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“I’m so sorry, Maggie.”
She sighs deeply, bends over to kiss Murphy, and then slowly shakes her head. “I think I’d like to be alone.”
“Not happening,” Kane says and hurries out of the room. I hear a kitchen faucet running, and the clatter of dishes and silverware.
Several long, silent minutes later, Kane returns with a hot cup of tea.
“Here, love. Have some tea. Perhaps you should lie down.”
“Kane, I’m okay. Honest. I just want to be alone for a while.”
“You’re in shock,” Kane says.
I drop my arm and stand, frowning at the man I’ve come to love in such a short time.
“She wants us to go, Kane.” Let the poor woman fall apart in private.
“She doesn’t,” he insists. “I have to call the family. We need to make arrangements—”
Maggie stands and takes her brother’s face in her hands. She kisses his cheek and then smiles up at him with the saddest eyes I’ve ever seen.
“I love you to distraction. But I want to be alone now, okay?”
“No, it’s not okay, Mary Margaret.” He tips his forehead against hers. “I’m so sorry, love.”
“Kane,” she whispers, her lip quivering, “I need you to go now.”
“We’re going,” I say and take Kane’s hand, urging him toward the door. “Let’s head back home. You’re right, there’s plenty to do.”
“I’ll make the calls,” Maggie says firmly after swallowing hard. “Later.”
Murphy stays sitting on Maggie’s couch, not moving.
“You stay with her,” Kane says, pointing at the dog. “Take care of her.”
Murphy lays his head on his paws, watching us all carefully.
Maggie pushes us out the door and shuts it behind us. But when I start to walk down the steps, Kane stops me.
“Here.” He holds the key fob for his car out to me. “You go back to my place. I don’t feel right leaving her.”
I take a deep breath and climb the two steps back to him, then wrap my arms around his back and hug him. I understand that he’s struggling. Maggie’s the youngest of the siblings, and anyone with eyes in their head can see that Kane’s closest to her. He loves her, and she’s hurting.
He wants to fix it.
“You can help her by doing as she asks, Kane.”
“She shouldn’t be alone.”
“I don’t disagree with you. But she’s a grown woman, who just received the most devastating news a person can get. And she asked for privacy. She wants to be alone.”
“She doesn’t know what she wants,” he argues, his voice tight with frustration.
“I do.” Maggie flings open the door and pins her brother with a hot green stare, tears floating in her eyes. “I love you, but you don’t know what’s going on in my head. When I say I want to be alone, that’s what I mean. If you stay, you’ll hover and ask questions and take over because you’re the oldest, and that’s what you do. But I don’t need it. Now, when I do need you, I’ll be sure to find you.”
She’s sobbing as she slams the door shut again, and Kane sighs deeply.
“This is feckin ridiculous. She doesn’t need me.”
“That’s not what she said.” I take his hand, and he follows this time down to the car. “She said she didn’t need you to hover. She said she’ll find you later.”
He opens the door for me, ever the gentleman even when his family has been turned on its head.
Should I go home? Should I suggest that he take the time he needs for his family and call me when he’s ready?
I watch his profile as he drives. His jaw is tight. In fact, every muscle in his body is flexed, in anger or frustration, I don’t know. Perhaps grief of his own. I know he said he didn’t like Joey, but if the man’s been part of the O’Callaghan family for any length of time, he must have feelings about the man’s sudden death.
I reach out and take his hand. Before my eyes, he relaxes. He turns and offers me a quiet smile. It doesn’t quite reach his eyes.
Right then and there, I decide I won’t back away. I’ll stick by him. If he needs distance, he’ll ask for it.
“I hate that she’s alone,” he mutters.
“Give her a minute to catch her breath,” I say softly. “I can’t imagine what’s going on inside of her right now. And she has Murphy with her. Does she have food and stuff for him?”
“Aye, she keeps him often, so she has everything he’ll need. I have to call the siblings,” he says as he pulls into his driveway. “I know she’ll want to call everyone herself, but damn it, they need to know.”
I nod, not wanting to interfere. He knows his family inside and out, and if this is what he feels is right, then he should do it.
I sit on the couch in the sunroom as he paces back and forth, talking to each sibling, telling them what he knows—which isn’t much.
