“Sally first,” Breen told him. “The best thing to say is you decided to come back with me, and we flew out last night. You’re going to stay for a few days, and—”
“I don’t know how long I’ll stay, and that’s what I’ll say. Give that one up, Breen, you’re stuck with me. We’re going to be fine. We’re going to get each other right on through this. And I’m going to learn to ride a horse. Giddyup!”
“It’s not as easy as you think. My ass had bruises on bruises for days. And I hate myself for being glad you’re here.”
“You can stop that. Say, in all this you wrote down? Anything in there about sex with Chief Hotness?”
“I— Crap. Listen—”
“Too late. You said I could read all of it. And you two might not be in the mood for snuggling right now, but I saw how he looked at you.”
“Like I was one more pain in his ass?”
“No. Like I hope somebody looks at me one day.” Marco’s romantic heart gave a little sigh. “He didn’t even try to punch me back when I hit him, when I thought he’d hurt you. He could’ve mopped the floor with me, but he didn’t. Hell, he could’ve probably turned me into a kumquat or something. But he didn’t.”
“He respects loyalty and friendship.”
“Sally said he had class.”
“I suppose he does.”
“I remember this trail now. Son of a bitch! Walk that way, and you end up in the village. The bay’s over there. Hey, it was over there, over there. Wrong place. That’s— You know what? That’s freaking awesome.”
He sniffed the air. “Catch that? I can smell the bay, I think. And … smoke.”
“They lit the fires for us.” She gestured as the trees thinned. “See?”
The cottage stood, smoke trailing from the chimneys over its thatched roof. The gardens Seamus had taught her to tend spread as colorfully as ever. And the pots of flowers he’d shown her how to plant thrived still.
“It’s your place, Breen. Your grandmother said, and she made it for you. I get that more than ever now. I loved being here, too.”
“I know.” She looked down at the dog, who danced in place. “Go ahead.”
He all but leaped in the air before he raced out, across the green grass, down the slope to the shale beach, and bounded into the water.
“Sea dog,” Marco said with a laugh. “He’s something.”
“Let’s go in. I’m used to drinking tea over there—and God, you’ve got to try Finola’s lemonade. It’s magickal. But I sure hope they remembered to stock Cokes.”
It was like coming home, Breen thought as she grabbed that Coke out of the refrigerator. With the first sips, she scanned her pretty kitchen—the freshly baked bread wrapped in a white cloth on the slate-colored counter, the stoneware bowl of fresh fruit, the fresh flowers on the wide windowsill.
So much as she’d first seen it months before. So much as she’d left it.
“I’m going to make us a pasta dinner,” Marco announced as he poked around the kitchen. “Look at these tomatoes. They are prime!” He checked his watch, did the math. “I’ll wait about an hour to call Sally. If they’re sleeping in any, I’d rather they get some coffee in them before I tell them I flew the coop.”
“That works. I’ll set up in the bedroom down here for work.” She wandered that way and into the room that opened to the garden. “Scratch that. They’ve done it for me.” She brushed a hand over the laptop already on her little desk, noted her yoga mat—which she hadn’t thought to grab—neatly rolled and standing in the corner.
“Sedric’s already come and gone,” she told Marco.
“What? How?”
“You’ll sort of get used to it.” She walked back to open the door for Bollocks, who pranced his way to the living room fire, and after his habitual three turns, settled down with a contented canine sigh.
“Do you think my stuff’s up in the room I used before?”
“Let’s go find out. I want to unpack, then I’m going to get some writing in. I should probably do a blog, too, about coming back to the cottage. And you can set up wherever you want to read.”
They walked through the living room with its forest-green sofa, its candles, crystals, flowers, its views of the blue water.
The fire sizzled and snapped in the hearth.
Through the foyer, and up the stairs, where the dog scrambled up to follow them, Breen turned at the head toward Marco’s room.