Fiona’s face scrunched up. “He has no say in how I spend my money.”
Colleen knew that wasn’t true. She’d cautioned Fiona about merging finances if she wasn’t going to marry the guy. Fiona listened to her own inner compass and Colleen had given up on thinking Fiona would take her advice. She leaned back on the chaise lounge and looked up to the sky.
“Has Meg texted you?” Fiona said.
She shifted to look at Colleen who shook her head. “I bet she’s having a lot of sex. Wouldn’t you if some sexy man like that came in your life and swept you off your feet?”
“And did whatever he did for her that she won’t tell us,” Fiona said.
Something had happened at Meg’s office that involved her, Donal, who she married, and Meg’s boss. She said she couldn’t talk about it, but Meg was the boss now. She’d babbled about fairies and gargoyles as Colleen and Fiona had driven her home that evening. They’d chalked it up to whatever trauma had experienced.
The next day she’d never said another word about it and Donal was in her life. He was a good man who adored Meg so they’d accepted him easily. It almost felt as if he’d belonged there all along.
A breeze wafted across the balcony and Colleen knew she shouldn’t be that upset, but she was. The loss of the court case had played into every insecurity she tried not to think about. “I have a few days off.”
Fiona nodded. “I still can’t believe your client kissed you. In the courtroom.”
“I know. It was the surrealist thing I’ve ever dealt with. I had no warning and frankly I’ve been questioning my career choice, but I need some time to think.”
“Go down the Shore.”
“I don’t know. Maybe I’m doing the wrong job.”
“Oh, Colleen. No one is more suited to be a lawyer. You might not be thrilled with the firm’s clientele, but you were born to be a defense attorney. You love due process.”
Colleen laughed. Fiona was right. She believed strongly that everyone deserved a fair trial. She’d done a little pro bono work at Legal Aid at the beginning of her career. If she had to admit to herself, that was the more satisfying part of her job. “I do. Of course I have to stay a lawyer.”
Even as she said the words, she wasn’t sure.
Fiona’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “Go somewhere fun for vacation.”
“Where would I go?” Colleen said.
Her friend leaned forward and wiggled her eyebrows. “Ireland. They seem to have some pretty hot guys. Look at Meg’s man. Yummo.”
“I thought you were committed to Damien.”
“Just because I’ve already ordered doesn’t mean I can’t look at the rest of the menu.”
Fiona being the first to commit to anyone surprised them all, but Colleen had a feeling she wasn’t as sure about Damien as she’d let on. “Ireland?” Fiona nodded. Colleen went inside and retrieved her laptop. “If there is a deal then it was meant to be.”
Fiona laughed. “You’re going to place your vacation destiny in the hands of Travelocity?”
“You bet.”
She searched for flights to Ireland. What came up surprised her, but she’d committed to the idea. “I can get a flight to Shannon for ninety nine dollars. Now I just have to find a hotel.”
“Where did Meg stay? Leonine for something like that.”
“Leenane,” Colleen corrected.
She searched for the hotel. She and Donal were touring the rest of Ireland, but had started out in Leenane. Colleen had never understood the significance, but Meg had insisted.
She found the hotel and made a reservation. “It’s beautiful. Meg wasn’t kidding. Now I just need a car.”
“You going to drive on the other side of the road?” Fiona said.
“I’m going to try.” Colleen considered with a tilt of her head. “If I can drive in this city, I can drive in anything.”
She was warming to the idea of going to Ireland. She needed a change and she didn’t want to mope around her apartment, as beautiful as the view was.
“So you’re going?”
“I’m going.” She stared at her email as the confirmations came in. “My flight leaves tomorrow night. I’ll grab an Uber to the airport.”
Fiona jumped out of her chair. “You have to pack. Look up the weather and we’ll know what you should bring.”
Colleen had to laugh. Fiona was almost as excited for the trip as she was.
***
Donal’s still-cursed brothers continued to perch on a shelf above a church outside of Leenane, County Galway. Meg and Donal had been by to see them days before and they couldn’t be happier for their brother.
But.
They were still made of stone. Sean lamented it every day. Seeing Donal in human form had just reminded him of their fates. It hurt a little, but he recognized that his brother was in love and nothing bad was going to happen to him.
That didn’t mean the two remaining brothers would have such luck. At least they’d been granted the gift of being able to talk to each other telepathically.
“I can feel your thoughts over here,” Declan said.
They looked out onto the Atlantic Ocean and the Wild Atlantic Way. Buses and cars passed, but no one stopped. Sheep ate the grass that grew around the crumbling walls of the stone church. The landscape had shifted with the times, but it was still green on their side of the road and sandy near the shore.
Sean had lost count of how many years they’d sat here, perched as ugly stone creatures. He wasn’t naturally restless, but many years in the same spot seemed to have started to get to him. Declan was his only companion and he’d complained far more than Declan. Sean, being the middle son, had been the buffer between calm Donal and boisterous Declan. Now he didn’t need to fill that role.
“Don’t listen,” Sean said.
“You’ve been morose since Meg and Donal left.”
He couldn’t argue that point. He’d been sad since he’d seen his brother in human form. “I guess it’s just hard not being jealous. I’ve got nothing to do since I don’t have to stop you two from fighting.”
“I could fight with you,” Declan said.
“Nah. I don’t want to fight. You know that.”
“You would have been a fraud as a protector of fairies.”
“I just would have found another way of keeping them safe.”
“Talking your opponent to death.”
Sean fell quiet. He wasn’t going to let his brother rile him. Just because his first answer wasn’t always violence didn’t mean he was a coward. He preferred to use his intellect. He hadn’t ever gotten a chance to prove it worked. The Fairy Queen had taken that away from them when she cursed the three of them.
He sighed in his head. He couldn’t change anything until his fairy came to see him.
Hopefully she wouldn’t take too long.
***
Colleen left Shannon airport with her rental car and spent a few minutes white-knuckled driving on the other side of the road than she was used to.
Thankfully she had a few miles of highway to traverse before she had to remember which side of the road to be on in the country. In fact, according to the navigation system on her phone, she wouldn’t have a country road until Galway.
Galway. She should stop there.
By the time she arrived there, she was comfortable with where the mirrors were. She pulled off the highway to drive along Galway Bay. Finding a restaurant with outdoor seating, she pulled up, parking the compact car she’d rented.
It was almost lunch time so she sat at an outdoor table facing Galway Bay. She let the breeze waft across her face. The salt went up her nose, but she loved the feel of it anyway.
“Menu?” a tall blonde man said in a lovely Irish lilt. “I’m Aidan.”
“Yes. Thanks.”
“On holiday?” he said.
She nodded. “Just landed.”
“Where you headed?”
“Leenane.”
“Tis a
beautiful place. Along the Wild Atlantic Way.”
She nodded and he left her to peruse the menu. She decided on oysters. He came back and she ordered them.
“A fine choice,” he smiled.
She’d only been in the country for a few hours and she’d already seen so many nice looking men. She couldn’t imagine her luck. “What else should I see besides Leenane?”
“Between here and Leenane is a place called Hazel Mountain Chocolate Factory. They have a cacao tea that’s to die for.”
“Cacao tea? I’ve never heard of that.”
“Think cocoa in tea form. I recommend it. Buy more than one bag because shipping to the States will be outrageous.”
“Wow. Thanks. I’ll pick up some chocolate, too,” Colleen said, marveling at how friendly the Irish were. “Is there some food I should have here?”
“Other than oysters? You have to have some Guinness and some Irish Whisky. Any brand will do,” Aidan said then flashed her a smile.
She could fall in lust with him quite easily. “Thanks. I think I’ll wait on the beer until I don’t have to drive. This other side of the road stuff is challenging.”
“Aye. That is always a challenge for you Americans.”
She laughed. “Do you get a lot of tourists here?”
“Aye, we do, but I’ve found most of them nice.”
“Glad to hear it.”
He walked away to put in her order and she watched him go. He looked good from the back also. Too bad she wasn’t staying in Galway. He might be a fun vacation romance, not that she’d ever done that before now. There is a first time for everything.
She was too jetlagged to do anything anyway. He brought her the oysters which were bigger than she’d ever seen. She gobbled them up then was ready for the rest of the drive. She paid the bill then hopped back onto the road.
The Wild Atlantic Way was breathtaking and it was pretty neat to think that she was on the other side of the ocean she swam in when she was down the Jersey Shore. She rolled down her window to catch the scent of the ocean as she drove.
The waves crashed and the sea was darker, but so much prettier.
Ireland could have taught New Jersey a thing or two about the ocean.
Chapter Three
“Someone’s stopping,” Declan said.
Sean could see the car that parked on the side of the road. He wasn’t optimistic, because a lot of people stopped to take a picture of the ocean here. Only Meg, his brother’s new American wife, had ever walked across the road to see them.
The day wasn’t sunny, but that wasn’t surprising. There were always clouds in the sky on the west coast of Ireland. County Galway from what Sean had gathered from hearing people talk on the beach. The world had moved on since they’d been sitting here in stone. He’d seen humans populate where fairies had once lived. He’d seen the sky rain for days on end then when it stopped a rainbow appeared on the horizon. The sea had stayed the same gray. Ships had once travelled these seas. Now it wasn’t common to see one, but airplanes now dotted the skies going to who knew where.
Sean had spent the time staring out into a view that was once beautiful, but now mundane. Where gargoyles had learned their fighting skills, sheep now chewed on grass. Did anyone see them?
He doubted it.
He missed his one brother and the melancholy that was not his usual demeanor had taken hold. He was the peacemaker, but there was no peace to keep because Declan had no one to argue with. He’d never been able to engage Sean the same way he’d been able to get a rise out of Donal.
Sean sighed. Donal who had successfully found his fairy and fell in love.
A woman with hair that shone red in the sunlight climbed out of the car across the street. Of course her gaze went to the ocean and the rock-strewn sandy beach. Her hair whipped around her head in the wind and he watched as her long, pale fingers pulled it back into a band that was on her wrist.
Then she turned and it was as if she looked right at him. He must be dreaming or imagining it. She couldn’t possibly be looking at them. A small smile creased her face as she crossed the street. She was walking across the street.
“Deck, she sees us.”
“Impossible.”
The woman kept coming and Sean felt as if he’d known her. She was like a long lost friend coming to see him. He knew the color of her eyes. He knew what she looked like when she slept. He knew her dreams as if she’d whispered them in his ear as he fell asleep.
This must have been what Donal had felt when Meg arrived.
“She’s my fairy,” Sean said.
“No.”
“Yes, Deck. She’s it. I know it. With every pore of this stone body.”
She stopped on the other side of the wall and smiled up at them as they sat on the shelf.
“Hi. You must be Meg’s gargoyles. She said there were three, but I only see two.”
Doesn’t she know that Donal is the third one? Sean wanted to jump off the ledge and into her arms. He wanted to start his twenty four hours right now so that he knew he would be out of this form in a day. Then he could protect his fairy.
Meg had found Donal right before she needed him. Sean thought that the Fairy Queen was somewhere laughing. If this woman was his fairy, then she was in trouble. Or trouble would find her soon.
“I’m glad I came here. This is a great view.” The woman stepped around the wall and came to stand right under them. “You guys are kind of ugly.”
But she was beautiful. And his. Sean knew this with a certainty born of waiting this long.
“I’m Colleen.”
The best name in the world to Sean.
“I came here to get away from my life for a week.” She sat on the wall, facing them. “I lost this important case and I think they sent me away because I was supposed to lose it. I’m a lawyer, see. A defense attorney. My client is going to jail because my defense wasn’t strong enough. And then, well, I don’t want to talk about that part.”
Sean hung on very word. He needed to know how long she’d be here. How long did have to get off this shelf and into a bag like Donal had done?
“I’m spending a week here on the west coast of Ireland.” She glanced over her shoulder at the ocean. “It’s the first place that has ever felt like home to me.”
She was home to him. She was his fairy and as soon as he was out of this stone form, he was going to tell her everything. Colleen stood and turned her back to them. “I’ll be back tomorrow. You guys are good listeners.”
She walked over to her car. After taking one last look at the church, Colleen climbed back into her car. She wasn’t leaving for good, Sean knew. Donal had cautioned them to make sure the fairy was leaving Ireland before they jumped into a bag or suitcase. He’d never get out of the country without identification. Whatever that was.
The car drove away and Sean was both elated and sad. He was happy he’d found his fairy. He was sad he couldn’t begin protecting her now. It was his destiny and now he wanted to do what he’d been trained to do. What he’d been born to do.
Life wasn’t so simple anymore according to Donal, but he’d figure it out.
“Hey, Sean. That means you’re going to leave me.”
“Sorry, Declan. It’s meant to be.”
“I’m not happy to be the youngest. I could sit here by myself for millennia.”
“Hey, maybe I’ll come back and bring you with me when I’m in human form,” Sean said.
“Then how would I find my fairy?” Declan said.
“At least you wouldn’t be alone.”
Declan seemed to ponder that. “Maybe since both your fairy and Donal’s were from another country. Maybe I’d have more luck wherever they come from.”
“That’s thinking positively.”
***
Nothing could get a girl used to driving on the other side of the road than narrow country lanes. Colleen had just encountered a tour bus on the Wild Atlantic Way and she sat in the car on the side of the ro
ad, her heart beating rapidly. Her instinct had been to go right, but here in Ireland you went left. She had to think about that every time.
At least on the highway it was difficult to go the wrong way.
Of course the bus was wide and didn’t slow down because the driver probably knew exactly how wide the road was. Colleen put a hand on her chest to slow her rapidly beating heart.
A light mist had started. Dark gray clouds rolled past her. The wind had also picked up. Meg had mentioned that she’d encountered all sorts of weather in a short period of time. The sun might come out again, but for now Colleen would drive in the rain.
Her phone ringing made her jump. She looked around for a parking lot. She couldn’t handle driving on the other side of the road and talking on the phone. She didn’t see anything, but a stone covered pull off. She parked the car there and looked at the phone screen. Her boss.
“Hey, Carl,” she said surprised he was calling her. She hadn’t expected to hear from anyone at the firm while she was away. Her first thought was that they’d voted to fire her.
“Hi, Colleen. I hope you are enjoying your time off.”
“Well, I’m in Ireland.”
“Oh. I didn’t realize.”
“I know, Carl. No problem. Why did you call?”
He cleared his throat. “This is a bit embarrassing given that we forced you to go on vacation.”
This should be good. “Go ahead Carl.”
Would she even return right now if they asked her? They’d have to pay the change fee for the plane ticket. Guarantee her time off later which is ironic since she didn’t want the time off in the first place.
“We have a client that asked for you specifically.”
“Even after I tanked the last case?”
That didn’t make sense and she knew if something didn’t make sense it was because she wasn’t getting the whole story. Until Carl told her the catch to all of this, she wasn’t moving from Ireland. She might get a work visa here just to piss them off.
Carl sighed. “Yes, he knows about your last case.”
Most of Philadelphia and the suburbs knew about her last case. She’d been an internet sensation with that kiss. Even if she hadn’t participated in it and had wanted to bite his tongue. She’d been so surprised that she hadn’t thought to chomp down until he was done.
When Garogyles Love Trilogy Page 9
