Perfectly Broken

By

SMASHWORDS EDITION

*****

PUBLISHED BY

Camden Lee Press, LLC at Smashwords

PERFECTLY BROKEN

Copyright 2014© Emily Jane Trent/Camden Lee Press,
LLC

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment
only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people.
If you would like to share this book with another person, please
purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If
you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not
purchased for your use only, then you should return to
Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting
the hard work of this author.

* * * * *

The funeral home in Dublin was large, like a
maze, with long hallways and various rooms, each with some special
purpose. Tomas Dempsey wandered around, uncomfortable about his
grandfather’s funeral, and expecting to see ghosts at every
turn.

Then he saw a princess, or so she appeared to
him. Down the corridor was a stunning woman with long, flowing hair
that had a red shimmer to the blond undertones. She wore a black
jacket and skirt that, even in their reflection of grief, lent a
sensual atmosphere.

Her bare legs caught his eye, and he took time
to drink in their shapely form. Even in her leather high heels, the
woman was several inches shorter than Tomas. It wasn’t so much her
figure as her aura that attracted him.

Not that Tomas was a mystical sort; he wasn’t.
Yet if ghost she was, he would have believed it. The way she glided
down the long passageway with nary a sound, even in her heels, made
it seem as though she was floating. The sway of her hips enticed
him.

Everything about her begged Tomas to come
closer, while at the same time, drifting away from him as something
he couldn’t have. Before that moment, he had not seen a woman like
her. She seemed ethereal, even wispy, making him think if he dared
touch the delicate form it would vanish like so much fairy
dust.

The entire time, the petite woman had her back
to him. Tomas wanted to see her face, to know if she was as
beautiful as he imagined. But she didn’t turn, and he stood
staring. When he recovered from the sight of her unexpected
appearance, he willed his body to move.

Yet his limbs seemed heavy, as if in a dream,
and though his heart pounded, Tomas felt his body go weak. Unable
to call after her, to stop her so he could meet her, it was all he
could do to make his legs move. First one step, then the next.

On the slick floor, he slid a bit in his effort
to catch up. Passing several doorways, Tomas made it to the end of
the hall and turned the corner. But she seemed to have disappeared.
Up ahead he spotted a large room, where his family sat,
waiting.

If luck would hold, the incredible woman was
part of the family. There were so many aunts, uncles, and cousins
that Tomas could never keep track. The bad part would be if he was
actually related to her too closely.

Hoping she was a friend of the family, or
distant enough not to be off limits, Tomas scanned the room. It was
deathly quiet, which made everyone seem as though they were in a
different dimension. Most of the relatives in the crowded room were
lost in thought, or suffering in their grief.

His mother, Mari, glanced up. Her blue eyes were
questioning. Being his mother, she knew him too well, and wouldn’t
likely miss that he was intent on something. She had her brown hair
tied back in a more severe style than her usual one, and in her
black dress, she appeared pale. As she fingered the one strand of
pearls she wore, Mari focused on her son.

Not so easily distracted, Tomas stepped into the
room and looked around. There was no one present that resembled the
woman. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his sister staring at
him. “What?” Alaina mouthed, and started to stand up.

Holding up one hand, Tomas stilled her before
she could rise. He shook his head and strode through the room, down
another hallway. Briskly walking, he navigated the twists and turns
of the building, checking each room as he went. Nothing.

Possibly she had gone to the ladies’ room. But
there was more than one, so he wasn’t sure which one to try. Not
that he would go inside. Stalking a woman would surely not make a
good first impression. A casual attitude would be more
favorable.

Still he wasn’t sure where to look next, or
where to wait. Tomas had covered every inch of the place, even
going inside the administrative office. It did raise a few
eyebrows, but he found no one but stiff business types with somber
expressions.

Then he thought maybe he had imagined her. Tomas
was not prone to delusion or fantasy. Except for when he was lost
in a computer game, he tended to be firmly planted in reality. Yet
how could a woman be there one minute and gone the next, as if
vanishing into thin air?

There wasn’t even a whiff of perfume, or a
dropped handkerchief. A shoe left behind. Anything. Tomas began to
doubt either his sanity or his sobriety. He hadn’t gotten high in
days, nor had a drink in the last few hours. Having his wits about
him, surely he didn’t create such a beauty from the recesses of his
mind.

Loss did tend to play with one’s sensibilities,
and he was at his grandfather’s funeral. Eagon Dempsey had died at
the age of seventy-five of a stroke. The entire family was stricken
with grief, and the ceremony had been scheduled to allow time for
those in Boston to fly to Ireland.

Tomas had loved his grandfather and would sorely
miss him. Handsome, even in his seventies, he had the pale green
eyes that both Tomas and his father, Galen Dempsey, had inherited.
More than that, they had inherited his lively spirit for life, and
for that, both were grateful.

Eagon would be sorely missed, most of all by his
wife, Josette. In her early seventies, with white hair and soft
blue eyes, she was well loved by her large family. Fortunately,
many of them still lived in Dublin, and would look out for her.
Tomas was relieved about that, since he loved his grandmother
dearly.

Born and raised in Boston, Tomas had not seen
his grandparents as much as he would have liked. Airfares were
expensive, and lives were busy. But he had always felt close to
them. And now that he would be in Dublin for a while, he would
visit Josette often. He rather liked knowing he had family
nearby.

That didn’t solve the problem of the
strawberry-blond beauty. Assured that he hadn’t lost his mind, or
wasn’t stoned out of it, Tomas tried to get a grip. That he had
seen her, there was no doubt. So that meant she did truly exist. If
only he could spot her again. This time he wouldn’t let her escape
before meeting her.

With his shoulders sagging under his crisply
starched shirt, Tomas walked slowly back to the room where his
family huddled together. It was a little embarrassing to admit that
his own sorrow was magnified by the woman he wanted desperately to
meet slipping from his grasp. The only respectable emotion was
sadness over the loss of a loved one.

Yet Tomas felt emptiness inside having to do
with a red-haired princess that he had never met, and who possibly
didn’t exist. Or wouldn’t, in his life at least. The stirring of
longing seemed inappropriate at such an occasion, and he steeled
himself not to reveal such for anyone else to see.

Sliding into a chair next to Alaina, he became
aware he had done a lousy job of disguising his feelings. With her
brown hair hanging loose and her blue eyes barely rimmed with
makeup, his sister looked younger than her actual age of twenty. In
the obligatory black garb, she looked more like a girl dressed for
Halloween than a young woman in mourning.

“What’s wrong with you?” she whispered in his
ear.

“I saw someone,” he whispered back.

A few glances in their direction were
admonishment enough for speaking out loud. Tomas nodded toward the
doorway to indicate she should follow him. Leaving the others to
pay their last respects, he led her out of the room. But not
without noticing the strange look his mother gave him.

Needing fresh air, Tomas stepped outside and
held the door open for Alaina. The weather in January was cold, but
at least it wasn’t raining. His sister wrapped her arms around her
waist and shivered. Since he had left his jacket in the car, he had
no comfort to offer.

“So,” Alaina said, “whom did you see? I’m dying
of curiosity. Are there body-less forms roaming the halls?”

One thing he loved about his sister was her
sense of humor. He could always count on her to make any situation,
no matter how dire, much better with her light view of it. “Oh,
just someone.”

Alaina tilted her head. “Oh, come on. I’m not
letting you get away with that. I can see it in your eyes.
Something has you spooked.”

Tomas laughed, and shifted from one foot to the
other to stay warm. “A woman.”

Alaina rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, I figured
that. But who?”

“That’s what I’d like to know.”

His sister lifted her hands in the air. “What is
this? Are we playing Clue?

“What?”

She shrugged. “Oh, you know, that game.”

He chuckled. “No, it’s not a game. I just…well,
I’d like to meet her.”

“I still don’t know who you are talking
about.”

Tomas looked off in the distance to conjure up
her image once again. “She had beautiful hair…and great legs.” He
smiled.

“Uh huh.” Alaina grinned and gave him a shove.
“You always were a leg man.”

“And other things.”

His sister playfully tapped his arm. “So, did
you talk to her?”

Tomas shook his head. “I couldn’t.”

Alaina stared at him. “She really got to you,
huh?”

“Not that. I couldn’t catch up with her.”

His sister shook her head. “My athlete brother
couldn’t run fast enough to catch a woman?”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“What was it like? Because I think you are
playing games with me after all. Bored at the wake?”

Tomas smiled. “A little.”

“So?”

Tomas shoved his hands in his pockets. “I just
saw her way down the hallway. That’s all. She never turned around.
I followed but didn’t see her again.”

Alaina just looked at him.

Tomas nodded toward the door. “We better go back
inside. It must be nearly time to go to the church.”

Alaina jogged in place and exaggerated a shiver.
“Yes, and it’s fucking freezing out here.”

He grinned. “Watch your language.”

Before she slipped inside, Alaina glanced back
at her brother. “You watch yours.”

*****

The Abbey Presbyterian Church was located at
Parnell Square. The building erected in 1864 maintained a
commanding presence on the corner with its Gothic architecture, and
spire 180 feet high. Tomas followed his family through the doorway
in the tower, which was the main entrance. Alaina, by his side,
gazed at the octagon turret containing a staircase that led to a
galley extending over one end of the church.

The interior was divided by three arches with
Gothic-style elaborate stonework supporting the glass in the
windows along one wall. Walking slowly toward the interior, Tomas
let the spirit of the church seep into him. The ethereal atmosphere
put him in a grieving frame of mind. Stepping though the doorway,
he saw the many rows of wooden pews.

Tall white pillars reached high to the
wood-beamed ceiling every few feet. Ornate chandeliers provided dim
light in addition to the muted glow coming through the windows. The
minister stood in the pulpit, quietly awaiting their approach.
Attendees were seated, and politely faced forward without staring
at the family as they walked by.

The front rows were reserved for Josette Dempsey
and her family, as was tradition. Tomas hung to the back with
Alaina, not anxious to be the focus of attention. Though no one was
rude enough to stare, the quick glances at them did not go
unnoticed. Probably it was to witness their grief, or else to
sympathize.

Tomas was uncomfortable. Funerals were not
common for him, thankfully. The awkwardness of the whole affair was
unsettling. Yet out of respect, he would do his best to be a good
grandson and do what was expected of him in honoring his beloved
grandfather. Alaina reached out and took his hand, likely just as
disturbed by the circumstances.

One step at a time, they made their way up the
center aisle, excruciatingly slowly. Tomas gazed at the back of his
father’s jacket, trying to block out the grief. He didn’t want to
break down in full view and make a spectacle of himself. His sister
squeezed his hand.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tomas caught a
glimpse of soft red hair and a womanly presence. His heart skipped
a beat.
Is it possible she’s here?
The fleeting thought
compelled him to look more closely. From the back, he could tell it
was the same woman he had seen earlier.