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A dark SUV pulled up to the sidewalk. Hugh McLeod waved from the driver’s seat.
Liam placed a steadying hand on the lion’s mane, taking a moment to ground himself. Cora’s father looked very much like the squire he remembered, but there were distinct differences that were impossible to miss. Squire McLeod had had pasty skin, a few missing teeth, and a round, paunchy belly. This man was the complete opposite. He had a muscular, compact frame, gray, cropped hair and what appeared to be a full set of healthy teeth. He was also tanned from the sun, as if he spent a lot of time outdoors. The difference was remarkable, and it reminded Liam just how far from his comfort zone this new world was.
Hugh rolled down the window. “Are you getting in, or are you waiting for that lion to give you courage?”
Liam squared his shoulders and quickly got into the car.
“Don’t worry about meeting Cora,” Hugh said with a chuckle as he pulled onto the busy street. “She’s going to love you.”
Liam’s heart squeezed. “I hope so.” But as he stared at the buildings, the shops and the people rushing by, a sinking feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. If he was going to save his soul, then she could never love him again. The angels had set him up for torture. He clenched his fists and wondered—not for the first time—if this was all some joke and he’d really been sent to hell, after all.
Hugh drove through the busy neighborhood, then pulled onto a highway. The bustling streets gave way to a sleek road flanked on either side by gently sloping hills, thick with trees.
Liam rolled down the window and stuck his hand out to feel the wind on his face. Thanks to the angels giving him some basic knowledge of the modern world, he was comfortable with automobiles, but he still marveled at the speed. No conveyance he remembered could match this. He breathed in the balmy morning air, letting it soothe his senses. Even though the landscape was different from the Ireland he remembered, he loved the scent of damp earth and green things growing. It gave him a sense of comfort to know that nature didn’t change, even when the rest of the world did.
“Cora’s making us breakfast, so you’re in for a treat,” Hugh said. “She’s a wonderful cook. Had to be, poor thing. Ever since her mother died when she was little, she sort of took over the role of housekeeper, and all that. Which is a damned good thing, since my cooking skills are terrible.”
Liam wondered just how much of the past the angels had reorchestrated. There was so much he still didn’t know, so he’d need to tread carefully. “It’s a shame Cora lost her mother so young.”
“Yes. The cancer was...” Hugh’s knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. “We thought she was going to beat it, but then she contracted pneumonia and couldn’t recover.” His voice was too matter-of-fact. Too carefully neutral. Cora’s father still mourned his wife.
“I’m sorry,” Liam said. Even though he never knew the woman, he knew how deeply the loss affected Cora, too. She’d lived a very sheltered, uneventful life in the shadow of her mother’s death.
“Damned monster, cancer. Not right for a mother to die so young,” Hugh said, taking an off-ramp that led into a quaint residential neighborhood. The houses were small and close together, but the streets were clean and easily accessible. “But you’d know all about that, yourself. I’m sorry about your mother’s passing. A car accident, and you just eighteen...” He shook his head and trailed off.
Liam remained silent, frantically piecing together his backstory based on their conversation. His real mother back in his time had died in childbirth, along with the baby. His father followed a few months later, leaving only Liam and his brother to work the land.
Hugh took a deep sigh and thumped his hand on the steering wheel. “Well, you know how the song goes. Only the good, and all that.”
Liam glanced at Hugh. “What song?”
“‘Only the Good Die Young.’”
When Liam didn’t respond, Hugh looked shocked. “Billy Joel?”
Liam shook his head, and Hugh muttered, “Jesus, I’m old.”
“Ridiculous, at any rate,” Liam said. “I know plenty of sinners who’ve died young.” Himself, included.He raked a hand through his hair and stared blindly out the window.
“Well, I know your father was thrilled when you left Ireland and moved to the US. The day you decided to become a police officer, he called me up to brag. When he was my partner back in the day, he used to carry your picture around in his wallet. I bet he still does, doesn’t he?”
Liam struggled to come up with a vague answer that would appease Hugh, and instead shrugged. How the hell would he know what his fake father did or didn’t do?
“I know your parents split when you were a baby,” Hugh said kindly. “But your father always talked about you. He was proud of you, you know.”
A flash of anger spiked through Liam, surprising in its intensity. “Sure,” he said through clenched teeth. Everything about his presence here was built on a foundation of lies. This was all just a charade, and it felt wrong. Strange, when he’d never had a problem lying in the past. As a thief, spinning a tale had always come as naturally to him as breathing, but this felt different. He wasn’t in control of this mess of lies, so there was no way for him to navigate through it with confidence. He felt like a fallen leaf caught in a stream, bumping into every jagged rock as it was pulled helplessly forward.
Before Hugh could comment further, something up ahead caught his attention. “Ah.” He slowed the car and broke into a smile. “There’s my girl.”
Liam looked up and suddenly felt as if all the sunlight in the sky had coalesced into one perfect spot. Cora.
She was digging through the mailbox when Hugh parked the car across the street from her house. A riot of blond curls floated around her head, and Liam was both shocked and captivated by the skintight black pants and fitted top she was wearing. Her body was leaner and more toned than he remembered, but she still had the soft curves he’d admired over a lifetime ago. When she turned toward them, Liam’s mouth opened on a shaky exhale. If she’d been lovely before, she was downright breathtaking now.
Her eyes were the same bright blue, but there were subtle changes in her face. Her luminous skin had been kissed by the sun, there was a light sprinkling of freckles over her slightly smaller nose, and her lips seemed fuller and a deeper pink than he remembered. When he knew her before, she’d been only seventeen and just on the cusp of womanhood. Now she was all grown-up and more vividly beautiful than ever. This was a version of Cora he’d never seen, but greatly appreciated. And it wasn’t just her face. Christ. She was wearing a thin, short-sleeved top that clung to her curves, leaving nothing to the imagination. Except Liam still took a moment to imagine, in great detail, what she must look like underneath—
“Come on.” Hugh’s gruff voice snapped Liam back to the moment as he cut the engine and got out of the car.
Liam followed Hugh across the street until he was standing before the woman he loved. The woman he’d risked everything to have. The woman who was staring at him right now with barely concealed distrust, like he was a goddamned stranger.
