Reunited

She gave the cabbie her address, then decided at the last minute that going home would be useless. She wouldn't get any sleep until she'd talked to her mother. 'No,' she said. 'Take me to 210 East Beltran in Prospect Heights. There's construction on Atlantic, so take Linden.'

Keely settled back into the seat, knowing that the ride could be excruciatingly long or mercifully short. Luckily, it was the latter and the cab pulled up in front of her mother's place after only a half-hour ride. The bakery looked quite different from the building it had been in Keely's childhood. It now had a distinctly sophisticated look, with a fancy sign hanging over the door that proclaimed it McClain's-Fine Cakes and Pastries.

Anya had retired years ago, selling the business to Fiona. So she and Keely had carried on. After Keely graduated from high school, she had attended classes at nearby Pratt Institute, honing her artistic talents in design and sculpting. And four years ago, she'd taken over the day-to-day business from her mother. Just last year, as her popularity as a cake designer boomed, she had finally moved out, finding a loft with room enough for a small studio in a trendy location in the East Village. But the everyday baking and decorating was still done in Brooklyn.

Fiona worked at the shop every day, discussing cake designs with nervous brides and picky mothers. Keely rarely had time to get out of the kitchen, decorating cakes for lavish birthday parties and corporate receptions, movie premieres and store openings, as well as high-society weddings. She'd reached a landmark last month, selling a single wedding cake for the same amount of money that her mother had made in an entire year working for Anya. It still stunned her what a little bit of flour, sugar and butter was worth if it looked pretty enough.

Though she'd never intended to follow in her mother's footsteps, she loved her job. She loved the excitement of making a crowning centerpiece for a wedding or birthday party. But all the way back from Ireland, she could barely even think of the work she had waiting for her. How could she possibly spend hour after hour, elbow-deep in buttercream, after what had happened?

The cab pulled up on Beltran and screeched to a halt. Keely paid the cabbie, then grabbed her bags from the trunk and hauled them to the front door of her mother's flat. She fumbled for her key and unlocked the door, then left her things in the tiny foyer.

She slowly climbed the stairs. When she reached the top, Keely knocked softly, then pushed the door open. She found her mother standing near the door, her hand pressed to her chest.

'Keely! Lord, you frightened me! What are you doing here? You weren't due home for another two days.'

Her mother's voice sounded strange to her ears. Keely had always thought she had an accent, but compared to Maeve, her mother spoke with barely a hint of Ireland left in her voice. Fiona stepped up and drew her into a warm hug, but Keely stiffened, then pulled back. 'I went to Ballykirk,' she murmured.

Fiona's breath caught and her gaze met Keely's. 'What?'

'You heard me,' Keely said. 'I visited Ballykirk. I thought I'd go to learn a little more about my ancestry. I thought it might be interesting. Little did I realize.'

Her mother's face had gone pale and she pressed trembling fingers to her lips. 'You know?'

'I want you to tell me,' Keely said, her voice filling with anger. 'Tell me they all died in a terrible accident and you couldn't bear to talk about it. Tell me they never existed and Maeve Quinn was wrong. Tell me because those are the only two reasons that I can accept for you lying to me all these years.'

'I can't tell you that,' Fiona said, her eyes downcast. 'It would just be another lie.'

'And of course lying is a sin, isn't it, Ma? But then maybe that's why you go to confession every week, so you can wipe away a lifetime of sin.' Keely drew a ragged breath. 'For once, tell me the truth. I need to know who I am.'

She flopped down into one of her mother's over-stuffed chairs, ready to listen to the real story of her life. And once she had the whole truth, then she'd decide what to do next.

CHAPTER TWO

'WHY CAN'T you understand? All my life, I've believed I was an only child. Do you know how that feels?' Keely snatched up a pastry bag and began to scoop icing into it. 'There's no one else in this world that I can call family except you. And what happens when you're gone? Who will I have?'

'A nice thing, that,' Fiona murmured, a haughty arch to her brow. 'Putting me in my bloody grave so soon, are you?'

Keely sighed, then tossed the spatula back into the bowl and began to pipe the Italian meringue icing over the first layer of the wedding cake. 'Why shouldn't I be angry with you? I have a father and six brothers. And you kept me from them.'

'How many times have we gone over this? It's been a week since you got back from Ireland. When are you going to forgive me?'

'When you bloody well give me a good reason to,' Keely shot back. 'I want to know everything. Why you left him, how you could walk away from your children, why you never told me. Until you're honest about everything, then I'm going to keep bringing up the subject.'

Fiona sighed softly. 'I wanted to keep you from being hurt. There are reasons I left your father. Good reasons.'

'I can understand that. Marriage is difficult. But how could you leave your sons? They were your children.'

As she had so many times over the past week, Fiona refused to explain further. At first, Keely had been furious with her, lashing back with anger and accusations. Then after a few days, her anger had abated and was replaced by cool intolerance. But now she was frustrated by her mother's silence, curious to know more but stymied at every turn. Keely knew from the look in her mother's eyes that the memories still brought back overwhelming pain. But she didn't care! She picked up the bowl of buttercream and heaved it across the room. It bounced off the wall, then spattered all over the floor.

'Well,' her mother muttered, 'that's a fine way to behave.'

'If you won't talk to me about this, then I have no choice. I'll have to go to Boston and find out for myself.'

Her mother drew in a sharp breath. 'You'll only get hurt.'

'Why?'

'Because,' Fiona said.

'That's not a reason!'

'They don't even know you exist.'

Her words were barely a whisper, but they were like a dagger to Keely's heart. She blinked as emotion welled up inside of her. 'They-they don't know about me?'

'I left Boston right after I learned I was pregnant with you. Your father didn't know. I came here to get away, just for a little while, to decide what I wanted to do with my life. And I just never went back. When I had you, I put my maiden name on your birth certificate and started using that name. Anya was the only person who ever knew the truth. So if you're determined to find them, you have to understand. They won't know you. And they might not believe you.'

'I have a right to know them!' Keely cried, brushing a tear of frustration from her cheek.

'And what can I say to stop you?' Fiona asked. 'If I tell you everything, you'll still go.'

Keely shrugged. 'So why not tell me?'

Fiona closed her eyes and tipped her head back. 'It was a long, long time ago. Another life.'

'And you've made no move to contact them in all these years?'

'I was protecting you,' Fiona explained. 'I thought my marriage was over. I knew that Seamus would never change. And when I walked out, I never intended to stay away for so long. I decided I'd go back after you were born. But by then, it was even more difficult to leave New York. I had a good job. I'd built a life for us.'

'But your sons,' Keely said. 'How could you-'

Tears flooded Fiona's eyes. 'Do you think it was easy leaving them? I thought it would force Seamus to grow up if he had to be responsible for the boys for a while, if he had to pay the bills and take care of the house. I kept in touch with a neighbor for a time, just to make sure the boys were all right.' She paused. 'I didn't want to leave. But I was trapped. I would have taken them with me, but didn't have a way to provide for the boys, and Seamus did. I'd never worked in my life before I took the job in the bakery.'