right.”
He sighed. The best decision here would be to just go with the whole Irish lore thing, no matter how ridiculous it sounded. Truth was, this was probably his last chance with Cathy and he would do anything not to screw it up. Even if it meant humoring her about curses and leprechauns.
“Naturally we’ll go home for the funeral. I wouldn’t consider not going. He’s family. I just have one request.”
“What’s that? And it better not have anything to do with my beliefs, because if it does, we have nothing further to discuss.”
He shook his head, and stared into her amazing eyes. “Can I kiss you?”
She chuckled and threw him a sly little grin. “‘Tis I who’ll be kissin’ you when the coin is in me hand.”
So they had an agreement. Now all Ronan had to do was find that damn coin and his empty life would suddenly take on a new meaning.
He stood up. “Well, don’t just sit there. We have a coin to retrieve.”
* * *
Ronan spent that night on Cathy’s sofa, alone. He didn’t sleep much due to some animal or baby crying all night long. It drove him crazy. At one point he opened the back door to see where it was coming from. As soon as he stepped in the yard, the crying stopped.
Then when he went back to his sofa, the crying started up again. Peace finally came at daybreak. By then Ronan was so distraught he only caught a couple hours sleep and got up around eight in the morning.
As soon as he opened his eyes, while Cathy was still locked in her room, he called his Lieutenant asking to take some of his vacation time. For the first time since he’d joined the force he didn’t get a rash of excuses why he needed to wait for a better time. Apparently, his Lieutenant had heard about his cousin’s death and figured he’d want to escort the body back to Ireland.
“That’s the plan,” Ronan told him, having no idea who would be escorting the body.
“You go do what’s necessary. I’ll get someone to cover for you.”
“Thanks,” Ronan said and hung up, glad to know that at least if there was a family emergency he wouldn’t have to worry about getting the time off. He suspected if he just wanted to have fun, there would have been a completely different reaction. Ronan had eight weeks of vacation time on the books, and if he could figure out how to keep Cathy by his side, he intended to take every last hour as long as it involved her.
After he hung up with his Lieutenant, he called his cousin Kasey, thinking he should, at the very least, mention the coin to him and what had happened to Tommy, but Kasey didn’t answer. He felt like a dolt leaving a message about a supposed magical coin, so he disconnected instead.
He’d spoken to Rourke not too long after Tommy’s death and the two of them had rehashed speculation on why their cousin had decided to bring the gold all the way to the states to sell it. And why now? They’d concluded that he might have felt safer exchanging it in the states, but they couldn’t be sure of anything until they returned to Ireland to put the puzzle together. In the meantime, Ronan worried about Rourke’s undercover entanglement with the Shaughnessy crime family. Rourke sometimes felt as if he was invulnerable to their madness, but those guys would just as soon kill you than question your actions. He’d warned his cousin to be careful, but Rourke wasn’t the careful type.
After the calls, he showered and dressed in the same clothes he’d worn the previous night. Then he thought about making a pot of strong coffee knowing how much Cathy liked her first cup while she was still in bed. When he gently knocked on her bedroom door to see if she was awake, she immediately invited him in. She was not only awake, but dressed and sitting on a chair knitting something small using pink and white yarn.
“Coffee?”
“Thanks, but I don’t drink it anymore. I’m a tea drinker now. Coffee was keeping me awake all night. Tea seems to relax me.” She put the
He sighed. The best decision here would be to just go with the whole Irish lore thing, no matter how ridiculous it sounded. Truth was, this was probably his last chance with Cathy and he would do anything not to screw it up. Even if it meant humoring her about curses and leprechauns.
“Naturally we’ll go home for the funeral. I wouldn’t consider not going. He’s family. I just have one request.”
“What’s that? And it better not have anything to do with my beliefs, because if it does, we have nothing further to discuss.”
He shook his head, and stared into her amazing eyes. “Can I kiss you?”
She chuckled and threw him a sly little grin. “‘Tis I who’ll be kissin’ you when the coin is in me hand.”
So they had an agreement. Now all Ronan had to do was find that damn coin and his empty life would suddenly take on a new meaning.
He stood up. “Well, don’t just sit there. We have a coin to retrieve.”
* * *
Ronan spent that night on Cathy’s sofa, alone. He didn’t sleep much due to some animal or baby crying all night long. It drove him crazy. At one point he opened the back door to see where it was coming from. As soon as he stepped in the yard, the crying stopped.
Then when he went back to his sofa, the crying started up again. Peace finally came at daybreak. By then Ronan was so distraught he only caught a couple hours sleep and got up around eight in the morning.
As soon as he opened his eyes, while Cathy was still locked in her room, he called his Lieutenant asking to take some of his vacation time. For the first time since he’d joined the force he didn’t get a rash of excuses why he needed to wait for a better time. Apparently, his Lieutenant had heard about his cousin’s death and figured he’d want to escort the body back to Ireland.
“That’s the plan,” Ronan told him, having no idea who would be escorting the body.
“You go do what’s necessary. I’ll get someone to cover for you.”
“Thanks,” Ronan said and hung up, glad to know that at least if there was a family emergency he wouldn’t have to worry about getting the time off. He suspected if he just wanted to have fun, there would have been a completely different reaction. Ronan had eight weeks of vacation time on the books, and if he could figure out how to keep Cathy by his side, he intended to take every last hour as long as it involved her.
After he hung up with his Lieutenant, he called his cousin Kasey, thinking he should, at the very least, mention the coin to him and what had happened to Tommy, but Kasey didn’t answer. He felt like a dolt leaving a message about a supposed magical coin, so he disconnected instead.
He’d spoken to Rourke not too long after Tommy’s death and the two of them had rehashed speculation on why their cousin had decided to bring the gold all the way to the states to sell it. And why now? They’d concluded that he might have felt safer exchanging it in the states, but they couldn’t be sure of anything until they returned to Ireland to put the puzzle together. In the meantime, Ronan worried about Rourke’s undercover entanglement with the Shaughnessy crime family. Rourke sometimes felt as if he was invulnerable to their madness, but those guys would just as soon kill you than question your actions. He’d warned his cousin to be careful, but Rourke wasn’t the careful type.
After the calls, he showered and dressed in the same clothes he’d worn the previous night. Then he thought about making a pot of strong coffee knowing how much Cathy liked her first cup while she was still in bed. When he gently knocked on her bedroom door to see if she was awake, she immediately invited him in. She was not only awake, but dressed and sitting on a chair knitting something small using pink and white yarn.
“Coffee?”
“Thanks, but I don’t drink it anymore. I’m a tea drinker now. Coffee was keeping me awake all night. Tea seems to relax me.” She put the
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