Rían: (The O'Malleys Book 3)

by Michelle McLoughney

  “I’ve seen you before you know, Liadh Grace O’Neill. Many times. You live in old Neddy O’Neill’s cottage with your mam don’t you?”

  “I do,” she replied. “Neddy is my mam’s uncle. That makes him my….something uncle.”

  Rían hummed to himself. “I knew it, I knew you were the girl I saw. Your Neddy and my Bossman and Granny are great friends. And now we are too.”

  Her spirit soared at the thought of a new friend, her glee quickly interrupted by a football as it rolled over in their direction and stopped slowly at the side of Liadh’s foot. Liam O'Brien one of their classmates ran over to get it and laughed loudly pointing at Rían.

  “Haha Rían O’Malley is playin’ with a girl. Look lads, Rían is a girl. Rían and Liadh up a tree K.I.S.S.I.N.G.”

  Liam scrunched up his nose and pointed in Liadh’s direction grinning.

  “Her mammy is my cleaner. She washes my socks. Liadh has no daddy because he ran away. My daddy says Liadh O’Neill is a little bastard.” Rían looked up at him, his face dark and deadly.

  “You’re an amadán Liam O’Brien. Shut your big mouth.”

  Liam crinkled up his nose in confusion, “Huh?”

  Rían shook his head and stood up, he spoke to O’Brien as though he were an idiot. “I said you’re an amadán. It’s Irish for fool! Do you not know your own language, you amadán?”

  “I’ll punch you in the face, Rían O’Malley.” Rían threw back his head and laughed.

  “Oh you will, will ya? Good luck with that, Amadán O’Brien.” Liadh’s eyes widened and she stood up behind Rían for protection, she watched as he drew his fists up and assumed a boxing position.

  Liam narrowed his eyes and clenched his fist, he drew back his arm while Rían stood with a grin across his face hopping from one foot to the other biting his tongue between his teeth. “Come on, come on O’Brien.”

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” A voice came from behind Liam. Liadh peeked nervously out and saw two bigger boys standing just behind him, arms folded, a look of tiresome annoyance across their faces.

  Rían raised his eyes towards the heavens in an exaggerated manner.

  “Liadh and Amadán, meet my brothers Rory and Darragh. I can take care of this lads.”

  Liadh watched as the boys exchanged a look, and the redheaded child sighed while shaking his head.

  “We promised Granny and mama that we’d make sure you didn’t get into trouble on your first day. And by the looks of it they were right to be worried.” Rían reddened, his temper immediately flaring. “This Amadán….” He stopped when Darragh raised a palm.

  “Stop Rían.”

  Rían folded his arms across his chest and tapped his foot. Darragh turned to Liam O’Brien. “Move along O’Brien or I’ll let him have a go at you.” Liam huffed and puffed for a moment and then narrowed his eyes at Rían and Liadh.

  “You’ll be sorry.”

  Rían moved toward Liam just as Darragh and Rory stepped forward in unison, blocking his path.

  Rían shrugged his shoulders and looked at his brothers sheepishly.

  Rory put his face right in front of Rían and spoke soothingly to him.

  “Calm down Rían, or I’ll tell daddy.”

  Rían stared his brother down until the bell rang, and put his hand out. Liadh placed her palm in his and they stalked off, united in their sudden bravery. Rían looked back over his shoulder and stuck out his tongue as his brothers looked on in amusement. As the boys strolled in behind them they made sure Liadh and Rían overheard their loud conversation.

  “Eejit,” Rory said.

  Darragh breathed out a sigh. “He’s his own worst enemy, the lad can’t hold his tongue.”

  Rory nodded his head as his face lit up with mischief. “Yeah, O’Brien is an amadán though.”

  Darragh nodded, “All the O’Briens are amadáns.”

  They jostled each other and headed back to their classrooms. Little brother had survived the first day of school. Just about.

  And so a friendship began. Four glorious years, each day filled with adventure and an honesty Liadh had yet to recapture. Oh she had had friends since of course, some in college, and her forever best friend Bonnie Stapleton, but there was something about the friendship she made all those years before in Kilvarna that could never be replicated. It might have lasted forever, who knows? Well, before. Before it all ended, before they left Kilvarna, before she had to leave him.

  Like the day they met, the day they parted was steeped in normality with a sprinkling of banality thrown in. When she looked back she realised that it was neither. It was a day that shaped so much of her life and changed the course of her future. If she had known then what she knew now, how different would her life have become? And yet she probably wouldn’t change a thing. How could she? To change the course of history one must erase the past and start afresh. Her past was the only thing she clung to; when things got so difficult she wasn’t sure she would survive it all. But, she would change that day. The day she lost the only boy she ever loved.

  A bad egg makes a bad bird

  - Irish proverb

  Liadh walked into the medical centre and smiled at Judi the receptionist who threw her a look that spoke volumes.

  “Oh thank God you’re in. It’s so busy today Liadh, tummy bug doing the rounds.”

  “Ah no, well I’ll get started, give me five minutes to set up. She stuffed a croissant into her mouth and Judi passed her a cappuccino. She mumbled at her.

  “Thanks Judi, you’re a life saver. Remind me to tell Doctor Phillips when she gets back that you deserve a pay rise.”

  Judi nodded and smiled at her. “I’m cool with that.”

  Liadh had just sat behind the desk and put her coffee cup on the down when the door opened and closed. Liadh looked up at the man in front of her.

  “Sorry, did Judi send you in? I’m not quite ready for you yet, if you’d like to take a seat.”

  Liadh gestured at the empty leather chair across from her. She was suddenly nervous and not sure why. Looking up as the man continued to stand and look down at her, she furrowed her brow.

  “I told her that I’d only be a moment. I just wanted to welcome back an old friend. Well, well, well, little Liadh O’Neill all grown up.”

  “Can I help you with something,” Liadh said slightly more forcefully and raised an eyebrow. She knew him and he knew her. She couldn’t place him yet but something about his smirk was eerily familiar to her. Whatever it was about not being able to place him, Liadh instinctively knew that she didn’t like him. She had seen his type before, when she had volunteered at the women’s shelter in Dublin. Cocky and smirky, a small man who thought he could intimidate women and children. He had that look about him.

  “Do you not remember me little Liadh,” he dragged out the ‘ah’ sound of her name and his eyes raked over her face and body and stopped at her breasts. Liadh shook her head.

  “No I can’t say that I do.”

  “You’ve grown up. Do you not remember me? We were in school together. Liam O’Brien is my name. How’s your mam? Is she back with you? A good looking woman was your mam.”

  Liadh cringed inside at the name. She looked into his milky grey eyes and remembered his wet lips close to her ear that day, as he relished the prospect of her humiliation in the classroom. SIN.

  “Yes. Liam O’Brien. I remember now. My mother passed away a few months ago Liam. Now is there something I can help you with? We are rather busy today.”

  “Sorry to hear she passed Liadh. She was a very good cleaner.” His lip curled in a sneer and Liadh’s mind flew back to the conversation between Liam O’Brien’s father and Neddy O’Neill all those years before. Keep your damn hands to yourself.

  Liadh walked around the table and opened the door.

  “Well, thanks for stopping by Liam. Always nice to see a blast from the past.” Liam walked towards the door pausing for a moment beside Liadh.

  “You look jus
t the same except for-” He motioned towards her face and moved his index finger up and down indicating her scars. Liadh ignored him and stared into his eyes. I’m not afraid of you, you little shithead.

  “My mother has those very same earrings,” he said. He reached out and tapped a finger off her earring twice in quick succession.

  “Those very same ones.”

  Liadh flattened herself against the door and only let out her breath when he had left the reception area. He turned at the main door and pulled on the peak of his cap.

  “I’ll be seeing you Liadh O’Neill. You can be sure of that.”

  Shutting the door she leaned up against it and breathed heavily.

  “Not if I see you first you creep,” she whispered and turned her back on him.

  Liam O’Brien stood outside the medical centre and adjusted his crotch. Stuck up bitch, always was before and still was now. And what right did she have to be, with her messed up face? She should be glad he showed her even an ounce of interest. He felt his cock grow hard and went around the corner of the centre. Stroking it through his trousers, he thought of how grateful she should be if he were to offer himself to her. Waiting until his erection died down, he wandered up the hill to where the woods started and hopped over a wooden gate making his way down to Rua Cottage. Let’s see what she’s done with the place.

  May your glass be ever full.

  May the roof over your head be always strong.

  And may you be in heaven half an hour,

  Before the devil knows you’re dead.

  -Irish proverb

  Rían drove his Lexus through the gates of Cherry Tree Farm and sighed loudly to himself and the empty space within his car. The last six months had been a colossal pain in the arse. Coming back from Barbados was the change he needed right now. Opening the new Grand Hotel on Redemption Island had taken every bit of energy out of him. It had been worth it of course, acquisitions always were. Rían loved every bit of it, the negotiations, the game playing, liaisons, and the lunches and if he was lucky maybe a bit of female company to boot.

  The next few months in Ireland would be spent doing paperwork and generally helping out around the farm. He sniggered to himself, in reality the next few months would be spent getting merry in the pub and annoying the crap out of his siblings.

  They had decided long ago, as a family, that they would run their business this way. An enforced hiatus, at the end of each busy period in order to recoup and recharge. Well, his father Gearóid had decided, and regardless of the laid back, living off the land image his father cultivated and projected, he was still the boss and his voice held the final vote. Things would change when the old lad was gone, Rían would see to that. Why the hell would I need six months of the year to recharge my bleeding batteries from work? Especially when work was the only thing that kept him sane. It was a business kind of life, a modern kind of life that the O’Malley men needed and craved. Work and play, that was the sum total of what Rían needed. Still, he was looking forward to seeing the lads at home. He missed his Granny, his mama and dad too, even Annie with her stupid sense of humour and brainless banter. Yup, he missed it all. Craning his neck he looked over the steering wheel as he drove up the long gravel driveway, he took note of his surroundings, flowers looking lovely, Granny in flying form. She kept the place so well that you’d never imagine that a woman of her years would be behind the overall running of the farm. Toughest nut he’d ever met, she’d been through a lot in the past, ah you’d never really get the full story out of her, but there was little doubt she had suffered in her youth at the hands of her father. Rían’s fingers flexed on the steering wheel at the thoughts of any man hurting a woman he loved, he hated men like that. Violent cowards, he’d seen some in his life and avoided them where possible. Loosening his tie he pulled off his aviator sunglasses, blew a bubble with his chewing gum and then popped it. Pulling into the rectangular shaped courtyard in front of the whitewashed stone house, he killed the engine and sat for a while, his eyes taking in every minute change in front of him. Like a well-oiled machine, he was inherently in tune with every aspect of this land, this house. Someone had painted the front door, changing it from red to blue, Cassidy no doubt, he smiled wryly. His sister-in-law had an obsession with a certain shade of blue and had made her mark on Cherry Tree Farm already. Rían didn’t mind, he loved Cass and was happy for his brother Rory. Finding true love was a wondrous thing. Go way with that bollocks, Rían, can you imagine anything worse than getting suckered into marriage? Rían snorted, chuckled to himself and shook his head. Inner voice, that’s all that was needed when dealing with the heart, inner voice made sense. Inner voice was professional and emotionless. Yes Sir!

  New flowers were planted in the hanging baskets outside the door and the window boxes; spring was definitely in the air. Poinsettia, marigold, something, something. Damn it why couldn’t he remember what they were called? Why would you? A new welcome mat was outside the door, and a little ladybird umbrella holder completed his sweeping assessment of the outside of the old home place. Some things hadn’t changed of course, his father’s green Hunter Wellington boots were neatly positioned outside the door, a sure sign he was having a bit of tea and cake inside. Rían looked at the digital clock on his dashboard. Three o’clock on the dot, yup, afternoon tea, a man of routine and small pleasures. His dad was reliable and steady, and Rían loved him fiercely. Still, as much as his family were tight-knit, Rían wanted something more, he just couldn’t pinpoint what was missing, a yacht maybe. Nah! He didn’t really go in for all that flashy shit.

  He always thought billionaires with yachts had small cocks. Small cock-big yacht. His thoughts were interrupted by two small heads that appeared simultaneously at the passenger side window of the car. Two brown-haired curly heads, making a futile attempt to hide from him, all the while giggling like two hyenas. Rían bit the inside of his cheek and smiled to himself. Katie and Junie, his sister Annie’s twin girls, he opened the glove box and took out the two little packages inside. Pressing the electronic window down, he dangled the parcels out of the passenger window and grinned when he felt the little tug on them, before pulling them back into the car laughing to himself. He opened his door and ran around the back of the car grabbing them both around their waists and lifting them off the ground.

  “Hello girls, looking for something.” They squealed loudly and Junie wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “Uncle Rían!”

  Annie came out from behind the horse barn, hearing the commotion and waved at her big brother affectionately. Rían smiled back at her and plonked the two girls back on the ground handing them the two small pink boxes. The girls opened them up and Rían’s face lit up when he heard the oooh’s and aahhh’s as they saw the little silver horses on chains inside.

  Katie slightly shier than her sister handed Rían her necklace and lifted up her hair as he tied it behind her neck.

  “Thank you uncle Rían.”

  “You’re very welcome lovely. I love you kiddo.”

  She smiled at him, “I love you too.” Annie lounged against the car and smiled at the scene. Rían held in a grimace when he saw the smear of cow shite her jacket left on his pristine bodywork. Annie, Annie, Annie.

  “You spoil them, Rí, good to have you back.”

  “They’re only young once sis, they deserved to be spoiled.”

  Annie leaned in and kissed him quickly on the cheek. He squeezed her shoulder softly and ruffled her hair until she inevitably slapped his hand away. One of her Great Dane pups was beginning to chew the end of his thousand euro Armani suit pants. Rían bent down to push the pup away and ended up with two dirty footprints on his knee instead. Glancing at Annie he noticed the snigger waiting to surface as she shrugged at him. Charming. They drove each other to distraction but they shared a bond that was unique and special to them both.

  Rían and Annie’s husband James had been good friends. When James had fallen for Annie, Rían had been over the moon.
His sister and one of his best friends, it was fated, meant to be, and he couldn’t have asked for a better man for his flighty sister. When James had been diagnosed with stage IV lymphatic cancer it had torn them all apart. Rían had shut down emotionally and taken on the role of Annie’s confidante and protector. For two years he had watched Annie struggle with the reality that James was going to die. Finding out she was pregnant with the twins was a bittersweet time for them all. Just three months into her pregnancy, his sister Annie had buried her husband. Sometimes he caught the look on her face that she tried so hard to hide. The sadness, a veil that she wore when she was out in the world, a curtain hiding her true feelings. Everyone loved Annie, she was the most loyal friend, funny and sweet. Rían understood that she wore the cloak of a carefree young woman well, but he knew, he could see deeper than most. That if someone were to scrape just beneath the surface, they would find a mass of bubbling fury and pain.

  Annie clapped her hands together loudly in front of Rían’s face. “Hellooooooo. Aren’t you forgetting someone?”

  “Where is he? I missed him so much this time. Did you take good care of him for me girls,” he turned to Katie and Junie.

  They nodded at him excitedly.

  “Call him,” Annie said laughing.

  “What are you girls up to?” Rían narrowed his eyes and looked around the yard.

  “Is he okay, where is he?”

  “Call him,” Annie repeated grinning.

  “Peanut!” Rían shouted. “Peanut, come here boy.”

  Out of the front door came a little fluffy ball all tied up with a blue silk ribbon. He ran straight for Rían and jumped up into his arms. “What the heck..?”

  “The girls groomed him for you, are you thrilled?” Rían looked at Annie who opened her eyes wide and nodded at him, and then back to Peanut and then to the twins who were beaming at him.

  “Ah…he looks…amazing! Thank you both so much! Wow he really scrubbed up well. I barely recognised him.”