Shadow Spell (The Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy 2)

“Only six, and a bride wants to find her dress before she digs into the rest of it.”

“Will they live there, do you think?”

Meara paused in the act of mounting, glanced toward Boyle’s rooms over the garage. “Where else? I don’t see them trying to squeeze the pair of them into Iona’s room at the cottage for the long term.”

He realized he’d miss her—or more them as it was now. Talk over breakfast, conversation before bed whenever the two of them stayed at the cottage.

“Boyle’s place is bigger than a single room, but sure it’s not big when you add children.”

“You’re jumping some steps ahead,” Meara observed.

“Not for the likes of Boyle and Iona.” Idly, he stroked the horse as he studied what Fin had built for himself—and for others as well. “They’ll want a house of their own, won’t they, not a couple of rooms over a garage.”

“I hadn’t thought of it. They’ll figure it.” She swung onto Rufus. “For now she’s thinking bridal dresses and bouquets, as she should be. There’s Fin now, with Aine.”

She studied the beautiful white filly Fin led out of the barn. “Soon to be a bride herself when we breed her with Alastar.”

“No white dress and bouquet for her.”

“But she’ll get the stud, and for some of us that’s fine and enough.”

She rode off on Connor’s laugh. And he watched her nudge Rufus into a lope as smooth as butter before walking over to meet Fin.

His friend crouched down to give Bugs a rub, smiling as the dog wagged everywhere and made growls in his throat.

Talking to the dog, Connor knew, as he himself did with hawks, Iona with horses, Branna with hounds. Whatever ran in Fin’s blood meant he could talk to all.

“Has he complaints then?” Connor wondered.

“He’s only hoping I didn’t forget this.” Fin reached in the pocket of his leather coat for a little dog biscuit. Bugs sat, stared up with soulful eyes.

“You’re a fine boy and there’s your reward.”

Bugs took it delicately before trotting off in triumph.

“Takes little to please him,” Connor commented.

“Well, he loves his life and would choose no other. A man would be lucky to feel the same.”

“Are you lucky, Fin?”

“Some days. But it takes more than a hard biscuit and a bed in a barn to content me. But then, I have more,” he added and stroked Aine’s throat.

“Sure she’s the most beautiful filly I’ve seen in my life.”

“And knows it well. But then modesty in a beautiful female’s usually of the false sort. I’m after riding her over, letting her and Alastar gander at each other. So how did you find Megan?”

“Another beauty for certain. They took to each other, her and Sally. She gave me the payment on the spot.”

“I thought they would.” He nodded, didn’t glance at the check Connor handed him, just shoved it in his pocket. “She’ll be back for another in a month or two.”

Now Connor smiled. “I thought the same.”

“And you? Will you be traveling to Clare to visit them?”

“It crossed my mind. I think no, and can only think I think no because there’s too much else crossing my mind.” Connor shoved fingers through his breeze-tossed hair. “I wake each morning thinking of it, and him. I never used to.”

“We hurt him, but he hurt us as well. We nearly didn’t get through to Iona in time. None of us will be forgetting that. For all we had together, it wasn’t enough. He won’t forget that.”