“Sean has always been there for Kane, but Kane is hard to get close to.” That was an understatement. Siobhan wanted to throttle him half the time and kiss him the other half. Kiss him? She wanted to do a lot more than kiss him.
But Kane was stubborn. Stubborn with a capital S.
“How long have you known the family?” Lucy asked, sipping her own coffee.
“Forever,” she said. “Andie, my half sister, was Kane’s commanding officer when he enlisted. I was a kid, didn’t meet him until I was seventeen and Andie was awarded a Purple Heart and a Medal of Honor for saving her unit and a bunch of civilians. Kane was at the ceremony, came back to the house. He reminded me of Bobby, my half brother. He’d been killed in Afghanistan the year before, and Andie missed him tremendously. I thought for the longest time that Kane and Andie were involved, but they’re just friends.” She didn’t know much about her sister’s private life. All she knew was that she’d been in love once and he’d died. She never talked about it, and Siobhan didn’t ask.
Then seven years later, Siobhan saw Kane again. Under far more dangerous circumstances than a party at the house.
“Anyway,” Siobhan said, shaking off the memories, “I started college in Virginia, then went to Ireland. I had no intention of going back to the Sisters of Mercy. My mom died when I was fifteen, after nearly twenty years of serving, and I didn’t have the same calling. But … well, long story short, I’ve always loved photography. There’s something the camera sees that we don’t. The sisters’ numbers were shrinking, they had fewer resources. I’d been working for National Geographic and traveling all over the world and I loved it. Then Sister Bernadette reached out to me. She asked if I would join the sisters for six months and help rebuild a village that had been destroyed in a flood. I could take pictures and document their work, bring attention to the plight of these small communities, and also help the sisters with their fund-raising. It was the least I could do, after having lived my first fourteen years with them. That was ten years ago. Now I spend three or four months each year with the sisters. The rest of the time I travel through Mexico and South America, primarily, freelancing for a couple magazines. National Geographic, Life, Photography, whatever I can sell to. Sometimes the Times if I can get a good Sunday feature story worked out. It’s a good balance for me.”
Sean walked in. “You were up early, Lucy,” he said.
Lucy leaned up and kissed him. “You didn’t sleep well last night. I thought I’d let you sleep longer.”
Sean took out a pan and started preparing scrambled eggs. He got out tortillas, sausage, salsa, and cheese. “Spicy or sane,” Sean asked Siobhan.
She laughed. “Spicy.”
Sean moaned. “You and Lucy. It’s a wonder your taste buds aren’t fried by now.”
“You don’t have to cook,” Lucy said. “We can get something at Starbucks.”
“Sit. At least you’ll have one good meal today.”
“You’re not hearing me complain,” Siobhan said.
Sean left for a minute, then returned with a small black bag and put it in front of Siobhan. “It’s not what you lost, but it should work until you can replace your camera.”
“What?” Siobhan stared at the bag, then looked at Sean.
“Open it.”
Lucy crossed over to Sean and kissed him. “You’re amazing,” she said.
Siobhan opened the bag case. Inside was a digital camera. Almost as nice as the one she’d lost. “I can’t take this.”
“It’s a loan, until you get yours replaced. Seriously, I rarely use it. I configured it like your old one, so it should work with your phone app.”
Siobhan jumped up and hugged first Sean, then Lucy, then Sean again. She blinked back tears. “You guys are so, so … wonderful. Thank you.”
There was a beep at the door that startled Siobhan. “What’s that?”
“Our security system.” Sean typed in a code on a small tablet that was attached to the wall. “Oh, he has the code.”
“You gave Noah the house code?” Lucy asked.
“Of course not. Kane.”
Siobhan froze. “Kane’s here?”
“Yes I am,” a deep voice behind her said.
Her heart raced as she whirled around to face him.
Kane looked like he always did—hard, handsome, rough around the edges. He’d lost weight, and he’d never been overweight. His jaw was still square, firm, defiant. He had a touch of gray at his temples. His dark hair was still short, but a little longer than the military cut he usually kept. He wore khakis and a black T-shirt. He dropped his duffel bag just outside the kitchen entry.
He stared at her, his dark-blue eyes unreadable because he was good at shutting down his emotions.
I’ve always loved you, Kane.
She had, from that day when she rescued the little girl and he saved them both. He was impossible, arrogant, condescending, loyal, and brave. He cared more than he showed, more than he could say, about the plight of others. He acted, always acted, to stop bad people from hurting innocents. He didn’t want to care, he said he didn’t, but she saw that those who talked cared less than those who acted.