Page 35 of Irish Betrayal

Anger that he had photos and videos of them? Sure. Jealousy of Mindy, expected, but her disgust—that, he hadn’t counted on.

He had some ground to make up and perhaps some ass to kiss if he hoped to get back in her good graces.

She couldn’t ignore him forever.

sixteen

Three Months Later

Muskogee, Oklahoma

BLAIR

Blair had grown up hearing stories about Oklahoma from her best friends whose parents had lived there years ago, except for one of her cousins, Mags, who had two Scottish parents like herself.

Her other cousin, Gray MacGregor, had a mom, Josephine, from Tulsa, and a father who was Scottish. Daniel, Jonathan, and Bébhinn O’Faolain’s parents also grew up around the Tulsa, Oklahoma area.

It felt surreal to be kicking up red dirt dust from the landscape that had inspired so many American country and western songs. Blair purchased sturdy work boots after she heard about how rough the terrain on William and Katy Stanton’s Muskogee compound was—the property formerly owned by the O’Faolains was covered in the rich ochre clay.

The soil was common to Oklahoma natives but thrilling to see firsthand. She’d already snapped her family several pictures.

Katy was a good friend of Rowan O’Faolain and a botany hobbyist. So when she told Rowan about finding the flowering bush near the river and learned that the species was in severe decline, she called OSU and got in touch with Dr. Linda Bartel.

It was Rowan who mentioned to her friend that Blair studied plants and might be persuaded to work for the Stantons, in conjunction with Oklahoma State University, for her master's in plant pathology, since she hadn't accepted any university offers yet.

Rowan and Katy had stayed close over the years and supposedly, even though Katy and William had grown up and still lived the majority of the year in Texas, Katy had wholeheartedly embraced Oklahoma and was passionate about preserving natural habitats for plants and animals.

Blair and Katy had hit it off from the first moment. She was a chic sixty-something woman who looked equally at ease in silk dresses and heels or blue jeans and boots.

Blair had been in the States for just over twelve weeks. The first three weeks had been spent on Oklahoma State University’s campus attending several classes and lectures with Dr. Bartel and her colleagues. After Katy spoke with the professor about the rare shrub and mentioned Blair, Linda looked into Blair’s background and accomplishments.

The Oklahoma professor believed in Blair enough to travel to Dublin last semester to try and entice her to join her research team. It was the excuse Blair needed to leave the country.

Linda was a serious woman, exacting and strict in her methods. She was a brilliant risk-taker and a visionary in plant pathology. Unlike the past several years, when Blair had basically been teaching herself at Trinity, Linda was the one pushing her to do better, be greater, and create life-sustaining miracles for plants hurtling toward extinction.

The long hours of field work and evening research kept Blair’s erratic and turbulent feelings from bubbling to the surface.

Most of the time.

There were still days, hours, moments where a flash of that last afternoon in Dublin came screeching across her memories to cripple her.

Peter’s revelations, surprisingly enough, weren’t what weighed on Blair’s mind the most. Please, Blair. That text from Daniel had killed her. She ignored him as if his emotions meant nothing to her, even though they meant everything.

She hurt him so that he would leave her behind. He had no idea the baggage she was carrying. Hell, she didn’t know either, but it was dark and desperately filthy. The only thing she knew for sure was that she was damaged. Not irreparably. She had to believe that.

For three months, she had lied to Daniel, her parents, and every one of her friends. She sent messages to each of them, but she could tell that her best friends weren’t satisfied.

Daniel finally stopped trying. It was for the best.

As for telling her father—she needed to. She would, but oh Christ…the fallout. Her father served in the Royal Marines and worked in security now. He hunted bad people. If her dad found out, when he found out, would he be satisfied at putting Peter behind bars? Would he go too far and ruin the rest of his life to avenge his daughter?

Would Daniel?

The one thing, the only thing to do when the consequences of her foolish decisions began to overwhelm her was to force the bad stuff back in her mental lockbox and work.

Always work.

She hadn’t told her friends yet, but Blair had offers from several top universities to join their doctoral programs when she finished her stint in America. Her master’s thesis was on an accelerated timeline since she’d already been taking classes and writing papers long before she finished her bachelor’s, and the program at OSU was immersive and hands-on.