Page 83 of The Way Back Home
“He’s leaving the day after tomorrow,” Martin said.
“So soon?”
“Said he had to get back.”
“I’ll bet,” Noah muttered. “What’s more important than his daughter?”
Alex looked at Martin. “He doesn’t know?”
Martin shook his head.
“Know what?”
“Donal O’Callaghan isn’t some poor sheep farmer,” Alex said carefully. “He runs an empire.”
Noah snorted, then realized Alex wasn’t kidding. “You’re serious.”
“The O’Callaghans have owned and operated a luxury whiskey distillery in Ireland for generations. Donal took that family wealth and expanded into international shipping and logistics, turning the whiskey distribution into a global empire that now handles goods far beyond alcohol—luxury hotels, investments in transportation hubs, private jets. How do you think he got here so fast?”
“That makes Teagan …”
“An heiress,” Alex finished for him.
Well, hell. How could he compete with that?
“Does she know?”
“No,” Martin said. “Donal didn’t want to overwhelm her.”
And it would be overwhelming. Noah was having difficulty wrapping his mind around it, and he hadn’t just spent days in the hospital after nearly being beaten to death and woken up to discover a father he’d never known.
Alex clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Take heart, brother. You’ve got something Donal doesn’t.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“Her trust.You’ve been there when she needed you most. And she’s inyourcabin now, waiting foryou.”
Noah took the long way back, skirting the woods before turning down the frozen drive toward his cabin. The sky had already deepened into a deep blue, providing a stunning backdrop for thousands of twinkling stars.
He’d said it before, and he’d say it again—fate was a cruel bitch. For the last two decades of Teagan’s life, she’d been poor, abused, and alone while her father was rolling in wealth and flying in private jets, unaware of her existence.
Soon, however, she would know about all that and more.
It was like one of those fairy tales, where the girl mucking the stables turned out to be an heiress, only Teagan’s story came with scars and self-imposed exile.
Would she be eager to shed her metaphorical rags for riches? Or could she be happy with a simpler life, say, one with a man who would be there for her, who wouldn’t walk away?
Someone who wouldn’t see her as fragile or broken or an obligation, but a true partner in every sense of the word.
He wanted to be thatman.
But could he?
The cabin lights glowed faintly against the dark. Noah hesitated at the door, searching for the right words. Until now, he’d felt secure in his role as Teagan’s protector. She’d had no one else. Now, her father was in the picture, and he had far more resources to see to her needs.
Noah wouldn’t blame Teagan if she embraced her new life and walked away. Hell, after all she’d been through, she deserved that and more. He had his own issues to deal with before he could offer her the kind of stable, well-adjusted man she deserved.
Which was why he couldn’t tell her how deeply she’d worked her way under his skin and into his heart.
