Eire. Cead mile failte. Ireland. A hundred-thousand welcomes.
Outside, he breathed a sigh of relief when he found his car. It was parked right next to a sign that advertised a pub whose slogan was Paddy’s! May the luck o’ the Irish be with you.
He greeted the driver and slid into the back of the sedan, thinking that he didn’t believe in luck, Irish or otherwise.
He did believe in the good and evil that resided in men’s hearts, and he was anxious to reach Sean, anxious to get him home, anxious to find Eddie. That was what he needed to concentrate on right now.
He checked his phone for messages. There was a text from Aidan, who had contacted an old associate in Dublin, who was keeping an eye on things at the hospital. The man’s name was Will Travis, and he was posing as an orderly to see that nothing else happened to Sean while he was there. Zach clicked his phone shut. He enjoyed working with his brothers. Their past careers made for good contacts in their present one. Aidan, as a former FBI agent, had some particularly useful ones.
He tried to keep his mind on the current problem, but as they drove to the hospital, he found that he was mourning Maeve, a woman he had barely known, and who had, in her own words, gone home.
“Hey there, you’re not looking so bad!”
Caer had been sitting at Sean’s side, listening to his tales of Rhode Island, when she heard the voice. Deep, resonant, pleasant. A rich tenor. No real accent, other than American.
At first he didn’t even seem to notice her. He just strode into the room and over to Sean’s side, which gave her a chance to examine him.
Tall, lean, clearly well-muscled but not bulked-up. She knew him immediately, of course, from the photograph and the color of his hair. Like his voice, something about that deep, rich color was compelling in itself.
“Zach, you’ve made it, lad. You didn’t need to come, you know. That girl of mine, such a worrier. Bothering you to come over here when I’m right as rain,” Sean announced. But his pleasure at Zachary’s arrival was evident in the broad smile and the fact that his eyes had brightened like diamonds.
“Not a problem, Sean. Hey, who’s going to complain about a trip back to Dublin? It was just a good excuse for me to come over for a few days,” Zach said easily in reply to Sean. He, too, was smiling, and it was obvious that his words were genuine. Caring for an old friend was clearly not a bother for him but a pleasure.
Finally his eyes lit on Caer.
He started, as if he recognized her, as if he’d seen her before. Maybe not. Perhaps he was just startled by anyone else being there at all. Or because she was there, not Sean’s supposedly loving wife. Or maybe, there was just something about her that looked familiar to him.
She recognized his eyes, though. They were the same true aquamarine she had seen in the picture, but even more powerful in person, as hypnotic as the sea, as deeply changeable. She felt as if he had the ability to look right through her.
She stared back, forcing herself to remain serene, expressionless, and prayed that her own eyes were every bit as enigmatic as his. Still, it felt as if time had stopped for a moment, for just a heartbeat. Should she know him? He’d been in Dublin before. Maybe it was one of those things where she had passed him once in the street and somehow the image had remained in her mind.
“Hello,” he said.
Maybe she’d imagined the whole time-had-skipped-a-heartbeat thing. He sounded friendly but nothing more, certainly not as if he thought he should know her.
She rose from the bedside chair, extending a hand. “Hello. Welcome to Ireland. I’m Caer Cavannaugh. How do you do?”
“Zachary Flynn. And fine, thank you.”
Naturally he had a great, firm handshake, she thought as she returned it.
“Caer’s the world’s loveliest and most patient nurse,” Sean explained.
“Thank you,” she murmured, her attention all for Zach Flynn, who was definitely studying her now. She felt as if she were blushing. Good God, how ridiculous. She didn’t blush.
“Mr. O’Riley’s too kind,” she said smoothly. “Well, I’ll let you two get on with it. A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Flynn.”
“Zach,” he said.
“Zach,” she repeated.
“Caer is accompanying us home,” Sean told Zach. He sounded gleeful. Like a little kid who had just acquired a toy that would make all the other kids jealous.
“Yes, Kat mentioned something about you traveling with a nurse,” Zach said, still looking at Caer. “Have you been to the States before?” he asked her.
“Never. It will be quite a journey for me,” she told him pleasantly.
“Quite an opportunity,” he said.
Still that smooth tone to his voice. Lulling. But was there also a note of suspicion in it?
“Indeed,” she agreed. “Well, if you’ll excuse me…?”
She left the room, but as she slipped out, she heard Sean say, “This is foolish. You having to come all the way here, just for me.”