It's in His Kiss Holiday Romance Collection (7 page)

Apparently, her resolve wasn’t exceptionally strong or she wouldn’t be sitting there waiting more than an hour for the two
gobshites
to show up.

This deserves another pint.

It wasn’t as if she hadn’t given backing out a valiant try by spending most of the day coming up with excuses why she couldn’t show up. She must have called Tommy at least five or six times to give him her latest excuse, and texted him another ten times that she had forgotten about a previous engagement—a total lie—unfortunately, she hadn’t been able to connect, and leaving him a message didn’t seem right.

So there she sat, watching the front door as if her life depended on it, counting the minutes, thinking about leaving and wondering if she’d ever truly get over Ronan Kelly.

Moments later, as she finished up her second pint, and at the very moment she decided not to order the third one, and had grabbed her purse ready to pay the bill, the wooden door swung open and Ronan Kelly stepped inside, taking her breath away with just one look. It took every ounce of reason she had left not to jump his bones right then and there. The man could break her heart with a glance, but she reminded herself he could also make her want to break a bottle over his head with one word.

As he walked closer to her, smiling, looking as delicious as he had when she’d told him to get the hell out a year ago, she knew absolutely she should’ve never, ever agreed to this, never stayed.

And never have moved off her bar stool.

They hugged and that same spark shot through her body just like it had the very first time they touched when they were kids. The flash soared through her as if they had an electrical connection, as if they were plugged into some sort of unearthly energy force that connected them to each other.

She trembled.

“Then you heard,” Ronan whispered in her ear.

Cathy pulled back and gazed into those magnificent black eyes of his, and something inside made her want to fall back into his arms again. She didn’t. Then she took another look at his eyes, trying to figure out what else she saw there.

“Heard why you guys are so late? No. No one’s called me. Where’s Tommy? I’m going to kill that little Irish toad.” She gazed over Ronan’s shoulder expecting the door to swing open at any moment.

“Maybe we should sit down’”

Her breath caught in her throat. “What’s wrong?”

He motioned for them to sit first. Just as they did, Pete, the bartender, walked over, smiling. “What’ll it be, then?”

“Guinness.”

“Two,” Cathy added. Pete took her empty glass away and put down two white cocktail napkins.

When Pete left, Cathy turned to Ronan. “Just tell me. Whatever that little rascal did, I want it straight.”

“It’s not good, Cathy. I don’t know exactly how it happened. The details are still being verified, but he’s dead. Tommy is dead. I was called to the scene and—”

At once her eyes stung with tears and her throat tightened. “‘Tis a tall one you be tellin’ me, Ronan Kelly. I just spoke to the lad.”

“It’s the God’s truth, Cathy.”

Heartfelt sobs that escaped from her lips as she thought of Tommy, dead. She’d heard the wailing of a Banshee in the middle of the night, but had decided it was part of her dreams or that a neighbor’s child was crying. Now she knew the Banshee was crying for Tommy, her childhood best friend, the very boy who had introduced her to Ronan when she was no taller than a baby lamb.

Ronan turned back to Pete who stood pouring their beers. “We’re moving to a booth.”

He took Cathy’s hand and led her to the back of the bar toward a row of booths along the wall across from a fifties-style photo booth. They headed for the last empty booth in the very back of the bar.

Pete called after them that he’d bring their drinks over.

When they settled across from each other Cathy gained some control over her emotions and wiped her eyes on the white bar napkin. There would be time for more tears and a proper mourning later. Then Ronan began telling her what had happened.

“I interviewed the only witness who seemed to know something about what happened. I think he liked all the attention the media was giving him.”

“Why would Tommy attract the media?”

Ronan shrugged. “I’m guessing because of the proximity to St. Patrick’s Day and the story the witness cooked up.”

“Cooked up? What does that mean?”

He seemed hesitant to tell her the details, as if he anticipated her reaction.

She waited as Pete set down their glasses.

Then after he drank down half his beer, he said, “I’m just going to repeat the facts as I heard them. Apparently, there was a robbery along with Tommy’s death. Granted, the perp’s description sounds familiar, but I think it’s just a coincidence.”

She leaned forward. “Tell me what the witness said, Ronan, or I’ll be leavin’ just as sure as there’s a rainbow after a rainstorm.”

Ronan took in a deep breath. “According to the witness, who didn’t seem very reliable, the thief was a short man with red curly hair, wearing a red suit coat with shiny buttons and bright green trousers. He wore only one shoe and was heard to have said—” Ronan hesitated again.

“What did he say? Tell me.”

“
May ye fall and never rise again.”
He said it so low and fast she barely caught it.

But she did catch it and at once her emotions took over and tears cascaded down her already damp cheeks. “‘Tis Adhamh One Shoe, the conniving, dirty leprechaun from our village that smited our Tommy.”

Whenever she became upset, she reverted back to her Irish dialect. She couldn’t help it, even though she knew Ronan found it endearing and liked to tease her about it.

This time he gave her that skeptical look she knew so well. Not only did he seem not to appreciate her dialect reversion, but he categorically didn’t believe in leprechauns or Banshees or anything close to Irish lore. His stubborn refusal to accept the truth was the reason they could not now or ever be together, especially since Cathy knew for a fact he was absolutely wrong.

Cathy had seen the faeries herself when she was a child living in
Talamh an Óir
, Land of Gold. They’d played in her yard, washed in the bird bath, and slept around her mother’s chair whenever she sat outside. Her mom could never see them, but Cathy had even spoken to them once when she was sick with a fever.

“You can believe that if you want to, but I’m thinking it was a heart attack. The witness testified that Tommy had fallen to the sidewalk clasping his chest. Supposedly a cloth bag he’d been carrying was stolen by the little guy spouting the Irish curse. Tommy so believed in all that lore stuff that I think it’s what killed him.”

Cathy regained her composure. “What was supposedly in the bag?”

Ronan leaned back and drank down more of his beer.

Cathy asked again. “What did the dirty leprechaun take?”

He put his glass down and leaned in closer, looking a bit sheepish. Then he sighed and said, “His own gold coins.”

Chapter Two

For the next hour, Ronan tried his best to sound as if there was a logical explanation for everything that had occurred. Regrettably, he came off sounding a bit lame, especially to Cathy who seemed about as impressed with his rendition as a child listening to an adult telling them why swearing was bad.

“So, tell me again why you, and your cousins, Kasey, Rourke and Tommy stole the gold to begin with when you all knew about the curse?”

“We were kids. Besides, it was Tommy’s idea to look for the leprechaun’s gold in the first place. When we found it, after we crawled on our bellies to the top of the knoll right outside of the village, he told us he thought it would be funny to rob the little guy.”

In hindsight, Ronan wished he’d never agreed.

“You realize that ever since you boys took Adhamh’s gold our village has experienced years of financial ruin, it’s been shrouded in a thick mist, and for all intents and purposes, it really no longer exists.”

“If you believe in that kind of stuff … and not that the entire area of Ireland has been going through some rough times.”

But, reasoning with Cathy, even with all the facts, was pointless, and no matter how much he still wanted his arms around her and no matter how much he desperately wanted her in his bed, she simply would not accept logic. It was the rift between them that hadn’t changed a bit.

“Well, at least now the village and the residents will be able to recover. The curse will lift once the leprechaun counts his gold.”

Ronan’s heart skipped a beat. “Counts?”

She threw him a look as if he were daft. “Doesn’t everyone count their money?”

“Yeah, but how could he possibly know the exact number of coins he had?”

“Because it takes an exact amount for a leprechaun to get back to his world. Even one coin less and he’ll turn his wrath on the person who carries that missing coin.”

Ronan leaned on his elbows, his mind racing on various scenarios. Okay, so he, Rourke, and Kasey had taken a coin each. Certainly three missing coins wouldn’t make a difference.

Or would they, especially if that damn weird little guy actually believed they would?

“I can tell there’s something wrong. What is it? What aren’t you telling me?” Cathy asked, looking all sweet and pretty. He wanted to forget all this nonsense and make love to her more than he could ever admit. Tommy had been right—it had been far too long since he’d seen her, far too long since he’d looked into those emerald green eyes, or tangled his hands in her long scarlet hair.

He had it so bad he hurt.

“Are you dating anyone?” he asked.

“No. And don’t change the subject. You’re holding some information back. I can always tell.”

He leaned in closer. “Can I come home with you tonight?”

She sat back. “There’s no future in it.”

“Maybe we’re not meant for a future. Maybe we’re meant to make crazy love and find someone else to grow old with.”

She leaned back in, a twinkle caught her eye, and a wicked little smile lit up her already stunning face. His heart melted. “I couldn’t grow old with someone I didn’t want to make love with outside, under the stars on a patio table.”

The memory of her, almost completely naked, lying under him, a look of passion on her face as moonlight danced in her hair was too much for him. He quickly pushed the vision out of his head.

“It wasn’t even our patio table. Weren’t you taking care of a neighbor’s dog?”

“It was a cat, and we crashed through the table and almost killed their cat.”

Ronan chuckled remembering the frightened Calico kitten they’d had to coax down out of a maple tree. It took hours to get her to cooperate, and by then he and Cathy had made love three more times.

Things were looking up. He had her laughing over their past indiscretions. This had to be a good sign. “Didn’t we try to fix that table, but couldn’t so we ended up buying them a new one?”

She nodded. “The broken one now resides in my yard. I found someone to fix it.”

“Want to break it again?” He slid his hands across the table to take hers. She slapped them away.

“First tell me the truth. Do you have any of that gold?”

Ronan didn’t want to answer her, but he knew if he had any chance at getting her even close to a bed or on a table, he had to tell the truth. She could always see right through him.

“Okay! I took one measly coin, but I gave it away years ago.”

“Can you get it back? Who’d you give it to?”

“A friend who thought it might bring him good luck someday.”

“And where is this friend?”

“I don’t know. What does it matter? I told you the truth. Now can we go back to your place and break that table again?”

“You still don’t get it. We have to find that coin and return it before the leprechaun counts his gold, or something even more horrible will happen to our village or maybe even to you. Where does this friend live?”

She suddenly looked desperate, like a mom who wanted him to find her lost child. He’d seen that look many times before, but he never thought he’d see it on Cathy’s face.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? Tommy’s dead, our village is in ruins and your life or perhaps the life of your friend may be in danger. We need to retrieve that coin and deliver it to Adhamh. Plus, you need to call your cousins and tell them of the dangers of keeping the coins. I’m assuming they have some too.” Damn, it was like the woman could read his mind.

“The three of us took one coin each, while Tommy stuffed his pocket with gold. When you say
deliver it,
what exactly do you mean?”

“Bring it back to Ireland, of course. Besides, we need to go home for Tommy’s funeral. It’s only right.”

He sighed. The best decision here would be to just go with the whole Irish lore thing, no matter how ridiculous it sounded. Truth was, this was probably his last chance with Cathy and he would do anything not to screw it up. Even if it meant humoring her about curses and leprechauns.

“Naturally we’ll go home for the funeral. I wouldn’t consider not going. He’s family. I just have one request.”

“What’s that? And it better not have anything to do with my beliefs, because if it does, we have nothing further to discuss.”

He shook his head, and stared into her amazing eyes. “Can I kiss you?”

She chuckled and threw him a sly little grin. “‘Tis I who’ll be kissin’ you when the coin is in me hand.”

So they had an agreement. Now all Ronan had to do was find that damn coin and his empty life would suddenly take on a new meaning.

He stood up. “Well, don’t just sit there. We have a coin to retrieve.”

* * *

Ronan spent that night on Cathy’s sofa, alone. He didn’t sleep much due to some animal or baby crying all night long. It drove him crazy. At one point he opened the back door to see where it was coming from. As soon as he stepped in the yard, the crying stopped.

Then when he went back to his sofa, the crying started up again. Peace finally came at daybreak. By then Ronan was so distraught he only caught a couple hours sleep and got up around eight in the morning.