Page 52 of Beneath Pearly Irish Skies
Her mouth formed the largest, most stunning smile he’d ever witnessed on her. The golds in her eyes seemed to flash like the chestnut and caramel highlights in her short brown hair. “Hello!” she called out.
“It’s another pretty lady,” Fiadh said eagerly, pointing to Megan.
“She is pretty and then some,” Kade said, loud enough for Megan to hear. “As are you, Fiadh.”
Megan blushed, which Darragh O’Toole noted with a grin. “You’ll be having all the girls with talk like that, Kade Donovan. Sounds like you had a grand time on your ride, and why wouldn’t you? The sun finally came out.”
“Megan’s been visualizing it,” Kade said when they reached them, and he helped Fiadh off the pony.
She’d learned to undo the helmet herself, and while it took some time, she managed. “Look! I did it so fast today.”
Kade took the helmet and put his arm around the tiny girl as she hugged his leg. “You did at that. Next you’ll be jumping fences.”
“No, I won’t.” She ran over to her father, who lifted her into his arms. “Dad, we need to go. Right now. Kade has a date! Bye, Kade. Bye, pretty lady.”
He watched as Megan flinched.Sorcha, sometimes you’re too clever for your own good.
“We’ll be off then,” Darragh said, shifting his daughter as Kade opened the car door. “See you next week. Megan, it was right fine meeting you. I’m already looking forward to St. Stephen’s Day. Good luck.”
Fiadh and her father waved as the Berlingo took off, and Kade shifted on his feet. Megan’s face was white now. Did she think he had a date with someone else? Oh, Sorcha.
“I hear we’re having a date,” he said, crossing to touch her arm. “But before I tell you how happy I am about it, I need to share something from my heart. You look beautiful, love. Pretty doesn’t do it justice.”
Her mouth parted a couple times. “But… How did you know about our date? I’m so confused.”
He slowly lifted his hand, making sure she was open to his touch. When she didn’t jolt, he smoothed her hair behind her ear, tracing the short lock with his finger. She shivered. A good sign. “A ghost told me and Fiadh. A nice one. One that’s helping matchmake us, so to speak. The truth is: I can see ghosts.”
Honesty seemed the best way. She would have to know all of him at some point.
“You can see ghosts.” She grabbed the lapel of his navy jacket. “And that little girl can too? Excuse me a moment while I take this in. I know you’d never say something that wasn’t true. But it’s…not something you hear every day. Although wearein Ireland, and only today in the butcher shop, people were talking about the Mayo football team being cursed and Summercrest Manor being haunted. No one blinked an eye.”
He chuckled as Sorcha appeared suddenly behind Megan and made a face at him before disappearing again. Deciding it best not to confirm what she’d heard in the butcher shop, he said, “I don’t imagine the Irish are the only people who believe in the supernatural, but we do talk about it a lot. In my family, you can’t go to a funeral without someone mentioning who they’ve seen from the past. But that’s not the point.”
She was holding her breath, so he rubbed her back.
“The point is that I was told to dress up for our date.” He gestured to his clothes. “I don’t even smell the horse anymore.”
Her nose wrinkled. “I suppose I still do. Sometimes. I don’t seem to mind it as I probably smell the same way. Kade, I… I don’t know what to think here. We have a matchmaking ghost helping us? Do you know who it is?”
So much for diverting her. He thought about it a moment before saying, “The ghost is Carrick’s deceased wife, Sorcha.”
“You mean the one the arts center is named after?” She put her hands to her face. “I’ve seen her picture in the entryway. Oh, my! This is crazy. Does Carrick know? I mean, is he aware that she’s around? God, I can’t believe I’m talking like this.”
He nodded. “Yes, Carrick knows. She helped your sister and him get together, after all.”
She grabbed his forearms. “You’d better start at the beginning.”
He led her over to sit in one of the two chairs at the small table he had outside the tack room. As he took the saddle off Winston, he told her what he knew. By the end, she was even paler.
“But this is incredible.” Her fingers lifted to her gorgeous mouth. “She must have loved Carrick a lot.”
“She did,” he said quietly as he placed Winston in his stall and joined her at the table. “She wanted him to be happy again. He was mired down in grief, you might recall.”
“I do,” she said softly. “And now us.”
“Yes, love, and now us.”
She pressed a finger to the space between her eyes, as if trying to take it all in. “Wow, they must think…or Sorcha must think…that we have a really good chance of being happy together.”
