“I want nothing more.”
“Then you have some thinking to do on the possibilities.”
“There are no possibilities,” Ella insisted. “Whatever powers I might have had, they’re gone now.”
Even as she said it, Ella knew that wasn’t exactly the truth or she wouldn’t have had those brief interludes with her father. Something had been going on there, but it hadn’t been in her control.
“You know my opinion on that. A matter of your pressing the issue.”
“I’ve tried, okay. I’ve tried and nothing.”
“Perhaps you were too stressed. Or of a mind that you could not do it and therefore fulfilled your own fear.”
Not knowing what to say to that—maybe it was the truth, after all—Ella was grateful to see Kate hauling two people to the table. Both looked amazingly like Tiernan with the same twinkle in their thick-lashed green eyes and the same easy grin. The man’s hair was a blue-black, though, and the woman’s a rich mahogany.
“Tiernan,” Kate said, “I want you to meet more cousins who came from out of state. This is Aislinn, who came from Santa Fe, and her brother, Declan, who came from New Orleans.”
“Glad to meet two of Padraig’s brood at last!” Tiernan hugged Aislinn, shook hands with Declan.
“What do the two of you do?”
“I run an art gallery,” Aislinn said.
Tiernan looked to Declan.
“Just some of this and that,” Declan said mysteriously.
Which interested Tiernan, though he didn’t pursue it. Instead he turned to Ella. “Their da and mine are Irish twins.”
Aislinn laughed. “But Da always says he’s the better-looking one.”
“So, they’re not identical?” Ella asked.
“They’re not twins at all,” Declan informed her, then explained, “Irish twins just means they were born in the same calendar year.”
“Did you both come alone?” Tiernan asked.
“I tried to get Hugh to come with me, but our brother is a workaholic.”
“I’m the only one in the family in New Orleans, so yes, I came alone, too,” Declan said.
“You’re not married, then?”
Aislinn and Declan shared a significant look then shook their heads.
“None of Padraig’s brood has crossed that crevasse,” Aislinn said.
Tiernan sighed. “I understand.”
But Ella didn’t. She only knew they seemed to share some secret knowledge. She felt more and more left out, especially when the cousins bonded, Tiernan seeming to want to know about New Orleans and Santa Fe, Aislinn and Declan wanting to know about Ireland.
Leaving Ella to think about Nathan’s morning visit once more and to wonder again if her own cousin could have tried to run her off the road the night before.
And if so, why?
What could he possibly be up to?
Chapter Eleven
“I never thought I would see the day my little brother settled down,” Neil McKenna Farrell told the crowd who gathered to toast the couple. “I wasn’t even sure I would ever see him again, not knowing he was working undercover for the Feds on a case that had its own personal rewards.”
Tiernan studied the new couple. Quin didn’t look anything like the other McKennas present. He was big, tough, scarred, scary. Even so, Luz Delgado, the exotic beauty cradled in the crook of his arm, seemed to be his perfect match. Their love came at him in palpable waves, and the way Luz was looking at Quin made Tiernan feel empty inside.
Unable to help himself, he glanced at Ella, another exotic beauty and one who tugged at his insides every time he looked at or thought of her. Her long, dark hair was free of the ponytail she usually wore. It draped her shoulders bared by a festive, beaded white top that left a naked strip above the waist of her slacks, but covered both arms to her wrists. Curious that he’d never seen her bare-armed. Studying her face, he noticed she’d subtly highlighted her best features—her eyes and her full mouth.
Realizing the trouble he would get himself into if he didn’t stop, Tiernan tore his gaze away from Ella.
“But all that’s over and your life is about to change for the better, Quin,” Neil was saying. “Everyone is happy that you’re moving back to South Dakota where you belong. And we can’t wait to welcome into the family the woman who tamed you. Luz, you must be quite a woman to have made Quin there stand still long enough to lasso him.” Neil raised his flute of champagne. “A toast to the lucky couple.”
They’d saved the champagne toast for last, to go with dessert. Tiernan raised his glass with everyone else. Too aware of Ella standing next to him, he held himself in check. He’d always known he would never be able to find happiness with a woman he loved. He’d been resigned to it for years. So why was it bothering him now?
Maybe it was being among so many relatives who had what he couldn’t—spouses and kids and a permanent home—and seemed completely happy. He was jealous of their good fortune, ’twas simple as that. As everyone crowded in on the engaged couple to give their personal congratulations, they got between him and Ella, pushing them farther and farther from each other. Just as it should be, he thought. Ella was talking to Roz and seemed right at home.
Suddenly Tiernan felt as if he didn’t belong here.
He backed off.
Seeking to escape, he followed the path that took him to the other side of the house and a track of land with old-growth trees. The path took him to the stand, but once beneath the canopy of firs, the brick walkway downgraded to wood chips. He followed that for a while to a little clearing with a spring-fed stream.
He sat on a fallen, half-rotten log and watched the water trickle by and around the rocks in its path, just as his life seemed to be doing. He, too, was aimless, searching for something he couldn’t find, avoiding what he couldn’t have.
Suddenly the hair at the back of his neck stood to attention. As if he’d conjured her, Ella was there. He felt her, didn’t have to turn around and look to ascertain that she’d followed him.
Tiernan stiffened… waiting… cursing the blood that suddenly rushed through him explosively.
Keeping silent, Ella moved as lightly as the wind and sat next to him on the log. He was filled with her presence, every inch of him. Her being there simply added to the torture that had grown over the past hour. Yet, he wouldn’t have her leave.
Finally, Ella asked, “What is it that’s bothering you, McKenna?”
“I just needed to breathe, Thunder.”
“I think it’s more than that,” she said softly, no accusation in her voice. “You haven’t been the same since Neil said something about the McKenna prophecy.”
She fell silent again, yet Tiernan felt pressured. He’d never told anyone outside family about the prophecy. Certainly not about his seeing what had happened to his aunt. He’d never wanted to. He especially didn’t want to tell Ella, lest she think him ridiculous.
As if he’d spoken aloud, Ella said, “Whatever is on your mind, you can tell me. Of all people, I would understand.”
Would she? He’d never wanted to share the details of the family curse with anyone, not until now. But the way Ella was looking at him… the way he was feeling about her…