“No,” Riley said, pushing her hand away. “I want you to keep it. Turn it the other way, I don’t care.” He cursed softly. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“It’s all right,” she said. “I’m not angry.”
He drew a ragged breath, than pasted a smile on his face. “Why don’t we just forget this conversation ever happened. We’ll rewind.”
“All right,” Nan said. She put the ring back on her finger, this time with the heart pointing out. But it was impossible to erase the words he’d said. And though she’d heard him, Nan wasn’t really sure what he’d meant. Was he making some kind of commitment to her?
Nan walked along the wall and stared down at the old graveyard. Ancient Celtic crosses marked the resting places of people who’d been forgotten generations ago. These people had loved and laughed and dreamed about the future.
She drew in a sharp breath. Maybe they were trying to tell her something from beyond the grave. Maybe she needed to take a chance, to live her life by her heart and not her head. Life was too short for doubts and hesitation.
She had three more nights to decide, three more nights spent in his arms. Nan made a silent promise to herself. When it came time to make that decision, she wouldn’t think. She’d just allow herself to feel. If she did that, everything would turn out right.
NAN DECIDED TO SPEND Monday on her own. Though Riley hadn’t been happy with the decision, she wanted to put a bit of space between them after his “proposal” at the abbey. She was finding it more and more difficult to think logically and rationally when she was around him. He’d asked her to stay and Nan had almost convinced herself that she could.
He’d made it quite clear how he felt and what he wanted, yet Nan wasn’t sure she could even make such a momentous decision. But she had made a step in the right direction. She’d decided that it was time to pay a visit to Carey Findley. She’d promised to be back in time for dinner, telling him they’d make a picnic and walk down to the bluffs to watch the sun set.
The drive to Kealkill had been simple given the map she’d found in the car. But as she’d neared the village, Nan had noticed signs for a castle and a stone circle, so she’d deliberately taken a detour, needing more time to work up her courage.
She stood in the center of the old stone circle, located in another farmer’s field just outside Kealkill. Yes, she was wasting time, loitering at a spot where pagans had danced and paid homage to their gods. With a soft sigh, she walked around the small circle, her palm dragging across the weathered stones.
If her mother’s story was as she suspected, what Carey Findley knew could change everything. She had become her mother, coming to this magical place and fallen in love with a handsome Irishman. They had a common experience and everything she was feeling, her mother had felt as well. But she could make the choice to stay, to believe in this place and in the love she’d found.
Nan stood in the center of the circle again, tipping her face up to the noonday sun. She threw her hands out and closed her eyes. An odd feeling washed over her and suddenly, she felt as if she wasn’t alone.
A dog barked and Nan spun around to see a little black terrier running toward her. She froze, waiting for the dog to chomp into her leg. But, instead, he put his paws on her knee and wagged his tail.
“Don’t you worry, lass. He doesn’t bite. Come on, Georgie. Leave the lady alone.”
The dog sniffed at her feet and Nan reached down and gave him a pet. The little dog licked her hand before taking off again.
An elderly man carrying a long walking stick peeked around the corner of the stone, smiling warmly. “Sorry. He’s not afraid of strangers, that one.”
“It’s all right,” Nan said. “He just startled me for a second.”
“So, what are you doin’ out here all alone? Communing with the Druid spirits?”
“Something like that,” she said with a soft laugh. “It’s a magical place.”
“That it is,” the man said. “That it is. I walk out here almost every day. Now and then, I catch sight of a faerie or two, though they’re easier to see at twilight.”
“I would love to see a faerie before I leave,” she said.
“You’re from America?”
Nan nodded. “Just visiting. I’m staying in Ballykirk.”
“I know it well,” he said. “I used to have a farm near there.”
Nan held out her hand. “I’m Nan. Nan Galvin.”
He reached to take her hand, then froze at the sound of her name. His hand trembled slightly. “Tiernan Galvin?”
“Yes,” she said. “How did you-” An odd feeling washed over her again and she felt suddenly calm. “And you’re Carey, aren’t you? Carey Findley.”
“Yes. I am.”
She shook her head, wondering at the mystical forces that had brought them together in his spot. It wasn’t just coincidence. She’d been drawn to this place for a reason. They were meant to meet. “This is so strange. A little bit spooky. I’ve read all your letters. I feel like I know you.”
“I got a call from your friend Riley Quinn. I was wondering if you’d stop to see me. I’ve been leaving a note on my door each day when I go out.”
“I wasn’t sure I’d come,” she said. “But I guess I didn’t have to make the decision after all.”
Nan scrambled for a way to begin. She thought she’d have more time to explain why she’d come and what she wanted. But here he was, watching her with twinkling eyes and a bright smile.
“Maybe we should sit down,” she said. Nan pointed to a boulder sitting outside the stone circle. Carey followed her, taking a spot beside her.
She opened her mouth, then snapped it shut. “I don’t know where to begin.”
“Then allow me,” he said. “I wondered if you’d ever come. After your mother stopped writing, I thought maybe she’d decided she wasn’t going to ever tell you about Tiernan.”
“No,” Nan said, shaking her head. “She stopped writing because she died.”
His expression fell and she saw his eyes grow watery with tears. “I thought that might have been it,” he said. “She mentioned in some of her last letters that she was ill, but she didn’t give me any details.”
“You knew my mother?”
“I did,” he said. “She stayed at our farm with some of her friends. We used to let out a few of the extra bedrooms to students traveling around Ireland. Oh, she was a lively young woman, always laughing and teasing. She couldn’t keep still.”
“And your son? What was he like?”
“Handsome. Charming. Probably too charming for his own good, that one. All the girls loved him, but your mother, she was the one who captured his heart. When she left, he was so sad and angry.”
“I’m sorry about what happened to him,” Nan said.
Carey nodded, his face etched with grief. “It was a bad time. And my wife, she never really recovered. He was our only child and she grieved for him until the day she died.”
“Did they love each other? Tiernan and my mother?”
He folded his hands over his walking stick. “Oh, yes. I do think so. They were both so young, but they were happy together. When we got the news, it was difficult for Tiernan. My son wasn’t ready to be a father and Laura had no support over here, so she didn’t-”
“I don’t understand,” Nan said. “You said Tiernan was going to be a father. Did he get another girl pregnant? Is that why my mother left?”
The old man took a long breath then shook his head wearily. “You don’t know. You haven’t figured it out, have you?”
Nan pressed her hand to her chest. Had her heart stopped beating? Why couldn’t she breathe? “The baby was me,” she murmured. “It was me?”
“I’m sorry. I thought that’s why you’d come. That’s why I’d written to your mother for all those years. I wanted news of my granddaughter. You’re my granddaughter, Tiernan.”
Nan stood and walked over to one of the tall stones, pressing her hands against it as she tried to breathe
