Declan

10

RACHEL STOOD AT THE top of the stairs and called down to Dec. “Did you find the cookbook?”

“No,” he shouted. “What’s it called again?”

“Comfort Farm Cookbook,” she said. “It has a picture of an apple pie on the front cover.” She walked back into her bedroom and resumed searching her closet. She’d come to the conclusion that her wardrobe was in sad need of an update. All her clothes were entirely too conservative, not sexy. And she wanted to dress sexy now that she’d met Dec. He appreciated it and she liked his compliments.

“You are such a girl,” Rachel muttered to herself.

She grabbed a flowered skirt, then turned to walk to the dresser. But she froze when she saw a woman standing in the middle of her bedroom. Slowly, the woman aimed a gun at her and Rachel felt the blood suddenly run cold in her body.

They stared at each other for a long time without speaking. And then, Rachel realized she knew the woman. “Marcy?”

“I didn’t think you’d remember,” Marcy said. “When Daniel introduced us at the Christmas party, you barely looked at me. I knew right away.”

“Marcy, what are you doing?”

“What I should have done weeks ago, only I was too afraid. I’m not afraid anymore.”

“How did you get in?” Rachel asked.

“The key. You had an extra in your desk at the university. I took it.”

“Rachel!” Dec’s voice echoed up the stairs. “I found it. Now come on, let’s go. It’s getting dark.”

Marcy slowly crossed the room and held the gun up to Rachel’s head. “Answer him,” she said. “Answer, or I’ll shoot.”

“All right.” Rachel called, “I’ll be down in a minute. I’m just looking for that outfit that we talked about in the car.” Rachel said a silent prayer that Dec’s curiosity would get the better of him. She couldn’t deal with this alone. He would know what to do.

“Sit down,” Marcy said. “On the end of the bed.”

Rachel did as she was told and Marcy sat down behind her. Closing her eyes, Rachel tried to gather her courage. If she could get Marcy talking, maybe she could convince her to put the gun down.

“How did you know about the radio station?” Rachel asked.

“You told my husband and he tells me everything about you. He’s concerned about this stalker you have and of course, I pretend I’m concerned, too. But I’m really not. I’m just listening and smiling and waiting for my chance.”

Marcy’s voice trembled and Rachel imagined her finger twitching on the trigger of the handgun. “You don’t want to do this, Marcy,” she said. “There’s no reason.”

“I want you out of our lives,” the woman shouted, anger turning her voice strident. “Ever since you came around, things have been different.”

“That’s not true,” Rachel said.

A moment later, Dec appeared in the doorway. Rachel looked at him, sending him a silent plea. “Declan Quinn, this is Marcy Ellsworth, Daniel’s wife. She just stopped by for a visit.”

Marcy quickly got to her feet and stood beside Rachel, the barrel of the gun now pressed against Rachel’s temple. Dec held out his hand and slowly moved forward. Though he was there to protect her, she couldn’t bear the thought of him being hurt because of a situation she had caused. “Don’t, Dec,” she said, stopping him in his tracks. “It’ll be all right.”

He glanced at Marcy, then back at Rachel, sending her a warning glare. But Rachel simply smiled at him. “Marcy and I are friends,” she said. “We’ll find a way to work this out, won’t we, Marcy?”

“The only way to work it out is to get you out of my life for good,” Marcy snapped.

“How long have you felt this way?” Rachel asked. If she just kept her talking, everything would work out. That’s what she had to keep telling herself or Rachel was sure she’d dissolve into hysterics.

“Forever.”

“I know, it probably seems like forever to you. But it hasn’t been. There was a time when things were good, wasn’t there? A time when you were happy? When you and Daniel were happy?”

Marcy nodded, her lips pressed into a tight line.

“Can you remember that time now?” Rachel asked. “Because, I know you can go back there. Close your eyes and just picture it. Tell me what you see.”

To Rachel’s surprise, Marcy did close her eyes. The moment she did, Dec glanced over at Rachel, ready to make a move to disarm her. But Rachel slowly shook her head. “Tell me what you see,” she said.

“I-I see us. We’re sitting in our backyard and we’re having a glass of wine. Daniel has just come home. And we have our baby girl there. She’s getting so big. She walks now and she’s just starting to talk. And we’re watching her toddle around and laugh. And we’re so happy. Everything is perfect.”

“What’s your baby girl’s name?” Rachel asked.

“We named her Emily. Emily Elizabeth Ellsworth. Daniel said it would make a silly monogram, but when she came out, she just looked like an Emily Elizabeth, all tiny and sweet, like a little doll.”

“What happened to her, Marcy? Was she too small?”

Marcy’s eyes flew open and she waved the gun at Rachel. “Don’t you talk about her. We never talk about her. That’s why we moved here, because I couldn’t stop talking about her in our old house.”

“Do you think it’s possible for you to be happy again? For there to be another baby?”

“Not if Daniel loves you,” she said. “And as long as you’re alive, he will.”

“But I don’t love your husband, Marcy. You do. And if you shoot me, you’ll never be able to get back to that happy place. It will never happen because you’ll go to jail and Daniel will be all alone.”

“He loves you,” Marcy shouted. “And you love him!”

“I don’t,” Rachel insisted.

Dec took a step forward and Marcy turned the gun on him. “She doesn’t,” he said.

“How do you know?”

“Because Rachel loves me, not your husband. Me. She’s loved me from the moment we met. And I’ve loved her just the same. Marcy, she told me this and Rachel wouldn’t lie to me. I swear.”

Marcy’s gaze darted back and forth between the two of them. “Is that true?” she asked Rachel.

Rachel looked over at Dec and smiled, hoping that it was the smile of a woman very much in love, then realizing that it couldn’t be anything else. She did love Dec, so there was no reason to lie. And he’d just found a way to get through to Marcy. “Yes,” she murmured. “It’s true. I fell in love with him the moment we met. Actually, it was a little while after that, but it was the first night we met.”

“I want a life with Rachel,” Dec said. “Just like you want a life with your husband. If you shoot either one of us, then neither of us will get what we want. And that would be a real shame, don’t you think?”

They stood looking at each other in silence, wondering what would happen next, Rachel trying to tell him how she felt with her eyes. And then, when they turned back to Marcy, Rachel watched her slowly lower the gun. Dec stepped forward and grabbed it from her hands before she collapsed on to the bedroom floor.

Rachel dropped to her side and soothed her as she wept, while Dec stood over them both, still watchful. “I’m going to call the police,” he said.

Rachel looked up at him and shook her head. “No. No one has to know about this. I’ll make sure she gets help. Sending her to jail isn’t going to do anyone any good.”

“Rachel, we have to turn her in.”

“No!” Rachel said, gathering Marcy into her arms as the woman sobbed. “Everything will stop now. Marcy will get help and you won’t say a word. Promise?”

Dec sighed. “All right. I promise.”

Rachel slowly drew Marcy to her feet, then took her hands. “Come on. Let’s go wash your face and comb your hair and then we’ll call Daniel to come and get you.”

Marcy’s sobs shook her shoulders and she looked at Rachel with a tear-stained face. “I’m sorry,” she said as they walked to the bathroom. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-don’t tell Daniel what I did. I’m so sorry.”

“It’ll be all right,” Rachel said. “He loves you. He’ll understand and he’ll help you.”

Dec stood in the bathroom doorway, watching them both, the gun dangling from his hand. Rachel gave him a quick smile and he shook his head. “Do you have your cell phone?” she asked.

He took his out of his pocket and handed it to her. “What’s your phone number, Marcy? I’ll call Daniel to come and get you.”

She punched in the numbers as Marcy ticked them off, then handed the phone to Dec. “Explain to him what happened and tell him to come over right away.”

Dec walked back into the hallway and Rachel could hear him speaking in a low tone. She turned back to Marcy, smoothing her hand over her back. “Do you feel better now?”

The woman nodded. Rachel took her hand. “Come on, let’s go downstairs. I’ll make you a quick cup of tea. That will bring some color back to your cheeks.”

A half hour later, Rachel stood in the foyer of her house and watched as Daniel drove away with his wife. She gripped the edge of the door, trying to keep her knees from buckling, but when Dec came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, she sank back against him.

“It’s over.”

He rested his chin on her shoulder. “It is.” His lips pressed to her cheek. “Thank God, you’re safe. When I saw that gun pointed at your head, I thought I’d jump out of my skin.”

“Having you there was the only way I got through that.”

He cursed softly. “And I almost got you killed. I knew we shouldn’t have come here. And then, I left my own gun at home. I’m sorry, Rachel. I didn’t do my job.”

She turned in his arms. “You did everything you needed to do.”

He grabbed her face between his hand and kissed her deeply. His mouth was frantic for the taste of her and Rachel wrapped her arms around his neck and held tight, desperate herself to soothe her nerves.

Dec drew back and took her hand, then led her up the stairs to her bedroom. Rachel hesitated before stepping inside, wondering if she would ever forget what had happened there. The best way to forget would be to replace the bad memory with a good one.

She reached up and began to unbutton Dec’s shirt. The rest of his clothes soon sat in a pile on the floor and she stripped off her own, then drew him along to the bed. They tumbled onto the duvet, Dec pulling her body on top of his as they fell.

He kissed her again, devouring her mouth, his hands skimming over her naked body. Dec held her so tight that Rachel wondered if he’d ever let her go. But when he finally softened his embrace, she rolled off to his side and curled up against his body.

There would be plenty of time to make love. But before they did, a question needed to be answered. Rachel just wasn’t sure how to ask it. “Do you remember what you said to Marcy?”

“I said a lot of things to her,” Dec replied.

“When you told her that you loved me and I loved you? And that we loved each other from the moment we met?”

“Umm-hmm.”

“That was the smartest thing to say. The moment you said that, I knew we’d be safe. I don’t think I ever would have thought to tell her that.” She drew in a ragged breath, trying to calm her nerves. All she had to do was ask. Did he mean what he’d said or was it simply a way to pacify Marcy?

But she couldn’t bring herself to verbalize the question. It was too soon and she didn’t want to push him. But everything was about to change and Rachel wanted to hold on to something of what they shared.

In the end, she didn’t ask. Instead, she crawled on top of Dec and seduced him, bringing him to his climax in a slow and easy way. She’d find all the answers to her questions. It would just take a little bit more time.

DEC STOOD IN THE KITCHEN of Rachel’s house, peering into her refrigerator and looking for a beer. “I thought you said there was one in here,” he shouted.

“Look on the bottom shelf,” Rachel called from upstairs.

He did as ordered and found what he was looking for, the last bottle from a six-pack he’d brought over last week. Dec smiled as he twisted off the cap. Their lives were so intertwined already. Rachel’s clothes hung in his closet, his beer stayed cold in her fridge, they’d even exchanged house keys. And sharing households was helped along by the fact that they lived only three blocks apart.

Dec leaned back against the counter and took a long sip of his beer. Life was pretty damn good, he thought to himself. And from where he stood, it would only get better.

Tonight, he and Rachel would celebrate the first month of their relationship. And though it seemed like such a short time, they’d spent more hours together than most couples who’d been dating for six months. Since he’d met Rachel, Dec had taken some well deserved vacation time. Summers were always slow for Rachel, so they’d had plenty of opportunities to be together.

In truth, Dec wanted more. Living in two houses was crazy, running back and forth for clothes and cooking supplies was starting to get to him. Tonight, he planned to ask Rachel if she might consider a more permanent living arrangement. Dec didn’t care whether it was her house or his, only that they were under one roof, together.

“How do I look?” Rachel asked. She stood in the kitchen doorway, wearing a pretty celery green and white dress that left her arms and back bare. The color was perfect with her hair and eyes and complemented her pale skin.

He smiled, then crossed the room and gave her a kiss. “You look beautiful.”

“When I ask you that question, I want a straight answer,” Rachel scolded. “We always have to be honest with each other, all right? So if I ask if my butt looks big in this dress, I want you to tell me if it does.”

“Big in comparison to what. Montana? The Space Shuttle? Baby, as far as I can see, your butt doesn’t change sizes from day to day. It wasn’t too big yesterday and it’s not too big today.”

Rachel gave him a playful slap. “You’re no help.”

“Then why do you keep me around?” He grabbed her around the waist and nuzzled her neck. “Is it because you love me so much?”

Rachel drew back and looked into his eyes. “Yes,” she said.

At first, the meaning of her reply didn’t register with Dec. And then, he slowly realized what she had said. They’d carefully avoided the sentiment, even after he’d professed his love of Rachel to Marcy Ellsworth. He’d hoped that his words that night might have initiated a discussion of their feelings, but over the past few weeks, Rachel had seemed content to go on as they had been.

Meanwhile, he’d replayed the words over and over in his head, until he came to the conclusion that he’d been telling the truth. “You love me?” he asked.

“I do,” Rachel said, nodding.

“That’s good,” Dec replied, relief coloring his voice. “Because I love you, too.”

She pushed up on her toes and kissed him, a tender kiss that they both lingered over. “I’m glad we got that straight.”

“Me, too.”

They kissed for a long time, as if sealing the words they’d both spoken. There was a time when Dec wondered if he’d ever say those words to a woman. He’d wondered how he’d know when the time was right. In the end, it had been so simple. He hadn’t even thought before saying them, because he was speaking the absolute truth.

She nestled into his embrace and sighed. “I got a note today from Daniel. He decided to take a leave of absence from the university for the fall semester.”

“What about Marcy?”

“She checked into a residential psychiatric clinic and Daniel said they’re both attending daily therapy sessions. I’m sure she and Daniel will work out their problems. It must be horrible to lose a child and then to watch your marriage slip away as well.”

“Well, I’m glad she’s getting help. You know I wasn’t too keen on keeping this from the police.”

“I know,” Rachel murmured. “Thank you for that.”

He rubbed her back. “Are you almost ready to go?”

“No,” Rachel said. She slipped out of his arms and opened the refrigerator. One by one, she removed three dishes and set them on the granite island in the middle of the kitchen.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“You said we should bring a dish to dinner at your parents’ house. I wasn’t sure what to make, so I made three things. You know, this tradition of bringing food to a potential mates’ family can be found in many different cultures. In Africa, some women are also accompanied by farm animals as well.”

“Where are your animals, in the garage?”

“I’m just saying it’s very important that I make a good first impression. So, which of these do you think I should bring? There’s a peach cobbler, a Greek pasta salad and a really good sun-dried tomato spread for crackers. What do you think your mother needs?”

“You want me to pick one?” Dec asked. “Why don’t we just bring them all?”

Rachel shook her head. “No. That would appear like I’m trying too hard.”

“Trying too hard to do what?”

“To gain their approval,” Rachel said.

“Baby, you don’t need their approval. I love you. And if I love you, they’ll love you. You come preapproved. Nothing my family could ever say would change how I feel about you.” He paused and stared down at the three dishes. “Besides, you don’t know how my family eats. I think we should bring them all.”

She hitched her hands on her hips and considered his suggestion, then shrugged. “We’ll take the hors d’oeuvres and the dessert. We can have the pasta salad for lunch tomorrow.”

“Done,” Dec said. “Now, let’s go.”

The drive down to Bonnett Harbor was one Dec had made often, but it seemed to go by so quickly with Rachel in the car to talk to. As they chatted, he couldn’t help but go over in his mind how he’d tell his brothers about her. Hell, he’d been the one to issue the celibacy challenge. And he’d been the first one to break it.

He didn’t care what they said. He had Rachel and that was all that mattered. She was worth whatever punishment they decided to mete out. He’d gotten what he wanted out of the challenge, a chance to know women better, a chance to find a woman worth knowing better.

As they got closer to Bonnett Harbor, he could see Rachel was getting more nervous. “You’ll like my family,” he said.

“So, it’s your two brothers and you and your parents, right?”

“No,” Dec said. “We have four older siblings, too. Two brothers, Rory and Eddie, and two sisters, Mary Grace and Jane. And then there’s Ian, me and Marcus.”

“Seven,” Rachel said.

“We’re Irish and Catholic. Big families are kind of our thing. The four oldest are married and they all have kids, so there’ll be a lot of people there.”

“Good,” Rachel said.

When they pulled up to the Quinn house in a quiet neighborhood of Bonnett Harbor, there were children playing on the front lawn. The moment they saw Dec, they raced over to the car and hugged him. Dec introduced his nieces and nephews to Rachel, then made the two eldest carry the food into the house.

He slipped his arm around Rachel’s waist and walked inside with her. He found his mother and father in the kitchen, both of them peering into a pan of barbeque sauce. “Da, Ma?”

They turned. “Declan,” his mother said. “Come and taste this sauce. Your father says it needs to be sweeter.”

Paddy grabbed his wife and kissed her cheek. “I said you need to be sweeter.”

Emma laughed, then turned back to Declan. “So, who is this?”

Dec made the introductions and Emma immediately crossed the kitchen and held out her hand. “Rachel, I’m so glad you decided to join us.” Emma looked over at her husband and smiled. “In fact, I think it’s just wonderful that Declan decided to bring a friend today.”

“Are Ian and Marcus here?” Dec asked.

“Oh, yes,” Paddy replied. “And they’ll be anxious to meet your pretty friend. You might as well get out there and make the introductions.”

Dec took a deep breath. The glint in his father’s eye told him that there would be hell to pay for this. Obviously he’d heard about their pact and was now taking great delight in the fact that Declan had broken it. “Well, let’s go,” he murmured to Rachel. “The sooner I admit defeat, the sooner I can brag about how wonderful you are.”

As they walked to the backyard, Dec smiled to himself. He was proud to introduce Rachel as the woman in his life. Any man would be happy to bring her home to his family, but he’d gotten lucky. He’d been the one to win her heart. He saw Marcus and Ian standing near the back fence, tossing a football back and forth between them and Dec’s two eldest nephews.

He nodded in their direction. “The guy on the right is Ian, the guy on the left is Marcus.”

Rachel pointed to a nearby picnic table. “Are those your sisters?”

Dec turned and followed her gaze, then stopped short. “No.” He frowned. “No, the blonde is Eden Ross.” He chuckled softly. “Oh, well, this is interesting. I’m willing to bet that the other woman with the dark hair is Marisol Arantes.” He groaned then raked his hand through his hair. “I should have figured this one out. God, how could I have missed this?”

“What?” Rachel asked.

He took her hand and led her out into the yard. When his brothers saw him, they stopped tossing the ball and stared. “Hey, Marky,” Ian called. “I guess we’re three for three.”

Dec pulled Rachel against him and laughed. “You bleedin’ liars. You’ve been shining me on all this time.”

“Who’s been shining who?” Marcus asked.

Dec gently rubbed Rachel’s back. “Rachel Merrill, these are my brothers, Ian and Marcus. Brothers, this is Rachel. My girlfriend.”

They both shook her hand then made the rest of the introductions. In truth, Dec wasn’t surprised at Ian and Marisol, but Marcus and Eden Ross shocked the hell out him. When he was introduced, Eden threw her arms around him and gave him an enthusiastic hug. “Thank you for not finding me,” she said.

“I’d assume you were on the boat the whole time?”

Marcus slipped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead. “My own personal stowaway,” he said.

Dec had never seen Marcus quite so happy. He was grinning from ear to ear. As for Ian, he’d found his match in Marisol. Like Eden, she was stunningly beautiful, but in an exotic, mysterious way.

“You’re the lady with the painting,” he said. “I wondered why Ian was so secretive about that.”

“I guess I should thank you, too,” Marisol said. “If you hadn’t found that expert, I would have done something very stupid. And Ian might have had to put me in jail.”

The ladies wandered off to introduce Rachel to the rest of the family while Ian, Marcus and Dec watched them from a spot near the picnic table.

“She’s beautiful, Dec,” Ian murmured.

“She’s smart, too,” Dec said. “Really smart. And sexy. I don’t know how it all happened, but I’m sure as hell glad it did.”

“So, what do you think?” Ian asked. “Do we give the money to the one who lasted the longest? Or do we just call it even?”

“I have an idea,” Dec said. “Why don’t we give the money to the one who gets married first?”

The three of them looked at each other, then laughed. “Sounds good to me,” Ian said.

“I’m cool with that,” Marcus added.

To Dec, it seemed as if they’d agreed pretty quickly to the challenge. He knew he had every intention of marrying Rachel. And it was obvious that his brothers felt the same way about the women they’d met.

Marcus pulled out his key chain and held out the gold medallion. “I’ve got it ready. All we have to do is agree.”

“What is that?” Emma Quinn stepped between Ian and Marcus and took the key chain from Marcus’s hand. “Where did you get that?”

“We found it when we were kids,” Dec said. “In the old stable at Porter Hall.”

“My mother used to wear a charm just like this around her neck. She told me that she and my father exchanged them when they were young, kind of like a promise ring.” She held it up and the sunlight glinted off the gold. “It’s a love charm, you know.”

“A love charm?” Dec asked.

His mother nodded. “The script is Gaelic. My mother told me what it said. Let me see if I can remember. I think it was something like ‘Love will find a way.’” She smiled. “That’s it. Love will find a way. It’s a beautiful sentiment.”

The three brothers nodded. Marcus took the key chain from his mother, then slipped the charm off and pressed it into her hand. “Here,” he said. “It’s yours. I don’t think we need it anymore.”

Emma kissed Marcus on the cheek, then turned to her other two sons and did the same. “I think you boys have done well for yourselves,” she said, nodding to the three women they’d brought along to family dinner. “But I can’t help but wonder if the faeries have been watching out for you on this. You carry a lot of Ireland inside you and some of that is magic and some of that is luck.”

“I guess our luck came all at once then,” Dec said.

“I’m all right with that,” Ian said.

“Me, too,” said Marcus.

Dec and his brothers crossed the yard to join the rest of the family near a small wading pool that had been set up for the kids. Dec grabbed Rachel’s hand and pulled her along to the house. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go get something to drink.”

But when they were alone in the kitchen, Dec forgot all about the drinks. Instead, all he could think about was kissing Rachel. He kissed her because she was beautiful and sweet. He kissed her because he already knew his family loved her. He kissed her for the future they’d share and all the dreams they’d make come true.

Love had come as such a surprise, but now that he’d found it, he realized how lucky he was. Maybe his mother was right. Maybe the faeries had had a hand in it. However it had happened, however Dec had been chosen to be the man to love Rachel, it didn’t matter.

All that really mattered was that he planned to love her until the end of forever.