“That new foal is just the sweetest thing.” She yanked at the other boot and stood, scanning the kitchen. “It was touch and gothere for a bit, but Mom and baby are doing great.” Hands on her hip, her gaze narrowed as she huffed out a deep breath. “Where the heck is my phone? I wondered why I wasn’t getting any calls when I realized it wasn’t in any of my pockets.”
Ryan pulled out his phone and stabbed at his aunt’s number. The phone rang softly. Together, they walked slowly in the direction of the sound and burst out laughing when she opened the pantry door and saw it vibrating on a shelf by the pasta.
“Some days,” his aunt shook her head, “I’d swear my head would roll off my shoulders if it wasn’t attached.”
The front door opened and multiple footsteps sounded on the hardwood floor.
“Oh my.” Aunt Eileen looked up from her phone as Adam and Meg approached, with someone else on their heels. “I didn’t have my phone with me in the barn.”
“I figured as much. I called Dad too. He should be here any minute.”
As if conjured by a spell, the back door opened again and Sean Farraday entered the kitchen. “Got here as fast as I could.”
It could be Ryan’s imagination, but everyone seemed unusually tense. At least for this family. Including the man standing next to Meg.
The door opened again and this time Connor and his wife came through the back door, Finn and Joanna on their heels. Ryan wasn’t sure what was going on, but he was pretty sure he was the only one in the room who didn’t know. Well, him and Nicole, who came downstairs from washing up for the day.
The man who’d come with Meg and Adam hadn’t said a word, he seemed to be staring at Uncle Sean.
“Look at us.” Aunt Eileen shook her head. “Standing around like a bunch of dumbfounded ostriches.” She took a few steps forward and extended her hand. “I’m Eileen Farraday and this is my husband Sean.”
“Nice to meet you,” the man replied before turning to Uncle Sean and shaking his hand as well.
Nicole glanced up at Ryan, the same questions in her eyes that he had. All he could do was shrug a response.
“Why don’t we all move into the living room and I’ll put on a pot for tea.”
“I think I’ll have a beer.” Connor opened the fridge. “Anyone else?”
Several heads nodded.
“I’ll get the tea cups.” Joanna retreated to the stove while everyone else moved into the front room and scattered about making themselves comfortable.
“We tried to reach you through your son.” Adam sat to one side of the loveseat, his fingers tapping softly on the leather arm.
The man nodded. “I know. He’s not allowed a lot of screen time so it took us a bit to realize you’d reached out, then I wanted to do a little inquiring of my own before replying.” He leaned forward. “I was actually typing the response when it struck me that the fastest way to unravel this puzzle was to meet you face to face.”
“We’re glad you came, Seamus.” Sean heaved a soft sigh. “We’ve been very curious to figure out what happened as well.”
Now it was all making sense. This was the long lost cousin from the dinner table discussion the other week. The same realization must have hit Nicole because she turned to him wide-eyed before her gaze darted up the stairs. Without thinking, he reached over and took hold of her hand, silently telling her it was all right to stay with the family. Much to his surprise, she didn’t pull back and he could feel the tension drain from her posture. Now the important question was, should he be the one to let go?
Until Ryan took hold of Nicole’s hand, she felt like the proverbial fifth wheel. This was obviously a Farraday matter and she was only a houseguest, and yet, somehow, a single gesture made her feel… connected.
“I brought something.” Seamus reached into a small bag he’d set at his side and pulled out a cloth bundle. Slowly, he unwrapped the fabric revealing a worn book. “This has been in the family for generations. I had to pick it up from my cousin Winston. As the oldest cousin, he’s the keeper of the heirlooms, but this is the piece I was most interested in.”
The room collectively inched closer to the edge of their seats, the cold and hot beverages forgotten. Even Nicole wanted to hear what information he had.
“From your message, I gathered that you believe our common ancestor to be Seamus O’Farredeigh and Bridget Nixon.”
“Well.” Sean sighed and explained about their understanding that Bridget had died before Seamus could bring her to the United States and pretty much everything they knew.
Carefully, Seamus flipped through the pages, tapping a particular page and handing it off to Sean. “This is Bridget’s diary. Here’s the day she wrote about hearing of her husband’s death.”
“Death?” Sean blinked, and Aunt Eileen grabbed his arm. Whether to support him or for her own reassurance, Nicole didn’t know. Silently, he read the text, turning one page then another before handing the diary back to his long lost cousin. “It says that her mother received a letter telling of our great-grandfather’s death. It’s pretty clear that she loved him as much as he loved her. What I don’t understand is why would his landlady write Bridget’s mother and tell her a lie?”
“I wondered if it was the landlady who lied or our great-grandfather who changed his mind.”
Sean Farraday shook his head. “No way. From what we know, he was devastated. Heartbroken didn’t begin to cover it. Years passed before he met someone and not until he had some crazy dream did he believe that Bridget’s spirit told him it was okay to marry and be happy again.”
