Selkie's Song (Fado Trilogy) (23 page)

Ty reached over and jingled the keys where they hung from the ignition. “You seem a little distracted. Want me to drive?” Ty asked.

Muireann shook her head. “I’m fine,” she asserted.

She wasn’t. She knew she was close to having a
Muireann meltdown
, a rare but never pretty sight. She turned the key in the ignition and pulled out from the curb.

Ty leaned back in the seat and propped his left foot up against the dash. He looked at her with a Cheshire cat grin that triggered tingles in all the places that would have been right yesterday and today were so wrong.

“Look, Ty, I have some work to do today.” Was that disappointment she saw flash across his face? “I mean, well, I really do have to get some things done.” She tried to soften the truth, but he didn’t look like he was buying it.

“Something I can help with?” he asked and reached out to put his hand on her shoulder.

The touch shot fireworks to all parts, with special attention to some very private ones. Vivid images of the last twenty-four hours played behind her eyes: his naked body pressed against her, his tongue probing her mouth. Perhaps one more day with him wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

“No,” she yelped. “No, it’s nothing important.” She was too close to giving in to the temptation, putting off the inevitable, and losing the momentum of the day. “I’ve got to go into Galway City today,” Muireann told him and resisted with all her being the need to run her hand along his thigh just to feel him respond.

“Fancy a bit of company?” Ty said and his lips curved into that devastating half-smile of his. “We can stop and have a bite.”

She had a strong desire to smack her own ears. This wasn’t the day to lose herself to his smile…or any of his other delicious attributes. The time had come to clear the air, to lay the facts out straight and send him on his way back to Boston.

They pulled to a stop in front of An Currach. She waited for him to get out.

He didn’t.

Muireann felt herself sliding. The slope was precipitous and though she dug in with all her might, the fall was certain. A rush of blood crept up her neck and filled her cheeks. The few lucid brain cells she had left screamed a warning. Putting off the inevitable was just too stupid. She knew she would kick herself for rationalizing but before she could deny him, her rebellious mouth started to form words.

“Let’s take your car,” she said and told herself she could handle this. It would just take a little more time.

****

It was an unusually warm day in Galway. If the paving stones of Quay Street had a voice to complain, they would have cried out under the thousands of feet that trod the ancient thoroughfare.

Ty and Muireann walked past vendors, buskers, skirted groups of students with matching caps and rucksacks as they headed toward Spanish Arch. Muireann kept her hands in her pockets in an attempt to avoid touching Ty. He tried to stop and kiss her, but she faked a cough and he rubbed her back between her shoulder blades to soothe her instead.

The stretch of Galway Bay lay before them as they traversed Wolf Tone Bridge, walked along the sea wall and into the Claddagh district. Muireann started several times to try to query Ty further about the plans he had for his pub, but she was afraid she would find out how important it was to him. After all, she was about to make a commitment that would not be in his best financial interest.

She couldn’t possibly tell him her true heart. Not now when she planned a deception. After all, it was only a little ruse, not meant to be malicious, and wouldn’t hurt him, if he didn’t know. The result would free him of the tax burden, allow him a swift departure from Ireland and from her. Tynan would be the better off for the losses, though Muireann was sure the sting would wound him for a small while.

“There’s a shop I’d like to step into for just a moment.” Best do it now before she changed her mind.

“Sounds grand. Lead the way.” Ty slipped his arm over her shoulder. It felt possessive and she knew she should find an excuse to wiggle away, but Muireann’s heart was about to take a hit and she craved comfort.

With each step in the direction of the shop she sought, Muireann had a tightening in her throat. Once she offered the harp, there would be no turning back.

The little shop she sought was tucked away in a back street. Tourists generally missed it, but every musician from Kilfenora to Cleggan could find it blindfolded.

“Here we are,” she said. Fortunately the little music store was crammed to the door with musos of every description. “I’ll just be a moment.”

“No problem. Take your time. This is great.” He kissed her quickly on the cheek before she walked away. “I’ll be right over here checking out the guitars.”

The inside of
An Ceol
smelled of tonewood and rosin dust. Seamus O’Donnell only dealt in the most excellent of instruments, his specialty being vintage fiddles and fine harps. He did not handle consignment and a sale was always final, but he gave more than a fair price.

Seamus was sealing a deal on a violin when he looked up and saw Muireann. “Ah, Muireann O’Malley. What brings you to
An Ceol
?” He stopped what he was doing. “Brid, take care of this sale, would you, darlin’?”

His face showed transparent knowledge. She would not be in his establishment for any other reason than the one that brought her here today. Muireann’s knees wobbled and her stomach threatened with a watery gurgle.

“I’ve something to sell,” she said and she felt her heart splinter into sharp shards that cut deep into her soul. “Are you still in the market for a harp?”

****

Tynan had been strumming on a guitar in the corner of
An Ceol
when Muireann rushed out the exit. By the time Tynan caught up with her, she had rung up Simon and instructed him to pack up Ronan’s harp and get it out of her house. She wouldn’t take the chance that seeing it again would trigger a change of heart. That bridge had been crossed.

“You’re quiet. What are you thinking?” Ty asked when they stopped to watch the swans rally at the bridge where they were unable to breach the weir and floated peaceably on the Corrib.

A bank of clouds cast a shadow on the waterway and Muireann shivered.

“Here comes the rain.” She mumbled so quietly it surprised her that Tynan picked up on what she said.

He slipped his jacket off in one sleek movement and flung it about her shoulders. “Don’t want you to catch a chill. I’d have to put you to bed and bring you hot whiskey.”

Tynan didn’t sound like that would be an onerous chore, and it occurred to Muireann that in another life or time his comforting ministrations would be very welcome.

Tynan covered her hands with his. “I can’t stop touching you.”

A nervous chuckle escaped her throat. “You’ll get over that.”

“Not in this lifetime, beautiful.” The remark came so easily to Ty, as though he hadn’t even had to consider it first.

Muireann closed her eyes and tried to focus her thoughts. There was no good reason to continue to flirt with him. She didn’t want to think of the dare, the deception, or to trigger her overwhelming desire for his touch. When she did, it was impossible to remain rational. She should make a resolution right here and now.

Honesty demanded she tell him she had no room for him in her untidy life. He deserved better.

She commanded herself to comply, but her rebellious mouth wouldn’t form the words.

As a woman who was rarely at a loss for a smart remark, she had no explanation for her lack of quick response. It must have been because his hands cupping hers just felt so good. “I don’t know,” she offered. “I can’t think when I’m hungry.”

Dollops of rain began to splatter on the walkway. Ty pointed across the street to a small café. “How about coffee and a biscuit?”

They rushed past the empty patio where umbrellas strained to stay upright in the wind and into the espresso bar. They took seats at a little round table in the window. Muireann’s tummy grumbled at the smells of hot brew and warm pastries, but then the enormity of what she had just promised Seamus hit her full in her gut. The menu in her hands blurred.

Muireann pushed back her chair and stood. “Ty, please take me home.” Her eyes burned with a threat of tears and she knew she had to retreat from his scrutiny.

“Wait. How about a take-away?”

One look at him and she was lost. “Sure. I’ll wait on the patio,” she said over her shoulder.

“It’s bucketing.” Ty touched her arm.

Muireann flinched. “Just get your coffee and let’s go,” she snapped and a tear slipped down her cheek. She wiped it away with the back of her hand.

He leaned close and whispered into her ear. “I don’t know what’s wrong. Wait here where it’s dry. I’ll get the car and pull up. Watch for me?”

“I’ll be here,” she whispered, her throat choked with pain, and watched him jog off into the downpour.

Tynan was pelted by rain but hardly noticed. What had just happened back there? One minute she was warm, pliable, and accepting of his affections. The next, she clammed up and got teary. Was it something he said? Did? Was she having second thoughts about last night? Could he blame this on PMS? God help him, had
he
made her cry?

She’d been distracted and, he admitted to himself, a bit chilly toward him, all day. But when he found her outside
An Ceol
, it was obvious she’d been on her phone and was visibly troubled.

He was confused but dauntless. Perhaps by the time they drove back to Ballinacurragh she’d be herself again. There was no use in trying to be noble; he’d been looking forward to a tumble.

As he clicked the car open, his phone vibrated in his pocket. Ty’s phone had been silent since he’d left Boston. His family and friends would only ring him for a very good reason. His heart notched up in tempo when he saw it was from Cade.

Check ur email
was the extent of the message. Ty was dizzy from holding his breath. He let it out and put his mobile back in his pocket. If Flann had been in hospital or the baby born already, Cade’s text would have said much more.

The worrisome half hour of silence that pervaded the trip back to Ballinacurragh put a damper on his hopes for a romantic evening. Ty tried to calm his apprehensions. If he’d had a nickel for every time his sisters clammed up over some minor thing, he’d be a rich man by now.

When they reached Muireann’s cottage, he parked the car and waited for her to say something. At last he had to speak.

“Muireann?” he said, and waited.

“I think I need to be alone tonight, Ty.” She wouldn’t meet his eyes, but stared blindly ahead. Muireann didn’t even seem slightly curious about what he had to tell her. “This is all going too fast for me.” He reached to touch her arm but she flinched and pulled away. “Please, I can’t think when you touch me.”

“Thinking is over-rated,” he said with a grin, but regretted his curtness as soon as the words left his lips. “Sorry. Whatever’s making you sad, I’d like to help you work it out.”

Muireann closed her eyes and took a deep breath as though she needed strength of resolve. “You don’t know me.”

“I want to—”

“Wait,” she cut him off. “You really think you want a relationship with me? You still think of me as that bit of a girl who flirted with you over a decade and a half ago. Now you think you’re in love with me… after three days and a tumble or two?” She turned in her seat. Tynan had come to recognize determination in her expression. Muireann was not being coy. “You’re a kind, gentle, and very sweet man. You’re great in the sack.”

“That’s a damn brilliant start, if my opinion stands for anything.” He couldn’t stop the quiver of man-pride from buzzing through his frontal lobe.

“But that’s not enough,” Muireann added.

“Oh,” he said and immediately knew how shallow his disappointment would seem to a woman…any woman.

“How long are you really going to be here? Two weeks? That’s ridiculous. And then what? I’m not interested in a long distance affair.”

“Nor am I,” he defended. “I’ll be here as long as you want me here.” As he said the words he knew he’d better not make this promise lightly. Would he really leave his family and settle in Ireland? It was too early to make those kinds of decisions. “I have obligations in Boston but—”

“Yes, you do. And everything I have is here.” She reached for the door handle. “This is my fault. I shouldn’t have let this go so far.”

Ty was sure he felt a ten-pound stone hit him in the chest. He had to think fast. No way was he letting this woman get away that easy. He got out of the car, popped his umbrella open and walked around to her side to shelter her from the rain.

“See,” she said, exasperation in her voice. “It’s
that
.”

Ty stepped back, looked over his shoulder for the “that,” and then back to Muireann. “
That
…what?”

“You open car doors for me. You hold umbrellas over my head to keep me dry. You ask if I’m comfortable…if I’m happy.” She shook her wet head and rain droplets flew in all directions. “You make love to me like I’m the only woman in the world.”

Ty almost laughed. “What the hell is so wrong with
that
?”

“You make me want to depend on you.”

She had him spot on. He was, above all else, a dependable man. It had always been satisfying to him to take care…of his sisters, his friends, even strangers in need. The characteristic was planted so deep in Tynan, he couldn’t imagine it being rooted out of him.

Muireann was not done. “You would be so easy to fall for.”

The propensity didn’t seem like something he should defend as an unforgivable flaw. “Yeah, I’m just one very nice bloke. Something wrong with that?”

She was standing close to stay under the umbrella. Her scent mixed with rain and wet summer flowers intoxicated him. This seemed a crazy conversation when they could be naked in each other’s arms. “Can we talk about this inside?” he dared to suggest.

Muireann moved back from him as though the suggestion was the most horrific she’d ever heard. The rain pounded down on her hair and shoulders, ran over her face, stuck to her eyelashes, and mixed with tears. She wiped the wetness away with her sleeve. “No. I need time to think. Go home. Go back to Mary’s.” She turned and he watched her as she stepped inside her cottage and slammed the door behind her.