“Oh, it’s chilly out here,” the woman he assumed was Meg’s mother noted as her arm linked with her daughter’s. “Let’s get inside where it’s warm.”
The group of them moved toward the house hustling her along between them. Hollow and empty, Chris swallowed hard. She hadn’t even said goodbye, although she’d hardly had a second to breathe since they surrounded her. Not her fault. This was what she’d wanted, needed, and she was finally here. He would simply be a reminder of the horrible life she’d left behind.
When he pushed off the car to go back to the driver’s side, Meg’s father stopped and looked at him curiously. Her dad pulled Meg close and nodded in his direction.
Her gaze grew horrified. She must have realized she’d ignored him. Slipping free from all the tangled arms trying to hold her, she smiled as she grabbed his hands.
“Come on,” she whispered her eyes sparkling with joy and tears. The hole inside him began to fill back up. She pulled him along behind her and started introductions.
“This is my dad, John O’Hara. My mom, Claire. This is my sister Liz and…” she patted her sister’s enlarged abdomen then squealed, “I’m going to be an auntie. That’s her husband, Dan, hiding up on the porch. And these are my brothers, Ty, Kevin, and Quinn. Everyone, this is Christopher Shaunessy, my hero.”
“Shaunessy?” John O’Hara squinted in familiarity with the name. “You’re the FBI agent who called here a few months ago letting us know Maggie was okay.”
“You called them?” Her eyes glowed with gratitude.
Nodding his head, he shrugged. “Yeah, I didn’t tell them much but I thought they had the right to know you were alive and safe. I said you were helping us with something and at some point you’d be home.”
John stuck out his hand and gave a gruff, “Thanks, Shaunessy. We appreciate that you did. We still wanted Maggie back but at least we weren’t wondering anymore if she was even alive. You gave us peace of mind and for that we’re grateful.”
Meg’s mother linked her arm through Chris’s, insisting, “Youmustcome and have Thanksgiving dinner with us. Now we have even more to be thankful for.”
Heads nodded all around as the crowd entered the house and he found himself sitting at a huge dining room table set out with a feast fit for a king. Another place setting was added, a chair pulled up and soon food was being passed around as voices rang with laughter, questions, and general talk. He was pulled into the conversations and found he liked the O’Hara family. They were genuine, warm, and caring, like Meg.
He laughed as her brothers began teasing her and he soon knew exactly why she had such a sarcastic sense of humor. She’d need it to survive in this family. And she seemed to slide right back in to where she’d been before. Not that he’d known her before, but this was familiar territory for her, he could tell.
A few hours later, he watched from the kitchen as Meg sat with her hands on her sister’s belly feeling the baby move. He should leave soon. She needed to be with her family. But goodbyes totally sucked.
“Thanks for bringing my little girl back home to us,” John said gruffly from behind him. The man cleared his throat and blinked his eyes a few times trying to contain his emotions. But finding your lost daughter after being gone for two years was certainly more than enough reason to get emotional.
Chris’s jaw hardened. “She didn’t deserve what happened to her.” They had gotten much of the story throughout the afternoon though she’d left out a lot of the nastier details in order to save her family some of the horror.
“I think you went a little over and above the call of duty on this one. Any particular reason?”
He stared across the room his gaze never leaving Meg’s beautiful features.
John cleared his throat. “Does she know how you feel?”
He tried for an innocent expression as he replied, “What do you mean?”
John smirked. “A blind man could see how much you care. It’s the way you look at her.”
Averting his eyes he gave a sheepish grin.
John smiled too. “Can you let us have a little bit of time with her before you go whisking her away again?”
“Not sure she wants to be whisked away by me,” he added trying to keep the longing from his voice.
Meg looked up and glanced over. Her eyes caught his and he almost stopped breathing. The emotion pouring from her was apparent and caught him by surprise. It couldn’t have been clearer if it had come with a sign. Love. The emotion shining from her eyes was love. And she was looking straight at him, there was no doubt. She gave a shy smile when she realized her dad was staring at her too then looked back down to continue her conversation with her mother and sister.
“She can look at you like that and you’re still not sure?” John snorted. “Like I said, just give us a little time with her. That’s all I’m asking.”
He cleared his throat trying not to sound too choked up. “Sure, I can give you a little bit of time.”
* * * *
“Meg, Chris is here,” Ty bellowed and got a dirty look from Liz who was trying to rock the baby to sleep.
Meg skipped down the stairs, placed a kiss on her two-week-old niece’s head then ran to the door. It had been about a month since she’d returned home and she couldn’t have been happier. Not only had her family opened their arms to warmly welcome her back, no one thought any less of her for deserting them to begin with. And once they’d heard why she hadn’t returned they were horrified for what she’d been through but proud that she hadn’t wanted to bring any harm to her family.
