She nodded, but she didn’t let go of his hand.
As he’d said, it was a short flight, and after they cleared the plane and collected their luggage, they climbed into the limo that was waiting for them. Zach handled the luggage—and there was a lot of it—with the driver, and at last, they were driving toward the house. Caer didn’t seem put off by the limo, Zach noticed. In fact, she seemed to love it. She seemed particularly enamored of the fact that there were bottles of water, soda and liquor in deep built-in wells.
“I’ll have a water, if you don’t mind,” Sean said.
“I’ll have a whiskey,” Amanda said, sounding bored.
Caer handed Sean a water as Zach reached in and found a whiskey. “Want some ice with that?” he asked Amanda.
“No way. Just hand over the bottle,” Amanda said. “I need something to get me ready to face the fury.”
“She means Kat,” Sean explained to Caer dryly.
Caer looked questioningly at Zach, who merely shrugged. “We all see the world in different ways,” he said lightly.
“Of course we do, Mr. Flynn,” Amanda said irritably. “You, of course, have a vested interest in seeing her as an angel. She’s making him a mint,” Amanda explained to Caer, as if they were suddenly best friends.
“Amanda, that’s not true,” Sean put in. “Kat is doing very well thanks to Zach managing her career. And he doesn’t need anyone to make him a mint—he, Aidan and Jeremy are doing extremely well with their investigation firm.” He turned to Caer. “Did you know he was a policeman in Miami? Now there’s a city you should see if you can stay in America a while after you’re done taking care of me. I don’t think I’m going to need a nurse for very long, you know.”
“I certainly hope that’s true, but you do need a nurse right now,” she told him gravely.
He smiled. “I know I need a nurse at least through the holidays,” he said, winking at Zach as if he were offering him a gift.
Amanda sighed in impatience and looked out her window.
As they entered Newport, Caer looked out at the long row of mansions, each decorated for the upcoming holiday stylishly and tastefully, but to the hilt. One tree was covered entirely in blinking lights of red and green, and she turned to Zach, a small smile on her face, and he couldn’t help but smile back, knowing they were sharing a memory of Amanda and her light-up breasts.
The driver slowed down, and Zach watched Caer’s eyes fill with admiration as she caught her first sight of the house.
The O’Riley place sat atop a hill on more than an acre of land. The rear of the house sloped gracefully down to the cliff walk. It had massive pillars, and a cupola with a widow’s walk. Painted white, it was simply beautiful and majestic. Because it was Christmas, a large crèche had been set up on the front lawn, and holly swags and evergreen boughs had been twined together and were wound around the pillars.
Lights gleamed from within.
Zach let himself out and stared up at the house. He saw someone staring down at them from one of the second-floor windows and waved. It had to be Bridey.
The front door opened, and Kat came racing down the walk. She was a redhead, with her hair cropped short, and she’d dramatically highlighted the color since the last time he’d seen her, so she looked like a ball of fire flying across the lawn.
“Dad!” she cried. “Oh, Dad!”
“Kitten,” Sean said in reply.
For a moment Zach was afraid she might throw herself into her father’s arms and knock them both backward into the limo. But she stopped a foot away, took a breath and walked toward him before wrapping her arms around him carefully and gently.
Sean held her as if she were the most precious being in the world.
Then Amanda exited the car, slamming the door loudly, as if to make sure everyone knew she was there.
“Hello, Kat,” she said coolly.
Kat mumbled something against her father’s chest.
“Such a loving child,” Amanda said with saccharine sweetness.
Kat pulled away from her father. “Isn’t it lovely that he has one—and married one, too?”
“Excuse me. We have visitors,” Sean said sternly.
“Visitors? Kat, this is Miss Cavannaugh, the nurse your father hired in Ireland,” Amanda said. “And Zach is really family, isn’t he?”
Kat looked at Caer, intrigued, as she offered her a hand. “How do you do? Welcome to Rhode Island.” She was obviously pleased that her father had found a gorgeous young nurse—one who irked her stepmother.
“Thank you,” Caer said. “Lovely to meet you.”
Even though the situation’s possibilities clearly pleased her, Kat couldn’t keep her attention from her father for long and turned back to him. “Dad, are you all right? Really?”
“I am. Really. I have a bucket of pills that Caer makes me take, but other than that, I’m doing great. Now how about we go inside?”