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“Riss here is a wee hungry. Maybe a biscuit to go with the tea?” he said with a wink to Riss.
Siobhan shook her head. “I know who’ll be wantin’ that biscuit and you should know better.” She grabbed the two mugs and went out again.
“Where was I? Right. So, your grandfather refused to let Saoirse keep the babes. Maeve, your grandmother was not pleased about that. Not one bit. They argued something bitter about it but in the end, your grandfather got his way. When the girls, excuse me, when you and your sister were born, Cillian took you and left.” She was a twin? Goodness. She’d never suspected.
William tapped his mug with a gnarled finger. “He never told anyone where he went but he was seen. The Irish are all over the world and we gossip like no one else.” He grinned and his blue eyes twinkled. “Anyway, I heard he’d gone all the way to London. I think he thought any closer and your grandmother might go and get the babies back. He gave the babies to an Irish lawyer with good connections. He made the solicitor promise to find good homes for you both with the additional promise you girls were never to reach out unless absolutely necessary. He wanted to give your mother a fresh start.”
Siobhan arrived with more tea and a plate of cookies. Riss took one immediately. “Thanks. I was a bit peckish,” she said with a smile.
Siobhan swatted her grandfather playfully. “You be sure to be nice to her. She’s coverin’ for ya.” She smiled at Riss and then left once again.
“So did my mother get her fresh start?”
“Ach, no. That was the saddest part. Not six months later, the old house caught fire. Your mother died from smoke inhalation trying to save your granddad. Your grandmam passed away in the hospital.”
Riss swigged her tea as if to wash down the tears building her throat. It was amazing how she could be this upset about people she didn’t know. Yes, they were her family but she’d never known them. O’Toole could be talking about anyone. And yet, her chest hurt.
“Thank you for telling me all that. I appreciate it. I have always wondered about my family. I never knew where I came from, and now I do. It means more to me than I can say. I wish someone was alive so I could meet them, but this is the next best thing I guess.”
O’Toole nodded. “It’s hard to be sure. After the fire, some cousins took over the farm for a while but no one could make a go of it. Your grandfather had the magic touch he did.”
“May I ask how you know all of this? I guess I should’ve asked before. Were you friends with my grandparents?”
“Aye, my family had the land next door to your grandfather’s. Our families went back generations together. Your grandfather was more successful than us and we ended up selling off the land years ago. I miss it more than I can say.”
Riss immediately felt a kinship with the elderly gentleman. She knew what it was like to long for home. She hadn’t even realized it until now but that’s what she had been missing all these years. Growing up in New York was okay but she’d never felt like she had a home, not the way other people talked about it. Maybe Ireland was her home. The home she’d been missing.
“How did you end up here, if you don’t mind me being nosy?” she asked.
“Well, that’s a long story but the short version is I fell in love. Made a life with my wife and kids in Dublin but then my Anna died and I had always promised her one day we’d see Venice. I came here after her funeral and just never went home again. Not the same without my Anna.”
She leaned forward and squeezed the man’s hand. “I understand that completely.” And she did. Life wasn’t the same for her in New York after her parents had died. New York had never really fit her but with her parents gone, it just felt empty.
“Your adoptive family, they were good to you?” he asked.
“Yes. I loved my parents very much. They were good people. We had a lot of fun and good times. They passed away a few years ago.” She didn’t get into the details. That was enough.
“And so you came looking for your birth family.”
“Actually, someone sent me a note to come to Venice and they would tell me about my birth family. I had no idea where to look, to be honest, so I came.”
O’Toole frowned. “A note you say.”
She nodded. “I think Alicia got the same type of thing. A man named Umberti tracked us down and sent us the notes.”
“Allesio Umberti? You want to be careful of him.”
“Yes, he’s not my favorite person.” Riss drank some tea and grabbed a second cookie. O’Toole was on his fourth.
“And what have you done since you’ve been here? Seen any of Venice? She’s a beautiful city.”
“No, not really.” Riss found herself explaining most of what happened to her, omitting the part about joining the Society and saying instead she was staying with some acquaintances.
“Good lord, that sounds awful. Please do be careful, Riss. I would hate to see you end up like your sister.”
“Me too,” she agreed. But telling him the story made her think of the bible. “By any chance, do you have the Fitzgerald family bible?”
He leaned back in his chair and gave her an assessing gaze. “Your sister asked me the same thing. She seemed to think it was very valuable.”
