Page 76 of Blindsided
Her casual certainty sends a warmth through me that has nothing to do with the hot tea in my hands. Before I can respond, Declan calls us all to the dining table.
“Let’s go over the plan once more,” he says, spreading out the hand-drawn map from the safety deposit box. “We’ll take two cars. Kane, Kori, and I in one; Wren, Kat, and Rory in the other. According to this map, Miners Village is here”—he points to a spot deep in the Wicklow Mountains —” We have to travel to Glendalough, then from there to the Glendalough Upper Lake car park.” From there, it’s about a 54-minute walk along the Miner Walk. Remote, but the scenery is stunning from what I can tell from Google Earth.”
“Sounds like a perfect place to hide something,” Rory observes.
“Or a perfect place to trap us,” I counter, the possibility of it nagging at me all day.
Declan’s expression is grim. “That’s why we’re being cautious. We’ll approach separately. First car stops here,”— he points to the town of Glendalough and traces his finger along the road, “second car continues to the car park.”
“Who’s in which car?” Wren asks.
“We’ll take the lead,” Declan says. “You three follow twenty minutes behind. That way, if there is trouble, we have backup.”
I don’t love the idea of Kori being in the first car, potentially walking into danger, but before I can object, she speaks up.
“I should be in the second car,” she says firmly. “This is a family matter. Kane, Kat, and Declan should be together — I’d be in the way.”
“You wouldn’t—” I begin, but she cuts me off with a gentle squeeze of my arm.
“Yes, I would. This moment is for you guys. Not some random woman you met on a plane.”
“You’re hardly random,” I protest, but I see the logic in her argument.
Declan nods, accepting the change without argument. “Fine. Kori rides with Wren and Rory. Kat comes with us.”
The rest of the evening passes in preparation. We pack overnight bags, check routes, and charge phones. The atmosphere is tense but purposeful. By the time we turn in for the night, everything is readyfor our early departure.
I find myself unable to sleep, wound up with anticipation and anxiety. After an hour of staring at the ceiling in the small guest room I’ve been using, I give up and head downstairs. To my surprise, the kitchen light is on. Kori sits at the table, nursing a cup of tea and staring out at the moonlit sea.
“Can’t sleep either?” I ask, joining her at the table.
She shakes her head. “Too much on my mind.”
“Mark?”
“Partly,” she admits. “But mostly thinking about tomorrow. About you meeting your sister.”
I reach for her hand, grateful when she doesn’t pull away. “Nervous?”
“For you, yes.” Her eyes meet mine, serious in the dim light. “This is huge, Kane. Life-changing.”
“I know.” I trace patterns on her palm with my thumb, finding comfort in the simple contact. “I keep wondering what she’ll be like if she’ll hate me for having the life she didn’t have. If she’ll even want to know me.”
“She will,” Kori says with such certainty that I almost believe her.
“How can you be so sure?”
She smiles, a soft, sad thing. “Because even after everything, part of me still wants to know Lana. Still loves her, despite the betrayal. Blood is complicatedlike that.”
The mention of her sister reminds me that Kori is dealing with her own family drama, one that’s been overshadowed by mine over the past few days. “I’m sorry I’ve dragged you into all this when you came here to escape your own problems.”
“You haven’t dragged me anywhere,” she says firmly. “I’m here because I want to be.”
“Even with Mark showing up?”
She nods, her expression resolute. “Even with that. Maybe especially with that. Facing him was... clarifying.”
“And what did it clarify?” I ask, suddenly needing to know where I stand with this woman who’s become so important to me in such a short time.
