The Selkie Spell (Seal Island Trilogy) (27 page)

Glenna took his elbow, leading him out from under the canopy or roses.  “Lots of people feel strange after they’ve spent a couple hours on a boat,” she offered.  “Maybe you just need something to eat.”

“I don’t need something to eat.”

“They maybe something to drink.”  Her gaze dropped to the bottle of water in his hand.  “Something stronger.”

“Look.”  Sam dragged a hand through his hair.  “I know I sound crazy.”

“You
do
sound crazy,” Glenna agreed.  “Why don’t we go over to my place and I’ll pour you a glass of wine?”

Sam pulled his gaze away from the roses and stared at Glenna.  “Why don’t you want me near this house?”

“Because you’re starting to scare off the other tourists,” Glenna lowered her voice, offering the elderly couple staring at them a reassuring smile.

Sam’s eyes dropped to where her hand still rested on his arm.  He felt that strange tingling sensation again, like a wave of slowly building heat, and he glanced up into heavy-lidded amber eyes.

A warning, somewhere deep inside him, went off.  He should walk away, turn his back on her and head for the ferry.  He’d done what he came here to do.  But his feet wouldn’t cooperate and instead he let his gaze drop to where her thick russet curls draped over her bare shoulders, teasing the low, scooping neckline of her dress.  He glimpsed the swell of her breasts rising above the thin fabric and he felt his own willpower start to slip.  “What are you doing here anyway?  Living on this island in the middle of nowhere?”

She lifted a slender shoulder.  “I like it here.”

“Don’t you ever get bored?”

Glenna smiled.  “I find ways to entertain myself.”

There was something so suggestive, so alluring about the way she said
entertain myself
, Sam found himself taking an involuntary step toward her.  “Like what?”

“Why don’t you come with me,” Glenna suggested, resting her hand on his strong forearm and pulling him gently toward her own house.  “And I’ll show you?”

Sam’s libido kicked into overdrive the moment those cool fingers wrapped around his arm.  The scent of her hair—he was close enough now to touch it—mixed with the drugging scent of the roses and his thoughts scrambled, his mind suddenly going blank.

“Why don’t you tell me where you came from?”  Glenna’s sultry voice twisted into his soul and Sam followed her blindly as she slipped her arm through his and led him away from the cottage.  “And what brought you to the island?”

***

“Kelsey?” Tara knocked on her bedroom door after testing the knob and finding it locked.

“Go away,” a muffled voice responded.

“Kelsey, please let me in.  I want to talk to you.”

“I don’t have anything to say to you.”

Voices and laughter drifted up the curved stairwell from the crowded barroom below.  Tara leaned her forehead against the door.  “I’m sorry that you’re missing the treasure hunt.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Yes, I am,” Tara said, her fingers resting on the doorknob.  “And I promise I’ll find a way to make it up to you.”

“How?” Kelsey asked, bitterly.  “Are you going to ask me to cut your hair again?”

Tara closed her eyes.

“Maybe you could ask Ronan this time.  Or Ashling.  I bet they’d do a better job than me.”

“Kelsey.”

“What?  Nobody’s locking them upstairs today.  Nobody’s worried about them running off and getting lost.”

“First of all, nobody’s locking you upstairs. You are free to come down and sit at the bar with your father, or keep Caitlin and me company in the kitchen.  Second of all, I’m sure Ronan and Ashling’s parents are keeping just as close an eye on them today as we are on you.”

“You’re not my mom,” Kelsey muttered.

Tara’s hand stilled on the doorknob.  “What did you just say?”

“You said
parents
,” Kelsey raised her voice.  “You’re not my mom.”

“Kelsey, open the door.”

Kelsey pushed off the bed and marched over to the door, swinging it open.  “You heard me,” she snapped, glaring at Tara.  “You’re not my mom and you can’t just butt into my life and tell me what to do.”

“Is that what you think I’m doing?  Butting into your life?”

Kelsey nodded, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Okay,” Tara said.  “What if I said your father and I had changed our minds, and that we’d decided to let you join your friends outside for the treasure hunt?”

Kelsey’s eyes widened.  “Did you?”

“No.”

“Then we don’t have anything to talk about.”

“You’re not always going to get your way, Kelsey.”

“I used to get my way.”

“Before I started spending time with your father?”

Kelsey nodded.

“Would you rather I didn’t spend time with him?”

Kelsey looked away.

“Kelsey?”

“I liked it better when we were friends.”

“You don’t think we’re friends anymore?”

Kelsey shook her head.

“Because I took your dad’s side today?”

Kelsey nodded.

“Does Ashling always take your side?”

Kelsey didn’t say anything.

“When you fight with Ronan, does she
always
take your side?”

“No,” Kelsey muttered.

“But you’re still friends?”

Kelsey put her hands on her hips.  “Not right now.”

“But you
are
still friends with her. You still like her. You still want to spend time with her, don’t you?”

“Maybe.”

“And when she takes Ronan’s side in an argument, it might hurt your feelings.  But you always forgive her and go back to being friends, right?”

“So?”

“So why can’t
this
be like one of those times?  It’s perfectly natural for you to be angry with me.  For you to be hurt.  But you’ve been up here now for over an hour.  Don’t you think it’s time we made up?”

Kelsey shook her head.  “You’re not Ashling.”

“No,” Tara said slowly.  “I’m not.”

“And you’re not just trying to be my friend anymore.  You’re trying to be my mom.”

“Kelsey,” Tara said softly, kneeling down so they were eye to eye.  “Do you want to talk about what’s going on between your dad and me?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s none of my business.”

“You’re wrong.  It’s absolutely your business.”

“If it was my business then why didn’t he tell me he was going to ask you to marry him?”

“He’s not…” Tara trailed off when Kelsey pulled something out of her pocket and held it out flat in her palm.

Tara stared at the glittering emeralds nestled into the antique claddagh band.  “Where did you get that?”

“It was my grandmother’s.  It came in the mail yesterday.  Mrs. Dooley brought it over because dad wasn’t here to sign for it.  Because he was chasing after you.”

Tara’s fingers brushed over the ring, still warm from Kelsey’s pocket.  “There must be some mistake.”

Kelsey shook her head.  “He’s going to ask you to marry him.”

“But I—”

Kelsey’s fingers closed over the ring.  She slipped it back in her pocket.  “He didn’t even bother to ask me if it was okay.”

***

Sarah Dooley glanced up as the bell chimed on the door to the market, pausing in the middle of a sale when she spotted the cropped red hair and familiar blue eyes.  “Well, will you look at this?”

“Mrs. Dooley.”  Chief Walsh smiled, taking off his hat and strolling over to the register.  “How are you on this fine day?”

“Just grand,” she said smiling up at the younger, more handsome version of his father.  “And yourself?”

“Fine.  Fine.  Don’t let me disturb you.”  He motioned for her to finish ringing up the customers in line and waited until she’d waved a cheerful goodbye to the last one.  Picking up a crystal seal figurine, he weighed it in his hand.  “This is nice,” he commented, glancing up.

“Buy one get the second half off.”

Cory grinned.  “I’m not here as a tourist, unfortunately.”

“You’re never here as a tourist.”  Sarah nodded to an elderly couple wandering in off the street and then smiled back at the Chief.  “To what do I owe the honor of this visit?”

“My father wanted you to have this.”  Cory dug a pair of ivory knitting needles out of his pocket and handed them to her.

Sarah clucked her tongue, shaking her head.  “Where did he get these?”

“On a safari in Africa.”

Sarah turned the needles over in her hand.  “They
are
pretty.”

“They’re real ivory.”

She set the needles down quickly.  “Then they should have stayed on whatever poor animal they came from.”

Cory smiled, chuckling.  “You can’t blame him for trying.”

“I’ve been happily married for forty-seven years, you know.”

“I know.  But he’s still pining for you.”

“Well, he should have thought of that when he left the island and told me all we had was a summer fling.”

Cory leaned an elbow on the counter.  “What year was that again?”

Sarah opened her ledger and marked down the last sale.  “Too long ago for me to remember.”

“He came over for the summer, when he was twenty-two, didn’t he?  To work in the pub?”

Sarah nodded.

“For Dominic’s grandfather?  Back when he was still running it?”

Sarah glanced up, lifting a brow.  “You seem to know as much about this as I do.”

Cory grinned.  “You’ve had your share of passers-through on the island.  Irish and others who took a few months off from life to work in that pub.  Ever had a fling with any of the others?”

“Cory Walsh,” Sarah scolded.  “Behave.”

“I’m just doing a little harmless snooping for my dad.”

“Well go and snoop somewhere else.”  She shoved the needles into her top drawer.  “I’ve customers.”

Cory pushed away from the counter, chuckling as she rung up the elderly couple.  He nodded to them as they left and then strolled back over to the counter.  “I heard Dominic’s grandmother’s still off traveling.”

“Aye.”  Sarah nodded.  “She left about two months ago.  Only planned to be gone for a week or so but still hasn’t come back yet.  I guess that’s the thing about traveling.  Once you start, you can’t stop.”

“Jealous?”

“No.”

“Not even a little bit?”

“No,” she said.  “And I know what you’re thinking.  If I ran off with your father I could be traveling the world.  But I’m happy here, just as I am.”

“Okay,” Cory said, smiling.  “I’m dropping it.  But tell me.”  He nodded across the street to the pub.  “Who’s Dom got over there now?”

“Over where?”

“Don’t be coy,” Cory coaxed.  “Who’s the short-timer, working in the back?”

“How do you know she’s a short-timer?”

“Because no one ever comes to the island and stays.”

“This one’s different.”

“How?”

“She’s just… different.  She fits here.  With us.”

Cory lifted a brow.  “Is there something going on between them—her and Dominic?”

“Why would you ask that?”

“I don’t know.”  Cory shrugged.  “I guess I just had a feeling.  Dom seemed a little preoccupied when I talked to him earlier.”

“It’s festival weekend.  We’re all preoccupied.”

“So there’s nothing going on between them?”

“It’s really not my place to talk about Dominic’s affairs.”

“So he
is
having an affair?”

“That’s not what I said.”

“I’ve never known you to be so protective about your gossip before.”

“And I’ve never known you to be so greedy for it.”

Cory smiled.  “It’s my job to keep tabs on the islanders.”

“We’re all doing just fine and unless you’d like to buy something today, I think we’re done here.”

“What’s her name, Sarah?”

“For goodness sakes, Cory, this is ridiculous, even for you.”

“You and I both know what happened last time Dom got wrapped up with a short-timer.  I don’t want a repeat of that tonight.”

“She is
nothing
like Rachel Gallagher.”

“Then tell me her name.  What’s the big deal?”

Sarah let out a frustrated breath.  “Fine.  It’s Tara Moore.  Are you happy now?”

“Where’s she from?”

Sarah leveled her gaze on his.  “She’s an American.”

“American?”

“Aye.”

“You don’t get too many American’s choosing to live and work on the island.”