The Mighty Quinns: Kellan (17 page)

“Your breakfast?” Antonio shouted. “I see how this is. I am not a fool. This is the man who replaces me, no?”

“Yes,” Kellan said.

“No,” Gelsey countered. “You were out of my life before I even met him.”

“I think it would be best if you left,” Kellan said.

“You think I should leave?” Antonio asked. “You think
I
should leave?” He lunged at Kellan, but Kellan quickly stepped aside, shielding Gelsey behind him as he did. Antonio stumbled forward, nearly losing his balance, before he turned around again.

He wasn’t expecting the quick jab from Kellan. Blood erupted from his nose and he stopped, holding his hand up to his face, stunned by the turn of events. Kellan quickly handed him the linen napkin he still held and Antonio stuck it under his nose.

“Sorry, mate,” Kellan said, his demeanor deceptively calm. “But if you try that again, it will be much worse the second time. Gelsey and I are together now and if I have to beat the shite out of you to make you see that, I don’t have a problem doing that at all. So, do you want to fight, then, or will you just be saying your goodbyes and go on your merry way?”

Antonio’s eyes narrowed and he looked at Gelsey. “You will want me back,” he said. “You forget, you need me. Without me, your whole life falls apart. Are you willing to risk that, Gigi? It would be a terrible mistake. A year of your life is a terrible thing to lose, no?” He walked through the door and slammed it shut behind him.

Gelsey and Kellan stood next to each other, silently watching the door, Gelsey’s heart slamming in her chest. Well, at least she had her answer. Unless she made nice with Antonio, he had no intention of testifying on her behalf. She heard a car start and then it roared off down the driveway. She released a tightly held breath. “I suppose that could have gone worse,” she murmured.

“Will there be any more of those types coming around?” Kellan asked.

“No,” Gelsey said.

“Good. Not really the way I like to start my day.” He frowned. “What did he mean about a mistake? What about a year of your life?”

“It’s nothing,” she said. “Old arguments.” Gelsey drew a ragged breath and closed her eyes. Why not tell him? At least he’d understand her reluctance to commit to staying in Ballykirk. If the trial didn’t go her way, she could spend some time sitting in an Italian jail.

The tabloids were all hoping for that. Not a month or a year, but at least a few weeks so they might get some good photos of the “criminal” going in and coming out. Gigi Woodson in jail would sell a lot of papers.

They walked back to their breakfast and she sat down across from him, watching as he finished his scone.

“What would you do if I had to go back to Europe for a while?” Gelsey asked.

He looked up. “For what? To see him?”

Gelsey shook her head. “Just to tie up some loose ends. Would you forget all about me?” She held her breath, waiting for his answer. Kellan wasn’t the kind of man who’d wait forever and he’d already grown impatient with her refusal to consider their future together.

She couldn’t imagine wanting a man more than she wanted him and there were times when a future with him seemed like the perfect way to spend a lifetime. Would her old life always come back to haunt her? Could she really start over again? Was “normal” was even possible for Gelsey Woodson?

“I don’t know. How long would you be gone?”

“Not long,” she said.

“I suppose I’d miss you. But then, I could always come with. When are you planning to leave?”

Gelsey pushed out of her chair and circled the table, then crawled onto his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Never,” she whispered. “I want to stay here forever.” She snuggled against him, pressing her face into the curve of his neck.

“I’d like that,” he said.

She sighed and hugged him tighter. For now, she’d ignore the dark cloud looming on the horizon. If she wished it hard enough, maybe it would just dissolve before it ever reached her. Or perhaps, by the time it moved overhead, she’d know exactly what to do. She kissed his cheek. “You’re pretty good with your fists,” she said.

Kellan held up his right hand. “Fist. If I would have used them both, the guy would be headed for hospital right now.”

IT HAD TAKEN HIM the entire afternoon, but the cottage looked perfect. Kellan smiled to himself as he went around the room and lit the candles he’d bought. A big bouquet of flowers sat in the middle of the table and he’d brought out the old copper tub and placed it in front of the fireplace, ready to be filled for a bath.

This was the night, Kellan mused. He and Gelsey were going to determine once and for all what this relationship meant to them. He needed to know if there was a real future with her, because if there was, there were plans to be made.

He glanced over at the table and sighed. He’d been offered the museum job in Brittany and was waiting to sign the contract. He’d also met with some potential investors about a castle renovation near Killarney. A month ago, he would have jumped at the chance to take a job outside Ireland, searching for any excuse for a change. But his life
had
changed and now, he wanted nothing more than to spend all his time near Ballykirk.

Kellan walked into the kitchen and pulled open the refrigerator to check on the temperature of the champagne. He’d never really done it up proper with a woman before, pulling out all the romantic stops. But there was no doubt in his mind that Gelsey was the girl for him. He wasn’t sure how he knew, but he knew, deep down in every corner of his soul, she was the one.

He ought to be surprised at how quickly it happened. Although Riley and Danny had found love at lightning speed, Kellan had dismissed the possibility as a rare occurrence. But now, he’d experienced the same strange phenomenon.

He heard the sound of the Fiat chugging up the hill to the cottage and walked to the door. He opened it and waited as Gelsey pulled the car to a stop at the garden gate. She stumbled out, dragging a canvas bag behind her. The moment she saw him, she stopped and gave him an exhausted smile.

“Long day?” he asked.

She nodded. “Excruciatingly long. Please tell me there’s a large glass of wine waiting for me.”

“Better than that,” Kellan replied, holding out his hand. He drew her inside and closed the door behind her, then helped her out of her jacket.

“What’s this?”

“Just a little holiday from all the hard work you’ve been doing,” Kellan explained. “Tonight, I’m going to wait on you hand and foot. I’ll make you a bath. I have champagne and candles, and dinner is warming in the oven.”

“It all looks so wonder—” she began, before fighting back a yawn. “Can we just lie down and have a quick nap before we get started?”

“Sure.” He took her hand and led her into the bedroom, then sat her down on the edge of the bed. Kneeling, he pulled off her shoes and gently massaged her feet. “How’s that?”

“Heaven,” she murmured, flopping back on the bed.

He stretched out beside her, lying on his side as he toyed with a strand of her hair. “Can I get you anything?”

“A kiss would be nice,” she said, turning to face him. Gelsey pointed to her bottom lip. “Right here. This is the only place on my body that isn’t utterly exhausted.”

Kellan leaned forward and gently nibbled at her lower lip. A long sigh escaped her body and he wove his fingers through her hair and kissed her again, this time more purposefully.

“Oh, that’s much better,” she said, smiling. “A girl could get used to this.”

“That’s what I want to talk to you about,” Kellan said.

Her brow wrinkled into a frown. “You look so serious.” Gelsey reached out and smoothed her fingers over his forehead.

“I am. But you don’t need to look so worried. We’ve been living together for almost a month now and it’s been grand.”

“It has.”

“And I was talking to Danny the other day and he plans to ask Jordan to marry him at Christmas and I’m reckoning we ought to make some plans ourselves.”

“Plans?”

“Yeah. Maybe it’s time we…formalize things between us.”

She pushed up on her elbow, her frown deepening. “Formalize? What does that mean?”

“Make a commitment to each other.”

“How would that change anything?” Gelsey asked.

Kellan was confused by her comeback and at first, didn’t have an answer. “I—I guess it wouldn’t. But I have to make some plans with my work and I—”

“What kind of plans?”

“I’ve got to make a decision on the job in France. It would take me out of Ireland for a long time. You’d be here. I’d be there.”

“Do you want to take the job?”

“I don’t know,” Kellan said. “I don’t want to leave you.”

“How would your decision change then?”

“I guess I wouldn’t leave you.”

“See. That wasn’t so difficult. We don’t need to decide anything right now. We’ll just do what we feel.”

Kellan sat up and shook his head. “No. I don’t want to turn this job down and then have you run back to Europe. That’s not the way it’s supposed to go.”

“You know exactly how it’s supposed to go?” Gelsey asked. She sat up beside him and folded her hands in her lap. “Tell me. I’d like to know, too. I’ve been trying to figure it out for the past ten years and haven’t gotten it right yet.”

He could hear the sarcasm in her voice and for a moment, he thought better of continuing the conversation. But this was a matter that they needed to resolve. “There’s just a certain progression that most people follow. Like…Riley and Nan and Danny and Jordan. They’ve decided that they want to spend the rest of their lives together and—and everyone knows it.”

“So a public announcement will make it all work out for us?”

Kellan cursed beneath his breath. Was she deliberately trying to start an argument? The last thing he wanted to do was fight with her. She was tired and tended to get a bit irrational when she didn’t have enough sleep.

“We should probably discuss this later,” he dodged. “After you’ve had a kip. Why don’t you crawl under the covers and I’ll let you sleep for a bit.”

She shook her head. “I think we should get this settled.”

“No,” Kellan said. “You’re in no mood to talk.”

“I’m in the perfect mood.” Gelsey stood up and began to pace back and forth. “Let me see. I’ve been engaged three times in the past seven years. Married once.”

Kellan gasped. What the hell? This was definitely not going the way he’d planned. “You’ve been married?”

“Yes. To someone who was already married, so it wasn’t legal. I was twenty-three and very stupid. I thought I was in love, but I was proven wrong. I thought I loved them all and in the end it didn’t mean anything.”

“Why haven’t you told me this?”

“Because it’s in the past,” Gelsey said. “And I wanted to start fresh. But I can’t do that if I keep making the same mistakes over and over again.”

Kellan grabbed her hand to stop her pacing. “All right. We’re done. This isn’t the right time or the—”

“No. We should get this straight. I don’t want you to plan your life around me, Kellan. I want you to do what makes you happy. And if that means going to France to work on a project then that’s what you need to do.” She shrugged. “I’m not sure I’ll even be here. If I am, when you come home, we’ll take up where we left off.”

“And in between? We just forget about each other?”

“No, of course not. You know I care about you.”

“But you don’t love me.”

“That has nothing to do with this conversation. You’re talking about commitment. I can love you without making a commitment to you, can’t I?”

“Yes,” he said. “Of course, but—”

“No buts.” Drawing a deep breath, she turned and straddled his legs, then sat down on his lap. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed him, her mouth trailing from his lips to his ear. “I’m happy now. I don’t want anything to change.”

She tipped her head as she stared into his eyes. But his anger must have been evident in his gaze, because she suddenly stood up. “But then, maybe it would be good to have some time apart.”

Kellan gasped, stunned by the turn in the conversation. He stood also, catching her off balance. Gelsey stumbled back and he caught her arm. “How did we get from that to this? We love each other but we should spend some time apart?”

Gelsey nodded. “I think I’m going to spend the night at Winterhill. You can think about what you want to do and I won’t be here to…distract you.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Kellan countered.

“Sure it is. Besides, I have some business I need to take care of tomorrow morning at the house, so I won’t have to get up early and drive over there.”

“Why do I get the feeling that I just turned everything arseways between us?”

“You didn’t,” Gelsey said. “Nothing has changed.”

Kellan didn’t believe her. In truth, he could see the confusion in her eyes, the frantic way she kept avoiding his gaze. Hell, she’d been engaged three times? This was a woman who was pathologically frightened of commitment and here he was, pushing her to declare her feelings and plan a future with him after they’d only known each other less than a month.