Page 63 of Blindsided
I gratefully accept her offer, gathering my toiletries and a change of clothes. The bathroom is tiny but functional, with cracked tiles and a shower that groans alarmingly when I turn it on. But the water is hot, and that’s all that matters.
As I stand under the spray, I try to make sense of the day’s events. The castle, the skeleton, the panic attack, the kiss. Kane’s father’s letter, the mysterious safety deposit box in Dublin. It’s like I’ve stepped into someone else’s life—someone more adventurous, more resilient than the woman who fled Toronto in tears.
I wonder what Mark would think if he could see me now. Would he recognize the wife he betrayed in this woman who’s chasing clues across Ireland with a family of possible criminals? The thought makes me smile despite myself.
After my shower, I change into clean clothes—jeans and a sweater I packed at Wavecrest. I towel-dry my hair as best I can and apply a bit of lip balm, pointedly ignoring the voice in my head that asks who I’m trying to impress.
When I head downstairs, I find Kane alone in the small sitting room, sprawled in an armchair by the fireplace. The others must have gone to bed or found somewhere else to be. He looks up as I enter, and the smile that spreads across his face makes my heart do somersaults.
“Hey,” he says, straightening up. “Feeling better?”
“Much,” I confirm, taking the chair opposite him. “Amazing what a hot shower can do.”
He nods, his eyes never leaving my face. “Listen, about what happened at the castle—”
“Which part?” I interrupt. “The skeleton, the panic attack, or the kiss in the rain?”
His laugh is soft and genuine. “All of it, I suppose. But mostly the kiss.”
I feel heat rising to my cheeks again, but I hold his gaze. “What about it?”
“I wanted to make sure you’re okay with it. That I didn’t take advantage of a vulnerable moment or something.”
The concern in his voice touches me. “You didn’t,” I assure him. “I was a willing participant, if you recall.”
“I recall,” he says, his voice dropping lower in a way that sends a shiver down my spine. “Vividly.”
We sit there for a moment, the air between us charged with something that feels dangerous and exhilarating at the same time.
“So, what happens now?” I finally ask. “With your sister, with the bank in Dublin?”
Kane sighs, running a hand through his hair—that gesture I’m coming to recognize as a sign of his inner turmoil. We're going to Dublin tomorrow.Check out this safety deposit box, see what Tomas left for us.”
“And then?”
He shrugs. “Depends on what we find, I guess. If there’s information about Ella—where she is now, how to find her—then we follow that lead.”
“And Tomas?” I press. “Will you try to find him too?”
Kane’s expression darkens. “If he’s still alive, yeah. I have some questions for him.”
I can only imagine what those questions might be. Why did you abandon me? Why did you pay another man to raise me? Why did you keep my sister a secret? The weight of those unasked questions hangs heavy in the air between us.
“What about you?” he asks suddenly. “What happens when this treasure hunt is over? Back to Toronto to deal with the cheating husband?”
The question catches me off guard. I haven’t thought that far ahead, too caught up in the immediate drama of the MacGallan family secrets.
“I don’t know,” I admit. “I can’t stay in Ireland forever. I have a life back there, even if it’s in shambles at the moment.”
“Right,” Kane says, something shuttering in his expression. “Of course.”
I lean forward, needing him to understand. “ButI’m not ready to go back yet. Not until...” I trail off, not sure how to finish that sentence.
“Until?” he prompts.
“Until I see this through,” I decide. “Until I know you’ve found your sister, found your answers.”
The smile that breaks across his face is like the sun emerging from behind clouds. “Yeah?”
