I nodded but then caught myself. “Yes. I mean, if Eoghanan wanted me to, but he’s not asked me. Not directly.”
Mitsy laughed, “Eoghanan wouldn’t. As far as men go, he’s one of the best communicators I’ve ever seen. He’s thoughtful, attentive, but he’s incredibly self-sacrificing. He would never ask anything if he thought it selfish. Did he not tell you anything about what happened to him?”
“Not much more than what you mentioned the other day.”
“I know, I was vague on purpose. I didn’t want to go into the whole story in front of him. Eoghanan would have tried to downplay it, and his actions were too noteworthy for that.”
“What happened?” I lifted my weight off of my arms, stretching and twisting my wrists so that I could settle in to finally hear the story I’d been waiting for.
“Baodan was married to someone before me. Her name was Osla, and she died very early on in their marriage. That was over seven years ago and, from the time of her death until right before Eoghanan’s injury, Baodan believed Eoghanan responsible.”
“Why?” It was a notion almost more difficult for me to believe than learning that witches and time travel existed.
“Baodan and Eoghanan had another brother, Niall, a lousy scumbag who manipulated everyone in their family for years…”
She continued, explaining what Eoghanan had done for Osla during her life and then for Baodan after her death, sacrificing his relationship with his brother to keep from hurting him. Then, how he’d saved Mitsy by stepping in front of Niall’s blade, protecting both her and her unborn child.
“He’s the rarest of men, Grace. He will do anything for the people he loves, even let them go if he thinks that’s what they need. He would never ask you to stay, but it will break his heart if you leave. Nobody else is going to tell you that, but I will. He loves you, even if he doesn’t know that yet; even if he hasn’t said it to you, he does. And you love him, no matter the length of time that you’ve known him. Morna would not have sent you here otherwise. Believe me. She’s that good.”
I watched as she pulled her feet out of the water and stood, readying herself to take her leave.
“And you know what else? She wouldn’t have let Cooper and Jeffrey wind up back here unless they were meant to be here as well. Just something to think about. I’ll catch you later.” She started the short walk back to the castle. “I have to pee again. I have to pee all the time now. Literally, like twenty times a day.”
*
“Hey, Coop. Can I sit with ya a minute?”
Cooper smiled, nodded as his head still faced the pond. It was his dad’s voice; he’d know it anywhere. “’Course you can. You know you don’t have to ask me. You’re the dad, ya know?”
“I know, but sometimes a man needs his space. I didn’t want to interrupt you if you needed some thinkin’ time.”
A man…he liked the way that sounded. He wasn’t a man yet, but as soon as he lost all of his baby teeth, he would be. Only a few more years to go. “No, I wasn’t thinkin.’ I was just watching the sky and,” he held up his muddy fingers, “making this mud pie. I do my thinking in the mornings.”
“Right. My early bird. What have you been thinking lately?”
Cooper took a breath, trying to remember everything. He thought about so many things, surely his dad didn’t expect him to list each one. “About what?”
“About this place? What do you think about it? Are you ready to go home soon?”
Home? Out of all the things that he’d thought about, home wasn’t one of them. He liked it here too much to think about home. “No, I’m not ready to go home, Dad. We don’t have to right away, do we?”
His dad rubbed his back a little. “No son, I was just seeing if you were homesick.”
“I only get homesick when I’m not with you and Mom.” That wasn’t completely true. “And when I don’t have my bag of dinosaurs, but guess what, Dad?”
“What?”
“Bao…Baoghan…Baodan. Umm…I think I’m gonna have to come up with a nickname for him too—like I did E-o. Anyway, that guy,” he pointed in the direction of the castle so his dad would know who he was talking about, “he brought me my bag this morning. He said it just appeared on the doorstep. I guess that old witch sent it back for me. So now I won’t ever be homesick. I have everything I need.” Everything he needed not to be homesick, but he still missed one thing. “What about you, Dad? Are you homesick?”
Dad scooted closer to him, pulling him into his lap. “Nope. I’m the same way. As long as I’m with you and your mother, I’m all set. There’s only one thing that would make it extra cool.”
Cooper knew right away what his dad was talking about, and he nodded. “Bebop.”
“Yep. Bebop would love it here.”
“Yeah, he would. Dad, do you think we could get Bebop here? That way we wouldn’t ever have to leave?”