by Terri Reid
He smiled at her, but his eyes were mysterious. “I think there’s a storm approaching,” he said.
“No,” she replied, looking up to the night sky. “There’s not a cloud for…”
Tiny, shimmering drops of rain suddenly fell on her face, and she turned to him in surprise. He laughed and pulled her into the cave. “You need to get out of the rain, Catalpa,” he said, his voice thick and low as he guided her into his arms.
The rain increased, creating a curtain between them and the outside world. He leaned forward, kissed the side of her neck, and then trailed light kisses along her jawbone. She sighed softly.
“So sweet,” he murmured, kissing her cheeks and her forehead. “So, incredibly sweet.”
His hands slid up her rain-slickened arms and then slid onto her back, pulling her even closer, molding her to him. Then he lowered his mouth and teased her lips, sliding over them, tenderly kissing them until she sighed and moaned, giving him full access to her sweetness.
He crushed his lips against hers, tasting, teasing, and exploring. She trembled again, her body shaking with reaction.
“Donovan,” she breathed.
His name on her lips flamed the fire of his passion, and he deepened the kiss. Nothing existed, but the two of them in their own secluded world.
He felt her body lean against his for support. Felt the pounding of her heart against his chest. But when he reached inside her mind to make the most intimate of connections, he sensed fear.
He slowly pulled away, kissing her lightly as he helped her stand on her own. She looked up at him, her lips swollen from his kisses, her face flush with passion, and her eyes filled with love and confusion.
“Donovan?” she questioned as she returned his gaze. “What?”
“I should have realized,” he said regretfully, leaning in to kiss her gently on her forehead. “I remembered this place as the place where I met the most beautiful girl in the world.” Then he shook his head. “But you remember it as the place I said good-bye to you.”
A single tear rolled down her cheek, and she tried to shrug casually. “We were children,” she whispered, her voice raw. “We didn’t know…”
He gently placed his finger over her lips to stop her. “We knew,” he said. “I knew that you were my one true love. I knew that I needed to prove myself – not just to you, but to myself too.” He slowly slid his finger from her lips and placed a kiss there instead. “But I also knew that someday I would come back and ask you a question.”
Still confused and wary, Cat shook her head. “What question?” she stammered.
Kneeling before her on one knee, he took her hands in his. Suddenly, the cave was illuminated with a thousand tiny lights, and sweet music was echoing in the small chamber.
Donovan lifted his hand, then opened it to reveal a sparkling diamond ring and Catalpa’s heart soared. “Catalpa Willoughby, will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”
With tears in her eyes, she nodded her head. “Oh, yes,” she whispered. “Oh, yes, I will.”
He stood up, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her with all the love he possessed. “I always have and will always love you,” he vowed.
She lifted her hand and rested it against his cheek, her eyes were blazing with love and joy, and her heart was overflowing with happiness. “And I always have and will always love you,” she replied. “You are and have always been my knight in shining armor.”
Chapter Sixty
Back at the Willoughy house, Hazel leaned over the table and looked at Finias. “So, why did you tell us your name was Ellis?” she asked. “Are you running from the law or something?”
Finias laughed and shook his head. “No, but I had agreed a long time ago that I would not interfere with the Willoughby spell,” he said. “But I had a premonition that things were not going to go as smoothly as planned, so I decided to come here and assume another identity.”
“Good premonition,” Hazel said, grabbing another piece of pizza and sitting back in her chair. “Really good premonition.”
“So, you’ve been Cat’s spirit guide since she was little, right?” Henry asked.
Finias nodded. “Perhaps I stretched the rules,” he said. “But I could not keep myself from being a part of my daughter’s life.”
Agnes took his hand in hers and smiled up at him. “And, if you study the spirit of the law, he wasn’t interfering with the spell by being Cat’s guide.”
“Yeah, but a dad being a guide,” Hazel said, “was it hard not just to tell her what to do?”
“Cat was always a reasonable young woman,” Finias countered, hiding a smile.
Rowan nodded. “She had to be because Mom was so crazy,” Rowan teased.
Finias lifted their joined hands and placed a kiss on Agnes’ palm. “That’s one of the things I fell in love with,” he said softly, his eyes locked with hers.
“Did your premonition tell you anything that we can use for Samhain?” Joseph asked.
Finias shook his head slowly. “Well, as you know, when you have visions that either includes yourself or people you love, they can often be unclear or incomplete,” he said. “I do know that there was something about danger, something about a hidden secret, and then something about a long journey.”
“One of us is going to take a long journey?” Hazel asked. “That doesn’t seem likely.”
“No,” Finias said thoughtfully. “It seemed more like someone was going to journey here.”
“To help us or to hurt us?” Henry asked.
Finias shrugged. “That was unclear.”
“I can see why you came,” Joseph said. “There seems to be uncertainty and danger in the road ahead.”
Rowan sighed. “Well, I suppose we’ll find out soon enough,” she said. “Samhain is only five weeks away.”
A lull fell over the conversation as each person at the table felt the weight of Rowan’s words. Hazel placed her hands over her belly, and Joseph turned to her, placing his hands over hers. “I promise you,” he whispered to her. “That I will protect you and our child.”
She looked up at him, her eyes glittering with unshed tears, and nodded. “I’m afraid,” she whispered back. “It’s so close, and I’m afraid.”
Suddenly, the peal of the doorbell made them all jump.
“Stay still,” Joseph commanded, jumping up and reaching for his service revolver. “I’ll get it.”
But they all got up and followed him to the front door.
“Stop!” Agnes commanded as the men started to take defensive positions around the door. They all looked back at her in surprise. “This is my house, and I will answer the door.”
She marched past them, opened the door, and gasped aloud.
“What?” Hazel and Rowan shouted, hurrying to their mother’s side.
They stopped on either side of her and stared at the two men that stood on the front porch.
Agnes took a deep breath and then sighed. “Rowan, Hazel,” she finally said. “I’d like to introduce you to your fathers.”
The End
About the author: Terri Reid lives near Freeport, the home of the Mary O’Reilly Mystery Series, and loves a good ghost story. An independent author, Reid uploaded her first book “Loose Ends – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery” in August 2010. By the end of 2013, “Loose Ends” had sold over 200,000 copies. She has sixteen other books in the Mary O’Reilly Series, the first books in the following series - “The Blackwood Files,” “The Order of Brigid’s Cross,” and “The Legend of the Horsemen.” She also has a stand-alone romance, “Bearly in Love.” Reid has enjoyed Top Rated and Hot New Release status in the Women Sleuths and Paranormal Romance category through Amazon US. Her books have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese and German and are also now also available in print and audio versions. Reid has been quoted in several books about the self-publishing industry including “Let’s Get Digital” by David Gaughran and “Interviews with Indie Authors: Top Tips from
Successful Self-Published Authors” by Claire and Tim Ridgway. She was also honored to have some of her works included in A. J. Abbiati’s book “The NORTAV Method for Writers – The Secrets to Constructing Prose Like the Pros.”
She loves hearing from her readers at [email protected]
Other Books by Terri Reid:
Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery Series:
Loose Ends (Book One)
Good Tidings (Book Two)
Never Forgotten (Book Three)
Final Call (Book Four)
Darkness Exposed (Book Five)
Natural Reaction (Book Six)
Secret Hollows (Book Seven)
Broken Promises (Book Eight)
Twisted Paths (Book Nine)
Veiled Passages (Book Ten)
Bumpy Roads (Book Eleven)
Treasured Legacies (Book Twelve)
Buried Innocence (Book Thirteen)
Stolen Dreams (Book Fourteen)
Haunted Tales (Book Fifteen)
Deadly Circumstances (Book Sixteen)
Frayed Edges (Book Seventeen)
Delayed Departures (Book Eighteen)
Old Acquaintance (Book Nineteen)
Clear Expectations (Book Twenty)
Finders Mansion Mystery Series
Maybelle’s Secret
Maybelle’s Affair
Mary O’Reilly Short Stories
The Three Wise Guides
Tales Around the Jack O’Lantern 1
Tales Around the Jack O’Lantern 2
Tales Around the Jack O’Lantern 3
Auld Lang Syne
The Order of Brigid’s Cross (Sean’s Story)
The Wild Hunt (Book 1)
The Faery Portal (Book 2)
The Blackwood Files (Art’s Story)
File One: Family Secrets
File Two: Private Wars
PRCD Case Files: The Ghosts Of New Orleans -A Paranormal Research and Containment Division Case File
Eochaidh: Legend of the Horseman (Book One)
Eochaidh: Legend of the Horsemen (Book Two)
Sweet Romances
Bearly in Love
Sneakers – A Swift Romance
Lethal Distraction – A Pierogies & Pumps Mystery Novella
The Willoughby Witches
Rowan’s Responsibility
Hazel’s Heart
