She began to have her doubts that they were on the same page. Before she could form the question, he spun her around in front of another fence and pointed.
“That’s Uno, a panther. He’s been here for almost two years after being rescued by Massachusetts Fish and Game and then sent to us. He’d been wounded in both the face and hindquarters with a shotgun.”
Other than a quick glance in their direction, the golden cat ignored the two of them and continued to bat a giant ball around. But the look was long enough for Shay to see something wasn’t right with his eye.
“What happened? Is he okay?” The panther stopped playing and looked in her direction. One of his eyes was bluish-white and the other socket was red and looked like the eye itself was missing.
“He’s blind. Somehow, he survived for what we figure had to be about six weeks, probably on road kill, before he was found him. MFG got him to a specialty hospital and then to New England Wildlife Center, where he got the distinction of being their first panther patient.”
“Ah, hence Uno.”
“Yep. When he first got here, we kept him in a special enclosure where he could choose to stay inside or go out. At first, he preferred the indoor area, but then we noticed he started venturing outside. He’s done really well transitioning to life with his disability but he’ll never be able to be released.” Colin’s voice was filled with tenderness and sadness and a compassion that brought tears to her eyes.
“You love it here, what you do, don’t you?” She pressed against his back and laid her head on his shoulder. “This is the dream for you.”
He looked down to where her hands wrapped around his middle and rested over his heart. “For now, but eventually I want more, Shay. I want everything we planned all those years ago.”
A family, a home, and an animal rescue.
His voice was no more than a whisper, a soft caress to her heart, body, and soul. It gave her hope and held promises of a future she’d thought long gone. It also did other things to her…down south and made her question her sanity over that whole no sex on the first date thing. Heck, this wasn’t their first date. It was more like their two hundred and fiftieth date, but who was counting? Besides, they’d been talking all week.
She knew Colin. He was a good man with an amazing capacity to love and he cared deeply for the animals under his watch. He was also hotter than hell and driving her crazy.
“How about we focus on the here and now and worry about dreams and plans tomorrow?” She whispered right before she nipped his ear.
“What did you have in mind?”
“My place, a bottle of merlot, and—” Her phone rang and as tempted as she was to ignore it, she couldn’t. It was Gram. She held up her finger and answered the phone. A few seconds later she hit the cancel button and turned back to Colin. “A rain check?”
“Is everything okay?”
“I need to get over to her place. She’s pretty upset.” Shay bit down on her lip, torn between disappointment and hope. “She said O’Malley’s gone.”
Chapter 7
“Grammy, can you please stop pacing and sit down and talk to us?” Shay begged her grandmother while giving Colin a pleading look for help.
He had no idea what he could do or how to help. The older woman had been in a state when they’d arrived, mumbling to herself, sitting, standing, wringing her hands, and, worst of all, on the verge of tears. Colin could handle it if she were screaming and throwing things, but these were quiet little sniffles, the kind where one wrong move would send the gates crashing down on her emotions.
He’d rather take on a lost child or a scared wild animal.
“Damn fool of a man.” Gram muttered as she made her twentieth or so pass of the living room. “Just as stubborn dead as when he was alive. Always had to have it his way. You’d think he was Elvis or something.”
“Gram?” Shay looked at Colin with her hands thrown up in front of her face. Gram just kept pacing.
“If he hadn’t up and volunteered, he might have still been here. But no, he had to go and be a hero, leaving me an almost pregnant bride.”
Shay turned to him and mouthed, “WTF?”
He shrugged, as he had no clue what “an almost pregnant bride” meant.
With a deep sigh, Mrs. O’Malley’s shoulders drooped and Colin braced himself for the torrent of waterworks to come, but instead the lady started laughing.
“I should leave, let you two talk in private,” Colin offered.
She lifted a mason jar that he suspected contained more than her usual iced tea. “Stay, young man. You and your friends wanted to know the truth. Well, I’ve got a tale to tell. First, you might want to grab a glass for you and Shay and fill it with some of that wine I’ve got in the fridge.”
Shay nodded. Sensing she needed a minute, he slipped into the kitchen and looked around for a couple of glasses. A cool breeze blew across his cheek as he reached for one of the cupboards. He spun around, but there was no one in the room with him. He walked over to the air vent and put his hand up in front of it. Nothing.
Maybe the old guy’s spirit wasn’t gone after all?
Or maybe he was imagining things because he was pretty sure Mrs. O’Malley was about to tell him and Shay, she’d made the whole ghost thing up. Which made no sense given what he’d experienced since starting his investigation and the evidence they’d found on his recorder.
He filled two regular wineglasses he found shoved to the back of a cupboard, took one more look around the empty kitchen, and joined the women in the living room. Shay thanked him and took a big gulp. He’d have to ask her if he missed something once they were alone. But for the time being he rested his hand on her leg to let her know he was there for her.
Mrs. O’Malley looked at his hand for the longest time, picked up her own glass and simply stared at the red liquid. “It was the winter of 1959. A nasty, bitterly cold New England winter with one snowstorm after another when my father said he’d had enough and we were moving to Florida.”
She chuckled, and a small smile lit up her face. “He said if he wanted to freeze his arse off, he would have stayed in Ireland. We moved right after the first of the year to this pretty little town called Naples. Mama said it was almost as good as being in Italy. We’d only been there for two weeks when I met him.”
“Who? My grandfather, Mickey O’Malley?” Shay had scooted to the edge of the couch, the wine glass gripped in one hand and the other crushing his hand.
“Yes, but it wasn’t Mickey who had eyes for me that night, it was his cousin Finn. Finnegan Eoin O’Malley. He was so dashing. Hair as black as midnight with piercing blue eyes. He had a dimple in his chin.” She lifted her gaze to meet their stunned expressions. “He walked right up to me at the church dance and said, ‘Before this night is over, I’m going to kiss you.’”
“Did he?” Shay whispered.
“Ha. The man was so full of himself he’d put a peacock to shame.” She shook her head and sighed. “No, he didn’t, and not for lack of trying either. He did ask to walk me home and to see me again the next night. Of course, I told him no, but he showed up anyway with a single wildflower and said he’d die if he had to wait any longer.”