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I closed my eyes and whispered, “Thank you,” before catching her gaze again. “I don’t think I could take you leaving me again. I couldn’t breathe while you were gone.”
“Neither could I,” she confessed. “And, Cord, I don’t want you to think I’m avoiding talking about me family. I think by now you’ve guessed I come from money, but it doesn’t mean anything to me. It’s not who I am or what defines me.”
It was my turn to press my fingers to her lips. “Maebh, I don’t care if you come from money or not. None of that changes who you are in here.”
Taking her hand, I pressed it to my chest.
“Money doesn’t mean anything to me either. All I want is for the two of us to be happy and pop out a couple of kids who are going to talk so fucked-up between your Irish accent and my southern drawl that we won’t know what in the hell they are saying.”
She laughed and slid her hands through my hair.
“I love you so much.”
“And I love you, my beautiful Irish cailin.”
“Kiss me again,” I whispered against her lips.
“Cord, me da and your aunt are waiting outside. We have to go.”
“No, we don’t have to go. We can stay here and…” Glancing around, I realized we were in her father’s office. “Yeah, we better get out of here.”
She climbed off of me. I slowly stood, letting the dizziness settle before reaching for my girl’s hand and walking back out.
When we emerged from the building, Aunt Vi was talking to Aedin. I’d never seen her smiling like that at a man before.
“Oh, hell.”
“What’s wrong?” Maebh asked.
“Aunt Vi is smitten with your father.”
Maebh glanced to them. “You think?”
Nodding, I wrapped my arm around her waist and guided her closer. Neither her dad or Aunt Vi even noticed we had walked up. We stood there and stared before glancing at each other. Maebh chewed slightly on her lip while trying not to smile. I couldn’t help but wonder how she felt about her father moving on with someone else. I knew he’d loved his wife more than anything, but even Maebh had been worried he was beginning to get lonely.
I cleared my throat and that got Aunt Vi and Aedin’s attention. Looking our way, their faces brightened.
“I take it things are all good?” Vi asked, glancing down to my arm around Maebh.
“Yes. They’re perfect!” Maebh declared.
“I hope you don’t have to rush back to the states. I’d love to fish some in the river, Cord, when you’re feeling better,” Aedin said.
“Yes, I’d love that.” I made a mental note to ask Maebh why she had never fished before when she lived on this fucking amazing river. I’d be out there every damn day.
“I think we should head to the house. Cord isn’t feeling so great, and I think he needs to lie down.” Maebh said.
Aedin motioned for us to get into the car. The drive up to the main house wasn’t that long. The car pulled around the circular drive and up to the massive house.
“Tell me about this place, Aedin,” Aunt Vi said.
I could see the pride in his face when we all stepped out of the car.
“Castle Finghin has been in my family since the early eighteen-hundreds. My family has occupied it since, with the exception of when me da married me ma. They moved to England for a bit before me da couldn’t take it and moved back. The house sits on a large amount of land.”
“How many acres?” I asked.
“Three hundred, though at one time, most of the small town we drove through once belonged to me family.”
“Wow,” I said, as Aunt Vi made her way up the giant stone steps.
“It’s four-story, forty-five-thousand square feet with ten suites and ten additional bedrooms. There is also a twenty-seat-cinema, a library, a spa with an indoor pool, and two wine cellars.”
“I’ll sleep in one of those cellars tonight,” Aunt Vi stated.
We all laughed as the door opened and an older man stepped out and greeted us.
“George, this is me boyfriend, Cord Parker. And his aunt, Vi Parker.”
George gave us both a small bow. “Your room is ready, ma’am. I’ll personally show you to it.”
Aunt Vi smiled and replied, “Thank you so much.”
“Once you rest, we’ll take a trip into town, and I’ll show you around,” Aedin stated.
A scenic tour was going to have to wait. My head was killing me, and I needed to spend time with Maebh.
“We’ll see how Cord feels in a bit. Let’s get you settled in, shall we?” Maebh said, looking back over her shoulder at the guy who had been our driver. “Dalton, you can leave Cord’s bag there. We can get it.”
“Yes, Ms. O’Sullivan.”
It was strange having people waiting on us, and I was positive Maebh knew I felt that way. Aunt Vi didn’t mind it, but I wasn’t about to let some guy carry my small bag up the steps. Fuck no.
