I was so wrapped up in my head, I didn’t notice I’d pulled twenty feet ahead of her. I stopped, letting her catch up. “C’mere to me,” said I. “I’ll slow down so you can stay close.”
“Thanks. I’d really hate to get lost, or...” She stopped herself.
“Keira? Is there some reason you’re... I don’t know. Seems like under the surface, you’re on high alert. Is there a problem? Something you’re afraid of?”
“No,” she said too quickly. Then, she added. “It’s just nerves. I mean, some stranger sends me a ticket to fly four thousand miles? All for a grandmother I never even knew about?”
“I guess that would put anyone at sixes and sevens.”
“That’s just it. Who knows?” she sighed. “Things have just been strange.”
“You’ve nothing to fear from me, and I promise you this. As long as I’m around, you’ll have nothing to be afraid of, period. Okay?”
“Thank you, my knight!” Keira replied with a mixture of sarcastic embellishment and relief. “I’ll keep myself under your protection, good Sir.”
“With my very life, m’lady,” I said, hoping I could keep my rising interest in more than guard duty under control. But even if I was never more than Keira’s knight, that sounded like an occupation I’d be happy to devote myself to twenty-four hours a day.
But perhaps more was possible. Clearly, she was checking me out, too, which made it all the more tantalizing. This one looked like a keeper, all right.
“Are we a long way, still? To your car?”
“Almost there. Look for a red truck. It’s pretty distinctive around here.”
“I’m sure it’s a mighty steed.”
“I can handle her fine, Princess.”
“Princess? Really?”
“Of course, if I’m going to be your knight in shining armor, that makes you my princess.”
“Actually... We’re not so crazy about royalty in America,” she said, but her 1000-megawatt smile glimmered through her pink pout. “But...there are worse nicknames. ‘Princess’ will do just fine.”
“Then Princess it shall be.”
Finally, Keira spotted my bright red pick-up truck ahead. “Is yon steed your mount, Sir Kavanagh?”
“Please, make it ‘Sir Orin’, Princess,” I chuckled. Besides... I want to be the only Kavanagh with that nickname. Of course, Keira didn’t know about my twin brother, Weylyn. If only it could stay that way... but I knew that wasn’t going to happen.
I secured Old Pinkie in the rear bed of the pickup and Keira went to get in... on the American side. “Ah-ah-ah, wait,” I teased, gently putting a hand on her shoulder. “Are you driving?”
“What?”
“Remember, we’re in Ireland. Things are backwards.”
Keira peeked inside the truck’s cab. There was a steering wheel where she expected the passenger seat. “Whoops. It’s drive on the right here, isn’t it?” She said as she laughed at herself with good nature.
I found myself on chivalry autopilot, opening the door for her, closing it again. To my own surprise, instead of feeling like an infatuated twit, I enjoyed treating her like she was someone special. She was.
I got in the car, and turned up a little music, nothing too heavily metal head. When I heard the click of Keira’s seatbelt, I asked, “You good over there?”
“Yep,” Keira replied as she adjusted herself in the seat. “Tally ho!”
Tally ho? I couldn’t help the ridiculous grin that spread onto my face as I started the engine. After we paid the usual pirate’s ransom to get out of the car park, I pondered over Keira. I knew nothing of her – except I knew her grandmother Edna so very well. This wee girl had not one clue what she was walking into. On the other hand, with what I knew of her lineage, I expected she was remarkable. I just hoped what lay ahead didn’t freak her out.
There were reasons aplenty she’d be needing protection. Her Granny didn’t exactly die of natural causes. I thought if Keira knew how Edna was killed, she’d likely command her Knight to drive her arse back to the airport and jump on the first plane home to the U.S. of A. In fact, if she was as smart as she looked, that would be the best thing she could do, and that was putting it mildly.
“Do you mind if I close my eyes for a bit?” she ask-yawned.
“Sure. Get some sleep.” As she leaned the seat back, I thought, you will need it princess.How would she react to what she was about to learn? Not just her grandmother’s legacy. How would she feel about the four of us? Brann. Keegan. My own brother, Weylyn.
What would she think when she found out that her own Granny took in the four of us lads as kids? Clearly, Keira was bummed about never meeting her grandmother, Edna. How would she feel once she learned that while Edna left her all alone, way off in America, we four were in her care?
It wasn’t long before I heard a slight snore, and a glance confirmed she was out like a light. Jet lag was a harsh mistress. Just that quick peek at Keira’s serene sleeping form had my cheeks flushed at the thought of lying next to her. I shook off my fantasy and focused my thoughts back to the long drive to our destination.
Tally ho indeed.
Welcome To Westhaven
- Keira -
A major bump in the road jarred me awake with an ungainly “Bwuh?!”.
“Morning, Princess,” Orin said. “It’s only been an hour, but you kipped like the dead for a bit there.”
I jostled my mind back into a forward functioning rotation, and pieced together who was talking, and where I was. Orin’s truck was nice and warm. The smell of rich leather and fresh split wood floated around me. I turned in my seat a bit, to get a better look at Orin.
He was tall, about six foot five and built like an anatomy illustration of what a
