Read Online Hidden ( CSI Reilly Steel #3) by CASEY HILL - Free Book Online
Authors: CASEY HILL
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on life’s great roller-coaster ride.
Still, Reilly felt safest in situations she could control, and if not risking the highs also meant bypassing the lows, she could live with that, she thought as she loaded another tortilla chip.
She and Mike both ate in silence, sipping on their decidedly non-potent cocktails. Talk soon returned to everyday matters about work and life in general. Much to his disappointment, and not for the want of trying, he hadn’t managed to pick up a job in Dublin. A retired fire officer by profession, he was too old for anything in a similar field, and given that Ireland was suffering a major economic downturn, work was hard to come by for any man, let alone one of his age. While his fireman’s pension was supplemented by Irish state welfare, he was the kind of man who needed a reason other than financial to get up in the mornings.
When the chips were almost finished, she fetched the fajitas from the oven, and they both began to expertly load them onto warm tortillas.
‘Got a phone call the other day from Todd Dempsey actually,’ Mike said between mouthfuls.
‘Todd from Sausalito?’she said, recognising the name of one of his old co-workers from the fire department. ‘What was the wife’s name again?’
‘Sally. Yeah, they called to invite me to this big retirement bash he’s having next month.’
‘You should go. It’d be great to see all the guys again, wouldn’t it?’ Reilly drew a line of salsa and sour cream across a tortilla before loading it with shrimp and vegetables and folding it into a cone.
‘I’m thinking I might, and Maura’s keen to go too.’
Reilly grinned. ‘I’ll bet she is … Californian sunshine for a few days instead of this.’ She indicated the damp weather outside.
‘We were actually thinking we might stay a while – like you say, miss some of the bad weather.’
Reilly stopped chewing. What did he mean ‘a while’? Just how long was he planning to stay?
‘Seeing as neither of us has much going on here,’ he continued, ‘and I thought it would be great to see the place again, especially given the … cloud I left under.’
She smiled tightly. ‘Sounds like a good idea, most appealing actually.’
The very idea of home, of bright sunshine and great surf appealed to Reilly just as much as the evocative scent of fresh lime earlier. In truth, she felt an ache of homesickness just thinking about it.
‘Shit, honey, I never even thought … you should come too, we could make a holiday out of it.’
She shook her head. ‘Even if I wanted to, I don’t think I could get the time off from work,’ Reilly lied, the prospect of playing gooseberry to her dad and his girlfriend outweighing the prospect of a vacation. ‘Maybe some other time. But yes, you and Maura should definitely go. And enjoy.’
Still, Reilly had a niggling worry in the back of her mind. She was really only here in the first place because she’d followed her father back to his homeland to keep an eye on him. Now, he no longer needed her, was way past needing her. If he returned to California would he be tempted to stay?
And if he did, what was left in Ireland – other than work – for her?
Chapter 8
My dreams are restless, the past rising up to haunt me or delight me by turn. The dark dreams take me back to that place, that hole I was in, the pit of despair. I left that place behind, never to return, but even though my conscious will refuses to go back there, at night it returns to remind me of whence I came. I will not go back …
But the past also brings back happier times, and lately my dreams have been filled with her, the moment I realized that she was my future, that there was another way, another path that would lead to great happiness.
She was skipping at the time, those flaming curls bouncing with every step. She looked so sweet, untouched, but with a quiet maturity that shone through her sadness like sunshine on a rainy day.
He didn’t
Still, Reilly felt safest in situations she could control, and if not risking the highs also meant bypassing the lows, she could live with that, she thought as she loaded another tortilla chip.
She and Mike both ate in silence, sipping on their decidedly non-potent cocktails. Talk soon returned to everyday matters about work and life in general. Much to his disappointment, and not for the want of trying, he hadn’t managed to pick up a job in Dublin. A retired fire officer by profession, he was too old for anything in a similar field, and given that Ireland was suffering a major economic downturn, work was hard to come by for any man, let alone one of his age. While his fireman’s pension was supplemented by Irish state welfare, he was the kind of man who needed a reason other than financial to get up in the mornings.
When the chips were almost finished, she fetched the fajitas from the oven, and they both began to expertly load them onto warm tortillas.
‘Got a phone call the other day from Todd Dempsey actually,’ Mike said between mouthfuls.
‘Todd from Sausalito?’she said, recognising the name of one of his old co-workers from the fire department. ‘What was the wife’s name again?’
‘Sally. Yeah, they called to invite me to this big retirement bash he’s having next month.’
‘You should go. It’d be great to see all the guys again, wouldn’t it?’ Reilly drew a line of salsa and sour cream across a tortilla before loading it with shrimp and vegetables and folding it into a cone.
‘I’m thinking I might, and Maura’s keen to go too.’
Reilly grinned. ‘I’ll bet she is … Californian sunshine for a few days instead of this.’ She indicated the damp weather outside.
‘We were actually thinking we might stay a while – like you say, miss some of the bad weather.’
Reilly stopped chewing. What did he mean ‘a while’? Just how long was he planning to stay?
‘Seeing as neither of us has much going on here,’ he continued, ‘and I thought it would be great to see the place again, especially given the … cloud I left under.’
She smiled tightly. ‘Sounds like a good idea, most appealing actually.’
The very idea of home, of bright sunshine and great surf appealed to Reilly just as much as the evocative scent of fresh lime earlier. In truth, she felt an ache of homesickness just thinking about it.
‘Shit, honey, I never even thought … you should come too, we could make a holiday out of it.’
She shook her head. ‘Even if I wanted to, I don’t think I could get the time off from work,’ Reilly lied, the prospect of playing gooseberry to her dad and his girlfriend outweighing the prospect of a vacation. ‘Maybe some other time. But yes, you and Maura should definitely go. And enjoy.’
Still, Reilly had a niggling worry in the back of her mind. She was really only here in the first place because she’d followed her father back to his homeland to keep an eye on him. Now, he no longer needed her, was way past needing her. If he returned to California would he be tempted to stay?
And if he did, what was left in Ireland – other than work – for her?
Chapter 8
My dreams are restless, the past rising up to haunt me or delight me by turn. The dark dreams take me back to that place, that hole I was in, the pit of despair. I left that place behind, never to return, but even though my conscious will refuses to go back there, at night it returns to remind me of whence I came. I will not go back …
But the past also brings back happier times, and lately my dreams have been filled with her, the moment I realized that she was my future, that there was another way, another path that would lead to great happiness.
She was skipping at the time, those flaming curls bouncing with every step. She looked so sweet, untouched, but with a quiet maturity that shone through her sadness like sunshine on a rainy day.
He didn’t
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