“She’s a brave one, that lass of mine.” There’s an unmistakable note of pride in my voice.
They stand aside, so that I can enter. I unlock the door, and find Maeve sitting in the living room. She’s staring at the wall, a pensive look on her face.
“Hello, Tully,” she says. I kick off my shoes, and walk to her on stocking feet.
“Hello, Maeve. How’s McKenna?”
She looks travel worn and tired. So tired. She nods her head. “Oh, she’s good. What a catch she is for you, son.” Though Maeve and I are closer in age than any other members of the Clan, she’s always considered all of us her adopted sons.
“She is,” I say with pride. “That woman’s one in a feckin’ million.”
She nods. “Aye.” She looks at me over her shoulder, her thoughts somewhere off in the distance.
I sit beside her on the sofa. “And how about you?” I ask gently.
“Me?”
“Aye, Maeve,” I say, my voice just above a whisper. I love this woman as if she were my very own mother, and I know she’s experienced more pain than she’ll ever admit.
Her lower lip trembles, and her eyes grow misty. Her voice is choked when she speaks. “He was a good man, Tully.” She blinks, and two tears roll down her cheeks. I know she’s speaking of Father Finn. “Wasn’t easy for him, you know.” She sniffs. “Being a man of the cloth, devoted to the church, and faithful to the Clan.”
I nod. “I imagine so.” I run a hand across the back of my neck. “Most of us just choose to be heathens.”
She laughs out loud through her tears.
“Come here,” I say gruffly, reaching to give her a hug. She hugs me back, and breaks into fresh tears. I close my eyes, absorbing this for her. I owe her this much, to be strong for her when she literally needs a shoulder to cry on.
“Oh, Tully,” she says, sniffing. “First Seamus. Now Finn. I know Seamus died over a decade ago, but Finn was the last of the brothers.”
“The last of those brothers, aye,” I tell her. “But the McCarthy brotherhood lives on.”
She pulls away, and wipes her eyes. “Thank you,” she whispers. I imagine there aren’t that many people who see her when she’s down. I’m honored I’m one of them.
“Any time, Maeve. You know that.”
She nods. “I do, and mother of God, if there’s a woman more blessed on God’s green earth, I don’t know who she is.”
She gives me a grin and pushes to her feet. She sighs. “We’ll give Father Finn a proper burial, won’t we?”
“Aye, Maeve. That we will.” I squeeze her hand farewell as she takes her leave. When I shut the door behind her, I turn to find McKenna standing in the doorway. She’s wearing a simple white gown that goes to her knees, her hair tossed into a messy bun. Her glasses glint in the overhead light.
“You’re a good man.” She swallows.
I smile at her. “And you’re beautiful, woman. You know that?”
She blinks in surprise. “These jammies are nothing short of a cotton sack, I have no makeup on, my hair looks as if a mother bird made a hasty nest for her offspring, and you say I’m beautiful? Are you high, Tully?”
I grin at her and prowl over to her. She flattens herself against the doorway and bites her lip.
“Never been more sober,” I say as I near. She lifts her face up to watch me as I step right up to her. I bend and kiss her cheek. “But you’re mine, McKenna. All mine. And soon, you’ll be a proper member of the Clan. You’ll wear my ring and bear my name.”
She rests her head on my chest and embraces me. “I want that. I want that so badly.”
“What’s changed?” I ask, running my fingers through her hair. “You didn’t want that before.”
She takes a moment before she replies. “The only thing that’s changed… is me.”
I nod. “Oh?”
“For some reason, I thought that allowing myself to be a member of the Clan, I’d lose a part of myself. You know?”
“Aye.”
“But instead… I’ve found myself.”
I continue to stroke her hair, holding her to me.
“Have you?”
She sighs. “I have. I’ve found family. I’ve found friends. I’ve found strength and courage I never knew I had.”
“The rumor that’s circulating tonight is that you took down the rival Chief himself.”
“Oh, Tully, no! Did you set them straight?”
I shake my head. “Nah. Let them talk. They always do. You’re braver than you think, you know.”
“Inside, I was screaming before I pulled that trigger, screaming like a little girl with a spider crawling up her arm or something.”
I chuckle at the visual. “But you still saved my life.”
She’s quiet for a moment, as I gently stroke her hair.
“Is that what Clan life is? A give and take of winning and losing, saving and being saved?”