“Uncle Andrew will rebuild. I know he will. He’s always hated what Trill has done, but he just wasn’t strong enough to stop it by himself. He tried a few times, in the beginning, to rally the troops, so to speak, but they were all so afraid of Trill.”
“It’s sad watching strong Alpha’s tuck tail like that, but I understand why they did. It’s the same reason our auld fella hauled us up out of Ireland. We were young, and he knew he couldn’t save us alone. There’s a fine line sometimes between cowardice and self-preservation.”
“Will your family return to Ireland then?”
“That’s something I don’t know the answer to right now. Ronan is going to spend a few days tying up some loose ends with getting our property sorted back out, so we’ll likely at least build a secondary base there, but I don’t know that Fergus or Olcan will want to hand over what it’s taken us years to build in Boston.”
“I see,” she said.
Niall noted the disappointment in her voice, and he felt it too, but he wasn’t in any position to make her promises right now. As much as he wanted to be with her, he couldn’t tell her what would happen tomorrow.
Of course, he was free to take her back with him if things continued to deepen between them. It was something he’d broach when he was ready to make that sort of commitment to something more permanent than just the few days he’d managed to give to her after tracking her down and making his way to London.
“This is our stop,” she told him, standing up to get off the bus.
He stood behind her, his body pressed against hers as they waited for the driver to come to a full halt. They walked hand in hand down the sidewalk, the glances from passersby hard to miss. There was no doubt they were a striking couple, and Niall felt proud to have her on his arm.
“Here we go,” she said, stopping in front of a small cafe called the Toad Hole.
“Interesting choice of names,” he told her.
“Right? I’ve yet to get a proper explanation on how it came about. I don’t think my manager knows.”
“Your manager?” he asked.
“Yes. I’ve been working here during the day,” she said.
He scrunched his brows together in disapproval.
“Why would you work at a cafe? Didn’t I give you enough money to take care of yourself for a while?”
“Yes, yes. You did, but I didn’t know how long it would last or if I’d ever be able to come back home. So, I went ahead and settled in here.”
“I see,” he replied, wondering if maybe she’d actually grown to like her freedom. Perhaps that was okay, but if he did decide that he wanted more, it might be a problem.
“Let’s go in,” she said, pulling him toward the door, but then stopping short of it. “Oh, we haven’t had much of a chance to talk. My name here is Deanna and I’m a native Londoner.”
“With that accent?” he laughed.
“Well, I try to tone it down a bit for work, but I told them my parents are Irish and I’ve picked up more of their accent than the local one.”
“Quick thinking,” he replied.
“Come on,” she laughed.
“Okay, Deanna,” he teased as he opened the door and held it for her to slip inside in front of him.
They took a seat in a booth away from the rest of the people there, but they weren’t alone for long. The place filled up rapidly as the breakfast crowd continued to pour in.
“Busy place,” he observed.
“It is.”
“I guess that’s good for you,” he replied.
“Aye,” she told him, smiling happily across the table at him as a young waitress she introduced as Naomi came over to take their order and was quickly back with two coffees while they waited on breakfast. Another woman who she called Holly came over to say hello, as well. Deidre introduced her as her manager and the owner of the cafe.
“There was a man here looking for you last night,” Holly told her.
“For me?” Deidre asked, her spoon poised in her coffee mid-stir.
“Yes. He asked me if you were working and I told him you work days but that you were off today.”
“He didn’t leave a name or a message?” Deidre asked, sounding bothered by it.
“No. He just said he’d try to catch you next time you were at work.”
“What did he look like?” Niall asked.
Holly looked at him and then back at Deidre as if to ask if she should have not said anything in front of him. She nodded almost indiscernibly at her and Holly turned back to him to answer.
“Tall, thin, black hair, and really dark eyes. He had a scar on his cheek. It looked pretty fresh.”
“Weird. Maybe just a customer that’s been in before. You know how some people like to always sit at the same server’s station when they can,” Deidre offered.