The Mighty Quinns: Rourke (14 page)

Maybe it had been his destiny all along, to come back to Cape Breton and find her again. Fate was a strange thing, but he wasn’t going to question his good fortune. He was simply going to give Annie the happiest future she could possibly have. That was his life and he was ready to live it.

Epilogue

“I
T
’
S
A
BEAUTIFUL
TREE
,” Ian Stephens said.

Aileen stood in front of the towering pine, sparkling with lights and ornaments. “It is, isn’t it? I haven’t had a tree in such a long time. As I got older, I preferred to avoid thinking about the holidays. But now that I have family coming to visit, we’re decorating the entire house.”

“I hope you’re not exhausting yourself getting ready for this reunion you have planned,” Ian said.

She slipped her arm through his. “Sally has hired some ladies from the village to come in and do all the decorating,” Aileen said. “I just sit in a comfortable chair and tell them what to do.” She chuckled to herself. Over the past year, Ian had come to know her quite well and she him. He’d brought her together with the descendants of two of her lost brothers and now he’d found Diarmuid’s grandson, a young man living on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia.

But she would have to wait until Christmas to meet Rourke and his girlfriend, Annie. She’d talked to Rourke on the phone and he’d promised that they’d arrive a few days early for the reunion Aileen had planned and spend some time together before the rest of the family arrived.

“Come, Sally has set out our tea and she laid a fire in the library to take the chill out of the air. Let’s settle in and you can tell me all about your search for Lochlan.”

When they were both settled in front of the fire, Aileen poured the young man a cup of tea, then offered him a plate of ginger scones. “You’ve spent so much time working on this for me,” she said. “What are you going to do if and when we’re finally finished?”

“I don’t know,” Ian said. “I’ve finished up my doctorate in history. We’re nearly done with your autobiography. And we have the documentary coming up. I have a few other research projects that I’ve put off, but after those, I don’t have any plans.”

“Perhaps you should take some time to relax,” Aileen suggested. “You never speak about going out and having a bit of fun. When was the last time you had a date?”

A tiny smile curled the corners of Ian’s mouth. “It’s been...a while. I suppose I’ve used work to avoid having any kind of social life.”

“And why is that?” Aileen asked.

“There was a woman and we planned to get married, but then she met someone more exciting and ran off with him.”

She took a sip of tea and studied the young man’s face. “And so you just gave up?”

“I suppose you could say that,” Ian murmured. “I just thought if I was patient, someone else would turn up. But I’ve been waiting three years.”

“Hmm. Well, perhaps it’s time to leap back on the horse and see where it takes you.” She paused and winked at him over the rim of her teacup. “Of course, you’ll do that after you find Lochlan.”

“And what if I can’t find Lochlan?” Ian asked.

“I have the utmost trust in you and your detective skills.”

“Some people don’t want to be found.”

“Tell me,” Aileen said, sensing that he’d discovered something.

“Unlike his brothers, Lochlan didn’t leave Ireland. He lived in Dublin for a long time and ran afoul of the law several times. He married and shortly after, deserted his wife, taking all of her money with him. After that, he just disappears.”

“There were no children?” Aileen asked.

Ian shook his head. “No. Not from that marriage. I’m afraid that your brother may have assumed another identity to avoid the authorities. If that’s the case, then we might never find him.”

“I suppose it is asking too much that we solve every mystery about my past,” Aileen said. “Perhaps it’s time to just let it go.”

“No, I’m going to continue to look, at least until Christmas. It might take a touch of luck, but then we’ve been lucky all along. I know he’s out there.”

“He is,” she said. “I can feel him. We could always hire a psychic. Hold a séance. Communicate with the dearly departed.”

“We may need to resort to that,” he said. “I have found a daughter of Lochlan’s first wife. I’m going to meet with her in London and see if her mother passed along any information about her first husband. We can hope.”

Aileen leaned forward and took his hand, pressing it between her palms. “I want to thank you,” she said. “No matter what happens, you’ve changed my life and made an old lady very, very happy.”

“I’ve enjoyed it,” Ian said. “It got me out of the dusty old archives in the library. I’m going to be sad when it’s finished.”

“I think you need to write a book about Irish orphanages after the turn of the century. It’s time to tell that story, now that it’s become such a hot topic in the news.”

“After listening to your stories, I know there is a book there. But I’m not certain it would be a scholarly work.”

“How do you mean?”

“I’ve always had the idea that I might like to write a novel.”

“Oh, now, that would be a wonderful thing. I’m sure I could give you some advice. And when the manuscript is ready, I could pass it along to my agent. She certainly owes me a few favors. So does my editor, for that matter.”

“I would be so honored,” Ian said.

“Oh, it would be my pleasure, Mr. Stephens.”

They chatted for most of the afternoon about Ian’s future. And when she walked him to the door, Aileen knew that this handsome young man with dreams of becoming a novelist was as dear to her as any of her newly discovered relatives. It was time to call her solicitor and make arrangements for one more person to receive a portion of her estate.

Aileen waved to him as he drove away from the stone manor house. She hadn’t written the last words of her own story. She would wait until they found Lochlan. And then she’d rest much easier. A chilly wind buffeted her body, cutting through the wool dress she wore.

“Another winter,” she murmured. There was a time when winter frightened her, leaving her to wonder if she’d ever see the spring, ever watch the jonquils come up in her garden. But she wasn’t afraid anymore. She had more than just her books to leave this world. She had a family. And they would remember her for many years to come.

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt from LYING IN YOUR ARMS by Leslie Kelly.

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Prologue

The Hollywood
Tattler—
Shane Going NC-17?

WELL, LADIES, GET
ready to indulge in a sexy lovefest with superhot movie star Tommy Shane. Word is circulating that Shane’s fiancée, screenwriter Madison Reid, is on the verge of selling her naughtily-ever-after screenplay and her hubby-to-be is going to star in it!

Shane, who regularly lands on everyone’s sexiest men alive lists, has played action heroes, romantic leads and innocent soldiers. But my sources tell me this next role—as a mysterious, dangerous man who lures an innocent young woman into his dark sexual fantasies—will be the edgiest, hottest performance of his career.

As if women all over the world didn’t already have enough to fantasize about when it came to this golden-haired Adonis.

Soon, fantasizing will be all other women can do. Because we’re also hearing rumors that Tommy and his fiancée have finally started making wedding plans for next year. Although Shane and Reid—his childhood sweetheart—live in a swanky beachside house in Laguna, they’re heading to the other coast for the nuptial celebration. They will reportedly be having a small, private ceremony with their families in Florida, where they grew up as next-door neighbors.

Can you imagine Thomas Superstud Shane being the boy next door? Be still my heart.

We don’t know a whole lot about the beautiful Miss Reid. But we suspect millions of women around the world would give anything and everything to be in her shoes. Or at least in her bed. I mean, who doesn’t want to know just how much of her sultry screenplay is based on her real-life adventures with Tommy!

Congratulations and good luck you gorgeous lovebirds. I’ll be watching the mail for my invitation.