Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 126485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 632(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 632(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
“Is Maeve allowed to see Talulla?”
“She is, and she knows to be wary. So should you. Maeve knows without a doubt where her loyalties lie, so she can draw boundaries when necessary. I think your loyalties are still a bit murky.”
I raised my eyebrows. I hadn’t expected him to be this direct, but I appreciated it. “My loyalties have to be earned.”
“Lorcan expects loyalty. From everyone around him, especially the people closest to him. Pick your battles wisely, Miss Killeen.”
“Mrs. Devaney,” I corrected, even if the reminder of my marriage to Lorcan sent a little shiver down my back. “I’d like to see Talulla now. I prefer to make up my own mind.”
Seamus gave a terse nod and led me the two blocks toward Talulla’s shop. When we stepped in, she was busy with an elderly lady who wanted an ancient fur coat repaired. It was moth eaten and sun bleached. If the poor fox could see what had become of his beautiful shiny fur, he’d probably die again. She held a Kerry Blue Terrier at the leash and he barked a warning at us.
“That’s not polite, Uggie.”
Seamus bowed his head toward the old woman.
Talulla was still inspecting the fox coat. “I’ll do my best, but the moths took their toll. It’s old.”
“It doesn’t have to outlive me, so just do what you can to make it last a few more months or maybe a year. That’s when my time’s up.”
Talulla waved her off, and Seamus clucked his tongue. “Mrs. Byrne, you’ll outlive us all.”
“Ninety is where I’m drawing the line,” the old woman said. “It’s enough. Four years without my Jack. It’s enough.”
“What about good ol’ Uggie? Won’t you try to reach one hundred for your mutt?” Seamus asked with a hint of sarcasm.
Mrs. Byrne wagged her finger at him. “Sarcasm doesn’t suit you, Seamus. I remember you and Lorcan running around Kenmare in your soggy cloth nappies.”
My eyes grew wide. Interesting. Maybe Mrs. Byrne could be another valuable source for me, if not for my search, then at least a way to better understand my husband.
I gave the woman a warm smile. There was a hint of wariness in her eyes before she offered me a polite smile. Mrs. Byrne would be a harder nut to crack. “The new Mrs. Devaney.”
She made it sound as if there had been a Mrs. Devaney before me, though maybe my own thought carousel that led to my assumption.
“Nice to meet you and Uggie.” Uggie gave me the same stiff look of his owner.
Mrs. Byrne nodded and briefly shook my hand. She was loyal to Lorcan and Seamus, or at least more loyal to them than she was to me, a complete stranger. “I knew your grandparents. Good people. Heartbroken after what your mother did, of course.”
I froze. “Are they still alive?” I asked before I could control my first impulse. Seamus shifted beside me. If he didn’t like the direction the conversation was taking, he wasn’t intervening yet.
“They used to live next door to me and my husband before we moved to Dublin and then later America.” She shook her head with a sad smile. “Your grandfather passed fifteen years ago and your grandmother died three years ago. Cancer. Sorrow destroyed her health.”
I nodded. It wasn’t difficult to guess that Mrs. Byrne hadn’t been a big fan of my mother and thus of me. Still, I had every intention to get in her good graces. She gave Talulla a quick smile, then a warmer one for Seamus before nodding tersely and leaving the shop with her grumbling dog.
“She doesn’t like me,” I said.
“She feels protective of Lorcan and the rest of us boys.”
I scoffed. “If anyone needs protection, it’s me. I’m married to Lorcan Devaney. You should know what that means.”
“I know that Lorcan holds great respect for the holy bond of matrimony. As his wife, you’re safer than everyone else, unless you break the trust Lorcan’s granting you.”
I doubted Lorcan trusted me in any way. He didn’t know me. Maybe he had tried to get to know me through Patrick but he hadn’t succeeded.
Talulla seemed disinterested in our conversation. She grabbed the fur coat and walked into the back room of her shop. I followed her, and of course Seamus did the same.
“Can’t you give me a bit of privacy?”
Seamus regarded Talulla, who was busy inspecting the coat as if the two of us weren’t worth her attention. “Remember what I said.” He turned and slipped back toward the front of the store.
“Nobody will come into my shop if the clan’s present!” Talulla shouted. “They’ll think I didn’t pay my protection!”
“You didn’t,” Seamus shouted back. “You have until tomorrow, or Ian is going to take cash from your customers in the next few weeks.”
Talulla let out a huff. Her eyes settled on me. “What are you doing here? I don’t need more Devaneys in my life.”