Page 29 of The Past

The fire in the hearth crackled, throwing flickering shadows along the walls.

I felt comfortable here.

Welcome.

Fiona sat across from me, still wearing the smile she’d had all day after her run on the course at Kildare.I expected she’d be riding that high for a long while.She listened to Rory talk about the horses, nodding at the right times, but I caught her sneaking glances at me.Her eyes would meet mine, I’d let mine drop to her lips, and she’d scowl before taking a bite of her meal.I liked getting under her skin, a challenge that had never really interested me before in my female pursuits.

Kathleen, a woman with keen observational skills and a wicked sense of humor, sat at one end of the table.

“So, Tommy,” she said, reaching for the salt.“Tell me all about Kentucky.I don’t know much about it, ’cept they do good bourbon and fine horses.”

“That about sums it up,” I said with a grin.“Hot summers, cold winters, and the best damn thoroughbreds and saddlebreds you’ll ever see.”I cut a sheepish look at Rory.“No offense to your horses.”

Rory snorted.“Careful, lad.Ye’re in true thoroughbred country now.”

“I can appreciate that,” I said easily.“But we all know Kentucky’s got the best.”

The table erupted in good-natured teasing, and Kathleen asked about my family and our farm.I kept it simple, talking about how we bred and trained saddlebreds, how my parents had sent me here for the summer to, as my mother put it, “Get my head on straight.”

“They think ye’re a troublemaker, then?”Kathleen asked.“I can appreciate that, for I was a big one meself growing up.”

I glanced at Fiona, who was suddenly very interested in her glass of water.“I suppose that depends on who you ask.”

Rory chuckled, shaking his head.“He’s been puttin’ in the work.Knows his way around a horse, I’ll give him that.”

Kathleen turned her attention to Fiona.“And ye, my dear girl… how was the ride today?”She leaned forward, crossed her arms.“And don’t spare a single detail so I can live it with ye.”

Before Fiona answered, I couldn’t help myself.“She was incredible.Held her own against all those men, rode like a damn champion.She was fearless.”

Fiona blushed, stabbing at her potatoes with unnecessary force.“It wasn’t all that.”

I grinned.“It was that and more.”

Rory watched us, his expression unreadable.I didn’t know what he thought about this thing between me and his niece, but he hadn’t kicked my ass yet, so I took that as a good sign.

Fiona looked to her uncle.“When can we do that again?”

His smile was genuine but guarded.“Well, have to figure out when yer da will be otherwise occupied and compare it to the schedule.”

“I want to enter a real race,” Fiona said, and I was surprised by the vehemence in her voice.“And I don’t care if Da finds out.”

The table went silent and Rory and Kathleen exchanged a look before he focused his regard on his niece.“Fi, love… I get yer facing some confusing times with yer da right now, but just have a care how far ye push him.I think ye have battles ahead and I don’t want ye spreading yerself thin.”

Fiona huffed out a breath of frustration.“I know.I just…” She glanced around the table, lingering on me a second longer than the others.“I just don’t want my life decided for me.I want choices.”

She tried to hide it, but I heard the misery laced with fear in every syllable.It made me want to pick her up, sweep out the door with her in my arms, then take her to the airport and back to Blackburn Farms with me where she could be who she wanted to be.

But that was a ridiculous notion, so I pushed it aside.Yeah, I’m interested in Fiona, but this would really only be a summer fling, right?

Kathleen wiped her hands on a towel and pushed up out of her chair.The scraping sound had us all turning our heads.“One of my waitresses is out sick tonight.I need to go cover her shift.”She then moved around the table and bent over to kiss Rory.

He shook his head, holding on to her hand.“Ye work too hard.”

She waved him off.“It doesn’t happen often I have to cover the evenings.Yer just going to miss me warming yer bed.”

Rory barked out a laugh and turned to Fiona and me.“Ye two should go along.”

I was stunned by the invitation, not necessarily for myself.But Fiona is seventeen—soon to be eighteen.She lives under the roof of a man who is very controlling and by all accounts has her already married off.

---