Page 6 of Over Verdant Irish Hills

“I plan on making youhuevos rancherostomorrow morning. I’m only getting a jump on things.”

His mouth watered and his humor instantly improved. The Irish weren’t fond of spicy food. He hadn’t seen a single jalapeno pepper since arriving, least of all a cubanelle, a guajillo, or a padron. “I miss your cooking, Lupe, like you’ll never know, but I can’t let you cook for me. You take care of the ranch.” He swept his hands around. “This isn’t the ranch.”

“With you gone, there isn’t much to care for.” She walked over to the sink and rinsed the sponge before drying her hands briskly, making her graying curls bounce. “Maybe I miss cooking for you as much as your winning personality.”

Her words put a lump in his throat. “Oh, hell, Lupe, haven’t we had enough emotional ups and downs today?”

“You’re up and down for another reason.”

He almost left the kitchen. Instead, he went for distraction. “Ellie looked beautiful today, didn’t she?”

She turned on his fancy coffee pot, knowing he liked a cup before bedtime. “You’re changing the subject, which means you’redefinitelyhiding from something. You’re too stubborn to admit it.”

“I’d say he’s more than established how stubborn he can be,” said a dark-haired woman, materializing out of nowhere.

Linc’s nerve endings stood his hair on end like on a petrified dog. He almost rubbed his eyes. He was seeing things. People didn’t just appear out of nowhere. Donal’s crazy ideas had to be influencing him.

But he hadn’t seen anyone walk in, and the only person who’d been wearing a white dress at the wedding was his Ellie. The scent of fresh-squeezed oranges wafted off the stranger. He realized he’d smelled this same scent before, but he couldn’t place it. He frowned and looked over at Lupe. Why in the hell was she smiling?

“Can I help you?” he asked the woman.

She held out her slender arms, the color of fine porcelain. “Don’t you recognize me, Linc?”

A photo flashed in his mind. She looked like the woman the arts center had been dedicated to—thedeadwoman the arts center had been dedicated to. He recoiled.No, it couldn’t possibly…“Seeing as this is my kitchen, I think you’d better tellme.”

Her mouth twitched and she glanced over at Lupe, who was still grinning like a fool. “I think you know, Linc. I’m Sorcha Fitzgerald. The ghost Donal was just talking to you about.”

His balls seized up at the confirmation. His heart rate would have alarmed his doctor. “That’s impossible.”

“But it isn’t, is it, Lupe?” she asked in a lilting Irish accent.

Linc scratched his head, feeling more than off-balance, as Lupe nodded in reply.

“Wait!” he cried. “How do you know Lupe’s name?”

“I know the woman in white,” Lupe said softly. “I had visions of her helping Ellie.”

His mouth went bone dry at the wordvisions.Donal’s revelation might have shocked him, but Linc knew Lupe had certain…abilities. He’d even listened to a few premonitions she’d shared involving himself, and been the better for it. Only he hadn’t listened when it came to his last two ex-wives, being a headstrong idiot, so his track record was about fifty-fifty in the woo-woo department. “When?”

“Before Ellie came to Ireland and then after she arrived.” Lupe crossed her arms. “The lady in white helped Ellie and Brady come together, Linc.”

Sorcha buffed her nails. “Given that they got married today, I suppose that’s pretty good proof that I should be taken seriously.”

He still hadn’t gotten his spit back. This woman was telling him she was Sorcha Fitzgerald. Shelooked like her, and according to Lupe, she’d had visions of this…er…woman. Add in what Donal had told him, and he was dealing with a whole lot of crazy. “Are you really telling me you’re a ghost?”

She flicked her hand through the air. “Ghost. Spirit. We have a lot of words for people like me in Ireland. What you need to know is that I’m here to help.”

He put his hand to his buzzing head. “I can’t reckon why. Not that I’m not grateful.”

She and Lupe shared another smile before the woman in white said, “I’m here to help you and your soulmate come together.”

Lupe let out a delighted squeak before clearing her throat and looking down at her feet.

His soulmate! He was having a stroke. Had to be. “Lady, I think you’ve got your wires crossed.”

She smiled slowly as the edges of her white dress fanned around her in a breeze he didn’t feel. “Wires crossed. Oh, I like that. Linc, there are no two people more stubborn in the town of Caisleán than you and your soulmate. But don’t worry. We’re going to have fun, the three of us. I’ve worked with stubborn people before with great success. Donal has already told you, but you can ask your daughter or Kathleen or any of their friends. You can even ask Eoghan.”

There was no way he was going to spread around this lunacy. “I’m way too old to buy into crazy notions like soulmates.”

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