First and Only (Callaghan Brothers #2)

“Goof,” she muttered. He pointed at her plate. She sighed, spearing a carrot instead – purely out of spite – and brought it to her lips.

The food was delicious, but to say she was feeling a bit off-balance would have been putting it mildly. Within intervals as short as five minutes she’d swing from childlike enthusiasm to adult-like pessimism and back again. Throw in a decided lack of sleep, the loss of her father, the stress of Patricia’s appeal against the will, and the whole mess with Ian and she didn’t know which way was up. Taking on the added responsibility of home-ownership was a little more than she was capable of handling at that moment.

While her logical mind created a list of all the reasons why it was a bad idea, the idealistic, romantic part of her – the same one that had been pining for Ian all these years - tuned it out. The cottage, the land - were perfect. Everything she could ever want. Contrary to what her realistic side said, it wasn’t a broken down cottage on neglected acreage. It was a castle straight out of a fairytale, situated smack-dab in the middle of enchanted ground.

“Can’t wait to see it,” Kieran said as Jack spoke of their afternoon. “Sounds awesome.”

“It needs some work,” Jack admitted, and began to run down the substantial renovations required to make it livable.

And just like that, Lexi’s fantasy took a decided nosedive into reality once again. He meant well, she knew he did, but he didn’t understand, and she couldn’t expect him to. The kind man she called her Uncle Jack spoke as if she really was a part of their family, but she wasn’t.

She was alone. Had been for a very long time. She preferred it that way, actually. Except for Aidan. Aidan knew all of her secrets (well, most of them, anyway) and kept the monsters at bay. If he was here now, he would be the first one to tell her that she was in over her head.

Which was yet another reason why she should be getting the hell out of Dodge and not looking back.

“We’re heading back up tomorrow,” Jack was saying, avoiding the sudden look of surprise Lexi shot him. “Johnny’s going to come take a look.”

“Who’s Johnny?” Lexi asked, not quite sure she wanted to know.

“Our cousin,” Kieran explained. “He owns a huge construction business across the way in Birch Falls. Does mainly big stuff, but he’s into restorations and renovations now, too. There’s nobody better.”

“I really don’t think –“

“Calm down, lass,” Jack soothed. “Johnny can give us a good idea of what’s what, and you’ll need that, no matter what you decide to do.”

He was right, of course, and she would have realized that herself if she wasn’t riding such an emotional roller coaster. She needed to get a grip. Thanks to her father, she was the current owner of the place, whether she wanted to be or not. It would be smart to have it appraised in its current condition. Even if she wasn’t going to keep it, she should have an idea of its worth.

She nodded. It was the responsible thing to do. And she’d be lying if she said some part of her didn’t want to go up there again, at least once more.

Things only got worse when they stopped back at the Pub after dinner. Jake, it seemed, had spread the word to the others, and they all wanted to help. By the end of the evening she’d grown tired of trying to rein them in; they weren’t really listening to her anyway. Eventually she’d given up, sitting quietly off to the side, nursing her clear soda, until Kieran finally noticed her eyes drifting shut and took pity on her.

Back in her hotel room, Lexi flopped down on the bed, her head still spinning as she tried to process it all. So much was happening so fast; she felt like she was being swept away in a current of events over which she had very little control. She was running on empty and she knew it. Before long, the past two days finally took their toll on her and she dozed off.

She wasn’t overly surprised when she woke up to find Ian sitting at the small table in her room, watching her as she slept. Somehow, even in sleep, she had sensed his presence. Of course, that might have just been because she’d been dreaming of him. Again. Except in this dream, Ian had been making love to her when Kayla suddenly appeared, laughing hysterically and leading Ian away from her by a collar while Lexi tried desperately to hold onto him.

She didn’t need a psych degree to figure that one out.

She glanced at the clock, noting that it was just after midnight. Ian must have come straight from the bar after it closed.

“Do you make a habit of breaking into people’s rooms?” she asked sleepily, forcing herself to sit up and pin him with as fierce a glare as she could muster. Damn, he looked good, even in the middle of the night, even with the sound of Kayla’s cackle echoing in her head.





Chapter Eleven