Morgan blinked down at the single flower in her hand, the petals a pale yellow tinged with orange at the tips, so perfect in their unmarred beauty.
"You don't have to thank me," Morgan stuttered.
"We do. I do. You're a part of us now," Aileen said and then looked behind her at the door. "Listen, I have to go but let's grab a drink next week. I want to grill you about how you did the floating car thing."
Morgan laughed and impulsively reached out to hug the girl, still in shock over what she had said.
"See you later!" Aileen called and disappeared.
Morgan brushed her finger over the petals and smiled, looking around the room for a vase. Maybe everything would be okay, she thought. And for the first time since yesterday morning, hope filled her.
The bells tinkled and Morgan jumped, again turning with a smile.
"Mr. Murphy!" Morgan said and smiled at the gentleman who had given her a turn on the dance floor last week. In his hand he held a small bouquet of daisies. He came to stand in front of her with a smile.
"These are for you. Were my wife's favorites. Wanted to thank you for saving Cait," he said gruffly.
Morgan took the flowers and looked up at him, her heart shining in her eyes.
"You don't have to do…"
He cut her off with a wave as he turned to go.
"I give credit where credit's due."
And a moment later, he was gone, leaving Morgan to stare dumbly into her hands at the flowers.
The bells tinkled again.
"Agatha! And…wow," Morgan said as Patrick's entire family walked into the store, all holding flowers. His nephews, his sisters.
Everyone except for Patrick.
They filed past her in a stream of "Thank yous" as they handed her flowers. Morgan's arms were soon full and they were gone just as quickly as they had come. The door popped open again, and a woman she recognized as the grocer came in and deposited a flower on her already full stack with a friendly smile and a thank you. Morgan watched helplessly as one by one, the entire village came into the gallery, putting vases of flowers on the tables around her, piling them in her arms; it was like a flower shop had exploded in the gallery.
And her heart just sang.
By the end of it, Morgan was openly crying, unable to hold back the rush of emotion that came from being truly accepted for once in her life. What had she been thinking of when she wanted to leave this town? This was her home.
Morgan choked on a sob as Fiona walked through the door, her face wreathed in a smile.
"Smells lovely in here," she said softly, coming to a stop in front of Morgan and searching her eyes.
"Did you do this?" Morgan asked, gesturing with her arms full of flowers.
"I did not," Fiona said. "Besides, I was a little busy with Cait," she added with a small smile.
"Cait! How is she? How did it go? I should bring her some of these flowers," Morgan said immediately.
"Oh, she has plenty. Mr. McGuiness drove to the next town to buy out their flower store too," Fiona laughed and then reached up to run her hand down Morgan's cheek.
"My sweet girl, what a wonderful thing you did yesterday," she murmured.
"I was so scared," Morgan whispered, turning to lay the flowers down on the table. "God, I was terrified!"
"What happened to you? It was like your face went blank for a second," Fiona said.
"Grace froze time. I didn’t even know that was possible. She told me…" Morgan hiccupped a sob and wiped her eyes again. "She told me our souls were bonded forever. And that if I didn't do anything, Cait would die. So, I had to save her. Even if it meant the villagers would run me out of town."
"Ah, she's quite the warrior, our Grace is," Fiona murmured.
"I didn't think that I could lift something so heavy," Morgan said. "I didn't know what was going to happen."
"Love will make you stronger," Fiona said.
Morgan nodded. "That's what Grace said. Love wins."
"You need to go see Cait. But first, there is someone waiting to speak with you in the courtyard," Fiona said, turning Morgan so she faced the back door.
"What? But what about the flowers?"
"I'll set about getting them sorted out. Will give me something to do. And, I'd like to give some to the driver of the car. Lucky woman, broken arm is all she suffered. Go on." Fiona waved, bending to scoop some flowers into her arms. Morgan stepped to the door, suddenly extremely nervous.
Trembling, she braced herself and opened the door.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Patrick stood in the courtyard, buckets of flowers surrounding him. When he saw her, his face creased in a smile and he slowly lowered to one knee.
Morgan gasped, and put her hand to her face, uncertain of what was happening. She slowly walked forward until she stood over him.
"I'm sorry that I didn't come to you. I'm sorry that we argued," Patrick said, his eyes shining with love and concern.
"It's okay, people fight, you don't have to kneel," Morgan said, reaching down to touch his arms, wanting him to get up.
"I saw what you did yesterday and…"
"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you. I'm so sorry," Morgan said, cutting him off and kneeling on the ground in front of him so they could look at each other as equals. "I shouldn't have kept that from you. I thought you would hate me."
Patrick raised an eyebrow at her.
"May I speak?"
Morgan found herself smiling.
"Sure," she said softly, her eyes searching his face, drinking in all of the details of his handsome features.
"What I was saying is that I saw what you did yesterday and, sure, I was shocked. But I was also amazed at your power. Look how amazing you are! So strong, so beautiful and that's when I knew," Patrick said and reached into his pocket.
"Knew what?" Morgan asked and then gasped as he pulled a ring from his pocket. "Patrick!"
"This isn't an engagement ring. I know we haven't known each other long and I know that we are young. But I was so proud of you yesterday and I saw how scared you were and I thought…this is who I want. I want to spend my life protecting her, making her feel wanted, loving her. I love you, Morgan and if you'll have it, I'd love to give you this promise ring," Patrick said, blowing out a breath, a question in his eyes.
"Oh, Patrick, yes. I'll take it, I love you too," she gushed, cradling his face in her hands, leaning into his kiss.
And everything fell into place for her, in that one singular moment. She could never leave this place, this man, Morgan thought as she sobbed against Patrick's lips.
She was home now.
Epilogue
Morgan stared down at her ring finger, smiling happily at the gold band with a glint of ruby. Intricate Celtic designs were etched along the side. Morgan could feel the love resonating off it. She held up her hand, looking at Patrick.
"Whose was this? I can tell it was well-loved."
"Ah, Fiona's actually," Patrick said with a smile.
"Her wedding band?" Morgan said, her mouth dropping open.
"No, just a band that was given to her on an anniversary. My mum already had all her jewelry marked for her girls so I reached out to Fiona. I knew you two sort of had a bond going and she was more than happy to help," Patrick said with a shrug. "I would have bought you something but the jewelry stores were all closed."
"This is perfect," Morgan said, liking how the ring caught the light.
"Well, I knew that I needed to do something fast before you ran," Patrick said and had Morgan's head coming up.
"You knew I was going to run?" she whispered.
"Oh yeah, because that's what you do. That's why I had to put a ring on your finger to show you that you had a family if you wanted it," he said simply, smiling at her.
"Did you get the village to do the flower thing?" Morgan asked, leaning into his shoulder. His arm came around her and Morgan wanted to laugh from the sheer joy of being connected with someone.
; "Nope: Mr. Murphy," Patrick said, smiling down at her.
"Mr. Murphy!"
"Well, everyone went to the pub afterwards and of course they were talking about what had happened. Mr. Murphy said we all owed you flowers and a thank you and they came up with the idea."
"So that's why Aislinn made me come to work today," Morgan mused.
"Tricked ya," Patrick said.
"Speaking of, I should go see Cait," Morgan said.
"Yes, I have strict orders to bring you over there," Patrick said, rising and pulling her up until they both stood, his arms around her as she leaned into him.
"Who will watch the shop?"
"Fiona locked it after her. Come on, let's go meet my new mini-boss," Patrick said and Morgan laughed at him.
Hand in hand they walked across the street to Aislinn's house. Fiona threw the door open before they got there and her eagle eye landed on the ring. A smile flashed across her face.
"Thank you," Morgan whispered, pulling her hand from Patrick's to hug Fiona.
"It was Maeve's," Fiona whispered in her ear and warmth flashed through Morgan.
"You'll make me cry again," she said.
"No tears, celebration time! I've been badgering Cait to tell me the baby's name but she hasn't yet," Fiona grumbled.
"Come on back," Cait called, still ensconced in Aislinn's guest room. Morgan followed Fiona back and they crowded into a room already packed with people. Aislinn and Keelin hovered over a small bassinet by the bed. Shane sat on the edge of the bed, his arm around his Cait, a dreamy smile on his face. Baird and Flynn chatted in the corner.
"Morgan!" Cait said, pleasure darting across her face. "It's about time."
"Sorry, I had a few things to do," Morgan said, glaring at Aislinn before breaking into laughter when Aislinn just smiled cheekily at her.
"Can I see her?" Morgan asked, nodding at the bassinet.
"Go ahead," Cait said with a smile.
Morgan tiptoed to the bassinet and her heart melted at the sight of a tiny baby with a shock of dark hair and the most perfect pink lips.
"You can hold her," Cait said and Morgan reached into the bassinet, careful to support her head, and cradled the baby against her chest.
The baby opened her blue eyes and smiled.
"She just smiled at me!"
"Probably gas," Shane quipped.
"No. It wasn't," Morgan said, smiling down at the baby who had recognized her voice.
"Well now that everyone is here," Cait said dramatically, "we would like to introduce you all to Fiona Morgan MacAuliffe."
Morgan almost dropped the baby.
"Woah there," Aislinn said gently and took the baby from her, smiling at Morgan over her downy head.
"Oh, that is just the sweetest thing," Fiona said, coming to the bed to kiss Cait on the cheek. Cait reached up to hook her arm around Fiona's neck to squeeze her.
"Are you sure?" Morgan said, her eyes glazed with tears.
"I heard what you did for me. I will never forget it. Nor will Fiona," Cait said, nodding at the small baby.
Morgan nodded, smiling through her tears, so happy she could burst.
Keelin threw up her hands.
"Great, now what am I going to name my baby?"
They all broke down in laughter and tears and Morgan passed her hand over the baby's head again, meeting Patrick's eyes across the bed.
"Hey, who won the bet?" Cait asked, looking up at Patrick.
Patrick's face looked thunderous for a second and then he sighed, a smile breaking through. He gestured to Shane.
Cait's mouth dropped open as she looked up at her husband. Shane patted his pocket smugly.
"Keeping the winnings in house, my love," he laughed down at Cait and she smiled.
"That'll teach you all to bet on me," she said smugly.
Morgan laughed again and settled into her new family, knowing that she could never leave this place.
Her home. Now and always.
Wild Irish Roots: Margaret & Sean
Margaret took a sip of her wine, watching Keelin dance her first dance as a married woman. How had she grown up so fast?
And somehow, Keelin had ended up back in Grace's Cove. The one place that Margaret had sworn she'd never go back to.
"Long time no see," Sean drawled from behind her and Margaret's back stiffened. Turning, she looked at Sean.
Damn, the man was as handsome as ever. The well-cut tux showcased his broad shoulders. Though a few grays peppered his hair, his presence still radiated strength and virility.
"Sean," Margaret said coolly.
"Come on, Maggie, that's the best you can do?" Sean asked, raising his eyebrow at her.
"It might be," she said, sticking her nose in the air at her nickname.
"I don't like that answer," Sean said, stepping closer and forcing her to look up at him. Margaret hadn't expected the punch of him. Heat licked low in her stomach.
"Well, you can't always get what you want," Margaret said flippantly.
"Yeah, so I've learned," Sean said bitterly. "But this time, I plan to."
Margaret's heart leapt into her throat as he pulled the wine glass from her hand and stepped closer, forcing her to step backwards into the darkness.
"What are you doing?"
"What I've been meaning to do for a long time," Sean said.
******
Watch for Wild Irish Roots: Margaret & Sean featuring the dramatic conclusion to Margaret and Sean's story.
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The Mystic Cove Series
Wild Irish Roots
Wild Irish Heart
Wild Irish Eyes
Wild Irish Soul
Wild Irish Rebel
Wild Irish Roots: Margaret & Sean
Author's Note
On a warm, sunny day over a year ago, my husband and I hiked up The Saint's Path located on Mt. Brandon in Dingle, Ireland. The Stations of the Cross lined the path and led to the highest point of the peninsula. At the top, the winds were fierce and the view almost heartbreaking in its staunch beauty.
Days later, I awoke to the bells of the Christchurch Cathedral in Dublin, in a lovely hotel room. A dream tugged at my mind. So powerful, so insistent, that for the first time in my life, I was compelled to write my dream down, worried that I would lose the threads of the story that had captivated me in my sleep.
Over the last few days of our trip, I babbled incessantly to my ever-patient husband as he politely listened to me play with characters and plot.
Soon, my dream had expanded from one book into a five book series.
Sometimes, you just have to follow that moment. That brief hint of inspiration that lights you up inside. That…something…that keeps niggling at your brain. The Mystic Cove books are those stories. The ones that I think about when I'm doing yoga or in the yard playing with my dogs. The ones that make me ache to return to the shores of Dingle and spend many a day soaking up the beauty and charm that the small village has to offer.
Thank you for taking part in my world, I hope that you enjoy it.
Please consider leaving a review online. It helps other readers to take a chance on my stories.
As always, you can reach me at [email protected] or feel free to visit my website at triciaomalley.com.
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Author's Acknowledgement
First, and foremost, I would like to thank my husband for his unending support as I pursue this wildly creative career of being an author. It isn't easy to watch someone follow the creative path, and uncertainties are rampant. Josh, thanks for being my rock.
I'd like to thank my family and friends for their constant support and all of my beta readers for their excellent feedback.
Thanks t
o Emily Nemchick for her excellent editing services and to Alchemy Book Covers for their stunning cover designs.
And last, but never least, my two constant companions as I struggle through words on my computer each day - Briggs and Blue.
Wild Irish Rebel Page 17
