Hudson's Luck (Forever Wilde 4)

“I fucked up,” I whispered. “What do I do?”

He shrugged. “What would you want him to do if the situation was reversed?”

I’d want him to come racing home to me the minute he got off the plane.

I took a breath. “I have to go.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “You sure you want to take that risk? Might get in a car crash.”

I felt my nostrils flare. He was right to call me out on my bullshit.

“It’s okay. I have a lucky four-leaf clover I never leave home without. It will bring me luck.”

It didn’t.

When I arrived in Hobie, Charlie was already gone. His room was completely empty, and there was no sign of him anywhere in the bunkhouse. It was as if he’d never been there.

I flew toward the farmhouse and let myself in with the spare key. Without even knocking, I barged into Doc and Grandpa’s room. It had to be four in the morning by then.

“Where is he?” I cried. “Where’d he go? A hotel? Where?” My heart was thundering and I was frantic.

They both sat up groggily, rubbing their eyes. The sound of dogs snuffling came from a giant round dog bed in the corner of the room. When Mama extracted herself from the pile to wiggle over to me, I heaved a sigh of relief. He wouldn’t have left her.

“He went back to Ireland, honey,” Doc mumbled.

My heart stopped. “No.”

Grandpa reached for his glasses and slid them on. “He and Sean left before midnight. His sister called to say their uncle had been rushed to the hospital. They didn’t give us any details.”

I processed the words but still came up with the same result. Charlie wasn’t there.

Could I follow him to Ireland?

No, don’t be ridiculous. You have responsibilities here. At the office, or maybe at the pub if Charlie isn’t around… People don’t just up and fly across the ocean on the spur of the moment. That’s like a scene out of a cheesy movie. Regular people don’t do that. What would everyone think if I dropped everything and chased after a man? Plus, I hate to travel almost as much as Charlie. And I just got off the flight from hell.

I let out a breath. There was no question. I would follow him anywhere.

“Can one of you make some calls while I grab my clothes?”

My grandfathers’ grins could be seen in the dark room. “Atta boy. Go get him.”

46

Charlie

Charlie’s Lament:

I never had a chance to kiss him goodbye.

When I left Hobie, I was so angry at Hudson for being dead in a plane crash, I tried not to spare him a second thought. My rational brain was nowhere to be found.

Devlin made it through surgery, but it was going to be a long recovery from the stroke. Poor Liv had found him on the floor of the kitchen in the morning and thought it was a heart attack. After he’d gone into the operating theatre, Liv had called me and told us to come home. We’d spent the entire flight assuming the worse.

The whole thing had rocked me to my core. It happened so fast, so unexpectedly. The man was only fifty-three. Granted he was an unhealthy one, several stone overweight and still a smoker, but he’d seemed so big and strong. Seeing him frail and unconscious in the hospital bed had been a shock. We’d gone straight to see him in Galway, and Liv told us we’d just missed Cait and Donny who’d gone back to the pub for a rest.

When we finally walked into the pub, I got a good look at my sister’s growing baby bump. “You nick a mini keg?”

She threw her arms around me and cried. “I can’t believe you’re here. I can’t believe he’s made it through. Did you see him? Doesn’t he look awful? I’m going to kill him for this. How dare he almost leave us too.”

“C’mere, love,” Dad said from behind me. Cait screeched so loudly I though my ear’d fallen off.

“Dad! Oh Dad, you’re here thank—”

“Hush, child. Now, let me look at you. Who’s the man what done this to my girl?”

He shot a glare at Donny before clapping him on the back and flashing a grin. “Good to see you, son. Thanks for taking care of these ones.”

Soon the pub filled with neighbors and friends turning up to share a pint and toast Devlin’s quick recovery.

It was all so surreal. I’d come so close to thinking we’d lost him, and it had finally struck me that he’d been the one who stayed when both my parents left. Uncle Dev was a moody git, but he’d always tried hard to keep the place together. Thank fuck he was going to be okay.

Late that night, I was attempting not to fall asleep on Davie Turner’s shoulder when I heard a commotion by the door. Suddenly Mama was wiggling all over me, licking and whining like she hadn’t seen me twenty-four hours before. I hugged her neck before looking up and finding the most beautiful man in the world standing there.