Okay,” Reagan promised her before closing the door. She then turned back in my direction. “You can come back out now.”
As soon as I emerged, the child turned to me. As her piercing blue eyes looked me up and down, I felt more vulnerable than I ever had in a single day in my life. The need to make a good impression on my daughter was gnawing away at me, and remembering to look the least imposing as I could, I kept my frame relaxed and smiled at her.
“I know you,” she said, and Reagan turned to me with accusatory eyes.
“Where do you know him from?” she asked.
“I met him on da stweet,” she said, then waved at me.
I tentatively waved back. “She ran into me in front of the medical?—”
My cell phone rang and I held up a finger as I answered it. “Is it ready?” Moments later, I looked at the two and disconnected the call. I moved close to Ciara, then knelt down in front of her. “Have you ever been on an airplane?”
She shook her small head.
“Tonight’s your lucky night. We’re going to go on one to?—”
“Will we fall out of the sky?” she asked me.
“No, absolutely not,” I said, but she looked unconvinced. “Your mother will be there to hold your hand the whole time.”
“I will, baby. It’s going to be okay. We’re not going on the same type of plane that you saw on television,” she assured her, and when she glanced up at me, she mouthed “local news story,” and I understood. “This is going to be a grand adventure.”
Ciara looked up at me, then back to her mother. “Okey dokey.”
And just like that, whatever had spooked her ceased to do so. The little girl walked over to her luggage and pointed to the butterflies on the outside. “I love butterflies. Do you like butterflies?”
“Very much,” I said to her. “And fireflies, too. We’ll be able to catch all kinds of them where we’re going.”
“Yay,” she exclaimed as she clapped her hands. A yawn then escaped, and I knew she would likely sleep the entire flight across the pond.
A few minutes later, we had all managed to get downstairs with the luggage, and Oscar was there to help us load it into the back of his SUV. Reagan insisted on sitting in the backseat with our daughter instead of riding up front, and I allowed it. Not long after, we arrived at La Guardia. While there were other airstrips more suited to private planes, this airport was well equipped to handle aircraft such as the ones owned and operated by us Branningtons.
We got settled onto the vessel, and Reagan and Ciara were both cleared for travel. I’d deal with the immigration issues once in Ireland. For now, I wanted to maybe take a page from Ciara’s playbook and catch a few Z’s myself.
We hadn’t even taken off yet and she was fast asleep in her mother’s arms. Once upon a time, I’d dreamed of times when I could drift off in Reagan’s arms, too. And for one truly magical night, I’d had everything I had wanted, and even things I didn’t yet know that I would want, until it was brutally ripped away from me in the blink of an eye.
Bringing her back home to Ireland was a risk. My grandfather was there, and he would be infuriated upon knowing his orders hadn’t been fulfilled after all. It was up to me to stand up to him this time, for not only my protection, but that of my daughter and her mother. A woman, I once upon a time had been able to call my wife. One I simply referred to as Anamchara. Now, I couldn’t muster any affection for her whatsoever.
Perhaps it would all change in time. I had no idea. All I did know was that this was a long flight, so after seeing Reagan close her eyes, I shooed off the flight attendant, and leaned back in my own seat.
Dublin, Ireland
