The thought of her with another man had him scowling. He kicked at pebbles on the ground, sending them scattering. Pretending to draw in a breath, Daniel forced himself to think of other things, like how to convince Meredith to agree to the plan coalescing in his mind.
Aye, he needed to keep his focus centered. Fulfilling his promise to his family had to remain his priority. His burgeoning feelings for the beautiful ghost whisperer would be his secret to bear.
6
Meredith opened the storage shed behind the gift shop and surveyed the equipment. She grabbed a pair of work gloves, a five-gallon plastic bucket, and one of the trash grabbers. “I have a master’s degree. Someday I’ll have a PhD. Yet, here I am, fixing to spend my day picking up trash. Trash carelessly dropped by noodleheads who see our planet as their own personal trash bin,” she muttered.
Daniel’s soft chuckle echoed inside her mind, and she whipped around. There he stood, exactly far enough away that his coldness hadn’t alerted her to his presence.
“Noodleheads? I’ve known a few in my time.” He chuckled again and drifted closer. “Do you often talk to yourself, Meredith?”
“I do. I guess it stems from being alone so often.” She groaned. “I didn’t mean for that to sound as pathetic as it did. It’s just that I’m still adjusting to having my sisters so far away. We used to be really close, as in spending a lot of time together. Now I talk to them once a week and see them maybe once a year—if I can afford the trip.”
Meredith closed and locked the shed door. “Someday I’ll have a place of my own, and I’ll adopt a fluffy little dog. That way, when people see me talking to myself, they’ll assume I’m talking to my dog.”
He chuckled again. “We always had dogs on our farm, cats as well. As a wee laddie, I was never without a four-legged friend to play with.”
“But … you had siblings,” she said.
He shook his head. “I was an only child for many years. My mother miscarried twice and gave birth to a stillborn babe before my brother and sisters came along. I was nearly twelve by then.”
“That must have been difficult for your parents.”
“Aye. I could see for myself how worried and careful they were each time my mother was with child again. I witnessed their grief.” Daniel took up a place beside her as she began her rounds through Garretsville. “I grieved those losses as well.”
“Is there something on your mind this morning, Mr. Ghost, or are you just hanging out?”
“Heaven forbid any part of me should hang out,” he quipped, doing a theatrical pat-down check over himself and twisting around to catch a glimpse of his backside.
She laughed. “A ghost with a sense of humor is a rare thing indeed. That’s another characteristic that sets you apart.”
“Aye? You bring it out in me. I love the sound of your laughter, and seeing you smile brightens my day.”
“Flatterer,” she teased as her heart skipped a beat. “Back to my question.” She used the trash grabber to pick up a plastic water bottle and dropped it into the bucket. “What’s on your mind?”
He cast her a serious look. “I could not help but overhear the tale you told about Regan and her Fianna warrior.”
“I could not help but notice you were eavesdropping again.” She shook her head. “I wouldn’t have told that story if it hadn’t been for the whiskey shots.”
“Aye, well, you cannot untell the story the day after, can you, lass? Is the tale true? Did Boann send your sister back through time to prevent Fáelán from being cursed, or were you providing a bit a blarney for our entertainment?”
“It’s true. Grayce and I were both in our sister’s townhouse in Howth when Regan dropped out of thin air to land on the floor after her third-century adventure. She still wore clothing from that era, and she’d suffered a great deal at the hands of Morrigan for her efforts.”
She glanced at him, and the hopefulness she glimpsed in his gaze shot straight through her. “Daniel, I know what you’re thinking, and I’d love to prevent your murder from happening, but Boann doesn’t owe me any favors. What she did to help her own father is one thing. I’m just a shirttail relative.”
He continued to stare at her like a stray puppy hoping she’d drop a few bites of her lunch. “You also heard me tell the story involving my twin sister. Boann’s involvement in human affairs has landed her in a lot of trouble. Her grandfather happens to be King Lir Beneath the Sea, and the Tuatha dé Danann have laws against meddling in the affairs of mortals.” She shook her head, knowing what he wanted her to do was impossible.
“My twin’s case involved fae magic that had been cast nearly two thousand years ago, instigated by the founder of the famous Fianna elite warriors. Regan’s situation involved the daughter and granddaughter of a fae king. Your situation doesn’t carry even a whiff of fae association.”
Daniels brow rose to a new height. “There truly is a fae king beneath the sea?”
Meredith shook her head. “Lir holds dominion over the oceans where the fae are concerned, but he lives in the Tuatha realm along with the other kings, their council, and their people.”
Her insides performed all kinds of gymnastics at the thought of meeting corporeal Daniel. She forced those thoughts to the far recesses of her mind. Boann had no reason help them, and she wasn’t likely to risk being banished from the earthly realm. Besides, did she really want to travel through time and space herself? So much could go wrong.
“Here’s the thing, Daniel. Even though Regan and Fáelán spent enough time together in this century to fall in love, Fáelán had no memory of my sister when she went to him in
